Saturday, March 14, 2020

Who Are Those Composers ~ Manuel Parada



Born Manuel Parada de la Puente on May 19, 1902 in Corona, Spain. And died in Buenos Aires, Argentina on December 26, 1980. His biography has often been confused with the Argentinian tango guitarist and composer of the same name who lived from 1902-1980. Our Manuel Parada trained at the Madrid Royal Conservatory, he studied under the esteemed Conrado del Campo. When the Spanish Civil War broke out, he enlisted with the National side. Thanks to his friendship with the film director José Luis Sáenz de Heredia, he managed to break into the film world with Sáenz de Heredia's “Raza” (1941), a war film pseudonymously written by General Franco himself. After that, Parada composed more scores for similar propaganda pieces as well as a myriad of comedies and melodramas. In the 1960s, his career declined, partially (one assumes) on account of the falls from grace that were characteristic of the long history of the Franco regime, partially because of the appearance of a new generation composed of the likes of Luis de Pablo, Carmelo Bernaola and Antón García Abril. Parada nevertheless remained the regular composer of Francoist filmmaker Rafael Gil.

In recent years music historians have questioned his credits because during the 1960s and 1970s both Italy and Spain granted tax credits to film producers and production companies if they used a specific number of national actors and crew members in their films. It was later discovered by historians that often Spanish and Italian names were listed in the credits to obtain these tax credits when they actually had nothing to do with that particular film. Manuel Parada’s name has come up often for this practice.


PARADA, Manuel (Manuel Parada de la Puente) [6/26/1911, San Felices de los Gallego, Salamanca, Spain – 7/10/1973, Madrid, Madrid, Spain] - composer, conductor, arranger, songwriter, musician (guitar), singer.
The Terror of Oklahoma – 1959 (co)
Shadow of Zorro – 1962 (co)
The Terrible Sheriff – 1962 (co)
Welcome Padre Murray - 1962
Zorro the Avenger – 1962
4 Bullets for Joe – 1963
Heroes of the West – 1963 (co)*
Implacable Three – 1963 (co)
The Sign of the Coyote – 1963 (co)*
Charge of the 7th – 1964 (co)
The Man of the Cursed Valley – 1964 (co)
Outlaw of Red River – 1964 (co)
Welcome Padre Murray - 1964
Assault on Fort Texan – 1965
A  Fistful of Knuckles – 1965 (co)
Kid Rodelo – 1965 (co)*
The Outlaw of Red River – 1965
Ringo, the Lone Rider – 1968 (co)*
Taste of Vengeance – 1968 (co)*

*Available on CD

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