On June 11, the 31st anniversary of the death of Vallenato singer-songwriter Rafael Orozco was commemorated, and we particularly highlighted the song ‘Se fue mi cantante’, a composition by Marcos Díaz, as the premonitory song of the immortality of the late interpreter.
Maestro Marcos Díaz is a renowned Vallenato singer-songwriter born in El Molino, La Guajira, and was part of the group El Binomio de Oro until 1985, when he joined Jesualdo Bolaños, creating the group Los Pechichones. They initially triumphed with the song ‘They saw me crying’, written by Marcos Díaz under the CBS label.
Marcos Díaz, renowned vallenato singer-songwriter born in El Molino, La Guajira. Photo: festivaldeacordeones.com.
‘They saw me crying’ was a source of contention between Marcos Díaz and his old group, since El Binomio had practically made it popular and had it ready for recording. However, by chance of fate, CBS proposed to Marcos Díaz to become independent and take the song with him, which was predicted to be a success in the voice of Rafael Orozco.
Over the years, the groups smoothed out rough edges and professionalism and musical vocation would unite them personally and artistically.
Marcos Diaz, the composer
Marcos Diaz Alarza was not only part of the choirs of El Binomio, but also composed emblematic songs for the group such as ‘Porque no te tengo’, which opened the doors of success for him as a composer. Other outstanding songs were ‘Yours is my life’ and ‘Accept me as I am’, among others.
In addition, his compositions have been recorded by artists such as Alfredo Gutiérrez, Los Hermanos Zuleta, Jorge Oñate, Diomedes Díaz, Los Betos, Farid Ortiz and Los Embajadores Vallenatos.
‘My singer left’
The singer-songwriter says that composing is something natural for him, that he narrates to the extent that the feeling flourishes, and the composition of the song that describes the painful moment of the departure of the vallenato singer occurs precisely in the flight that would take him to the burial of the itself, at least in its first part.
The song was concluded upon returning to the recording studios in Bogotá, and was part of the repertoire of the Los Pechichones album, ‘A Petición’ (1992).
‘My singer left’ not only contains the sentiment of the author, but also of the general public. The entry of the chord of ‘Solo para ti’, composed by Rafael Orozco, begins the description of the event, the death of the interpreter, and everything that this implied. In addition, it pays homage to those themes that stood out in the trajectory of El Binomio de Oro during its sixteen years of artistic life.
other compositions
The missing idol was also paid tribute by Miguel Morales (The people love the singer), Iván Ovalle (The story of a singer) and Alfonso Cotes Jr. (‘One more angel in heaven’ performed by Los Hermanos Zuleta), a fact that demonstrated the significance of the artist. It should be noted that the style that has characterized Marcos Diaz biographically describes the late singer, metaphorically alludes to the affection of his bandmates, to the musical heritage that has made him immortalize himself, but mainly to what Rafael Orozco was for Vallenato music: the feeling made song.
BY: MÓNICA MERCEDES CASTILLO RIOS