Life of Salvador Flores Rivera, better known as "Chava Flores"

Salvador Flores Rivera, better known as "Chava Flores", was born in Mexico City on January 14, 1920, on the street of La Soledad, in the neighborhood of La Merced. He is considered the musical chronicler of Mexico City and the greatest urban folklorist; it is said that he knows in depth all the neighborhoods and populous neighborhoods such as Peralvillo, San Rafael, Guerrero, Doctores, Roma, Romita, Santa María La Rivera, Tacubaya, Azcapotzalco and many others, full of neighborhoods.

After the death of his father, at the age of thirteen, he left school and began to work to support the household. He worked as a tailor, messenger, deliveryman, collector, accountant, merchant, and ironmonger. He even runs a sausage shop and buys a meat delivery truck, which he sells when the business goes bankrupt.

His approach to music comes when he joins a friend to work in a small printing press. There he was in charge of editing the biweekly magazine called El Álbum de Oro de la Canción, one of the great dreams of his youth. He confesses, years later, that thanks to the magazine he has the opportunity to meet the great composers of that time, whom he interviewed and for whom he felt "a great admiration, to the point of wanting to one day become one of them".

In 1951 he wrote Dos horas de balazos, he started as a composer and it was the first song that reached the radio along with the theme of La tertulia that were taken to the acetates. The success is such that it does not take long for new creations to appear: Boda de vecindad, Peso sobre peso (la Bartola), La interesada, El gato viudo, Mi chorro de voz, Ingrata pérfida and Llegaron los gorrones. His songs soon took root in the taste of the people, who turned into their favorites songs such as Pobre Tom, Vámonos al parque, Céfira; Cerro sus ojitos Cleto, Pichicuás, Los quince años de Espergencia and, later on, Sábado Distrito Federal, Voy en el Metro and A qué le tiras cuando sueñas mexicano.

What do you dream of when you dream, Mexican? - Chava Flores' famous phrase.

Completely chilango, urban, witty, and funny; his songs portray life in the capital. His lyrics and music reflect a deep knowledge of the folklore of Mexico City, parodying the Mexican way of being, as well as the customs of a forgotten Mexico; qualified by many as a natural anthropologist, an accurate connoisseur of the Mexican way of being and an original comedian. He performed in the most popular marquees and cabarets of the city, gaining fame in the rest of the country and later in the American continent.

He received several diplomas and recognitions for his career as author and composer; in 1983 he moved to the city of Morelia Michoacán, participated in a radio program, and wrote the book Relatos de mi barrio. Chava Flores died on August 5, 1987, at the age of 67.