Post #440909 by Asha'man on Wed, Mar 18, 2009 12:02 PM

Hi, I just popped in to see if there was anything new on my father's music and saw the posts by Similau. My father (Arden Clar) wrote the music but I have seen Leopoldo González credited with writing the Spanish lyrics, dad wasn't much of a lyricist. Similau is right about the lyric being "aye Similau" rather than "I Similau". I hadn't heard anything about the god Similau other than he was the Voodoo god of fertility. What Similau posted was interesting stuff. I have heard the Martin Deney version of the song and am not fond of it. I do like the version Desi Arnez sang on Peggy Lee's radio show. I think it is very funny that she calls it a native Cuban folk song when it was written by an American Jew who had never left the country. I guess you call that marketing. I believe that Katrina Valente had a hit with it also. I know dad had an old 78 of her version. Of course the best version was always when I was a kid sitting by my dad's piano as he played his own music. Nothing like hearing it from the creator. Glad you all like the music. You can find the sheet music in most of the Latin Fake Books, for those that want to play as well as listen.