Besame Mucho

From Wikipedia:

“Bésame Mucho” (Spanish: [ˈbesame ˈmutʃo]; “Kiss Me A Lot”) is a bolero song written in 1932 by Mexican songwriter Consuelo Velázquez. It is one of the most popular songs of the 20th century and one of the most important songs in the history of Latin music. It was recognized in 1999 as the most recorded and covered song in Spanish of all time. Famous versions were sung by Trio Los Panchos and female vocalist Gigliola Cinquetti in 1968, and by Dalida in 1976. English lyrics to it were written by Sunny Skylar. It inspired the cult Indian song, Yeh Samaa Samaa Hai Pyar Ka, sung by Lata Mangeshkar in the film Jab Jab Phool Khile.

The song appeared in the film Follow the Boys (May 5, 1944) when it was played by Charlie Spivak and his Orchestra and in Cowboy and the Senorita (May 13, 1944) with vocal by Dale Evans. It was also sung by Chris Isaak in the 2003 movie Mona Lisa Smile.

Inspiration

According to Velázquez, she wrote this song even though she had never been kissed yet at the time, and kissing, as she heard, was considered a sin.

She was inspired by the piano piece “Quejas, o la Maja y el Ruiseñor”, from the 1911 suite Goyescas by Spanish composer Enrique Granados, which he later also included as “Aria of the Nightingale” in his 1916 opera of the same name. […]

In their early years, The Beatles frequently performed “Bésame Mucho” both on stage and in the studio. They included it in their setlist for their Decca Records audition on January 1, 1962, and performed it again during their first EMI recording session on June 6, 1962. The EMI recording was eventually released on “Anthology 1” in 1996. Their rendition featured English lyrics that did not correspond to the original Spanish version.

On January 29, 1969, during their “Get Back” sessions, they revisited the song once more. This performance was later included in the documentary film “Let It Be.”

I had this very diverse little record collection from which I was culling material. I remember I had the Coasters’ Zing Went The Strings Of My Heart, which was on the b-side of Yakety Yak. I can look back on these records and see what it was I liked. With Besame Mucho by the Coasters, it’s a minor song and it changes to a major, and where it changes to a major is such a big moment musically. That major change attracted me so much.

Paul McCartney – From “Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now” by Barry Miles, 1997

From The Usenet Guide to Beatles Recording Variations:

• [a] mono 6 Jun 1962. edited Jul 1984 at AIR Studios, Montserrat.
  
  CD: Apple CDP 8 34445 2 Anthology 1 1995.

A copy of this otherwise lost recording was found on a private reel in late 1983 or early 1984, probably in a mono mix made in 1962. It was not used for the Abbey Road Studios show in July 1983, but was in the lineup for the Sessions LP in August 1984. The last line going into the fade seems to be a repeat of the previous line, edited in, probably done for Sessions.

Lyrics

Officially appears on

Bootlegs

Live performances

“Besame Mucho” has been played in 3 concerts and 1 soundchecks.

Latest concerts where “Besame Mucho” has been played

Going further

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