Bobby Capó

Félix Manuel "Bobby" Rodríguez Capó (January 1, 1922 – December 18, 1989) was a Puerto Rican singer and songwriter. He usually combined ballads with classical music and was deeply involved in Puerto Rican folk elements and even Andalusian music, as to produce many memorable Latino pop songs which featured elaborate, dramatic lyrics.

Félix Manuel Rodríguez Capó was born in the barrio of Pedro García in Coamo, Puerto Rico to Celso Quiterio Rodríguez Rivera, a salesman, and Arsenia Capó Canevaro, a housekeeper. He adopted "Bobby" as his first name and, as Rodríguez is a common Hispanic surname, he reportedly opted to use his mother's less common one, Capó, instead. He then moved to New York City early in the 1940s. Initially, he replaced Pedro Ortiz Dávila, "Davilita", in a quartet, the Cuarteto Victoria of Rafael Hernández Marín. He then joined Xavier Cugat's orchestra.

Apart from his work as a singer, he was also a television host, as well as technical and musical director, and prolific songwriter. He wrote songs for many of his contemporaries. Many of these became hits in Puerto Rico, and occasionally in the rest of Latin America. One of his self-penned songs was "El Negro Bembón", a hit for Cortijo y su Combo in the mid-1950s. The song, with local circumstances and character name changed, became "El Gitano Antón", a huge hit for Catalan rumba singer Peret in Spain around the mid-1960s. Bobby Capó wrote the score and songs for the movie MARUJA that was filmed at the end of the 1950s in Puerto Rico.

Capó's "Sin Fe" ("Without Faith"), sometimes known as "Poquita Fe" ("Little Faith"), became a proper hit in Puerto Rico when recorded by Felipe Rodríguez in the mid-1950s, and a huge international hit for José Feliciano in the mid-1960s. Capó's composition describing his homesickness for Puerto Rico, "Soñando con Puerto Rico" (Dreaming of Puerto Rico), is revered as an anthem by Puerto Ricans residing abroad. Another of his songs, "De Las Montañas Venimos", is a Christmas standard in Puerto Rico.

His best-known song is "Piel Canela" (whose title literally translates to "Cinnamon Skin"). He wrote and recorded an English-language version, "You, Too", which he most notably recorded in Havana at the request of Rogelio Martínez of Sonora Matancera, who asked him to sing pieces of his recently composed songs with his band. Josephine Baker recorded a version in French. The song became the main theme for a Mexican movie of the same name in the late 1950s. So was "Luna de Miel en Puerto Rico" ("Puerto Rican Honeymoon"), a latter-day chachachá which was the theme for an eponymous movie, co-produced by Mexicans and Puerto Ricans in the early 1960s.

Birth and Death Data: Born January 1, 1921 (Coamo), Died December 18, 1989 (New York City)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1940 - 1954

Roles Represented in DAHR: vocalist, composer, lyricist

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings (Results 51-75 of 75 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Decca 69974 10-in. 11/28/1941 Estey enamorado Bobby Capó vocalist  
Decca 69975 10-in. 11/28/1941 Lamento de amor Bobby Capó vocalist  
Decca 69976 10-in. 11/28/1941 Amor eterno Bobby Capó vocalist  
Decca 69977 10-in. 11/28/1941 Dejame explicar Bobby Capó vocalist  
Decca 70179 10-in. 1/16/1942 Connie (Conchita) Bobby Capó vocalist  
Decca 70180 10-in. 1/16/1942 Dejate quere corazon Bobby Capó vocalist  
Decca 70181 10-in. 1/16/1942 Dolor de madre Bobby Capó vocalist  
Decca 70182 10-in. 1/16/1942 Lar ie a buscar Bobby Capó vocalist  
Decca 70576 10-in. 3/26/1942 Te espero Bobby Capó vocalist  
Decca 70577 10-in. 3/26/1942 Para que tu veas Bobby Capó vocalist  
Decca 70578 10-in. 3/26/1942 Duda Bobby Capó vocalist  
Decca 70579 10-in. 3/26/1942 Mercedes Bobby Capó vocalist  
Decca 70877 10-in. 6/12/1942 Que extrane es la vida Bobby Capó vocalist  
Decca 70878 10-in. 6/12/1942 Yo te de mi corazon Bobby Capó vocalist  
Decca 70879 10-in. 6/12/1942 Ten me compasion Bobby Capó vocalist  
Decca 70880 10-in. 6/12/1942 Que desengano Bobby Capó vocalist  
Decca 71088 10-in. 7/16/1942 Anorando Bobby Capó vocalist  
Decca 71089 10-in. 7/16/1942 Me dice que te vas Bobby Capó vocalist  
Decca 71090 10-in. 7/16/1942 Presentimiento Bobby Capó vocalist  
Decca 71091 10-in. 7/16/1942 Estas equivocada Bobby Capó vocalist  
Decca 71158 10-in. 7/23/1942 No quiero que me olvides Bobby Capó vocalist  
Decca 71159 10-in. 7/23/1942 En que quedamos Bobby Capó vocalist  
Decca 71160 10-in. 7/23/1942 Ya me voy Bobby Capó vocalist  
Decca 71161 10-in. 7/23/1942 Te lo dire cantando Bobby Capó vocalist  
Columbia (U.K.) CL9503 10-in. approximately 1952 C'est vous, c'est vous Alexander et son Orchestre ; Maurice Alexander ; Maurice Alexander Accordion solo, with orchestra composer  
(Results 51-75 of 75 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Capó, Bobby," accessed April 16, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/107334.

Capó, Bobby. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved April 16, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/107334.

"Capó, Bobby." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 16 April 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/107334

Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license

Feedback

Send the Editors a message about this record.