LOS VAN VAN 1974
1994
1. Llegué Llegué
2. Guararey de Pastora
3. De todo lo mejor
4. Después de todo qué más da
5. Mi ritmo caliente
6. Sólo soy un Van Van
7. Será tan grande el amor
8. A ver qué sale
9. Pues no puede ser
10. Y no le conviene
11. Hasta la semana que viene
12. Son eternos el orgullo y el valor del pueblo cubano
All Songs written by Juan Formell except “Guararey de Pastora（Pedro Speck）”
Liner Notes
Three years ago in July, on JAL flight 9006 on my way back from N.Y., I listened to an anthology of Cuban music edited by David Byrne. “Llegué Llegué” was the seventh song. I’ll never forget the first shock.
It was chosen as the theme song for my movie “Topaz | Tokyo Decadence,” so I must have listened to it hundreds of times, but I never get tired of it.
On my third trip to Cuba, I was invited to EGREM’s studio and listened to their album “Los Van Van,” which includes “Llegué Llegué” as the first track. All the songs were amazing. Not only was it great music, but I felt like I had made a great artistic discovery.
I haven’t heard rock music since the Pistols. When the Pistols appeared, I thought, “Rock is dead and only the beat is left.”
After that, I listened to reggae, New York salsa, ethnic music from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, jazz fusion from the American West Coast, film scores, and oldies, but nothing that could be called a musical experience happened to me (except classical music).
At that time, I came across an album called “Los Van Van.” On my way back to Japan from Cuba, I copied all the songs onto a cassette and listened to them with Ryuichi Sakamoto in my hotel room in New York. It was the first time that Ryuichi Sakamoto and I had “appreciation” of all the songs on an album (other than Sakamoto’s ).
“We created this album aiming for the highest level. We want you to listen to it.” The original jacket contains leader Juan Formell’s declaration.
The masterpiece created by Cuba’s top band Los Van Van in 1974 has been made into a CD for the first time in the world.
I firmly believe that it is a monumental piece of popular music, along with the Beatles’ “Sergeant Peppers,” the Rolling Stones’ “Beggars Banquet,” and Jimi Hendrix’s “Electric Ladyland.”
Ryu Murakami
Original Recording Staff
Productor: Juan Pablo Torres
Director y Arreglista : Juan Formell
Técnico de Grabación: Antonio López Alonso
Diseño: Pablo Labaniño
Realización: Victor Manuel Navarrete
Fotos: Oscar Pérez / René Hedman
Estudios de Grabación: EGREM, Habana, Cuba
CD staff
Produced by : Ryu Murakami
Mastering Engineer: Kazumi Sugiura (Sony Records)
Art Direction & Design: Tomoaki Sakai (Blancchic)
Translator: Yukiko Yoshino
Production Service: Ayuko Yamada (Sony Records)
Promotion: Naoko Kodama (Sony Records), Mamiko Kuroda (Sony Records)
Supervisor: Ikuo Nabeta, Tamio Suzuki (Sony Records)
Special Thanks to : Cary Diez, Haruhiko Kouno