Today's Song of the Day, as chosen by Larry Mizell, Jr., host of The Afternoon Show on KEXP, is "Historia de un Amor" by Tracy J, a 2020 single on El Ambiente.
Since we're friends, I'm going to be very honest with you and admit that I have no idea who Tracy J is. When searching for her, another musician with the same moniker but a vastly different face smiles back at me and, as far as I can tell, "Historia de un Amor" is the only single she's released. It doesn't help that Facebook and Instagram are inexplicably down today, making sleuthing all the more arduous. Even hunting down the label cited for releasing the single was fruitless. Do we have a new Jai Paul or a 2010's-era The Weeknd on our hands?! Or perhaps I'm just very terrible at my job.
Either way, "Historia de un Amor" is an absolutely stunning rendition of a song that has been covered many times over by artists like Dalida, Guadalupe Pineda, Eydie Gormé & Trio Los Panchos, Los Paraguayos, Julio Jaramillo, Nicola Di Bari, Abbe Lane, Julio Iglesias, Angélica María, Nana Mouskouri, George Dalaras, Hrysoula Stefanaki, Perez Prado, Laura Fygi, Iva Zanicchi, Dizzy Reece, Pedro Infante, Ana Gabriel, Luis Miguel, Luz Casal, Yasar, Cesaria Evora, Lili Boniche, Los Tres Ases, Dany Brillant, Eartha Kitt, Krystyna Janda, Stanisława Celińska, Sargis Maghakyan Sr., Il Volo, Felipe Pirela, Miri Mesika, Diego El Cigala and Il Divo among others. Just to name a few.
Originally written by Panamanian songwriter Carlos Eleta Almarán in the 1950s, “Historia de un Amor” was composed after the death of his brother's wife and speaks to the tragedy of lost love. Tracy J’s version harkens back to Almarán’s original with the mournful strumming guitar but updates it with sparkling synths to give the 70-year-old song a fresh, modern take without losing any of the heart.
