MundoAndino Home : Peru Andes Travel: Peru culture, lodging, travel, and tours
El Condor Pasa (song)
El Condor Pasa (Flight of the Condor) is a song from the zarzuela El Condor Pasa by the Peruvian composer Daniel Alomia Robles written in 1913 and based on traditional Andean folk tunes.
It is possibly the best-known Peruvian song worldwide due to a cover version by Simon & Garfunkel in 1970 on their Bridge Over Troubled Water album. This cover version is called El Condor Pasa (If I Could). Paul Simon heard a version called "Paso Del Condor" by Jorge Milchberg, who is head of the group Urubamba, formerly known as Los Incas. Simon became friendly with the group through this song, and ended up touring with them and producing their first American album. Paul Simon personalized the song by adding his own English lyrics. On the Simon & Garfunkel version, Robles, Milchberg and Simon are all listed as songwriters. Later that year, Perry Como released a cover of Simon's English version on his album ''It's Impossible'', while Julie Felix took advantage of Simon and Garfunkel's decision not to release their version as a UK single, and had a UK Top 20 hit with it. Simon & Garfunkel did release their version as a single in the U.S. and it reached 18 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart in the fall of 1970.
History
In 1913, Alomia Robles composed "El condor pasa" and the song was first performed publicly at the Teatro Mazzi in Lima.
The musical group "Los Incas" performed the song in Paris in the 1960s, where it was heard by Paul Simon of Simon and Garfunkel. "Los Incas" told Simon, perhaps through ignorance, that the song was a 19th century musical composition by an anonymous composer. Simon became interested in the song and composed new lyrics for the melody. The song appeared on Simon and Garfunkel's 1970 album Bridge over Troubled Water.
In 1970, Alomia Robles' son, Armando Robles Godoy, filed a copyright lawsuit against Simon and demonstrated that the song had been composed by his father and that his father had copyrighted the song in the United States in 1933. Godoy said that he bears no ill will towards Simon for what he considers a misunderstanding. "It was an almost friendly court case, because Paul Simon was very respectful of other cultures. It was not carelessness on his part," says Robles Godoy. "He happened to hear the song in Paris from a vernacular group. He liked it, he went to ask them and they gave him the wrong information. They told him it was a popular tune from the 18th Century and not my fathers composition. It was a court case without further complications."
Other Versions
Spanish eurodance Dj, DJ Sammy, has a eurodance version on his album Heaven. This version does have lyrics, however they are spoken and not the Simon and Garfunkel ones.
russian pop star valery leontiev have the song in his album "The years of wandering" 2009.
References
This article is based on a translation of an article from the [[:es:Portada|Spanish Wikipedia]].
See also
Condor andino: Vultur gryphus
Need more information for your travel research or homework?
Ask your questions at the forum about Peruvian music or help others to find answers.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article El Condor Pasa (song)
