Sunday, April 16, 2023

Who Are Those Singers and Musicians ~ Ferrusquilla

 

José Ángel Espinoza Aragón was born in Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico on October 2, 1919. He was the son of Buenaventura Espinoza and Fredesvinda Aragón, when his father was widowed they moved to the town of El Guayabo Heriberto Valdez Romero syndicate belonging to the municipality of Ahome, on the banks of the Fuerte River. Som time later they went to live in Los Mochis, where one of their teachers proposed that he move to Mazatlan, in order to continue his studies. In Mazatlan he made many friends, and it was a group of them who in 1937 put him on a train bound for Mexico City, because he wanted to be a doctor. But his true vocation dictated to him to enter the National Conservatory of Music, where he received the theoretical musical preparation on which years later he would embroider his inspiration as a composer.

In 1938 he joined XEQ Radio. At first, he ran errands, then he was given the opportunity to work as an announcer and finally, unexpectedly, he was introduced to acting, with the role of "Ferrusquilla", in the program called Fifirafas. In this broadcast, which overnight was left without a cast, José Ángel had to do eight different voices to float the production, which is why he was baptized as "The man of a thousand voices", and from there he acquired the nickname with which he would be known for the rest of his life.

He then worked as voice actor and in the dubbing of films. Ferrusquilla acted in around 80 films.

His passion for music led him to study at the National Conservatory, where he learned to systematize his inspiration with teachers such as Silvestre Revueltas, Manuel M. Ponce and Gerónimo Baqueiro Foster. It was so that in the decade of the 50's he released his first composition "A los amigos que tengo", recorded by Pedro Infante. As a composer, his masterpiece was Échame a mí la culpa, that launched him to fame and that was so popular in Spain that a film of the same name was made, with the performances of Lola Flores and Miguel Aceves Mejía. In the mid-1970s, the same song became popular again in the voice of English singer Albert Hammond, who received from José Ángel Espinoza himself the award as the Best Performer of the Year. However, there were many songs that emerged from his inspiration, such as "El tiempo que te quede libre", recorded at the time by Manoella Torres, María Dolores Pradera and later by Luis Miguel; "La ley del monte", one of Vicente Fernández's greatest hits; "New darling."

He died on November 6, 2015 in his hometown, at the age of 96, after being hospitalized for a stroke.

FERRUSQUILLA (José Ángel Espinoza Aragón) [10/2/1919, Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico – 11/6/2015, Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico (stroke)] – film, voice actor, singer, musician, married to Sonya Stransky Echeverria [1919-2012] (1951-2012) father of actress Angelica Aragon (Angélica Espinoza Stransky) [1953-    ], actress Isaura Espinoza (Vindia Espinoza Stransky) [1956-2008], married to Elisa Ortega Villalba [201?-2015] father of singer Ferrusquilla Jr. (José Ángel Espinoza Saucillo) with  ? Saucillo.

4 Bullets for Joe – 1964 [sings: “Sonaron cuatro balazos”]

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