The lyrics of the meringue “Vagabundo”, which the vocalist Charlie Amarante pasted in the 80s, could perhaps reflect the last years of his life, immersed in alcohol and showing homelessness, in his hometown of Moca, Espaillat province.
“Let me live my life. I’m not bad for anyone. That I am drunk, that I am lost, that I am a womanizer and a bandit. I live my world, I’m a wanderer. Nobody cares about my life or the path I take “, sang Charlie in meringue” Vagabundo “.
Charlie Amarante, affectionate “Chelo”, was the soloist of the Luis Ovalles orchestra, recording songs such as: “Palo bonito”, “Se fue la luz”, “La Fosforera”, “The boat sinks”, “La ley of funnel” and ” The vagabond ”.
The vocalist died on Sunday night as a result of the complications that excessive alcohol consumption generates over the years.
+ Dear person
Charlie was a much-loved person to his friends. Luis Ovalles even confessed to the LISTÍN DIARIO journalists that he was like a brother to him and that his death filled him with great sadness.
“Charlie was a brother to me, he was part of my family and he lived in my house for a while, even though he lived in Moca. He recorded with me all the songs that were relevant, I preferred him for his loyalty and quality, he was the main vocalist, he was always with me “, Ovalles expressed.
“Chelo” received the support and medical care needed to help him get out of addiction, but without much progress. He did not cooperate.
A few years ago, he was placed in the professional hands of his cousin Carlos Amarante Baret, who took him through a detoxification process and then used him as a security guard for a school in Santo Domingo when he was minister of education. July, 2013 – August 16, 2016).
+ Failed attempts
“Alcohol could never control it, no one could. I admitted him to a health center, I looked for a psychiatrist to treat him. Luis Montalvo assisted and even he couldn’t. Then he went to Moca, where I arranged his house, but he continued to drink, “said Luis Ovalles.
In December 2019, several media outlets in the country reported that Charlie lived in a situation of neglect. However, relatives denied that he lived abandoned, but the singer himself refused to visit the barber and wear appropriate clothes, just on a whim, but not because his family did not pay attention.
“What I like is the drink and, if the brandy appears, I drink it”, came meringue a year ago in an interview for the You Tube channel “Joan Abreu’s Classics”.
Then he added: “The only thing I suffer from is a hangover and disappears with two drinks.”
In that conversation, he also said that the only thing he asked for in life was to be allowed to drink in peace.
+ From his career
Charlie Amarante started playing the tumbler in the group Los Juveniles, led by Luis Ovalles, in 1969.
A little later, she became a singer and the stellar voice of her compueblano band. Few percussionists have made this transition into meringue.
The first song recorded was “Palo bonito”. When Luis Ovalles heard him sing that meringue, he had it recorded because he liked it more than the original, and from that moment on, he recorded all the hits of the group.
From 1968 to 1991, the Luis Ovalles Orchestra recorded 117 songs on 13 albums and peaked in the 1970s and 1980s, with Charlie Amarante as conguero and singer.
Other vocalists who were part of that group were Henry Castro, San José, René Caminero, Leo Palacio and Johnny Calar.
The Ovalles Orchestra was worthy of all the awards of its time, including “El Dorado”, “El Gordo de la Semana” and the Casandra Awards.
+ Your route
In the mid-1990s, when Ovalles disbanded the group, Charlie took other directions. On one of these routes, he decided to go live to Puerto Plata, where he worked as a singer.
Then he moved to Moca, where he took refuge in alcohol. His family, children, friends and neighbors fought to help him, but all efforts were in vain.
As he said in an interview, he did not drink alcohol because he was depressed or because of a woman’s love: “I drink because I like brandy.”
Possessing an impeccable image when he was in the orchestra with Luis Ovalles, the performer of “La fosforera” became an unrecognizable person, disordered, living without a horizon in which death found him.
Few meringue players gave him a cyber farewell yesterday, as is now customary. Sergio Vargas, among the few, reviewed her on Instagram: “Today a voice from our meringue, Charlie Amarante, is fading … Today he left in the arms of the Lord. My condolences to the family. ”
Words. Yesterday, Luis Ovalles praised Charlie Amarante’s vocal qualities and stressed that he is his best singer and says that when he had a quality meringue in his hands, he entrusted it to him.