Alvaro Carrillo

THERE ARE MANY remarkable things about Alvaro Carrillo, the Oaxacan who is arguably Mexico's best loved composer. He wrote at least 300 songs, many of which are the great classics of Mexican popular music. And he was equally brilliant as a lyricist as he was a melody writer. It would be as if Lennon and McCartney or Rogers and Hammerstein were just one person.

Alvaro Carrillo Alarcón was born in San Juan Cacahuatepec on Dec. 2 1921 and died in a car wreck on April 3, 1969, just as he was achieving the great success that had eluded him so long. But there was never any doubt about his talent. He acquired his first guitar at age 12 and wrote his first song, Celia, in high school. It is said that he sold the song to his school friends, so they could serenade the beautiful girls of the Amuzgo area, where he grew up. All he had to do was change the name.

Much of his work reflects the upbeat music of the chilenas, the cultural soul of the coast Oaxaca and Guerrero coast, the Costa Chica. He created dozens of these chilenas, including the most famous if them all, Pinotepa. (The city of Pinotepa Nacional pays homage to him every year on the anniversary of his untimely death.)

But it is his romantic boleros, ballads and songs of love, that show the emotional depth, the beauty and lyricism of his work. His love songs reflect each sweet encounter, every bitter farewell; the exquisite pleasure of love discovered and the desperate sorrow of love lost and betrayed. Some of his most poignant songs, such as Luz de Luna (Moonlight), Magnolia, Eso (That), Azul (Blue), Flores del Corazon (Flowers of the Heart), Orgullo (Pride), were written while he was agricultural college.

When he moved to Mexico City in 1945, he threw himself into the bohemian subculture of the time. At night he would seek out other musicians and artists in the bars, cantinas, and cabarets. Among the women of the night and men, drowning sorrows in a shot glass, they would drink, sing and compose. Many of his classics were scribbled on bar napkins, including Cancionero, about the romance and the sensibility of the bohemian artist. (We can only speculate on how many gems scribbled on a napkin were lost because of a spilled bottle and a hangover.)

Not counting Celia, Amor Mio (My Love), was his first commercial success, with the Trio Duende. After that, he gave up his day job. Sabor a Mi, was by far his mega hit. It has been recorded by artists around the globe from Nat King Cole to Yoshiro Hiroishi, a Japanese star. (Hiroishi actually located Carrillo when he visited Mexico City and, in full Japanese regalia, he sang the number in a nightclub to the raucous delight of Alvaro and his drinking buddies.)

Although he left a huge footprint on pop music, there are few photos of the man and surprisingly few recordings by him. But his legacy will be eternal. The famous artists of the period recorded him: Luis Gatica, Los Santos, Los Panchos and Pepe Jara, who built a career on the interpretation of songs by this Oaxacan genius. And probably every Mexican singer and trio since has done at least one.

Any of the local troubadours who make the rounds of the bars and restaurants will know at least a dozen. Maica, diva of El Son y Rumba is a fabulous interpreter of Carrillo. Albums locally available include Georgina Meneses, Alvaro Carrillo, Alejandra Robles, La Malagueña, Lila Downs, La Sandunga (or just about any of them), Luis Miguel, Romance, Rocio Durcal, La española más mexicana and of course Mario Carrillo, the son who is living the legacy.