Camino del Indio is both a song and an album by Argentine singer and guitarist Atahualpa Yupanqui.

Camino del Indio
Studio album by
Released1955
GenreArgentine folk
LabelOdeon
Atahualpa Yupanqui chronology
Una Voz y una Guitarra
(1953)
Camino del Indio
(1955)
Guitarra... Dimelo Tu
(1957)

The song edit

The song was written by Yupanqui in the 1920s, though he did not record it until 1936. It is one of Yupanqui's most famous and analyzed songs.[1] It has been described by multiple sources as "a classic" of Argentine music.[2][3]

The lyrics describe the path of Argentina's indigenous people, a winding path strewn with stones, singing in the hills, crying in the river. One analyst wrote that the song "painted a nostalgic landscape very different from cynical, urban tango lyrics, invoking the timelessness of indigenous Argentina."[4] Another writer described the song as poignant in its depiction of "a rural path as the window through which we see the sufferings of the Indian of the campo, or countryside."[5]

The album edit

The album was Yupanqui's second. It was originally released in 1955 on the RCA Victor label.[6][7][8]

All of the songs on Camino del Indo were written by Yupanqui. The album includes songs recorded by Yupanqui earlier in his career. It was the No. 1 album in Argentina in 1955.

The album has been released internationally with editions in Spain, Mexico, Peru, and Puerto Rico. It was released in some countries under the name "The art of Atahualpa Yupanqui". It was reissued on compact disc in 1995 under the title "Camino del Indio, his first hits."[9]

Track listing edit

Side A

  1. "Camino Indio" (Atahualpa Yupanqui)
  2. "Zambita del Alto Verde"
  3. "Cencerro"

Side B

  1. "Indiecito Dormido"
  2. "Danza de la Paloma Enamorada"
  3. "El Alazan"
  4. "El Arriero"

References edit

  1. ^ Norberto Galasso (1992). Atahualpa Yupanqui: el canto de la patria profunda Portada. Ediciones Colihue SRL. pp. 40–42, 47, 65, 174, 197. ISBN 950-581-797-5.
  2. ^ Daniel Balderston; Mike Gonzalez; Ana M. Lopez (2000). Encyclopedia of Contemporary Latin American and Caribbean Cultures. Routledge. p. 1609. ISBN 1-134-78852-5.
  3. ^ Vicente Gesualdo (1988). La Musica en la Argentina. Editorial Stella. p. 271. ISBN 950-525-067-3.
  4. ^ William H. Beezley, ed. (2018). Cultural Nationalism and Ethnic Music in Latin America. University of New Mexico Press. p. 16. ISBN 978-0-8263-5976-6.
  5. ^ Jeff Todd Titon (2001). Worlds of Music: An Introduction to the Music of the World's Peoples. Schirmer/Thomson Learning. ISBN 0-534-59103-5.
  6. ^ "Atahualpa Yupanqui – Camino Del Indio". Discogs. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
  7. ^ "Camino del Indio". AllMusic. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
  8. ^ "Camino del indio (Atahualpa Yupanqui) [1957]". Cancioneros.com. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
  9. ^ "Atahualpa Yupanqui: Camino del indio (1957)". Perrerac. Retrieved December 12, 2021.