Jesús Sánchez Erazo “Chuíto el de Bayamón,” also known as “el decano de los cantores” (the dean of the singers), was born in Bayamón, Puerto Rico in 1900. His mother, Aurora Erazo, died during childbirth, and his father, Ricardo Sánchez, passed away nine years later (Rodríguez León 1979: 56) (1). According to The Cuatro Project, he began working as a wagon driver learning to sing “cadenas” at a young age (2). Of humble origins, Chuíto also worked in the sugarcane fields, in sugar mill facilities and cigar factories thus enduring the exploitation common to the Puerto Rican peasantry (Rodríguez León 1979: 56). Chuíto’s calling for music, however, was always there: he wrote his first song at age twelve (Rodríguez León 1979: 57).

According to The Cuatro Project, he recorded popular music with Ralph Sánchez’s orchestra in 1926; though Chuíto alleged to have been the first jíbaro to sing on the radio, trovador Chuíto el de Cayey may have actually achieved this feat before him (3). In the 1940s, he became the lead-singer for cuatro player and composer Ladislao “Ladí” Martínez’s Conjunto Típico Ladí, created in New York City (Noel 2007: 6) (4). With Ladí, he recorded “Un jíbaro en Nueva York,” a controversia with Ernestina Reyes “La Calandria.” It was actually Ladí who baptized him as “Chuíto el de Bayamón” (Rodríguez León 1979: 58). From 1949 to 1977 Chuíto collaborated with Abelardo Díaz Alfaro, the famous Puerto Rican author, in the radio program “La vida de Teyo Gracia y su mundo” aired in WIPR (Malavet Vega 2015: 346; Rodríguez León 1979: 57) (5). In addition, Chuíto participated in the films “La trulla” (1951), "Preciosa" (1965), and "El otro camino" (1959).

Throughout his career Chuíto recorded more than 40 LPs (Malavet Vega 2015: 346) (6) and performed in New York, Boston, Chicago, New Jersey, Hawai’i, Spain, Cuba and other Latin American cities (Rodríguez León 1979: 57). His repertoire is characterized by its witticism and sense of humor, and sophisticated musical arrangements. Along with Flor Morales Ramos “Ramito,” Odilio González and Daniel Santos, he had a huge influence in the singing style of Puerto Rican salsa star Héctor Lavoe (Guadalupe Pérez 2005: 33) (7). In 1975 and 1976 he was recognized with the “Agüeybaná Gold Album” award (Rodríguez León 1979: 56).

Chuíto, who was a supporter of the political ideal that sought to make Puerto Rico a state of the United States (Rodríguez León 1979: 58), died in Bayamón in 1979. Shortly thereafter, Andrés Jiménez “El Jíbaro,” who is a pro-independence Puerto Rican nueva canción singer-songwriter, released the beautiful tribute album A Chuíto el de Bayamón, maestro de trovadores accompanied by Grupo Mapeyé. A testament, no doubt, to Chuíto’s ability to speak to Puerto Ricans of all political persuasions.

In "El Decano de los Cantores, Vol. 7," Chuíto is accompanied by his son Chuitín, and Nieves Quintero y su Conjunto Típico. The album opens with “El niño campesino,” which, according to Ansonia’s archives, was written by Deffit Martínez. The song narrates the story of a poor peasant child who goes barefoot, has no skateboard, no bicycle, and “does not know how to work.” Chuitín, presumably impersonating a child from the city—his voice is child-like—asks Chuíto to take him to the mountains so that he can admire the natural landscapes and teach the peasant child “to read and play.” Thus, the song contrasts the backwardness, poverty and ignorance of rural life (whose only redeeming feature seems to be the natural landscape) to a city life that grants access to knowledge and happiness.

Three more songs focus on paternal-filial relationships.

In the first décima of “Consejo de padre,” Chuíto tells Chuitín that the youth has been “perverted” by drugs and alcohol. While he acknowledges that his son is “good,” he warns him to be careful because the prisons are filled with “addicts.” Chuitín replies that he has stayed away from vices because he does not want to muddle his father’s name. Chuíto acknowledges that Chuitín is being honest but urges him to remain alert. He fears that a youth that is only interested in “living without working, acquiring vices and forgetting their dignity and their health” might have an influence on him. In the final décima, Chuitín assures his father that this will not happen. He will be just like his father was in his youth: hardworking and respectable, and he will never be like those addicts “who do not even wash their faces.” A heartfelt song of filial love, “Consejo de padre” also documents (and takes a stance against) the rise of drug abuse in the Puerto Rico of the 1960s. Unfortunately, it does so at the expense of stigmatizing drug addicts who are reduced to criminality and uncleanliness rather than being understood as people who have a disease.

In “La que no muerde patea,” which according to Ansonia’s archives was written by Jorge López, Chuitín is looking for the ideal woman. She must be “beautiful,” “understanding” and have the “fragrance of a rose.” Otherwise, he “swears” he “will not get married.” His father, more cynical and pragmatic, tells him: “sorry, you will not find that” because “women are like the wind,” whether they are “beautiful” or “ugly,” all women take the same path. Chuíto adds that “here in the United States the woman who doesn’t bite, kicks.” Unconvinced, Chuitín goes back to his daydreaming. The ideal woman must be “decent, passionate, and have black eyes.” She must also “not make me wait,” otherwise “I swear I will not get married.” Chuíto, now more harshly, replies: “you will be alone for the rest of your life since the perfect woman doesn’t exist.” He concludes by stating that: “if you want to get married you have to move on and find a woman that is very ugly like Bienvenidos’s because here in the United States, the woman who doesn’t bite, kicks.” Ultimately, this is a funny song where we get a glimpse of some of the problematic ways in which Puerto Rican men gendered women in the 1960s.

“Improvisando y cantando,” an aguinaldo jíbaro, portrays Chuíto and Chuitín comparing the present and the past. Chuíto narrates the life of Jesus and his Via Crucis. His son replies by talking about the many accomplishments of the “modern era.” Despite all the wars and hatred, he sings, we also witnessed the first moon landing. Chuíto goes back to Jesus’s Via Crucis stressing how they killed Jesus because they “did not believe in salvation.” Chuitín replies that it is true that Jesus’s story is valuable, but that despite the menace of atomic war, there are good things in the present such as the use of satellites and the exploration of the universe. Though the juxtaposition of religion and space exploration seems odd, this tension was also explored by other composers of the time such as Chilean nueva canción singer-songwriter Violeta Parra in “Ayúdame, Valentina,” dedicated to Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshcova. There, however, Violeta took a fiercely anti-religious stance asking Valentina to confirm that God “did not have a mansion up there.”

In “Yo me vuelvo a Borinquen,” Chuíto continues to reflect on the generational divide already present in “Improvisando y cantando.” Here, though, he is more concerned with establishing his musical tastes. Chuíto stresses that he is “tired of the twist and the pachanga,” (the pachanga being a Cuban musical genre somewhat similar to Cha-Cha-Cha that was quite in vogue in the 1950s and 1960s). Because this is so, he is going “back to Puerto Rico in order to remember the past.” In the song, Chuíto also complains about the youth forgetting older musical traditions, among which, the plena, the [Cuban] danzón, and the jíbaro music of Natalia Rivera, Germán Rosario and his own. In an ironic twist, the cuatros play an arrangement that evokes pachanga right after the first décima before returning to a seis, that, in a further twist, they have named seis pachanga. In the second décima, Chuíto takes a plane to Jayuya to play some jíbaro music. Once again, he criticizes those who exchange his “seis villarán” for the “twist and the pachanga.” Now, though, the cuatros play a twist before returning to the seis. In the final décima, Chuíto mentions a variety of cuatro players and jíbaro musicians such as Nieves Quintero and Ladislao “Ladí” Martínez, and expresses his desire to eat “burundanga [a green vegetable-based plate] in the mountains, and forget this war between twist, rock and pachanga.”

The most hilarious song of the album is “El jíbaro bruto.” A classic of jíbaro music, in this seis villarán Chuíto narrates the story of a “dumb peasant” who is visiting the capital, San Juan, for the first time. Utterly confused, in the first décima the peasant takes a drugstore for a restaurant asking for some water and coffee. This, before being chased away by a policeman with a club as “the public laughs.” (And the public literally laughs: you can hear people laughing). In the second décima, this “dumb jíbaro” goes to a garage to buy a maví (a typical tree bark-based beverage), and then to a bakery. In the bakery, he asks for a “box of bismuth,” a medication that is used to treat diarrhea. Not surprisingly, at the end of the décima, “the public laughs” again. In the third décima, he heads to Bayamón, Chuíto’s hometown, where he mistakes a funeral home for a clothing store, and tries some pants on. After this, he heads over to the radio station. Once there, he tells the doorman that he is an “artist, a radio commentator, a musician and a declaimer” and, again, “the public laughs.” In the final décima, the jíbaro goes to a cinema, and asks, with “civility,” for some beer. It is then, that Chuíto realizes that the “dumb jíbaro”… is himself! Of course, Chuíto had provided some clues along the way (i.e. the reference to Bayamón). Chuíto concludes this décima by remarking what a mistake it was to “commit the barbarism” of leaving his land and agricultural work in order to pursue a “better environment.” But now, this “jíbaro bruto” is in New York, where—yes, you guessed it—"the public laughs” at him. In this song, then, Chuíto describes the plight of thousands of Puerto Ricans who migrated from the mountains to the capital, and from there to New York, highlighting the hilarious aspects of this social dislocation.

Funny as well is “Si tú me das una cosa,” a double-entendre seis montaña adentro where Chuíto impersonates three characters: a man, Rosa, and her mom María. Rosa, according to Chuíto, wanted “to eat a rooster that I had,” and she was quite “anxious” to enjoy this “most delicious prey.” Chuíto assures her that she will be able to eat it if “you give me one thing.” In the second decima, Rosa replies that she is “scared” insofar as she does not know what he might want in exchange. Chuíto tells her to not get nervous, that if she is “hungry” for the “animal” he will accommodate her… as long as “you give me one thing.” In the last décima, Chuíto and Rosa are portrayed dancing in a “corner.” Chuíto then shares that Rosa’s mom María, has “been listening to our conversation” all along. María then approaches Chuíto asking him what it is that he wants with her daughter. Chuíto, ever the trickster, answers: “I just want to give her the rooster so she can give me the spurs.” María “coughs,” presumably relieved, and replies: “Ok, I thought it was something else.” Hence, in the end, Chuíto fools María by having her believe that him and Rosa are merely talking about cockfights.

This album also includes several Christmas songs. “Vámonos pal campo,” classified as an aguinaldo trulla, calls for going to the mountains to enjoy Christmas festivities. The highlight of this song is the instrumental accompaniment. Throughout, the cuatros (playing the main melody) and the guitar (playing the bass line in the background) create a rich polyphonic texture that is most discernible in the instrumental interlude. “A los isabelinos,” is a classic of the Puerto Rican Christmas repertoire. Its chorus is sung by Puerto Ricans every Christmas. Chuíto’s decimillas revolve around partying, music-making, and the “asalto navideño,” the Puerto Rican tradition whereby a group of people arrive at a person’s home in the middle of the night to sing Christmas aguinaldos and villancicos, expecting to be greeted with food and alcohol. Not unlike “Vámonos pal campo,” the highlight is the musical accompaniment, particularly the awesome repiques of the bongo and the accompaniment of the harmonized cuatros. Also about Christmas are “Los tres santos reyes,” described as an aguinaldo parranda and “Navidades de mi infancia,” classified as an aguinaldo villancico. The first one is about the Three Kings and their visit to baby Jesus; the second, about how Chuíto is brought back to his childhood anytime he sees Christmas gifts.

Overall, this is a varied album where Chuíto reflects on migration, the generational divide, and drug abuse. His expected sense of humor and sophisticated musical arrangements are the major highlights.


(1) See: «En la muerte de Don Chú, el gran trovador de Bayamón .» in Revista del Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, Num 82, p. 56-58, by Mario A. Rodríguez León.
(2-3) www.cuatro-pr.org/es/node/150
(4) Urayoán Noel. “In the Decimated City: Symptom, Translation and Diasporic Identity in El Conjunto Ladí’s ‘Un jíbaro en Nueva York’ (1947).”
(5-6) Pedro Malavet Vega. Sale loco de contento…la canción popular en Puerto Rico de 1927 al 1950.
(7) Hiram Guadalupe Pérez. Historia de la salsa.

-Dr. Mario R. Cancel-Bigay