The “Marimba Centro American de Guatemala” recorded “Besame” for the Victor Talking Machine Co. in 1917; but the translation of the performer’s name as given on the label is simply “Central American Marimba Band of Guatemala,” which leads to the question, Who was the band actually? There are conflicting accounts: one source says that it is alternate name for Mata’s Tropical Marimba Band, also known as the Blue and White Marimba Band, which it claims was a Victor house band;[1] another claims that it was a real band from Guatemala “known throughout South America as Quiroz and Cia.”[2] The latter seems most likely, as the source gives a contemporary photograph of the band members—however, the existence of a real Blue and White Marimba Band does not prove that that band made this recording—especially as the author makes no reference to either of the names actually given on the label. It appears to be a case—one of many—of a recording company being out to make a profit, and giving very little thought to proper recognition of its artists.
The recording was issued on Victor’s standard popular series, but the title and performer names are given in Spanish, with English subtitles, and its marketing genre is “Spanish (Guatemalan),”[3] further adding to the confusion, as it is unclear whether it was intended for a generic U.S. audience, a Spanish-speaking U.S. audience, or a Guatemalan audience, leaving a wide range of possible interpretations: it could be an example of Victor marketing something exotic to its domestic customers, or something familiar to its Guatemalan or Guatemalan immigrant customers; a case of a U.S. company appropriating foreign music, or trying not to exclude a minority from its market.
[1] Richard K. Spottswood. Ethnic Music on Records: A Discography of Ethnic Recordings Produced in the United States, 1893-1942. Vol. 4: Spanish, Portuguese, Philippines, Basque. University of Illinois Press, 1990: 2078. Google Books. https://books.google.com/books?id=qNh8VBZHQ2YC&pg=PA2078&lpg=PA2078&dq=%22Marimba+Centro+Americana+de+Guatemala%22&source=bl&ots=8abl4ojvBt&sig=ACfU3U1xLPg0m3GJ3KLDx21Scl3wdz2GkA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwizi4u8wtj7AhUGg4kEHTqSAio4ChDoAXoECBYQAw#v=onepage&q=%22Marimba%20Centro%20Americana%20de%20Guatemala%22&f=false
[2] “El Relicario.” New York 1920s. https://www.ny1920.com/1921jun-1