Born in Mexico City, Manuel Experón Gonzales graduated in music from the Escuela Superior de Música in that nation’s capital. He began his musical career in the 1920s as a pianist for leading vocalists of the day, as well as accompanist for silent films.
The 1933 motion picture La Mujer del Puerto was the first film Esperón scored a soundtrack and composition. His subsequent movie credits include Ay Jalisco no te Rajes, Allá en El Rancho Grande, El Penon de las Animas, Los Tres Garcia, Nosotros Los Pobres, Ustedes Los Ricos, Pepe el Toro, and nearly 6000 other Mexican films.
Esperón’s 95 hit songs composed for cinema include Arandas, Amorcito Corazón, Esos Altos de Jalisco, Serenata Tapatía, Cocula, Traigo un Amor, Noche Plateada, Me he de Comer esa Tuna, No Volveré, Tequila con Limón, Mi Cariñito, Flor de Azalea, Yo So Méxicano, and El Corrido de Jorge Torres.
Maestro Esperón was musical director and principle songwriter for two of the greatest interpreters of Mexican song: Jorge Negrete and Pedro Infante, during their entire careers.
Esperón served as musical director for over 30 years for such television series as Ella y El, Noches Tapatías, and Así es mi Tierra, which featured famous ranchera singers, mariachis, trios, and orquestras. He directed Vicente Fernández and Alberto Vásquez in their television premieres.
Other recording artists he directed in films include Libertad Lamarque, Luis Aguilar, Pedro Vargas, Miguel Aceves Mejía, María Félix, Lola Beltrán, Silvia Pinal, Joaquín Pardavé, Antonio Badú, Ramon Armengod, Emilio Tuero, Carmen Sevilla, Manuel Capetillo, “Charro” Avitia, Flor Silvestre, Antonio Aguilar, Trio Las Calaveras, German Valdez “Tin Tan,” Mario Moreno “Cantinflas,” Javier Solís, and Lucha Villa, Many of his earlier hits have been recorded in recent years by such artists as Julio Iglesias, Plácido Domingo, Yuri, José Luis “El Puma,” Thalia, Tania Libertad, and Armando Manzanero.
Maestro Esperón set a precedent in 1941 when he mounted his arrangement of Cocula with Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán, to accompany singer Jorge Negrete, Since the, musical arrangements have become a necessity for mariachi groups.
