José Manuel Calderón

First to record Dominican bachata

In bachata’s early years, any number of influential artists made their impact on the genre. Luis Segura has been dubbed “The Father of Bachata” for the impact of his melodramatic vocal interpretations, as well as his longevity; Edilio Paredes and Augusto Santos both played pivotal roles, as musicians and arrangers, in forging the music’s stylistic framework. Cuco Valoy is unique in having acted as promoter, radio personality, distributor and recording artist during bachata’s infancy. There is much room for debate as to which of these bachateros has had the greatest influence on the genre’s development. There is no debate at all, however, as to the fact that the first bachata to be regarded as such was not recorded by any of them, but by José Manuel Calderón on May 30th, 1962, in the studios of Radiotelevisión Dominicana (Borracho de amor and Condena).

The style of music which the San Pedro native recorded was much closer to bolero than to the spare two-guitar arrangements of bachata at its most recognizable. Unlike many later bachateros, Calderón did not sing in a fine, tenor voice but rather in a rich baritone reminiscent of Mexican singers like Pedro Infante. Many of his arrangements included string sections, horn sections or a piano, although one uniquely Dominican innovation in Calderón’s music was the use of the güira instead of the maracas to mark the time. Unlike other bachateros, Calderón has recorded with a güira from day one. His music was also received as bolero, without the stigma that bachata would come to bear, both by the public and by his fellow artists. He recorded “Por seguirte” in 1966 accompanied by Johnny Ventura’s orchestra, and Puerto Rican bolero great Felipe Rodriguez was instrumental in promoting “Llanto a la luna”, probably Calderón’s best-loved song. Calderón went on to cultivate a lifelong friendship with Rodriguez, whose style is quite similar to his own. In the year after his ground breaking first recording, he released four singles, each of which went on to become a classic not only in the genre but in Dominican culture in general—Quema esas cartas, Lagrimas de sangre, Serpiente humana and Llanto a la luna. According to Calderón, he went on to record forty-two successive singles which were all, by the standards of bachata’s rather informal economy, number one hits.

Working before the marginalization of the genre, Calderón enjoyed privileges which would be unavailable to later bachateros, recording with international labels like Kubaney. In 1967, he traveled to New York to record with the BMC label, and he decided to remain there with his lead guitarist, Andres Rodriguez. Over the next five years Calderón was a fixture in a music scene which primarily revolved around well-known Puerto Rican boleristas like Felipe Rodriguez, Blanca Iris Villafañe, Tommy Figueroa and Odilio Gonzalez. In this company he played venues like Teatro Riopiedras, Teatro Jefferson and the legendary Teatro Puerto Rico.

In 1972, Calderón returned to the Dominican Republic to find a substantial change in bachata’s fortunes. The music had by then become marginalized, associated with prostitution and poverty, and only one nationwide radio station, Radio Guarachita, played the music. The relegation of bachata to a music of “la mala vida” in turn affected the public’s perception of Calderón, who was categorized with other bachateros whose styles were considerably more decadent than his own. The music that he made, however, began to change as the genre changed, and his songs from this period tell the story of life in the brothel and barrio in much the same way that other bachateros’ music does (La saqué de la barra, Bebiendo en la barra). These songs were commercially successful, but did not become classics of Dominican popular culture the way his early hits had. The situation was difficult enough to encourage Calderón to return to New York, where he watched a Dominican community grow in Washington Heights and give rise to a fledgling bachata scene there as well. Where he had once played for Puerto Rican audiences alongside Odilio Gonzalez, he now played for Dominican audiences in El Internacional, later to become El Restaurant 27 de Febrero.

The advent of the electric guitar in bachata seemed to eclipse the style of Calderón and other pioneers. However, with the acceptance of the genre in recent years, he has begun to receive some small part of the recognition warranted by his classic repertoire, and by his place in history as the first person to record what we now know as bachata. Almost any event which claims to celebrate the music’s long and difficult story must include him in the lineup of performers, and in recent years he’s played on the stages of the Teatro Nacional, Gran Teatro del Cibao and Lehman and Hostos colleges. Calderón continues to record and distribute his own recordings, and he is currently engaged in constructing his own web site.

-- David Wayne

549 Comments

Facebook Twitter Email this

Add new comment

marie c.reyes September 8, 2015

me gustaria saber el titulo de "y yo quisiera tambien ser tus aretes para decirte lo mucho que te quiero"

leonel francis July 1, 2013

papito calderon y yo fuimos amigos de ocasion en la postrimeria de su primera gravacion y desde entonces hemos extrechado mas nuestros vinculos de amistad

mike melendez May 7, 2013

el primer bachatero real salio de Puerto rico en el 1954, Blas Hernandez, cuando grabo " la carta en el ropero" luego reeditada y grabada por Toño Rosario. Busquen la original y diganme si no es una bachata clasica.Por lo demas le doy credito a la Rep. dom. por mntener la tradicion bachatera en su pais y fuera de este..

ramon cabrera April 7, 2013

si se ponen a pensar jose manuel calderon copiavas la musicas Mexicana. en los anos 60s. yo creo que la bachata es musica de los canpo mexicanos.

Jose Lagares January 6, 2013

Hola, mi nombre es jose vivo en Miami y quisiera saber donde puedo conseguir los diferentes Cd's de Jose Ml. Calderon. Gracias.

Jose Capellan July 8, 2012

Acabo de escuchar una entrevista con Luis Segura en el programa formalmente informal, a cargo de Pastrano. en estrevista esta tambien el Hemano de Rafael Encarnacion. Luis Segura dices k el primer en Grabar bachata fue Calderon en el ano 1962, y despues fue Rafael Encarnacion k murio de 18 anos en un accidente y grabo 10 temas de bachatas en el 1964, despues de su muerte es k nace Luis Segura ya k Segura era musico de Encarnacion y no cantaba, a raiz de morir Encarnacion Segura entonces se lanza con su grupo al final del 1964 y su primer tema fue Carinito de mi Vida. anoten k lo acabo de escuchar del propio Luis Segura.

JULIETA June 7, 2012

REYMON, EL PAPA ES CALDERON,EL OTRO FUE DES
PUES, EURIPIDES AQUI SE ESTA HABLANDO DE BACHATA NO DE DEPORTE.AL QUE TU TE REFIERE ES DE ESPANA, HAY UNA GRAVACION DONDE FREDI VERAS GOICO Y YAQUI NUNEZ DELANTE DEL FALSO PAPA QUE ES EL ANONAITO Y CALDERON LLAMARON A JOSE M CALDERON PAPA YTAMBIEN PIONERO EL ANONAITO SE QUEDO CALLADO, POR QUE NO ES LUIS
ES CALDERON EL PAPA Y PIONERO NO PODEMOS IR EN CONTRA DE LA HISTORIA.

JULIETA June 7, 2012

en una casa hay un solo papa, asi tambien en la bachata
jose manuel calderon, es el unico papa y el unico pionero
nadie antes del 1962 habia grabado bachata,lo que grabo el perto riqueno se parese por que casi son los misnos instrumentos y esos paises tienen muchas cosas paresidas.jose m calderon es el primero.

bautista lopez March 23, 2012

me encanta este artista y sus canciones

jose manuel vargas March 1, 2012

no lo conoci personalmente ,pero lo considero como un bachatero autoctono ,en verdad su voz era lo mejor