El reloj

"El reloj" (lit. 'The clock') is a song of the bolero genre, with music and lyrics by Mexican composer and singer Roberto Cantoral, then a member of the Los Tres Caballeros trio.^[1]

"El reloj"
Song by Los Tres Caballeros
Released	1957
Genre	bolero
Composer(s)	Roberto Cantoral

"El Reloj"
Single by Luis Miguel
from the album Romances
Released	1997 (1997)
Recorded	1997
Genre	bolero
Length	3:02
Label	WEA Latina
Songwriter(s)	Roberto Cantoral
Producer(s)	Luis Miguel
Luis Miguel singles chronology
"Por Debajo de la Mesa" (1997) "El Reloj" (1997) "Contigo (Estar Contigo)" (1998)

History

Cantoral composed the song in 1956, in Washington D.C., in front of the Potomac River, at the end of a Los Tres Caballeros tour of the United States. During the tour he had had an affair with one of the girls participating in the show, who was to return to New York the next morning. This love episode, and the presence of a lounge clock during their last meeting, were the events that inspired Cantoral, who would soon turn the relatively trivial episode into the story of a deep love.^{[2] [3]}

Los Tres Caballeros premiered the song in 1957 and it was an immediate success. The following year it was recorded by trio Los Panchos in 1958.^[4] Since then, it has been interpreted by countless artists, in several languages.^[5] Lines from the song feature in a scene from the biographical film Selena in which Abraham Quintanilla teaches them to his daughter, Selena, by way of introducing her to the Mexican side of her Chicano heritage.^[6]

Interpreters of "El reloj"

Spanish version

• José José
• Il Volo
• Juan d'Arienzo
• José Feliciano
• Alejandro Fernández
• Lucho Gatica (Latin Grammy Hall of Fame inductee)^[7]
• Luis Miguel (#2 Hot Latin Tracks,^[8] #1 Latin Pop Airplay;^[9] recipient of the BMI Latin Award in 1999^[10])
• Los Panchos
• Neil Sedaka
• es:Jorge Valdez
• French Latino^[11]

Japanese version

• Chiemi Eri
• Graciela Susana
• ja:Teruhiko Aoi
• ja:Jun Anna
• ja:Yoichi Sugawara
• ja:Hiroshi Mizuhara

See also

• Latin music portal

• List of Billboard Latin Pop Airplay number ones of 1997

References

1. "Roberto Cantoral, el compositor que trascendió a través de "El Reloj"". Radio Fórmula (in Spanish). 7 June 2019. Archived from the original on 26 October 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
2. Berlanga, Ángel (18 August 2010). "La muerte del autor" (in Spanish). Página 12. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
3. Brown, Ricardo (23 October 2009). "Perdonen mi cursilería" (in Spanish). Ricardo Brown.blogia.com. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
4. "El reloj by Roberto Candoral (1956)". Secondhandsongs.
5. Adrián, Vogel (10 August 2010). "Un siglo de canciones 80: "El reloj"" (in Spanish). El Mundano. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
6. Christy Huffman. "El reloj: the clock", Corsicana Daily Sun, 16 December 2018.
7. "Latin Grammy Hall of Fame – 2001". Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences. Archived from the original on 5 February 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
8. "Luis Miguel: Chart history – Hot Latin Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
9. "Luis Miguel: Chart history – Latin Pop Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
10. "Los Premios Latinos de BMI Latin 1999". Billboard. Vol. 111, no. 26. Prometheus Global Media. 26 June 1999. p. 33. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
11. Reloj - French Latino (Castillo La Herradura 2019), 25 September 2019, retrieved 24 October 2022

External links

• El reloj (Youtube: Original version of 1957 by Los Tres Caballeros)