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- 94 Mambo No. 4 The baRbeR of LiTTLe havana When i first becaMe interested in the mambo, I was puzzled to find that a well-respected British reference work, The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, gave Pérez Prado’s first name as Pantaleón rather than Dámaso. More puzzling still, after describing Pérez Prado’s career in accurate detail, the entry concluded, “His elder brother Damos [sic] was also a bandleader and composer who specialized in the mambo.” Later I discovered that Pérez Prado actually had a brother named Pantaleón, who was also a musician. Still later, while going through some music magazines from the 1950s, I found that Pantaleón had actually toured Europe claiming to be the Mambo King, an imposture that ended only when Dámaso threatened to take legal, rather than musical, steps. For many years there was a barbershop on Eighth Street in Miami called “Barbería Pérez Prado.” Its elderly owner bore a striking resemblance to Dámaso; some say he was Pérez Prado’s brother, Pantale ón. But when questioned by visitors, the barber of Little Havana would disclaim any connection. Will the real mambo king please stand up and grunt? ...

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