Felipe Valdés Leal
Felipe Valdés Leal (August 6, 1899 – August 17, 1988) was a Mexican composer, lyricist, and artistic director. Valdés Leal grew up enjoying ranchera music and in 1923, he relocated to Los Angeles, California to pursue a career in music. He worked at a record store, where he would engage in humming, subsequently transcribing lyrical content to accompany them. His first successful compositions were the whimsical track "Échale un Quinto al Piano" and "Lucio Vázquez", a recording that garnered particular acclaim among the Latino community. By 1925, Valdés Leal became the artistic director at Brunswick Records, a pivotal role he played in catapulting the careers of Javier Solís, Irma Serrano, Los Panchos, and Los Alegres de Terán. In 1947, he became the artistic director for CBS Records.
Valdés Leal became one of the greatest ranchera composers. During the 1950s, ranchera music became the most popular Latin music genre in the United States, catalyzed by the success of Valdés Leal, José Alfredo Jiménez, and Vicente Fernández. On April 26, 2001, the Sociedad General de Escritores de México unveiled a commemorative plaque and a bust of Valdes Leal. On February 6, 2015, the National Sound Archive of Mexico accessed a collection of 1,419 sound recordings written by Valdés Leal for the purposes of collection, preservation, and conservation.
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