NOTA CENTRAL
EDICIÓN 23 · 2018
to take care of her newborn dau-
ghter.
He told her don’t worry becau-
se she was going to get well, al-
though he was sure she was going
to die soon.
On September 3rd, Mercedes
had just given birth to Aurora, and
3 days later, five or six hours af-
ter that conversation, she passed
away. It was a shocking event for
everybody. She was a generous,
humble, caring woman.
Two days after that, Carlos
Eleta Almarán wrote a bolero ca-
lled Historia de un amor. The first
draft was written on a telegram
sheet of paper.
Eleta sat down by the piano on
the third floor of the Chesterfield
building between Calle Q and
Avenida Nacional. The actress
and journalist Dalila Aguilar
heard the very first chords of the
song.
“I wrote that song from my
soul (…) it was amazing. It came
to life by itself. Writing a bolero
is not an easy task since it is pure
poetry that must be expressed in
three minutes in only two or three
verses.”
A few days after he wrote the
song, Carlos played it to Lucho
Azcárraga, and he loved it. “I’m
going to play in Venezuela, and
I’m taking that song with me” he
said. There, he played it in a gig
and one of the most famous Mexi-
Película: Historia de
un amor (1956)
Género: Drama
Director: Roberto
Gavaldón: 108 min
Actores: Libertad
Lamarque, Emilio
Tuero, Domingo
Soler, José Luis
Jiménez, Julio
Villarreal, Arturo
Soto Rangel, Lupe
Inclán, Augusto
Benedico, Bertha
Castillo, Carmen
Cortés
Nacionalidad:
México
Guionista: Roberto
Gavaldón Ulises
Petit de Murat
Productora
Internacional
Cinematográfica
can musicians at that time, Luis
Alcaraz, heard it. He took the song
to Mexico and played it with his or-
chestra.
Lucho Gatica and Libertad La-
marque fell in love with the song,
too. In 1955 they decided to record
it, winning a gold album thanks to
it.
So, the song was recorded, and a
few days later the Trio Los Panchos
arrived to Panama and Carlos gave
the song to one of the members,
Alfredo Gil, but he didn’t like it be-
cause it was too romantic and me-
lancholic. However, they decided to
include it in their new album. They
promoted it in Japan, Mexico, the
US, and almost all Latin American
countries. Leo Marini also played
this song and it was a complete suc-
cess.
The song also was the sound-
track of a French movie. Later, the
same song was used for a Mexican
movie in 1956, starring Libertad
Lamarque and Emilio Tuero. Besi-
des, it was the most popular Latin
American song in Japan the same
year. In 1957, the movie La Mujer
de Dos Caras, directed by Miguel
M. Delgado, also included the song.
Its lyrics and melody have inspi-
red movies, soap operas, and plays,
creating a romantic atmosphere
with the virtueof being interpreted
by a great number of new artists of
all kinds.
Lucho Gatica, Leo Marini,
José Vélez, Julio Iglesias, Luis
Mariano, Raphael, Zalo Reyes,
Nana Mouskouri, Dámaso Pérez
Prado, Laura Fygi, Laura Pausi-
ni, Iva Zanicchi, Eydie Gormé y el
trío Los Panchos, Pedro Infante,
Leslie Cheung, Dalida, Marisela,
Cesaria Évora, Juan Torres, Luz
Casal, Zaz, Adanowsky, el trío ita-
liano Il Volo, Océano, and Adriana
Botina.
Some other recent artists like
Diego el Cigala, Luis Miguel, Ana
Gabriel, and Zalo Reyes have per-
formed this song too.
The first moment when the song
reached a notorious success was
on February 7th, 1956. According
to the newspaper La Hora, was
a #1 hit among the most popular
songs in Mexico during 23 weeks.
Although his radio and TV en-
terprise faced some difficulties and
it was highly criticized, Carlos’
song remained unstoppable. Over
five years, the song made him win
$200.000 only in Mexico, and be-
tween $ 160.000 and $200.000 a
year in Spain.
Carlos Eleta died on January
16th 2013, at the age of 94.
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