Bartolome Maximiliano More (24 August 1919 – 19 February 1963), known as Benny More, was a famous Cuban singer. Due to his fluid tenor voice and his great expressivity, he was known variously as El Barbaro del Ritmo and El Sonero Mayor.More was a master of most Cuban popular genres, such as the bolero, son montuno, mambo, and guaracha. More formed and led the Banda Gigante, one of the leading Cuban big bands of the 1950s, until his death in 1963. 　　The eldest of eighteen children, Benny More was born in Santa Isabel de las Lajas in the former province of Las Villas, current Cienfuegos Province, in central Cuba. His maternal great-great grandfather, Ta Ramon Gundo Paredes, was said to be the son of the king of a tribe in the Congo who was captured by slave traders and sold to a Cuban plantation owner (he was later liberated and died as a freeman at age 94). As a child, More learned to play the guitar, making his first instrument at age six, according to his mother, out of a board and a ball of string. In 1936, at age seventeen, he left Las Lajas for Havana, where he lived by selling bruised and damaged fruits and vegetables and medicinal herbs. Six months later he returned to Las Lajas and went to cut cane for a season with his brother Teodoro. With the money he earned and Teodoro's savings, he bought his first decent guitar. 　　In 1940, More returned to Havana. He lived from hand-to-mouth, playing in bars and cafes, passing the hat. His first breakthrough was winning a radio competition. In the early 1940s, the radio station CMQ had a program called "The Supreme Court of Art" in which a wide variety of artists participated. Winners were given contracts by unscrupulous businessmen who exploited them. The less fortunate were treated to the humiliation of a loud church bell which brutally terminated their performances. 　　In his first appearance, More had scarcely begun to sing when the bell sounded. He later competed again and won first prize. He then landed his first stable job with the Cauto conjunto led by Mozo Borgella. He also sang with success on the radio station CMZ with the sextet Figaro of Lazaro Cordero. In 1941, he made his debut on Radio Mil Diez performing with the Cauto Sextet of Mozo Borguella. 　　Ciro Rodriguez, of the famed Trio Matamoros, heard More singing in the bar El Temple and was greatly impressed. In 1942, Conjunto Matamoros was engaged for a live performance for the station 1010. However, Miguel Matamoros was indisposed and asked Mozo Borgella (director of Septeto Cauto), to lend him a singer. Borguella sent More, who remained several years with the Matamoros, making a number of recordings. 　　More replaced Miguel Matamoros as lead singer, and the latter dedicated himself to leading the band. On 21 June 1945, he went with Conjunto Matamoros to Mexico, where he performed in two of the most famous cabarets of the age, the Montparnasse and the Rio Rosa. He made several recordings. Conjunto Matamoros returned to Havana, but More remained in Mexico. Rafael Cueto said to him: "Fine, but just remember that they call burros 'bartolo' here. Stay, but change your name." "Ok," replied More, "from now on my name is Beny, Beny More." More was left penniless and got permission to work from the performing artists' union. With this, he was able to get a job at the Rio Rosa, where he formed the duet Dueto Fantasma with Lalo Montane. 　　In Mexico City, More made recordings for RCA Victor, with Perez Prado: "Bonito y Sabroso", "Mucho Corazon", "Pachito Eche", "La Mucura", "Rabo y Oreja" and other numbers. He recorded "Dolor Karabali", which More considered his best composition recorded with Perez Prado, one he never wanted to re-record, also his recording in Mexico with Rafael de Paz Orchestra of "Bonito y Sabroso" was never recorded again by More, even though his famous composition of the months prior to leaving Mexico became in time the theme of his big band in Cuba. More was always reluctant to record newer versions of his hit songs, as he thought "you don't fix what's not broken". There were at least 22 recordings of More with the Prado orchestra.a 　　More also recorded with the orchestra of Mariano Merceron: "Me Voy Pa'l Pueblo", "Desdichado", "Mucho Corazon", "Ensalada de Mambo", "Rumberos de Ayer" and "Encantado de la Vida" with "El Conjunto de Lalo Montane", a Colombian singer and composer, with which he recorded in Mexico, conforming a famous duo called "The Phantom Duet" or "Dueto Fantasma". He also recorded with Mexican orchestras, specially with the one directed by Rafael de Paz; they recorded "Yiri Yiri Bon", "La Culebra", "Mata Siguaraya", "Solamente Una Vez" and "Bonito y Sabroso", a mambo song where he praises the dancing skills of the Mexicans and claims that Mexico City and La Habana are sister cities. In this time Benny also recorded with the orchestra of Jesus "Chucho" Rodriguez. El "Chucho" was so impressed with Benny's musical ability that he referred to him as "El Barbaro del Ritmo".