Compay Segundo: The Imprint of a Legend

 If there is one thing Cuban music boasts of, it is the legends that make it shine. Among those figures stands out the imprint of someone who, despite being named Máximo Francisco Repilado Muñoz, history remembers as Compay Segundo, one of the most representative examples of trova, son and bolero in our country.

This masterful clarinetist, singer, composer and guitarist was born in Siboney, Santiago de Cuba on November 18th, 1907 in the bosom of a family of humble peasants and although in his beginnings he earned his living as a barber and even a cigar twister, he found in music the greatest pleasure of his existence.

Máximo Francisco learned the particularities of the pentagram in solfeggio classes and developed a growing love for the clarinet, the guitar and the Cuban tres, to the point of inventing his own instrument, the harmonica, a seven-string guitar, with the singularity that one of these strings repeated the note «sol».

Besides being a member of the sextet Los Seis Ases from an early age, at the age of 15 he joined the Municipal Band of Santiago de Cuba, and by 1922, he began to associate with performers such as Sindo Garay and Ñico Saquito, and Yo vengo aquí, his first composition, dedicated to one of his youthful loves, was born.

He was a member of the Cubanacán quartet, a clarinet player in the Regla Firemen’s Band and formed part of the Hatuey quartet in 1938 together with the performers Lorenzo Hierrezuelo, Marcelino Guerra Rapindey and Evelio Machín, with whom he had a fruitful stay in Mexico and, upon his return, his talent stood out with the group led by Miguel Matamoros, while he accompanied the mythical Bárbaro del Ritmo, Benny Moré on stage.

In 1949, together with his partner in the Hatuey quartet, Lorenzo Hierrezuelo, also a guitarist and a former neighbor of Repilado in his hometown, he founded the duo Los Compadres, to rescue the sounds of his eastern land, the so-called «música de monte adentro». As between voices, Hierrezuelo was the first and Repilado the second, while playing the harmonica, Máximo Francisco Repilado Muñoz was immortalized as Compay Segundo.

A whole golden journey went through Cuban music thanks to songs like Mi son oriental, Macusa, Los barrios de Santiago, Yo canto en el llano, Huellas del pasado, Hey caramba, Vicenta or Sarandonga, which catapulted Los Compadres to success, at least until 1955, Repilado was reborn in the 80’s with Compay Segundo y sus Muchachos, gaining popularity thanks to their performances in Havana, Guadeloupe, Trinidad and Tobago, as well as in the United States, Spain, England, Switzerland, Italy, France and other European countries and Caribbean islands.

Precisely in Europe, thanks to songs like Chan Chan (the most famous of his repertoire) or Saludos Compay, the world recognized him for the gravity and roundness of his voice and the Caribbean roots of his sones, guarachas, boleros and songs, whose irresistible contagiousness made every one of his audience dance and consolidated as a symbol and identification card for Cuban music.

In his last years Compay Segundo rubbed shoulders with musical glory and albums such as Lo mejor de la vida, Calle Salud, Las flores de la vida or Duets consecrated his mastery and skill in the universe of sound. Precisely in Duets, he shared the stage with Cesaria Evora and Antonio Banderas, as well as with artists such as Pablo Milanés, Raimundo Amador, Santiago Auserón, among others.

Compay suffered from kidney failure and an acute metabolic disorder, and his health condition suddenly worsened until he died of a heart attack on July 14th, 2003 in the Miramar neighborhood, eight kilometers west of Old Havana.

That day died  the man who held the prestigious Aguila de Cristal (Crystal Eagle), an award given to him by the French Government, the Seal of Laureate, the highest decoration of the National Union of Cultural Workers for his life’s work, as well as the Félix Varela Order, the Medal for the Fight Against Bandits, the Grammy for the album Buena Vista, Social Club , a vast repertoire of more than a hundred songs, the pride of turning Cuban traditional music into a massive cultural phenomenon and the excellence of being among the elite of the most illustrious and everlasting musical glories both inside and outside the largest of the Antilles.

Written by Yadiel Barbón Salgado.