Andy Russell (born Andrés Rábago Pérez; September 16, 1919 – April 16, 1992) was an American popular singer, actor, and entertainer. He specialized in traditional pop and Latin music. He sold 8 million records in the 1940s wherein he sang bilingually in English and Spanish. His most successful songs included "Bésame Mucho", "Amor", and "What a Diff'rence a Day Made". He made appearances and performed on radio programs, most notably Your Hit Parade, in several movies, and on television.
In 1954, he relocated to Mexico where he became a star of radio, television, motion pictures, records, and nightclubs. He toured extensively throughout Latin America, Spain, and Portugal and hosted the television variety show El Show de Andy Russell in Argentina from 1956 to 1965.
Russell continued to record after he returned to the United States. His 1967 single "It's Such a Pretty World Today" reached #1 on the Easy Listening chart in Billboard Magazine. In later years, Russell performed internationally, occasionally recorded new songs, and made television appearances. Although these were well received, he did not regain his previous level of success.
During his career, Russell received many international accolades and awards, most notably being recognized as the original Latino crossover artist who introduced American audiences to popular songs sung in English and Spanish, thus opening the doors for later Hispanic bilingual artists to do the same. Through a fusion of musical styles, rhythms, and languages, he created music that appealed to diverse audiences, becoming one of the first cross-cultural, multinational musical artists.
Early life
Russell was born September 16, 1919, as Andrés Rábago Pérez in Boyle Heights, which, at the time, was an ethnically integrated, middle-class neighborhood in Eastside Los Angeles. He was the second youngest of ten children (eight boys, two girls) born to Mexican immigrant parents, Rafael Rábago and Vicenta (née Pérez), who had emigrated to United States in 1902 from the Mexican states of Durango and Chihuahua, where each had been born, respectively. His father was employed as an extra by Hollywood studios, while his mother was a housewife.
As a child, he loved listening to American popular music and Big Band, such as Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey. He idolized crooners Dick Powell, Bing Crosby, and Jack Leonard. He went wild over popular music, knew all the hit tunes, and was the neighborhood authority on every name band leader in the country. While attending school, he also worked as a newspaper vendor at a corner in downtown L.A.
He grew up in a bilingual home, hearing and speaking Spanish with his parents, while speaking English with his siblings and people outside of the home. His parents enjoyed listening to Mexican music, in particular, mariachi. At this young age, Russell did not appreciate the music of Mexico, nor did he fully comprehend the Spanish language. He felt so frustrated that he would ask his parents to speak to him in English. Moreover, he was able to learn only a little Spanish because his parents died when he was just 11 years old. His older brothers helped to raise the family.
In 1934, as a 15-year-old student in junior high school, he began his career by singing with a local swing band headed by don Ramón Cruz. This band was composed mainly of Mexican and Mexican American musicians and played primarily in East Los Angeles. He also sang with the Stan Kenton Orchestra, and other groups, until one day he was told that he also would have to play an instrument to stay with the band. Russell recalled how he dealt with this dilemma:
Russell took drum lessons for 50 cents a lesson at the Phillips Music Company on Brooklyn Avenue (now Avenida César Chávez) in Boyle Heights. This neighborhood music store was owned by William Phillips, a Jewish-American Navy veteran, drummer, and musician. By practicing in the basement of his house and during breaks at his part-time job, he quickly became an excellent drummer.
Stella Cruz, the sister of bandleader don Ramón Cruz, recalled in a YouTube video that Russell, as a child, had contracted polio and had some paralysis in his left arm and leg. When this came to the attention of don Ramón Cruz, he taught Russell to play the bass drum in order to strengthen those muscles. This may have been Russell's initial exposure to the instrument.
Russell attended Roosevelt High School in Boyle Heights, where he continued his musical education. He was a member of the ROTC marching band, the jazz band, and the high school symphony orchestra. He performed at high school football games, parades and dances. And under the instruction of Mr. Harry Gruppengetter, the music teacher, he learned to read music. He also enjoyed playing handball and boxing.
He recalled that his high school experience was positive, and that he did not feel discrimination: "In those days, I was just one of the guys. We had Russian people, we had Jewish kids, we had Mexican kids, we had the blacks, we never noticed things like that ... I'm a very cocky little Mexican kid from the East Side, and I never had those feelings. I always feel that it's up to the person." In 1935, at the age of 16, when Russell discovered that Gus Arnheim was looking for a drummer, he left high school the summer before his senior year to try and join his band.
New singing style and name
Gus Arnheim and his orchestra had been playing the Cocoanut Grove and the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles since the late 1920s and had employed such singers as Bing Crosby, Russ Columbo, and Woody Herman. Russell auditioned for Arnheim and got the job not only as a drummer but vocalist, too. However, since he was underage and could not tour out of state, Arnheim adopted him and became his legal guardian.
In addition, since he thought it was a good gimmick that made good business sense, Arnheim suggested that Russell sing bilingually in English and Spanish. Russell was hesitant, stating "No, Gus, my Spanish is very bad; I'm embarrassed." Arnheim finally convinced the youngster by saying "Do something different and people will notice." Russell agreed.
Now on tour with the band, Russell noticed that when he played solo on the drums or sang bilingually, the couples in the audience would stop dancing and approach the bandstand to get a better look at the vocalist who was singing in a different language. It was at a show at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee, that Arnheim saw that he was getting known. But Arnheim realized that it would be necessary for Russell to change his name.
Russell recalled the conversation with Arnheim after the show:
Russell compromised on the name change because during that era many performers adopted stage names in order to enter the entertainment industry. He did not want to be discriminated against and stereotyped as only a Latin singer. Besides, he felt the public would know his ethnic background by his singing in Spanish and by telling everybody he was Mexican.
In contrast, the case has been made that Russell's light-skin and European features (like Vikki Carr) were the determining factors in opening the doors to the recording industry (Avant-Mier, 59; Macias, 125) that otherwise shut out Mexican-Americans whose appearance was dark-complexioned, like contemporary Chicano musician and singer Lalo Guerrero, who "wanted the success of an Andy Russell, whose appearance and name change were definite advantages." Loza notes: "in that particular era (and even today), name changing was common among performers, so that whether names have been changed for ethnic reasons cannot always be determined."
Russell performed as bilingual vocalist and swing drummer with Arnheim for 4 years. During this period, he received offers from Paul Whiteman, Jimmy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Charlie Spivak, and such bands as Johnny Richards, Sonny Dunham, Alvino Rey and Vido Musso. Russell's popularity grew to the point that band leader Tommy Dorsey made him an offer to play only the drums, as he already had a singer, a young Frank Sinatra. Russell declined because "he decided he could make more of a name if he concentrated on his singing," so he chose to join Alvino Rey. Some of the venues in the Los Angeles area where he played were the Cocoanut Grove at the Ambassador Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard, the old Follies Theater on Main Street, the Orpheum Theater on Broadway, the Santa Monica Pier, and Joe Zucca's Show Case in Hermosa Beach.
Career begins
Records
While he was singing with the Alvino Rey Orchestra, Russell's bilingual vocals had caught the attention of lyricist and composer Johnny Mercer, who asked him to cut a record for his fledgling Capitol Records.
However, the 1942–44 musicians' strike threatened to derail Russell's career before it had even begun. Union President James Petrillo had set the date of July 31 where no union musician could record for any record company. This caused record producers to scramble to get vocalists and musicians into recording studios to get the recordings done before the deadline. Russell was able to make a test record with the George Siravo orchestra under the deadline. Mercer paid him $150-$175 for both sides of his first record.
Russell narrowed his choices down to three songs and then chose the bolero "Bésame Mucho" (English title: "Kiss Me Much"), with original music and Spanish lyric by Mexican composer Consuelo Velázquez, English lyric by American composer Sunny Skylar, and backing by the Al Sack Orchestra. He sang "Bésame Mucho" bilingually, the first vocalist to offer Spanish and English treatments to popular songs, often with a chorus in English followed by a chorus in Spanish, and, in doing so, displaying his Latin background.
"Bésame Mucho" became Russell's first charted hit. It entered the charts on April 15, 1944, and peaked at #10 on the Billboard Chart in the United States, staying on the charts for 5 weeks. It sold over one million copies. Composer Velázquez heaped huge praise on Russell by stating that the worldwide success of "Bésame Mucho", which would become the most recorded Mexican song in history, effectively began with his rendition and recording of the song.
That same year he also had another huge hit, which became another signature tune: "Amor", music by Mexican composer Gabriel Ruiz, Spanish lyric by Mexican lyricist Ricardo López Méndez, English lyric by Sunny Skylar, and backed by the Al Sack Orchestra. It entered the charts on June 1, 1944, peaked at #5, and stayed on the charts for 10 weeks. The song was featured in the motion picture Broadway Rhythm.
.
Russell had two more hits that same year: "What a Diff'rence a Day Made", original title "Cuando vuelva a tu lado" (When I Return to You), music and Spanish lyric by Mexican composer María Grever with English lyric by American lyricist Stanley Adams and backed by the Paul Weston Orchestra. It entered the charts on October 21, 1944, peaked at #14, and stayed on the charts for 8 weeks.
His other hit was "I Dream of You", composed by Edna Osser with lyrics by Marjorie Goetschius, and accompanied by the Paul Weston Orchestra. It entered the charts on December 30, 1944, peaked at #5, and stayed on the charts for 5 weeks. It was b/w "Magic Is the Moonlight", another composition by Maria Grever [whose original Spanish title was "Te Quiero, Dijiste (Muñequita Linda)"], with English lyric by Charles Pasquale, backed by the Paul Weston Orchestra, and featured in the MGM musical film Bathing Beauty.