Welcome to one of the most active flamenco sites on the Internet. Guests can read most posts but if you want to participate click here to register.
This site is dedicated to the memory of Paco de Lucía, Ron Mitchell, Guy Williams, Linda Elvira, Philip John Lee, Craig Eros, Ben Woods, David Serva and Tom Blackshear who went ahead of us.
We receive 12,200 visitors a month from 200 countries and 1.7 million page impressions a year. To advertise on this site please contact us.
|
|
|
Paco de Lucia biography books
|
You are logged in as Guest
|
|
Users viewing this topic: none
|
|
Login  | |
|
   
Ricardo
Posts: 14887
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
|
 RE: Paco de Lucia biography books (in reply to Filip)
|
|
|
I don’t find any to be especially interesting vs. interviews in public media, and of course the 4 video documentaries (Rito, Light and Shade, Francisco Sanchez, La Busqueda). The problem I have with books is the authors, unlike film directors, can’t freaking help themselves but to make opinionated comments about this album, track, here and there. The worst was Donn Pohren, whose opinions were so pervasive I had to put the book down out of frustration at one point. There was a book by Paco Sevilla that was a bit better, but again, I can do without opinions of the music.
_____________________________
CD's and transcriptions available here:
www.ricardomarlow.com
|
|
|
|
REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date May 8 2024 12:02:34
 |
|
Norman Paul Kliman
Posts: 67
Joined: Dec. 5 2023
|
|
RE: Paco de Lucia biography books (in reply to Filip)
|
|
|
I liked Pohren’s books until his Paco bio, and even parts of that weren’t bad. I haven't read those books in many years, so I might feel differently now. It was the first I’d read about Paco's father and the rest of his family. Other books with that information might have been published earlier, but my impression at the time was that it was the first telling of his story (aside from articles in newspapers and magazines). I liked the way Pohren presented the father’s story first. What I didn’t like, even at the time, was his thinly veiled contempt for modern flamenco and his attempt to be funny about it. He wrote something like, “They shouldn’t call it flamenco fusion. Maybe some other name like FLAMFUSE,” in capitals. Also, I got the impression that Paco didn’t collaborate closely with him or at all on that book. There’s a photo on the back cover of the two of them, standing outside the door to someone’s apartment (maybe Paco’s, because he’s wearing a track suit), and it doesn’t look like they were particularly close. Just speculation on my part. Because of the irreverence and other things, I felt that Pohren had lost his writing skills by the time he published that book. And the lack of substance and depth in the part about Paco made it a big disappointment for me.
Like I said, I liked his other books, because I never took them seriously as research. In my opinion, he did a good job of taking inventory of what was available in the early 1960s: “Arte y artistas flamencos” by Fernando el de Triana (the old one with all the photos), “Colección de cantes flamencos” by Demófilo (Antonio Machado y Álvarez), others I’m not remembering now, and even “Cantaores andaluces” by Núñez de Prado. I say “even” because, last I heard, it’s not taken seriously, but it was first published in 1904, so that’s worth taking into account. (Hey, I’ve just found it available online for free: https://tiendaeditorial.uca.es/descargas-pdf/8460047989-completo.pdf.) Pohren’s first book “The Art of Flamenco” was published in 1962, a year before “Mundo y Formas” by Mairena and Molina, who actually cited him in their book, although they did so to reject something Pohren had written. So, there wasn’t much available for Pohren to draw on for his first books, but he provided a lot of information on historic artists in “Lives and Legends” (1964). Things really got rolling around that time, so I see him as a sort of pioneer. But his Paco biography could have been much better.
|
|
|
|
REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date May 8 2024 19:04:23
|
|
Norman Paul Kliman
Posts: 67
Joined: Dec. 5 2023
|
|
RE: Paco de Lucia biography books (in reply to Filip)
|
|
|
Well said, Richard. The experiences I’ve had with some Moronies always reminded me of the stories you hear about overzealous mairenistas (as opposed to the more moderate maireneros). David Serva wasn’t like that, because he lived here, but others were, because they didn’t.
And speaking of outdated and out of touch, Pohren’s books today are like that in many ways, and I think the first edition of his first book would cause an even worse impression if we could see it. Maybe someone has access to it and can comment. I don’t remember how or when, but I was able to read some of it, and one thing I do remember clearly is a warning aimed at young gypsy artists about the dangers of modern life. He darkly concluded: “drag racing awaits them.” Drag racing! Do kids today even know what that was? Did kids in Spain ever know what that was? Was that ever going to be a thing in Spain? Like I said, I still have some respect for what he did, although it decreased dramatically after he practically spat at me when I mentioned research of cantes (mentioned in a recent post).
Back on topic, Juan José Tellez wrote two Paco bios. I think there’s some kind of controversy or acrimony surrounding them, but I don’t really know.
|
|
|
|
REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date May 9 2024 17:05:57
|
|
 New Messages |
 No New Messages |
 Hot Topic w/ New Messages |
 Hot Topic w/o New Messages |
 Locked w/ New Messages |
 Locked w/o New Messages |
|
Post New Thread
Reply to Message
Post New Poll
Submit Vote
Delete My Own Post
Delete My Own Thread
Rate Posts
|
|
|
Forum Software powered by ASP Playground Advanced Edition 2.0.5
Copyright © 2000 - 2003 ASPPlayground.NET |
0.09375 secs.
|
Printable Version
