Bartolomé Maximiliano Moré Gutiérrez was born in Santa Isabel de Las Lajas on August 23, 1919 and died February 19, 1963. We were still living in Cuba and his death hit my parents very hard. I learned later that my parents had attended several of his performances.
More’s music is found in every Cuban household in the US. I remember that my parents ordered some Beny More LP’s when we finally got a record player in Wisconsin. More’s music was exactly what my parents needed to survive those cold Wisconsin winters.
He started singing as a young man and eventually joined Perez Prado, the big Cuban orchestra of the 1950’s. More eventually started his own band and enjoyed tremendous success until his death.
The bad news is that he died young. The good news is that he left a huge archive of music and much of it is available in the US. Click here for “Santa Isabel de las Lajas“, a song that he wrote about his hometown!
