Early career of Puchito's founder The founder, Jesús Gorís
(né Jesús Ramon Francisco Gorís Ballas; 12 April 1921
Havana, Cuba – 16 Aug 2006
Miami, Florida) had been a representative of
RCA Victor, selling records from a separate counter at his father's hardware store, La Estrella. Eventually, the store became known as Gorís Shop. In 1952, Gorís invested in a single, "
Guantanamera", composed by
Joseíto Fernández, which did well in jukeboxes. Gorís and two partners, Messrs. Alfredo Beltrán and Oliva, originally wanted to launch a series of children's records, so they chose the name Puchito, which, in this context, means "youngest child." In 1954, Gorís and his two partners produced an
LP of
Olga Guillot singing with The Castro Brothers Orchestra, one of Cuba's first jazz bands (no relation to
Fidel Castro). Although
Guillot. "Mienteme" ("Lie to Me"), a
bolero composed by
Chamaco Domínguez (
es) (1921–1985), was one of the album's great successes. Puchito went on to produce
Guillot on nine more albums, and a few singles, up until 1960. In 1958, Gorís hired pianist
René Touzet (1916–2003) as musical director and orchestrator of
Guillot's album,
Intemidades (MLP-526), which gained reputation as having the most important works of her career, and several that cemented
Touzet's reputation as an original composer: "La Noche de Anoche" ("The Night Last Night"), "Será Cuando Tú Quieras," "Estuve Pensando," and "No Te Importe Saber" ("Let Me Love You Tonight").
Guillot and
Touzet, though never married, had a daughter together: Olga María Touzet-Guillot (born 1960). With the support of
Benny Moré, Gorís spearheaded the rediscovery of a major
sonero artist from the 1920s,
Abelardo Barroso, who, back then, had sung with
Sexteto Habanero. Gorís curated and, through Puchito, republished old photographs and produced
Barroso with the Orquesta Sensación. In early July 1955,
Barroso recorded a single, "
La hija de Juan Simón" and "En Guantánamo" (Puchito 224,
78 rpm &
45 rpm), his first recording in over fifteen years, and apart from his solitary single in 1939, his first in over a quarter century. Rolando Valdés, founder of Orquesta Sensación, selected the songs for the
session, both from
Barroso's radio hits of the 1930s. The release became one of the greatest double-sided hits in the history of popular music. It became a Gold Record in 1956. In 1956, Puchito released 5 more singles featuring
Barroso and Orquesta Sensación. ; Selected 1956 releases :* Puchito 262 (1956); :*: Side A: "
El Manisero" ("The Peanut Ventor") :*:
Moisés Simons (w&m) :*: :*: Side B: "Resabroso Cha-Cha-Cha" :*: :* Puchito 496 :*: Side A: "
Coctel Para Dos" :*:
Arthur Johnston (w&m) :*:
Sam Coslow (w&m) :*: Side B: "Vuelve Navidad" ; Other Puchito hits by Barroso :* "El Panquelero" :* "Tiene sabor" :* "El Guajiro de Cunagua" :* "La Macorina" :* "Con sabor a bombón" :* "Bruca Maniguá" For the rest of the 1950s, Gorís produced several other highly successful records on the Puchito label. He produced
Chapottin y sus Estrellas on with singer
Miguelito Cuní (
es) (1917–1984), the
Orquesta Riverside with singer
Tito Gomez (1920–2000) and
Roberto Faz (1914–1966) and his
conjunto for the label. Puchito manufactured its discs at
Panart's factory.
Puchito recording locals in Havana At some point, Puchito recorded in the studios of
Radio Progreso, built in 1950. Puchito also recorded in a private studio at Calle 10 n.52 in the
Vedado district of
Havana. And for many years, Puchito recorded at Cuban Plastics & Record Corporation at San Miguel 410, between Campanario and Lealtad in Havana, with the factory outside of the city. San Miguel 410 was the home of
Panart, founded and owned by
Ramón S. Sabat and his wife, Julia, both also founders of Cuban Plastics and Record Corporation.
1961 Cuban nationalization — National Press of Cuba On May 29, 1961, during the process of enterprise nationalization started by the Revolutionary Government, the assets and management of several record companies were assumed by the Imprenta Nacional de Cuba (INC) (National Press of Cuba), an arts overseer created March 31, 1961. Companies included in the seizure included Puchito and
Panart. Imprenta Nacional de Cuba acted as the only legal Cuban label until 1964. In 1964,
EGREM (Empresa de Grabaciones y Ediciones Musicales) became Cuba's national label. EGREM operated several imprints including
Areito (for recordings made in the former Panart studios in Havana), Palma (for international distribution) and Siboney (for recordings made in Santiago de Cuba).
Puchito Record Mfg. Co. Inc. in Florida In 1961, years after the end of the
Cuban Revolution, Gorís went into exile, immigrating to
Miami, Florida, and was lawfully admitted in the United States for permanent residence on October 20, 1962. He began working at a
7-Eleven, then became a top salesman for
Equitable Life Insurance in Miami. While working in insurance, Gorís, with a partner, Giuseppe Pucci Storniolo (1929–1993), launched Puchito Record Mfg. Co. Inc. in 1963 as a Florida entity, initially located at 480 East 28 Street,
Hialeah. Puchito Record Mfg. Co. produced the recordings that Gorís brought with him from
Cuba. After a period of time, the new Puchito released those recordings on its newly created budget label, Adria. The new Puchito also started to distribute its newly created Krystal label. Gorís and his wife, Georgina Rita Gorís (1927–2012), became naturalized United States citizens on April 12, 1968. Jesús Gorís married Georgina around 1945, and remained married to her for the rest of his life. The company remained active until 1971. It somehow operated afterwards from the US, but seemed to have continued also in Cuba for a while after the revolution.
Puchito Mfg. Co. Inc. (1969) : President & Head of A&R: Jesús Gorís : Vice President: Giuseppe Pucci Storniolo (1929–1993) : Labels: Puchito, Adria, Dardo Recordings, J. & G. Recordings J. & G. Recordings was a United States trademark of Puchito Record Mfg. Co. Inc., based in
Hialeah, Florida. The trademark was active ten years, from April 25, 1967, to April 25, 1977.
Armada and Rodriguez of Miami, Inc. José Armada Sr. and Vicente Rodríguez, who had been in the record business together in Cuba, remain together when they arrived in New York in 1964. They recorded and distributed Puchito Records and set up
racks in New York and New Jersey. Fellow Cubans brought them to Miami in 1968, where they purchased the bankrupt Puchito label at an auction, picked up some other labels, and started a distributing business. In 1972 they opened a manufacturing plant —Armada and Rodriguez of Florida, Inc.— where they pressed LP's and 45's for their own labels: Gema Records, Velvet Records Inc., Continental Records, Aro Records, Funny Records, Regio Records, and Suave Records, and a number of custom labels. Their labels, Aro, Funny, Regio, and Suave are distributed all over the U.S. and Puerto Rico and for the most part are licensed works from Latin America. But, they also produced and recorded local artists, including The Antiques, Alexis Fari, Miriam
(aka Myriam) and the Sons of Paraguay. Armada & Rodriquez distributed Gema throughout the U.S., and they owned their own distributing organization in New York and Antilla. They sold only to distributors, not to retail stores, but also owned a distributing company that sold to retail stores and serviced their
racks. == Re-release labels ==