Malagueña Salerosa — also known as La Malagueña — is a well-known Son Huasteco or Huapango song from Mexico, which has been covered more than 200 times by recording artists.
The song is that of a man telling a woman (from Málaga, Spain) how beautiful she is, and how he would love to be her man, but that he understands her rejecting him for being too poor.
Malagueña Salerosa is attributed to Elpidio Ramírez and Pedro Galindo, published by Peer International in 1947 (monitored by BMI), although Mexican composer Nicandro Castillo questions the validity of that authorship. As he mentions:
"The issue is controversial because […] [hidalguense composer] don Nicandro Castillo wrote that several tunes from la Huasteca which in decades past were known as huapangos, composed by Elpidio Ramírez, Roque Ramírez and Pedro Galindo, were actually anonymous songs, as was the case of Cielito Lindo and La Malagueña, which like La Guasanga or El Sacamandú, were in the public domain, written “long before the construction of the Cathedral of Huejutla”."
Many have recorded and played this song, in particular Conjunto huastecos, Mariachis and Bolero Trios. But the most famous version was made by Miguel Aceves Mejía with a mariachi band. With Huapangos or Son Huastecos, the falsetto technique is used to great effect, as in David Záizar's version. Quite a few versions of the song feature vocal gymnastics by whomever sings them, particularly the stretching of vowels such as the "e" sound in the gentilic 'Malagueña' for as long as the singer can hold the note. Other known mariachi versions of the song were recorded by
Antonio Aguilar,
Antonio Aguilar and Joselito
Ramón Vargas,
Miguel Aceves Mejía,
Mariachi Vargas, and
David Záizar.
Conjunto huastecos that have played this song include,
Los Camperos de Valles,
Trio Chicontepec,
Trio resplandor huasteco, and
Conjunto de Juan Reynoso
Bolero trio versions were recorded by
Los Panchos, and
Los Tres Ases.
Rafael Méndez on his album Mendez and Almeida Together
This song became known internationally and has been recorded by such Mexican and non-Mexican artists as:
Bud & Travis on their 1959 album Bud and Travis.
The Limeliters on their 1960 album The Limeliters.
Ray Boguslav in 1961 on the album Curfew shall not ring tonight Monitor MF359
Kathy Kirby whose 1963 UK hit (#17) "You're the One" set English lyrics (by Marcel Stellman) to the melody of "Malagueña Salerosa".
Yugoslav and Serbian singer Nikola Karovic recorded "Malagueña" in 1964 as a single album and sold it in more than 1.000.000 copies.
Trini Lopez on his 1964 album The Latin Album, however, wasn't released as a single until 1968.
Luiz Bonfá on his 1966 album "The Brazilian Scene"
Harry James on his 1966 album The Ballads And The Beat! (Dot DLP 3669 and DLP 25669).
Paco de Lucía on his 1967 album Dos guitarras flamencas en America Latina
Nancy Ames on her 1969 all Spanish album "This Is The Girl That Is".
Trio Los Angeles in 1973, reaching the Dutch pop charts. It was produced by Hans Vermeulen and played by the band Sandy Coast.
The San Francisco rock band The Tubes sang it on their 1975 album debut.
The Croatian singer Massimo Savić in 1988 on his album Riječi čarobne (Magic Words).
The Texan folksinger Tish Hinojosa sang it on her 1991 album Aquella Noche
Cowboy music group Riders in the Sky on their 1994 album Cowboys in Love and their 2003 album Riders in the Sky Silver Jubilee
Nana Mouskouri on her 1998 album Côté Sud, Côté Coeur.
Eddie Palmieri on his 1998 album El Rumbero del Piano.
Plácido Domingo on his 1999 album 100 Años de Mariachi, which won a Grammy Award for Best Mexican-American Performance.
Helmut Lotti in 2000 on the album Latino Classics.
The French singer Olivia Ruiz in 2003 on her album J'aime pas l'amour, and then again on her 2008 Spanish-language album La Chica Chocolate
Tex-mex band Chingón recorded it for the 2004 soundtrack of Kill Bill: Volume 2.
Chitãozinho & Xororó in 2006 on their album Vida Marvada
Yanni on his 2010 album Yanni Mexicanisimo
The Italian band El Cuento de la Chica y la Tequila recorded "Malagueña Salerosa" on their 2013 EP The Wounded Healer.
Antonio Banderas played the Malagueña in the movie "Once upon time in Mexico".
Bomba Estéreo
Los Caballeros
Carol Cisneros
"Once upon a time in Mexico" mariachi version of Malaguena salerosa recorded by Chingon, members of group Del Castillo of Austin, Texas and Robert Rodriguez motion picture director and producer.
José Feliciano
The Iranian singer Googoosh.
Lydia Mendoza
Ronstadt Generaciones y los Tucsonenses
Pablito Ruiz
Sandler and Young
The Iranian singer Viguen who sang La Malagueña in Persian. He has a Spanish version as well.
