Mexican/Spanish "crooners"?

I'm looking for Spanish-language equivalents to artists like Helen O'Connell, Doris Day, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby etc. Are there equivalents? I don't mean singing rancheras in the same time period, but a more smooth sound. Maybe a bit like Luis Miguel's "Romances" sets. I'm particularly looking for vintage artists my mother-in-law would be surprised to hear again, but newer artists are fine too.

I'm looking for a smooth, or possibly lively sound, NOT "belting out" a song.

 

The Spanish equivalent to Frank Sinatra have to be Julio Iglesias (he also have an album called Mexico, dedicated exclusively to Mexican songs)

 

Well, I particularly like Jose Jose. Also Marco Antonio Muniz. Plenty of Spanish singers try to sing rancheras and the like eventually, so I recommend sampling the stuff beforehand.

 

Cheo Feliciano
Jimmy Sabater

 

Luis Miguel's is just an album of covers (though you may be aware of this already) so you might want to check the original artists/versions of those songs: people like Armando Manzanero, Pedro Infante, Roberto Cantoral, to name a few. On the other hand, the classic "trio" outfits such as Los Panchos, Los Dandys, were the original inspiration for the arrangements, the sound, and overall the identity that Luis Miguel was trying to convey with those albums.

I'm not sure if the word crooner is appropriate, but singers who have an stature (such as Sinatra's) in Latin America and Spain, are: José José, Marco Antonio Muñíz, Raphael, Sandro, Julio Jaramillo, to name just a few. I must confess I don't listen to much of this music, but for several familiar and professional reasons I ended up familiarising with many of these artists. Coincidentally, both José José (Mexico) and Raphael (Spain) did cover versions of Sinatra's "My way".

Also, singer Emmanuel in the early eighties recorded a landmark album in Latin American music, Íntimamente, which to this day continues to sell very well and has received several accolades, not to mention the many sales records it has broken.

Another artist that should be mentioned here is Roberto Carlos, a native of Brazil who has nonetheless made quite an impact with his Spanish language albums.

 

Regarding "romantic" music (ballads) à la Julio Iglesias / José José / Luis Miguel, the best singer ever in my opinion was the late Nino Bravo. He had an amazing voice. Sadly, his successful career was cut short by a car accident that took his life when he was 28 years old. Here are two of his most famous recordings:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sUvASlQiAM

 

Vicente Fernandez, the Frank Sinatra of Mexico, and quite the legend in Mexico.

 

Someone gave me an album of old Spanish language 45s, and I really liked Benny More, who also recorded with Perez Prado.

 

And we share the same birthday.

 

Mick Karn covered one of his songs:

 

jose jose
good songs are: el triste, nave del olvido,40 y 20, amar y querer.
he also does a decent rendition of new york new york.

 

Mmm, the Jose Jose suggestion led me to find a nice album together with Juan Gabriel this morning. Some of it a bit 80s but still good. I'm particularly looking for earlier-era and female, but all suggestions are good actually.

 

You can try Madrid-born singer Paloma San Basilio, who started her career in 1975 and is still active:



BTW, around six weeks ago I had the pleasure of being a part of the small symphonic ensemble (double bass player) that accompanied her during her visit to my city as part of her current tour. I only have a 45 RPM and some of her hits on different compilations, and I asked her to sign my 45 RPM:

 

He was special, great!

 

More subdued.

 

Roberto Carlos all the way. Maybe not a Sinatra style crooner (check Julio Iglesias for that), but indeed an amazingly moving performer. I just saw him life. He is the man

 

This might not fit you, but Celia Cruz is a great one, and she's covered a lot of different material.

 

Agustin Lara

Agustín Lara - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia »