Is Nelly Furtado the Next Eydie Gorme?

One of my most memorable moments listening to my dad’s music was the sweet female voice with the Trio Los Panchos. That female voice had a special accent that made it captivating to listen.

Whether because of her accent or her sweet voice, Eydie Gorme was the first “reverse-crossover” artist I remembered. Nelly Furtado may be planning to follow in her footsteps.

Eydie Gorme’s Successful Crossover to Spanish

By “reverse-crossover” I mean crossing over from English to Spanish. Most artists crossover from a smaller market to a bigger market. Therefore, we mostly know of Latin artists crossing over from Spanish to English. Ricky Martin, Marc Anthony, and Gloria Estefan among several.

Eydie Gorme was the 1st one that I remember that did it into Spanish. By the time she recorded with the famous Trio Los Panchos, Eydie was already a Grammy Award winner. She won the award in 1960 for Best Performance by a Vocal Group, which she won with her husband Steve.

Factually, the great African-American singer Nat King Cole had previously made the successful “reverse crossover”, when in 1958 he went to Havana, Cuba. There he recorded an all-Spanish album which became a huge success in Latin America. This prompted Nat to make other follow-up recordings. Apparently, my father was not a fan of Nat King Cole, so to me, Eydie Gorme was the 1st one I knew.

Contrary to Nat “King” Cole, who learned songs in Spanish and Portuguese phonetically, Gorme actually spoke Spanish. She worked as an interpreter in the United Nations before launching her career as a professional singer.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Eydie Gorme performed several songs which made it to the Billboard Top 40. Then in 1964, Gorme joined forces with Latin America’s most popular guitar-vocal group, the Trio Los Panchos. They recorded in Spanish the album “Amor” which later was re-released as “Canta en Español” (Sings in Spanish).

Eydie Gorme Albums in Spanish

“Canta en Español” was a huge hit, and to this day, is my favorite “trio” music album. The “trio” music is based on the harmonic use of different size guitars, and the 3 voices of the group. “Trios” mostly perform “boleros” (Latin American version of ballads) and slow-tempo “guarachas“. This music suited Eydie’s style perfectly, as she was a well-known ballad singer. Her voice and dramatic interpretations made such an impression that she became by far the best guest singer with Los Panchos.

Eydie Gorme and Los Panchos recorded a follow-up album “More Amor” in 1965. It was later re-released as “Cuatro Vidas” (Four Lives)). The Gorme-Los Panchos combination released their final collaboration in 1966 with a Christmas album “Navidad Means Christmas”.

In this rare video clip, you can see Eydie Gorme with Los Panchos performing the Latin American classic “Sabor a Mi”, by Mexican composer Alvaro Carrillo. I enjoy so much listening to Eydie’s beautiful voice along with the exceptional group Los Panchos. It was a powerful combination.

Eydie Gorme went on to record other albums in Spanish, including “Muy Amigos/Close Friends” with Puerto Rican pop star Danny Rivera.

Is Nelly Furtado the Next Eydie Gorme?

Nelly Furtado’s first crossover all-Spanish recording is an excellent one (see my related blog “Nelly Furtado has a Great Plan” link below). As Eydie, Nelly has joined forces in with some of the best in the Latin American music scene to get her foot in that market.

Instead of leading the most popular group in Latin America, as Eydie did, Nelly collaborated with various artists in the Latin pop market. This probably gave her a wider exposure within the Latin music market, and also centered the attention on her. Nelly’s previous collaboration with Juanes set the stage for her “Mi Plan” album. Now the stage is set for whatever Nelly Furtado wants to do in the Latin music market, as she definitely entered with a strong foot.

[Note: you can read my review on Nelly Furtado’s “Mi Plan”, HERE]

Why the “reverse crossover”?

The question is why are artists crossing over from the big English market into the smaller Spanish market? With album sales going down year after year and having the Latino market representing (in the US alone) more buying power than the entire country of Canada, how can anyone ignore this market?

This wasn’t the reason that drove Nat King Cole nor Eydie Gorme to crossover. Album sales were not dropping at that time. However, they both intended to grow their possible market and knew there were chips on the table to be taken in the Latin American market. Both Cole and Gorme made a lot of money not only on sales of their LPs but also on Live performances in Latin America.

There are a lot of concert halls and arenas that Nelly Furtado can now fill from Puerto Rico to Mexico, to all the way down to Argentina. Can you hear the “ca-shing, ca-shing” sound of cash registers all over Latin America?

And Furtado, who can speak limited Spanish, is not the only one taking advantage of buying power of the Latino market. Beyoncé, who does not speak Spanish,  re-released 6 tracks from her recent “B-day” album in Spanish. For this, she used the collaboration formula, singing duets with Shakira, Voltio, and Alejandro Fernandez. The result was a 34% increase in their radio airplay in one week.

Courting the Latino market

The Latino market is a powerful one, and many in the business are recognizing it should and cannot be ignored. When Latinos revolted against CNN show host Lou Dobbs, for making derogatory remarks, particularly about Latino illegal immigrants, the effect was Dobb’s recent resignation from the network.

Businessmen and politicians in the U.S. can’t afford to lose the Latino market, and in a time when music sales are dropping, the Latino market is one of the finest markets to go after. I expect more artists to follow Nelly, but hope they actually add value to our music by bringing a good product.

It would be interesting to consider who would come next. Would savvy Madonna record an all-Spanish album (she already recorded the song “La Isla Bonita” a few years ago)? The Jonas Brothers? Miley Cyrus?