Background
Fellové was born on October 7, 1923, in the neighbourhood of Colón, Havana, Cuba.
Fellové was born on October 7, 1923, in the neighbourhood of Colón, Havana, Cuba.
A prolific composer of the feeling generation, he is well known for his particular style of scat singing known as chua chua. He is the author of the famous guaracha-pregón "Mango mangüé", recorded by Machito and Celia Cruz among others He was the cousin of conga drummer Carlos "Patato" Valdéson
He started his musical career as a songwriter, primarily of guarachas, but also of boleros such as "Dos caminos", which he wrote for Olga Guillot.
Together with other authors of boleros, sones, canciones and guarachas, he became part of the so-called filin movement, where the descarga format began to development Soon, several of his guarachas became very popular, especially "Para que tú lo bailes", "Sea como sea" and "Mango mangué".
The latter, which he composed when he was only 17 years old, was recorded by numerous artists including Miguelito Valdés, Machito and his Afro-Cubans featuring Charlie Parker, Celia Cruz with Louisiana Sonora Matancera, Tito Puente, and Johnny Pacheco, as well as Fellové himself. Based on the fast tempo of his guarachas, which he termed "chua chua", Fellové developed a scat singing technique together with fellow vocalist Dandy Crawford.
In 1952, Fellové took part in some of the descargas (jam sessions) directed by Julio Gutiérrez at Panart Studios in Havana (released in 1956).
In December 1955 he moved to Mexico with fellow filin songwriter José Antonio Méndez and joined the cha-cha-cha group Conjunto Batamba. In 1956 he met Mexican promoter and head of Radio Corporation of America Victor in Mexico Mariano Rivera Conde, who gave him the nickname "El Gran Fellové", kickstarting his solo career. Among his first solo recordings for Radio Corporation of America Victor were "Mango mangüé", Niño Rivera"s "El jamaiquino" and "Azul pintado de azul", backed by Lobo y Melón.
In 1957, Radio Corporation of America Victor released an LP of Fellové"s recordings entitled El Gran Fellové.
In the 1960s, Fellové switched from Radio Corporation of America Victor to Musart, releasing Watusi in 1966. Fellové continued to record and perform in Mexico, the United States and throughout Latin America.
He played with Tito Puente and Machito in New New York In 2002 he recorded a cover version of "Walking on the Moon".
Fellové died on February 15, 2013, in Mexico City.