This is a famous photo of mine

Taken during the October missile
crisis outside the Hotel Riviera

The whole Malecon was full of
anti-aircraft guns and cannons

We were expecting a US invasion

I took this one in 1959,
in Washington

Fidel laid a wreath
before Abraham Lincoln

It's called 'David and Goliath'

The little man and the giant

These are Che Guevara and Fidel
playing golf

Who won?

Fidel

Che let him win

Ah, the Buena Vista Social Club!

Compay Segundo! Hello!

We should ask these people

Let's ask the old folks where
the Buena Vista Social Club is

He'll know

- We're looking for the Social Club
- The Buena Vista?

Oh, that's long gone

The Buena Vista was...let's see.
You go up that way...

- It was No 48
- Yes, but it's no longer there

OK, tell us where
It used to be

Look, you go up that way,
and you'll find it

- You used to dance there?
- Sure I did

I was born near there.
It's a private house now

Go on the dual carriageway

It's that house, the one with
a line painted on the door

It's been gone since 1944.
We've lived here since then

I remember they used to throw
parties at the Buena Vista

In its day, the best bands
in Cuba played there

Know what I eat when I've had
too much to drink? Chicken soup

You take a piece of chicken neck
and you fry it

When it's no longer bloody,
you toss in some chopped garlic

You can still see
part of the bar

You eat that and you won't
have a hangover

That's how I stay fit.
Best thing there is

FromAlto Cedro,
I'm going to Marcane

I get to Cueto,
then go to Mayari

The love I have foryou,
I cannot deny

My mouth is watering.
I can't help myself

Juanita and Chan Chan,
play togetheron the beach

How herbottom shakes.
How Chan Chan is aroused

Clear the path ofdry cane leaves

Because I want to sit down

On that trunk over there.
Orl might not make it

Asleep in my garden

Amid the gladioli and the roses

And the white lilies

My soul feels sad and heavy

From the flowers I wish to hide
my bitterpain

I don't want
the flowers to know...

the torments
that life gives me

If they knew
what I'm suffering...

...formy sorrows,
they would cry as well

Silence,
for they are asleep

The gladioli and the lilies

I don't want them
to know my sorrows

Forif they see me crying,
they'll die.

Omara Portuondo!

I, lbrahim Ferrer Planas...

...was born in a small town,

in Santiago de Cuba

San Luis

I am the son of Aurelia Ferrer

Registered as her natural son

I say this because...

...l'd like you all
to know from me...

...who I am and what I am

At the age of twelve...

I lost my mother

I had already lost my father.

I was an orphan

I was my mother's only child

So I had to look after myself

I was at school,
where I had friends

But I had to abandon
my studies then

Life at that time wasn't
what it is now

It was harder.

You had to fend for yourself

Do you need a hand?

Ruben and I were just
taking it easy

Ruben loves to improvise,
and so do l. Let things flow

So, I started singing. I said
Compadre, pick up this tune

Two Gardenias foryou

With them I mean to say
I love you, I adore you

Pay them allyourmind.
They'll be your heart and mine

Ry Cooder heard it, too

When he arrived, I had just sung
that number. To loosen up

And he recorded it

Two Gardenias foryou

With them I mean to say...

...l love you. I adore you

Pay them allyourmind.
They'll be your heart and mine

Two gardenias foryou

With all the warmth ofa kiss

Kisses you'll neverfind
in the arms ofanother

They'll live beside you,
and talk to you as I do

And you'll believe they're saying
"l love you"

But ifone evening,
my love's gardenias should die

It's because they'll
have discovered...

...thatyou've betrayed me
for the love ofanother

My name is Omara Portuondo

I was born here in Havana
in the area known as Cayo Hueso

My father was a famous
baseball player

He was one of the first Cubans
to play outside his country

They took Cuban baseball
To the US

My parents used to relax after lunch
and sing a few songs

They would sing duets

And that's how my love of
Cuban music began

I started singing La Bayamesa
when I was a little girl

My father would sing the lead voice,
and I'd sing the back-up

The song I've recorded here,
Viente Anos...

...has won a Grammy

I've known it since
I was a child

What matterifl love you,
ifyou don't love me any more?

A love which is in the past
should no longerbe remembered

I was the love ofyourlife,
once so very long ago

But now I'm part of the past,
and I can't agree to that

Ifall the things we want
were within ourgrasp...

...then you'd love me
still as much...

...as twenty years ago

With sadness we watch
ourlove fade away

A part ofoursouls
so heartlessly torn apart

Here on the beach,
how Maria enjoys herself

Here on the beach,
Maria, howyou excite me

I was born in 1907

On the coast, by the sea.
In Siboney

I lived there with my father

He was a train driver,
in the magnesium mines

I lived in Siboney
until the age of nine

That's when my grandmother died

Then I moved to Santiago de Cuba
with my brothers

I wasn't allowed to leave Siboney
until my grandmother died

She put it this way:

"Until I die, my grandson..."
that's me "... cannot leave my side"

I used to light her cigars

I was only five

And she'd say "Light me a cigar"

And I did, from the age of five

I'd light it, and my grandmother
would smoke it

So, you could say I've been
smoking for 85 years

I'll have to work hard.
Ry Cooder is here

On a tree trunk,
a young girl...

...carved her name withjoy

And the tree,
touched to the core...

...let a flowerfall
for the girl

I am the tree,
so sad and moved

You are the girl
who hurt me so

I'll always treasure
yourdear name

But tell me, what became
ofmypoorflower?.

I learned that as a young boy

Music is so beautiful

My name is
Eliades Ochoa Bustamante

I was born in Santiago de Cuba
on June 22nd, 1946

My mother, Jacoba Bustamante,
played the tres

And so die my father.

We were a musical family

I was born a country boy,
of course

From the moment I woke up,
I heard music

I had music in my blood

I heard music when I went to bed,
and music when I woke up

In 1958, I was no bigger
than a guitar

I started playing as a kid
all around Santiago

In the red light district

I played and passed the hat:
"Help Cuban musicians"

That's how I made money

I took all the money home
to help my parents

Along the road by my house...

...a merry cart-driver went by

His songs came from the heart

Like ajolly country boy he sang

I'm going to the rail crossing,
to unload my cart

And so end anotherday
of this back-breaking task

I work without respite
so that I can get married

And ifl can manage that
I'll be a lucky country lad

My days of passing the hat
are over

I'll never forget it,
but it's in the past now

I'm a country lad and cart-driver,
and in the country I live well

The country is the Garden ofEden,
the loveliest in the world

Let's ride our horses
to the mountains

Hello, how are you?

We've been waiting ages.
You're late

I thought maybe the cops
were after you

Make yourselves at home

Once, in Santiago de Cuba,
my grandfather was...

...the president of
a French society

It was called 'EI Cocuye'

Once, a delegation of Africans
went to visit him there

One of the women became
Friendly with my mother

And when she left, she gave
my mother this staff

My mother was a firm believer
in this Lazarus

I have one the same. And I believe
in my Lazarus, too

We call him the Beggar

He's very powerful

He's the one who leads the way
and helps the poor

The other Lazarus is the same

But that's one I take with me.
The one who begs

I lay flowers for him

Sometimes I light a candle

I give him honey

See? 'lt's bees' honey

I give him perfume

Lots of perfume

Every time I go out,
I spray him

And I spray myself

His little shot of rum

I like it, so I assume
he must like it, too

My wife makes him a meringues
sometimes. Know what that is?

We put them here

We offer them to him

So that's how he gets
all these things

We Cubans can be thankful,
I don't know, to the Man up there...

...that we are the way we are

If we cared about possessions, we
would have disappeared long ago

But we Cubans are very fortunate

We're a small country

But we're very strong

We've learned how to resist...

...the good and the bad

Cienfuegos has its Guaguanco

Today I am very moved

I will sing to my land

To that famous region...

...known as the Pearl
of the South

That's the last one

It's the one Juan de Marcos wanted

My name is Ruben Gonzalez
Fontanells

I was born in Santa Clara,
in 1919

At the age of nine, I started
playing the piano

My family had bought a piano

It was a fine one, a John Stowers

It was also a pianola.
It sounded lovely

When I saw that instrument,
I went crazy

I really liked it

So I began practising
all the time

When my mother saw I had talent
and could become a great pianist...

...she arranged for me to study
with a teacher in Cienfuegos

I studied with her until
the eighth grade

She'd say to me "Ruben, you'll be
a good pianist

"You have great skill
with your hands"

I was ignored, so I lost touch

But I wasn't going to starve

I polished shoes, cleaned the
streets, sold lottery tickets

I had a family to support

I'm not ashamed to say that

We moved from Santa Clara
to Havana

But being in the capital
made me feel insecure

I said to myself "There are
lots of pianists in Havana"

So, I started studying
other things

Playing other instruments

But it turned out that
one of my neighbours...

...was a man calledcame to know as Arsenio

He had a great band

And he heard me play

But Arsenio was blind

Not from birth

He had an accident
and lost his sight

Anyway, one day he said:

Ruben, would you like
to join my band?

I said yes, of course

He'd had a pianist who'd left

He'd gone to Europe

I played in Arsenio's band
for about four years

I had a few hits