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"HE SINGS BETTER EVERYDAY"
13th Chapter of:
CAMARON DE LA ISLA: COMPLETE RECORDINGS.
by JOSE MANUEL GAMBOA RODRIGUEZ
After another pause of two years
the album "Te lo dice Camarón" is released. By then the artist had been
on the frontpage of the weekly supplement of the "El País" newspaper, where
Maite Contreras makes a write-up on him that is fundamental to understanding his
situation at the time. The prodigy; who had just lost his mother, was passing
through difficult times. He was also bothered by his decayed teeth, and "three
university professors" -quoting "El País"- "and a dentist from Barcelona
performed a painstaking and complicated rebuilding of his mouth in order not to
alter the way he vocalizes". This factor would explain the different sound of
his voice in the new album. "Seeing him was not easy" goes the article of Maite
Contreras- "(...) flanked by the record company, the lyricist Antonio Humanes,
Gonzalo Torrente Malvido and other acolytes (...) "Weare waiting for his dental
work to be finished. He has a lot of work and his schedule will have to be adjusted.
We'll see what will be best for him"... This was how Torrente and Humanes carried
on in their ostentatious new role of agents. But José Monje was never a
phlegmatic person -just listen to the following exchange:
-"A lot of friends must
have suddenly appeared from under the rocks".
-"I choose my friends.
There are very few. I had two or three, but now it's more like one or two." Nevertheless,
the album "Te lo dice Camarón" (Camarón tells you so) could very
well have been titled "Te lo dice Humanes" (Humanes tell you so)
-Humanes having co-authored
with José all the cuts. The lyrics revolve around Camarón, his surroundings,
history, family, teachers, etc., and the album is aimed at gypsy listeners. But
the choruses repeated throughout the album and the chosen literary themes show
the unmistakable influence of Humanes.
The front jacket cover
shows and old photo by Lamarca, and Camarón's appearance at the time was
not shown on the album. The "cantaor" took care of the music, while Humanes took
care of the production. Although up to the last moment the participation of Paco
de Lucía was expected, at the end only Tomatito played.
"Pistola and cuchillo",
a "bulería" beginning with the guitar of Tomatito and a background created
by the keyboards, shows us a slightly "worn" Camarón in comparison with
his previous two albums. "Tu mare Rosa" -"alegrías" with repetitive chorus-
is dedicated to the "Perla de Cádiz". In "Otra galaxia", a basic "bulería"
without guitar nor chorus, brings us back to the forger's beginnings of the child
Camarón. "Te lo dice Camarón" is supposedly a "rumba salsera" beat,
induding the appropriate chorus in which latin percussion arrangements, bass,
strings and wind instruments are heard. The credits on the LP do not tell of its
author, but the CD version specifies that it was by Albert Arnargós. The
string arrangements and chorus of the tango "Vente conmigo" are also by Amargós.
"Bórrame de tu memoria" is a natural fandango with touches of Camas and
Calza. "Homenaje a Chaqueta", performed without guitar and with rhythmical tapping
on a table, is the most flamenco cut. Here José sings "por solea'" of Cadiz
and Triana in memory of a long-time artist who, in general, remained unnoticed
and ignored by critics. But, this being Spain, instead of thanking him for the
gesture he was criticized. "Now he talks to us of Chaqueta! Why didn't be do it
before?" The album ends with the "bulería" "Los inmortales", with its "Tin,
tin, tiri, tiri, tirititando de frío".
We must point out the inferior
production of the album, which is fill of blatant blunders, tonal changes in the
mixing and poor sound quality in general. I seem to remember that Camarón
chose to reduce once again his number of friends.
To be continued
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