Mambo Baby!

Mambo Baby!

Well, it might be a bit of a stretch, and it might have been a bit of a fad, but it also flavored the beverage. Mambo. A lively mix born of a Latin dance of Cuban descent in the 30s and introduced by Perez Prado to an American audience in the 40s. It found it’s way into the popular music culture from big band to jazz and R&B. This week’s show samples some of the performances that were totally infected by its rhythm. We’ll hear from Mickey Baker, Wynonie Harris, and Tiny Grimes on the R&B side as well as the bandleaders who brassed it up including Perez Prado, Desi Arnaz, and Xavier Cugat.

No.
1Artist Title Album Buy
2Wynonie Harris All She Wants to do is Mambo Lovin' Machine Amazon
3Perez Prado Mambo #5 Cocktail Hour : Mambo Jambo Amazon
4The Andrews Sisters The Mambo Man Golden Age of the Andrews Sisters [Disc 4] Amazon
5Tito Puente Cuban Pete Mambo Kings Amazon
6Tiny Grimes Showboat Mambo Rumba Gone Mambo Amazon
7Xavier Cugat Besame Mucho (Kiss Me Much) The Original Mambo King [Disc 2] Amazon
8Desi Arnaz Holiday In Havana The Best of Desi Arnaz: The Mambo King Amazon
9Desi Arnaz;Amanda Lane Cuban Pete The Best of Desi Arnaz: The Mambo King Amazon
10J.J. Jones After Hours Mambo Rumba Gone Mambo Amazon
11Mickey Baker Guitar Mambo Rumba Gone Mambo Amazon
12Ruth Brown Mambo Baby Miss Rhythm Greatest Hits And More Disc 2 Amazon
13Joe Liggins & His Orchestra They Were Doing the Mambo Mercury R&B Story '45-'55 – [Disc 6] West Coast Blues V2 Amazon
14Cherokee & Band Mambo Blues Rumba Gone Mambo Amazon
15The Treniers Who Put The 'Ungh' In The Mambo You're Killin' Me Amazon
16Don Swan El Cumbanchero [Guaracha-Fast Rhumba] Ultra-Lounge, Vol. 2: Mambo Fever Amazon
17Fay Simmons Big Joe Mambo Rumba Gone Mambo Amazon
18Big Maybelle New Kind Of Mambo The Complete OKeh Sessions 1952-'55 Amazon
19Earl Bostic Mambostic Earl Bostic Flamingo Amazon
20Cozy Cole Cozy's Mambo 1 Rumba Gone Mambo Amazon
21Jack Costanzo Peter Gunn Mambo Ultra-Lounge, Vol. 2: Mambo Fever Amazon
22Bill Doggett Real Gone Mambo (Si Si Nova) Rumba Gone Mambo Amazon
23Esther Sutherland Clock Mambo Rumba Gone Mambo Amazon
24Xavier Cugat Cuban Mambo Cocktail Hour : Mambo Jambo Amazon
25Link Wray & The Wraymen Rumble Mambo Walkin' With Link Amazon
26Ry Cooder & Manuel Galban Patricia Mambo Sinuendo Amazon
27Yma Sumac Taki Rari Ultra-Lounge, Vol. 2: Mambo Fever Amazon
28Billy May Hernando's Hideaway Ultra-Lounge, Vol. 2: Mambo Fever Amazon
29The Manhattan Transfer The Speak Up Mambo (Cuentame) Anthology – Down in Birdland [Disc 1] Amazon
30Young-Holt Trio Wack Wack Big Noise: A Mambo Inn Compilation Amazon
31Tito Puente Hong Kong Mambo Cocktail Hour : Mambo Jambo Amazon
32Wynonie Harris Good Mambo Tonight Lovin' Machine Amazon
33Sonny Rollins Mambo Bounce Best of Sonny Rollins, the (Riverside) Amazon
34J.J. Jones Night Train Mambo Rumba Gone Mambo Amazon
35Norton Buffalo & The Knockouts Harmonica Mambo King of the Highway Amazon