Bésame Mucho

Bésame mucho: Boleros, a musical genre as told by a song

One of the most famous songs written by a Mexican composer is “Bésame mucho,” (“Kiss me a lot”) by Consuelo Velázquez. Inspired by the aria “Quejas, o la Maja y el Ruiseñor” from the one-act opera "Goyescas" by Enrique Granados, it was first recorded in 1941 by Emilio Tuero and Chela Campos. Since then, it has been translated into over twenty languages, featured in movies, and performed over two million times on radio and television.

“Bésame mucho” has been recorded by The Beatles, Dizzy Gillespie, and others in styles ranging from a capella to jazz to trio bolero. You can listen to some of those recordings and the albums they are featured on through the links provided here.

• TV show: Siempre en Domingo (circa 1990) / (Consuelo Velázquez)

  • Influenced by: Quejas o la maja y el ruiseñor (1911) / Enrique Granados

• [First to record the song in 1940] / (Emilio Tuero)

• (1943) / (Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra)

• Follow the boys (1944) / (Charlie Spivak Orchestra)

• The Cowboy and the Señorita (1944) / (Dale Evans)

• The birth of soul! (1950) / (The Ray-O-Vacs)

• Salsa, Samba, Santería (bolero) / (Trio Los Panchos)

• Unsurpassed masters (rock and roll) / (The Beatles)

• The Beatles anthology v. 1 (recorded 1962, lost until 1980s) (rock and roll) / (The Beatles)

• 20th Century Icons: Nat King Cole (100 Classic Tracks) / (Nat King Cole)

• Dino Latino (1962) / (Dean Martin)

• This is Wes Montgomery (jazz) (1963) / (Wes Montgomery)

• My way (1969) (jazz) / (Dizzy Gillespie)

• My life for a song (classical) / (arr. L. Holdridge) (Plácido Domingo)

• Music from the palm court (1985) (tango) / (The Tango Project)

• Romances (1997) (balada) / (Luis Miguel)

• Música popular Mexicana (2000) (orchestral) / (Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco)

• México a capella (2004) (a capella) / (arr. A.C. Jobim for vocal ensemble) (Voz en Punto)

• Other versions available on Naxos

Musical selections available through Naxos Music Library and Media Collections Online to authorized users.

Sponsored by the Latin American Music Center and Cook Music Library.