Buena Vista Social Club: best-selling world music of all time

[GoogaMooga]

It was Ry Cooder's masterstroke, go to Havana, find the old son artists and resurrect their careers, all at once! The main players were:

Compay Segundo
Ruben Gonzales
Ibrahim Ferrer
Omara Portuondo
Eliades Ochoa y el Cuarteto Patria
Israel "Cachao" Lopez

Seen them all, although not together at once. The whole ensemble only had two live appearances, Carnegie Hall and Amsterdam, but there is a DVD out of the Carnegie Hall concert, I think.

It's great music, albeit a pretty obvious choice, the way Bob Marley is everyman's choice in reggae. But what is most important now, is that the Buena Vista Social Club members are no longer languishing in obscurity. I like them all. Got a handshake from Ruben Gonzales, what a great player he was! And Compay Segundo on his last tour, appearing at the Royal Festival Hall, South Bank. Ah, the memories! Right now I am spinning Eliades Ochoa, perhaps the most partyin' of the lot.

[Jimbly]

I saw Ibrahim Ferrer dead in Havana.

[cheifwhat]

I saw Ibrahim Ferrer dead in Havana.

You're going to have to explain that

[Jimbly]

I saw Ibrahim Ferrer dead in Havana.

You're going to have to explain that

I saw his burial plot in the Necropolis in Havana.

[cheifwhat]

I saw Ibrahim Ferrer dead in Havana.

You're going to have to explain that

I saw his burial plot in the Necropolis in Havana.

OK, so you didn't see his cold dead body as you implied

[Jimbly]

You're going to have to explain that

I saw his burial plot in the Necropolis in Havana.

OK, so you didn't see his cold dead body as you implied

Aye, so I did.

[cheifwhat]

I saw his burial plot in the Necropolis in Havana.

OK, so you didn't see his cold dead body as you implied

Aye, so I did.

Did you say "So Long Kid, Take A Bow"?

[Jimbly]

OK, so you didn't see his cold dead body as you implied

Aye, so I did.

Did you say "So Long Kid, Take A Bow"?

No, that's been my signature since 2011. I was in Havana 5 years ago.

[Fonz]

I saw one of the original dudes on the night I got engaged. At the Hotel Nacional.
I think it was one of the percussionists.
It was hard to pick him out from all the coattail riders on stage.