Vinicio Franco had one of his last performances, in front of a large audience, in 2015, when Gilberto Santa Rosa was joined by two meringue glories, he (Vinicio) and Joseíto Mateo, in celebration of his birthday. 53 at the Nuryn Sanlley Amphitheater.
That night, Vinicio “Mambo” Franco, as he was known in musical jargon, at that time at 82 years, kept his grace and elegance in interpreting the merengue, always pointing his long finger, which became one of his hallmarks in to sing.
Saturday’s Covid-19 extinguished the life of one of our great interpreters of merengue, a rhythm in which he was nicknamed “Mambo” because of the infectious nature of his use of voice. The artist was admitted to the Ramón de Lara military hospital in the capital for a week.
Vinicio Franco dies in the middle of Christmas, a time when his voice returned to the radio as he recorded the album “Merengues Navideños” with “Good Night Arrived”, “Aguinaldo a la Sarandela”, “Merry Christmas”, “Christmas Brisas.” , “Antares de Navidad” and “Alegría navideña”, among others.
His childhood
Vinicio Antonio Franco Rodríguez was born in Puerto Plata on September 14, 1933. He grew up in pain that he did not know his mother, Carmela García.
His father was a master builder, he was regularly called by the dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo to be part of the team of important structures such as La Toma de San Cristóbal and the Heriberto Peter hospital.
Vinicio was two years old and his father, who had already started another family in Santiago, was snatched from his mother’s side and grew up in Santiago with his stepmother and father.
“I never saw my mother, I didn’t know her, because when my father took me he was barely two years old,” he confessed to Ramón Pastrano in an interview on the late television program “Formal Informal”. He only saw it in a photo of a relative.
In music
During his childhood, his father gave him a guitar, despite the fact that he never agreed with his decision to become a singer or a musician.
When he was 15 years old, he came to the capital to work with his father on the construction of the Doctor Heriberto Peter hospital.
In the capital, he began to visit bars, where he offered to help the fashionable singers.
So from time to time they made him sing and they paid him with alcoholic drinks, which they then exchanged for money.
One day the singer of the floor orchestra in the Yubirí bar got drunk, he couldn’t sing, and Vinicio was asked to replace him that night, and that’s how he started in music.
“One day the Petán hairdresser (José Arismendy Trujillo, brother of the dictator) came to the bar to see me sing and suggested that I visit Petán in La Voz Dominicana,” he said.
The next day, Vinicio was tested by Radhamés Reyes Alfau (Petán’s advisor) and was hired to study singing and theater, with a salary of 125 pesos.
When Joseíto Mateo left the Super Orquesta San José (the Petán Orchestra) conducted by Papa Molina, Vinicio Franco joined as a singer in the early 1950s, earning a salary of 200 pesos.
Trajectory
The merenguero had a career spanning 66 years. In the Antonio Morel Orchestra he recorded his first meringues: “Apagame la vela”, written by Bienvenido Brens, and “Los algodones” y la salve “Oye nena”.
“Siña Juanica”, Félix López’s merengue with Armando Beltré and Rico López, was also one of his successes.
Vinicio formed the lead singer of maestro Rafael Solano’s orchestra, according to what he said was with Solano for 46 years. He traveled with Solano through different countries. “In the Solano orchestra I recorded the merengue” El caderú “, it was with that merengue that I started to use my finger because it was because my father told me you are half a caderú … and I didn’t think so nice that daddy told me like this, ”he said.
In his meringues Vinicio also heard the oxen shout: “Ceja give me gusto”, “Come around bolefuego …”.
The artist recorded more than 460 meringues during his career, nuanced by glorious years in his voice with first-class orchestras in the mid-20th century.
Vinicio Franco recorded 66 years of career, during which he was a contemporary of Francis Santana, Joseíto Mateo, Luis Vásquez and Frank Cruz.
Other famous songs are ‘Gallito pinto’, ‘Alevántate’, ‘La pela de Juana’, ‘Dolores’,’ A lo dark ‘,’ Dreaming ‘,’ El pichoncito ‘,’ El pin ‘,’ Siña Juanica “,” Message “,” Own me “,” Firewood “,” The yuca “,” The maricutana “.
With Johnny Ventura he took part in the recording of the song “Ah, yo no saber, no” written by Johnny Ventura and Mundito Espinal.
Vinicio Franco leaves behind his wife Florencia Rosario and six children.
RESPONSE
Johnny Ventura.
“The history of merengue unfortunately loses one of its best cultists, a refined singer, with an almost perfect tuning, long lasting. We’ve lost one of the merengue singing gentlemen in all of history. My compadre for the rest, I am the godfather of his first daughter and I deeply regret his death, ”said veteran Johnny Ventura to LISTÍN DIARIO with great regret.