Miguel Poventud
Encyclopedia
Miguel Poventud a.k.a. "El Niño Prodigio de Guayama" and "Miguelito" (August 4, 1942 – March 3, 1983), was a Puerto Rican
Puerto Rican people
A Puerto Rican is a person who was born in Puerto Rico.Puerto Ricans born and raised in the continental United States are also sometimes referred to as Puerto Ricans, although they were not born in Puerto Rico...

 musician, singer, actor and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

 of Boleros. Amongst the notable singers who have interpreted his musical compositions are Johnny Albino
Johnny Albino
Johnny Albino was a Puerto Rican bolero singer, born in Yauco.-Biography:Albino played and sang through his youth years. It wasn't until years later, however, that he would get a chance to sing as part of an organized act...

, Héctor Lavoe
Héctor Lavoe
Héctor Juan Pérez Martínez , better known as Héctor Lavoe, was a Puerto Rican salsa singer. Lavoe was born and raised in the Machuelito sector of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Early in his life, he attended a local music school and developed an interest inspired by Jesús Sánchez Erazo. He moved to New York...

 and Daniel Santos
Daniel Santos (singer)
Daniel Santos was a singer and composer of boleros, and an overall performer of multiple Caribbean music genres, including guaracha, plena and rumba...


Early years

Poventud was born in Guayama, Puerto Rico
Guayama, Puerto Rico
Guayama is a municipality of Puerto Rico founded on January 29, 1736 and located on the Southern Coastal Valley region, bordering the Caribbean, south of Cayey; east of Salinas; and west of Patillas and Arroyo. Guayama is spread over 9 wards and Guayama Pueblo...

 to Francisco Poventud, a law enforcement officer in the San Juan
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...

 Police Department and Concepcion Aponte, a seamstress. Descendent of Carlos Armstrong and Eulalia Pou, Poventud was the youngest of five siblings. From the age of five Poventud, known as El Niño Prodigio de Guayama (The Child Prodigy of Guayama), looked forward to trips to the town Plaza accompanied by his mother, dressed in clothes which she herself had sewn. While he was a student at the Escuela Parada Guamani, he suffered a spinal cord injury caused by a biking accident and was hospitalized for two years, which left him immobile at the age of 10. His mother was stricken by TB
TB
-Music:*Tenor and bass, a score for male chorus*The Beatles, the English rock band, the most lauded and successful group in the history of modern music**The Beatles , the tenth album by the above band, also known as the White Album...

 and died shortly after he was discharged from the hospital.

When Poventud's father gave him a guitar, he taught himself to play it. He re-arranged the guitar strings upside down since he was left handed, then practiced this guitar furiously and relentlessly. Soon Poventud was performing in his hometown of Guayama, winning awards, and singing before large audiences at the local radio station WHOM.

After his mother's death, Poventud's father remarried. The young boy resented this, and resented his father's opposition to his musical career.

Musical career

Victor Alonso of Spanoramic records noticed Poventud's prodigious musical talent. Before her death, Alonso promised Poventud's mother that he would give him a career opportunity. He made Poventud an offer which included the recording of Poventud's first record album titled Pobre Huerfanito (Poor Little Orphan) in New York City. At this point, Poventud's father again resisted the boy's musical career, and his older brother Carlos argumed strenuously with the father about Miguelito's future. After this argument, Carlos took young Poventud to live with him in New York City, and became his legal guardian.

In New York, Poventud continued his primary and secondary education at P.S. 93 Elementary School, then at Joan of Arc High School.

Poventud wrote his first composition at age 14 titled Ya No Soy Un Niño. (I'm Not a Child Anymore). His primary inspirations were his deceased mother, his new reality in New York, a growing romanticism, and the melancholy of diaspora - a powerful nostalgia for the island and the people that he'd left behind. It was a powerful combination, which added depth and resonance to his voice. In 1956, still at the age of 14, Poventud was invited to sing in the wedding of Grace Kelly
Grace Kelly
Grace Patricia Kelly was an American actress who, in April 1956, married Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, to become Princess consort of Monaco, styled as Her Serene Highness The Princess of Monaco, and commonly referred to as Princess Grace.After embarking on an acting career in 1950, at the age of...

 and Rainier III, Prince of Monaco
Rainier III, Prince of Monaco
Rainier III, Prince of Monaco , styled His Serene Highness The Sovereign Prince of Monaco, ruled the Principality of Monaco for almost 56 years, making him one of the longest ruling monarchs of the 20th century.Though he was best known outside of Europe for having married American...

.

Poventud made his professional debut in El Teatro Puerto Rico
Teatro Puerto Rico
The Teatro Puerto Rico was to the Latino community in the South Bronx what the Apollo Theater was to the African American community in the Harlem section of Manhattan. During its 1940s to 1950s "golden era," it was the hub of la farándula, a vaudeville-style package of Spanish-language events, and...

,
where he sang the songs he'd written in his mother's memory: Soy un Huerfanito (I'm a Little Orphan), De Que Me Sirve la Vida (What's the Use of Living), and Hechame a Mi la Culpa (Blame Me). Poventud continued to make further presentations at the theater with Yomo Toro y su Conjunto
Yomo Toro
Victor Guillermo Toro is a guitarist and one of Puerto Rico's most famous cuatro players...

playing Rock 'n Roll in English, and singing and Bolero
Bolero
Bolero is a form of slow-tempo Latin music and its associated dance and song. There are Spanish and Cuban forms which are both significant and which have separate origins.The term is also used for some art music...

s in Spanish. His versatility became notable when he sang Rock 'n Roll songs such as Prometo Recordarte (I Promise to Remember You). He made two appearances in a local New York television show, in which he sang De Boca a Boca (Mouth to Mouth) and several other Rock 'n Roll numbers.

Poventud participated in a comedy sketch with Mexican comedian Tin Tan and was invited by the comedian to join his act in Mexico, which he did, and there they recorded an album based on their act. While in Mexico, he appeared and sang in Around the World in 80 Days, a movie based on a Jules Verne
Jules Verne
Jules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...

 novel. Also in Mexico, he participated in five recordings with the renowned musical trio El Trio Los Panchos
Los Panchos
Los Panchos was an internationally famous Latin pop trio known for its romantic ballads and boleros.-History:...

.
In 1961, he returned to New York and married his high school sweetheart Norma Iris Guzman, with whom he had two children.

In 1964, Poventud filled in for Johnny Albino
Johnny Albino
Johnny Albino was a Puerto Rican bolero singer, born in Yauco.-Biography:Albino played and sang through his youth years. It wasn't until years later, however, that he would get a chance to sing as part of an organized act...

 as a CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 musician with El Trio Los Panchos, when Albino could not sing because of a voice aliment. This occurred during the recording of "More Amor" with Eydie Gorme
Eydie Gormé
Eydie Gormé is an American singer, specializing, with her husband, Steve Lawrence, in traditional pop music, in the form of ballads and breezy swing. She has earned numerous awards, including the Grammy and the Emmy...

. Poventud went on to record the album Los Panchos by Special Request, a compilation of love songs recorded in English for CBS, with Albino. He also, participated as the main guitarist and voice accompaniment in the recording of "Grandes Exitos de Johnny Albino con Los Panchos" with Albino. In 1965 the light heavyweight boxing champion of the world, a Puerto Rican named José "Chegui" Torres
José Torres
José Torres , was a Puerto Rican professional boxer. As an amateur boxer, he won a silver medal in the junior middleweight at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne. In 1965, he defeated Willie Pastrano to win the WBC and WBA light heavyweight championships...

, went to see one of Poventud's performances at Mexico's El Teatro Lirico and they became friends. Eventually they were both invited to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....

, where Torres sang Un Poco Mas accompanied by Poventud and his guitar.

Poventud returned to New York, attended Boricua College in the Bronxm, and became politically involved in the Puerto Rican independence movement
Puerto Rican independence movement
The Puerto Rican independence movement refers to initiatives throughout the history of Puerto Rico aimed at obtaining independence for the Island, first from Spain, and then from the United States...

 around this time. Together with his trio the Miguel Poventud y Su Trío, succeeded as a bolerista. He tried try his hand at singing Salsa and Ballads in the late sixties and early seventies, working with various "guitar trios" throughout New York. In 1974 he agreed to participate in the album The Mambo Boys Classics together with Al Abreu (sax), Manny Duran (trumpet), Manny Corchado (percussion), Tito Puente (timbales), Ozzie Torrens (conga), Charlie Palmieri
Charlie Palmieri
Charlie Palmieri was a renowned Bandleader and musical director of salsa music. He was known as "The Giant of the Keyboards".-Early years:...

 (piano) and Louie Ramirez (vibes). Louie Ramirez and Chico Mendoza arranged the Salsa session, while Hector Garrido arranged the ballads. Poventud and Bobby Capo
Bobby Capó
Félix Manuel Rodríguez Capó , better known as Bobby Capó, was an internationally known singer and songwriter from Puerto Rico...

 sang Tan Felices. Poventud also recorded with Capo in "El Bardo" and with Tito Puente
Tito Puente
Tito Puente, , born Ernesto Antonio Puente, was a Latin jazz and Salsa musician. The son of native Puerto Ricans Ernest and Ercilia Puente, of Spanish Harlem in New York City, Puente is often credited as "El Rey de los Timbales" and "The King of Latin Music"...

 in the "Al Ladito Tuyo" albums.

In 1975, Poventud and José Glóro provided the musical background for Che Guevara
Che Guevara
Ernesto "Che" Guevara , commonly known as el Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat and military theorist...

 Speaks,
a recording of an interview with Ernesto "Che" Guevarra before Guevara was sent to Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

. Poventud had an accident two days before the recording and showed up with and injured thumb that was held in place with a metal pin and stitches. Despite this injury, Poventud played an accordion for the occasion. In 1976, Poventud made the arrangements and was the first guitarist in Pepe and Flora's album En La Lucha. That same year, he also participated in the protests in favor of Puerto Rican independence in front of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 Building in New York.

In 1978 Gilberto Monroig
Gilberto Monroig
Gilberto Monroig was a guitarist, and singer of boleros.-Early years:Monroig's parents moved from the countryside to the city in search of a better way of life and settled in the Villa Palmera sector of Santurce, a section of San Juan where the musical sounds of the bomba and plena and of the...

, a member of Tito Puente's Orchestra, and Poventud recorded various songs. Among them were Que Chevere and Malcriada, which became a hit. Que Chevere became a New York City favorite, and was often played on Radio WADO.

The songs Niegalo gained international fame when it was interpreted by Chago Alvarado
Lorenzo S. Alvarado Santos
Lorenzo S. Alvarado Santos was a Puerto Rican singer, composer, and guitarist. He became internationally famous with Johnny Albino and Félix Martínez as part of the Trío San Juan during the years 1949-1957...

 in Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

. Poventud's interpretation of the song resulted in international recognition and he was invited to appear at Mexico's El Teatro Lirico. In 1978, Poventud also recorded Alvarado's Me Cansó tu Historia (I'm Tired of your Story). Another song which received international recognition was Tite Curet Alonso
Tite Curet Alonso
Tite Curet Alonso was a renowned composer of over 2,000 salsa songs.- Early years :Born Catalino Curet Alonso in the southern town of Guayama in Puerto Rico. Alonso's mother was a seamtress and his father a Spanish teacher and musician in the band of Simon Madera...

's Tu Mente (Your Mind) interpreted by Poventud. Tu Mente won the Billboard Award for Best Latin Artist in 1977.

Another noted Puerto Rican singer, Daniel Santos
Daniel Santos (singer)
Daniel Santos was a singer and composer of boleros, and an overall performer of multiple Caribbean music genres, including guaracha, plena and rumba...

, recorded Poventud's Si Yo Fuera Millonario (If I Were a Millionaire). The controversial jibaro song, Joven Contra Viejo (Young Against Old) featured Héctor Lavoe
Héctor Lavoe
Héctor Juan Pérez Martínez , better known as Héctor Lavoe, was a Puerto Rican salsa singer. Lavoe was born and raised in the Machuelito sector of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Early in his life, he attended a local music school and developed an interest inspired by Jesús Sánchez Erazo. He moved to New York...

 and Daniel Santos settling their age-based differences on-stage, but not without a heavy dose of humor and (yet again) Yomo Toro's cuatro music as a backdrop. It was a major Christmas hit in Puerto Rico in 1979, and included a song from Poventud Una Pena en La Navidad. (A Pain in Christmas).

Later years

Poventud lived in TriBeCa
TriBeCa
Tribeca is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York in the United States. Its name is an acronym based on the words "Triangle below Canal Street", and is properly bounded by Canal Street, West Street, Broadway, and Vesey Street...

, a neighborhood in lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan is the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan, the main island and center of business and government of the City of New York...

, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. During his last years he performed at the Chibcha Restaurant in Queens
Queens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....

. One of his songs, Eres todo para Mi was a local hit in the early part of 1983. He died on March 3, 1983 at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York and was buried in Guayama, the place of his birth. He is survived by his wife Norma Iris Guzman and his daughters Kaluska and Yolanda Poventud.

Selected compositions

Among Poventud's many musical compositions, which can be found in libraries, are the following:
  • Che Guevara Speaks - (Poventud provided the musical background)- 2 editions published between 1973 and re-leased in 2000 in Spanish and held by 17 libraries worldwide.
  • Bailemos Twist - Held by 2 libraries worldwide
  • Mi Amada Diana - Held by 2 libraries worldwide
  • No me Importa tu Suerte - Held by 1 library worldwide
  • Feliz Navidad - Held by 1 library worldwide
  • Agonias de Amor - Held by 1 library worldwide


Compositions with Words and Music by Miguel Poventud
1970
  • Esto Sigue and Chevere - Recorded by Gilberto Monroig
  • Voy a Combiar Mi Corazon - Recorded by Marco Antonio Muñiz
    Marco Antonio Muñiz
    Marco Antonio Muñiz is a singer from Jalisco, Mexico. Known all over Latin America, Muñiz actually has declared publicly and in most countries he has visited, that Puerto Rico is his second country, and many Puerto Ricans consider him to be an "honorary Puerto Rican"...

  • Al Fin Del Mundo; Recordar Es Morir; Quien and Flor - Recorded by Pepe y Flora
  • No Me Importa Ya Tu Suerte and Devuelveme Mis Cosas


1975
  • Mami Donde Esta Papi
  • Otra Navidad Sin Ti and En La Navidad Una Pena-Recorded by Héctor Lavoe
  • Fuiquiti, La Casa Nuestra and Tradicion Eterna (new title Salve Mi Pueblo)-Recorded by Yomo Toro


Author, Music and Lyrics
  • Devuelveme Mis Cosas
  • El Ultimo Beso - (co-written with Francisco De La Barrera Gonzalez)
  • Que Cosa Te Hice Yo - (co-written with Francisco De La Barrera Gonzalez)
  • Voy a Cambiar mi Corazon
  • Yo Siento Quererte


Recordings by Poventud
  • Tin Tan y Miguelito Poventud, and Pobre Huerfanito, Canta Miguel Poventud-Recorded at Spanoramic Recordings, New York
  • Miguel Poventud, Agonias de Amor - Recorded at RCA Victor of Mexico
  • Ven at Industrias Electronicas Y Musicales Peruanas S.A.
  • De Paranda - Recorded at Blank Tapes NYC Mfd.
  • Miguelito Poventud, Tu Mente; Miguelito Poventud, Tu Mente and El Bardo-Recorded at Orfeon in Mexico
  • Miguel Poventud, Al Ladito Tuyo - Recorded at Milly Latino
  • Miguel Poventud, Eres Todo En mi - Recorded at WS Latino
  • Have a Good Time - Recorded at Mapa records
  • De Parranda - Recorded at Orfeon in NYC


In 1997, Yomo Toro re-released Fuikiti and Una Pena en la Navidad with original compositions by Miguel Poventud in an album titled Celebremos Navidad (Let us Celebrate Christmas), produced by Rachel Faro and Sammy Figueroa. The album won the "Indie Award Best Latin Album" and the "Paoli Prize Best Christmas Album" award. In 2009, Toro once more released the album Fuikiti, which included Poventud's compositions Esta Navidad (This Christmas); Otra Navidad Sin Ti (Another Christmas Without You); Despierta, Despierta (Wake Up, Wake Up); and
Fuikiti.

See also

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