OBITURARY : Alfredo ‘El Guero’ Gil; Last Original Member of Los Panchos Bolero Trio

The last surviving original member of Los Panchos, the most famous of Mexico’s legendary bolero trios, has died.

Alfredo “El Guero” Gil, who suffered from pulmonary emphysema, died Friday night at his home in Mexico City, family members said. He was 84.

After word of his death began circulating in the capital, radio stations devoted much of their programming to Los Panchos’ romantic melodies.

Those melodies, which featured soft vocal harmonies and acoustic guitars, were the hallmark of bolero music, and Los Panchos was the most important group of the genre.

“His death signifies the end of an era,” said Ernesto Lechner, a Los Angeles-based pop music writer who specializes in Latin American music, “because Latin music has lost the warm purity and innocence of spirit that it had thanks to groups like Los Panchos.”

Gil, who was born in Teziutlan in the central Mexican state of Puebla, began writing lyrics and playing guitar as a boy--becoming a professional musician at 15, Mexico’s Notimex news agency reported. In the 1930s, he became part of the Martinez Gil Brothers Trio with his brother Jesus and his cousins Carlos and Pablo.

Gil immigrated to the United States in 1944 and formed Los Panchos with two musicians he met while living in New York City--Chucho Navarro, also from Mexico, and Hernando Aviles of Puerto Rico. Each member played the guitar, with Gil focusing on the requinto, a small guitar that he invented. Its sound was pitched higher than that of a standard guitar. Some observers said the sound seemed to be a cross between those of a violin and a guitar and gave the group a distinctive sound.

Los Panchos decided to go to Mexico to seek their fortune. They became wildly popular, appearing in clubs, on the radio, on television and in several movies beginning with “El Gran Campeon” in 1949.

Their soft harmonies caressed emotion from their songs, particularly the boleros, short pop numbers drenched in romantic desire that speak of love in an innocent way. That musical form, which was born in Cuba in the late 1800s, is believed by many to be the quintessential Latin American song form.

Their tours were popular, and dates--including ones at the Million Dollar Theater in downtown Los Angeles--were generally sold out well in advance.

Los Panchos’ interpretations of “Besame Mucho” (“Kiss Me”), “Quizas, Quizas, Quizas” (“Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps”), “Como un Rayito de Luna” (“Like a Little Ray of Moonshine”) and “Sin Ti” (“Without You”) propelled them to international fame.

Collaborations with American pop singer Eydie Gorme added a female voice to songs such as “La Ultima Noche” (“The Last Night”).

As a composer, Gil registered hundreds of songs during his career including “Sin Ti” and “Ansiedad” (“Anxiety”). The band also appeared in more than 50 films during Mexico’s so-called golden era of cinema.

Aviles, who was the trio’s lead voice, left the group in 1951 to be replaced by Raul Shaw Moreno and later Julio Rodriguez Reyes. Aviles returned in 1956-1958, but was followed by four other artists. He died in 1986.

Gil retired from Los Panchos in 1981, making his announcement in Venezuela during a world tour titled “Hasta Siempre” (“So Long”). Navarro continued to record with Mexican singer Rafael Basurto until his death in 1993.

There has been a bolero revival in recent years, spurred on by groups such as Los Tri-O, which performs only Los Panchos songs. Their debut album, “Nuestro Amor” (“Our Love”), sold more than 1 million copies worldwide. Although the revival was commercially successful, critics saw little similarity with the great melodies of groups like Los Panchos.

Gil, who is survived by his wife, Guadalupe Bedoy, and five children, was buried Saturday.

“It was beautiful, his death. He didn’t suffer,” Gil’s son, Alfredo Marcelo, told Notimex. “Ten minutes before his passing, he was conscious. He simply asked that he lie down to sleep.”