~2025-36718-61 at 00:05, 1 December 2025

2025-12-01T00:05:51Z

← Previous revision		Revision as of 00:05, 1 December 2025
Line 1:		Line 1:
	{{Short description\|Cuban trova guitarist, singer, and composer (1907–2003)}}		{{Short description\|Cuban trova guitarist, singer, and composer (1907–2003)}}
	{{Use dmy dates\|date=October 2021}}		{{Use dmy dates\|date=October 2021}}
			{{family name hatnote\|Muñoz\|Telles\|lang=Spanish}}
	{{Infobox musical artist		{{Infobox musical artist
	\| name = Compay Segundo		\| name = Compay Segundo
Line 20:		Line 21:
	\| years_active = <!-- YYYY–YYYY (or –present) -->		\| years_active = <!-- YYYY–YYYY (or –present) -->
	\| label =		\| label =
	~~\| associated_acts =~~
	\| website = <!-- {{URL\|example.com}} -->		\| website = <!-- {{URL\|example.com}} -->
	}}		}}

	'''Máximo Francisco Repilado Muñoz Telles''' (18 November 1907 – 13 July 2003), known professionally as "'''Compay Segundo'''", was a Cuban [[trova]] [[guitarist]], singer and [[composer]].		'''Máximo Francisco Repilado Muñoz Telles''' (18 November 1907 – 13 July 2003), known professionally as "'''Compay Segundo'''", was a Cuban [[trova]] [[guitarist]], singer and [[composer]].

imported>Revirvlkodlaku: Changing short description from "Cuban trova guitarist, singer and composer" to "Cuban trova guitarist, singer, and composer (1907–2003)"

2025-05-31T15:24:14Z

Changing short description from "Cuban trova guitarist, singer and composer" to "Cuban trova guitarist, singer, and composer (1907–2003)"

New page

{{Short description|Cuban trova guitarist, singer, and composer (1907–2003)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Compay Segundo
| image = CompaySegundoSayingGoodbye.jpg
| image_size =
| landscape = yes
| alt =
| caption = Segundo at the [[Hotel Nacional de Cuba]] with a standing ovation in 2002
| birth_name = Máximo Francisco Repilado Muñoz Telles
| alias =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1907|11|18|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Siboney, Cuba|Siboney]], Cuba
| origin =
| death_date = {{death date and age|2003|07|13|1907|11|18|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Havana]], Cuba
| genre = [[Trova]]
| occupation = Singer, guitarist, composer
| instrument = Guitar, [[Tres (instrument)|tres]], [[armónico]]
| years_active = 
| label =
| associated_acts =
| website = 
}}
'''Máximo Francisco Repilado Muñoz Telles''' (18 November 1907 – 13 July 2003), known professionally as "'''Compay Segundo'''", was a Cuban [[trova]] [[guitarist]], singer and [[composer]].

==Biography==
Compay (meaning ''[[compadre]]'') Segundo, so called because he was always second voice in his musical partnerships, was born in [[Siboney, Cuba|Siboney]], Cuba, and moved to [[Santiago de Cuba]] at the age of nine. His first engagement was in the Municipal Band of Santiago de Cuba, directed by his teacher, Enrique Bueno. In 1934, after a spell in a quintet, he moved to Havana, where he also played the clarinet in CI the Municipal Band. He also learned to play the guitar and the [[Tres (musical instrument)|tres]], which became his usual instruments. Compay Segundo also invented the [[armónico]], a seven-stringed guitar-like instrument, to fill the harmonic jump between the Spanish guitar and the tres.<ref name="afrocubaweb">[http://www.afrocubaweb.com/compaysegundo.htm "Compay Segundo"], AfroCubaWeb.</ref>
In the 1950s he became well known as the second voice and tres player in [[Los Compadres]], a duo he formed with [[Lorenzo Hierrezuelo]] in 1947.<ref>Orovio, Helio, ''Cuban music from A to Z'', Duke University Press Books, 2004, p. 176.</ref>

Los Compadres were one of the most successful Cuban duos of their time. The rediscovery of his music in Spain was with the help of [[Santiago Auserón]] in the 90's. Greater international fame came later, in 1997, with the release of the ''[[Buena Vista Social Club (album)|Buena Vista Social Club]]'' album, a hugely successful recording which won several [[Grammy]] awards. Compay Segundo appeared in the [[Wim Wenders]] [[Buena Vista Social Club (film)|film of the same title]].<ref name="afrocubaweb"/>

Segundo's most famous composition is "[[Chan Chan (song)|Chan Chan]]", the opening track on the ''Buena Vista Social Club'' album, a four-chord [[son (music)|son cubano]] song. "Chan Chan" was recorded by Segundo himself various times as well as by countless other Latin artists. Other compositions are "Sarandonga", "La calabaza", "Hey caramba", "Macusa", "Saludo Compay". These are all ''[[Son (music)|sones]]'', and this differentiates siu him from the more usual trova musicians, with their devotion to the [[bolero]]. However, it seems his interests went much further:
:I have danzones, waltzes, sones. I have some beautiful danzones. Why? Because I've learned from those who know how to preserve the tradition of the music. I play music the way it was played in yesteryear. I started out playing the ''son corto'' (short son). As [[Trio Matamoros|Miguel Matamoros]] used to say, "The son is short and sweet."... Back in the day, they'd start out playing son at seven in the evening, and they'd greet the dawn with it.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/buenavista/musicians/bios/compay_interview_eng.html|title=Compay Interview (English) - Buena Vista Social Club|website=Pbs.org}}</ref>

At a fiesta he sang to President [[Fidel Castro]], who took his pulse and joked about his vitality despite his 90-plus years. "Who could have imagined that?" he asked when he found himself at the [[Vatican City]], performing "Chan Chan" before [[Pope John Paul II]]. He explained his longevity simply: [[mutton]] consommé and a drink of [[rum]].

He predicted that he would live to be 115, but died of [[kidney failure]] in [[Havana]], 20 years short of his ambition.
[[File:Santiago de Cuba, Compay Segundo tomb.jpg|thumb|280px|The tomb of Compay Segundo at the [[Santa_Ifigenia_Cemetery | Cementerio de Santa Ifigenia]] in [[Santiago de Cuba]]. March 2014]]
In 2007, the 100th anniversary of Segundo's birth was celebrated with a concert of his compositions performed by a symphony orchestra in Havana with some of his musicians and sons.<ref>{{YouTube|UZ4EF9Dal_g}}</ref>

== Discography ==
*1942–55
**''Sentimiento guajiro''
**''Cantando en el llano''
**''Compay Segundo y Compay Primo''
**''Mi son oriental''
**''Los reyes del son''
**''Los compadres''
*1956–95
**''Balcón de Santiago''
**''Balcón de Santiago - Reedición''
**''Saludo, Compay''
*1996–2015
**''Cien años de son''
**''Son del monte''
**''Yo Vengo Aquí'' (1996)
**''[[Buena Vista Social Club (album)|Buena Vista Social Club]]'' ([[World Circuit (record label)|World Circuit]]/[[Nonesuch Records]],16 September 1997)
**''Antología'' (1997)
**''Lo mejor de la vida'' (1998)
**''Calle salud'' (1999)
**''Yo soy del norte''
**''Grandes Éxitos'' (2000)
**''Antología'' (2001)
**''Las flores de la vida'' (2001)
**''Duets'' (2002) Anthology of Compay Segundo's duos
**''[[Buena Vista Social Club at Carnegie Hall]]'' (World Circuit/Nonesuch Records, 14 October 2008) <small> (live album)</small>
**''[[Lost and Found (Buena Vista Social Club album)|Lost and Found]]'' (World Circuit/Nonesuch Records, 23 March 2015<ref name="nonesuch Buena Vista Social Club Lost and Found">{{cite web |url=http://www.nonesuch.com/journal/buena-vista-social-club-lost-and-found-previously-unreleased-march-24-2015-02-03 |title=Buena Vista Social Club's "Lost and Found," Collection of Previously Unreleased Tracks, Due March 23 |date= 3 February 2015 |website=[[Nonesuch Records]] |access-date= 13 May 2015}}</ref>) <small>(collection of previously unreleased tracks)</small>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.pbs.org/buenavista/musicians/bios/compay_interview_eng.html PBS Interview (by Betty Arcos) with Francisco Repilado a.k.a. Compay Segundo.]
* [http://www.buenavistasocialclub.com/ Official site of Buena Vista Social Club]
* [http://www.compaysegundo.eu/ Grupo Compay Segundo]
* {{in lang|es}} [http://www.lahuellasonora.com/compay_segundo.php?a=el-son-cubano Biography with photos of Compay Segundo in lahuellasonora.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304030934/http://www.lahuellasonora.com/compay_segundo.php?a=el-son-cubano |date=4 March 2016 }}
* [https://www.discogs.com/artist/140141-Compay-Segundo?page=1 Compay Segundo discography at discogs.com.] Retrieved 22 April 2016.

===Listening===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071122175944/http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=277454352 Grupo Compay Segundo audio samples]
*[[iarchive:BAVC1013541_SFJZ0363|1999 concert]] recorded at [[SFJAZZ Center|SFJAZZ]] Jazz Fest

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Segundo, Compay}}
[[Category:1907 births]]
[[Category:2003 deaths]]
[[Category:Musicians from Santiago de Cuba]]
[[Category:Deaths from kidney failure]]
[[Category:Cuban guitarists]]
[[Category:Cuban male guitarists]]
[[Category:Cuban songwriters]]
[[Category:Cuban male songwriters]]
[[Category:Buena Vista Social Club]]
[[Category:Son cubano singers]]
[[Category:20th-century Cuban guitarists]]
[[Category:20th-century Cuban male musicians]]

Compay Segundo - Revision history

~2025-36718-61 at 00:05, 1 December 2025

imported>Revirvlkodlaku: Changing short description from "Cuban trova guitarist, singer and composer" to "Cuban trova guitarist, singer, and composer (1907–2003)"