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RE: Antonio Agujetas died early yest... (in reply to Ricardo)
que dios lo tenga en su santa gloria. another amazing singer gone.
@norman grateful for your recommendation to go to that cd launch in los cernicalos, in 2017, it was something else to see Antonio and Alfonso Mijita sing solea for over an hour accompanied by domingo rubichi and jesus el guardia
there was something ethereal and cathartic about antonio's singing...stuff that would provoke people to tears...stirred alot of peoples emotions that night, i could see by the expressions on some peoples faces and body language.
that solea letra from his disc, Así lo siento, never fails to remind me, we never truly know the suffering of others...
"Si supiera toa la gente el calvario que he pasao yo sé que no me criticará como me han criticao"
RE: Antonio Agujetas died early yest... (in reply to henrym3483)
Hi Henry. Glad you brought this thread back to the top, because I have a few things I’d like to say about Antonio.
He was indeed a special singer. His physical deterioration became too much for some aficionados to enjoy his singing, even some long-time enthusiasts of the Agujetas family. The last 10 years or so of his life, he looked and sounded like an old man, so much so that you couldn’t talk to him without thinking about the deterioration. However, his voice, compás, musicianship and general lungpower remained clear and strong, and he projected more pathos than most aficionados can handle (not unlike la Perrata in that sense). In his youth, everyone thought he would surpass his father. Check him out here in this interview conducted in the 1990s, I think:
Part 1:
Part 2:
Although it’s a weird simile, I think it’s not too exaggerated or unreasonable to compare his before and after to beef gravy and Bovril (a tar-like concentrated beef extract sold in jars). When he was younger, his singing could be drunk by the glassful, but, in the end, it became so concentrated that a spoonful could make you choke.
The image in Henry’s first video is from the cassette insert of his first recording with Moraíto, which was rereleased on CD not long ago.
In Henry’s second video, from Antonio’s last recording, the photo shows him looking gaunt and kinda scary. By the time the recording was released, he’d made a remarkable recovery (from hepatitis, he told me). He’d gained weight, he was standing taller and straighter and he was in overall sound shape and good spirits. I asked the guy who was overseeing his career at that point, and he said they’d deliberately chosen that photo for the recording because of the impact it would have on the public, especially when people would see him perform and realize he looked much better.
He always had a bad temper, mostly because people would mess with him, and his friendships were often in a state of flux. He’d eventually decide you’d wronged him and would spend a few weeks ignoring you. Most of the time, his storm would blow over soon enough and he’d rekindle the friendship. I was once on the outs with him like that. He was scheduled to sing at a penya or something, and I ran into him that morning as I was returning home from buying groceries. I turned a corner, and there he was, surrounded by a small crowd of friends from the neighborhood. He was laughing and enjoying the attention of his admirers, but his expression changed as soon as he saw me. Sizing up the situation, I went straight up to him and said I was glad to see him. He frowned at his shoes, as I knew he would, and I said, “Hey, I’m going to the penya tonight to hear you sing. Look, I’ve made preparations,” and I held out a bag of tomatoes I’d bought. After a second of silence, he couldn’t take it any more and burst out laughing.
Here’s a little nugget for you cante enthusiasts. His father Manuel recorded a siguiriya that some aficionado is insisting is the style of a singer called Farrabú. It’s heard in the first two cantes on track 6 of “Rutas del cante jondo,” recorded with Parrilla and released in 1977. I asked Antonio to ask his father about it. According to Antonio, his father said he’d never met Farrabú or heard him sing, and the recording may have just been a fanciful homage (like some say of Mairena’s soleá de Charamusco). Nonetheless, there is an interesting melodic twist in that siguiriya. I heard Antonio sing it exactly as his father had recorded it (both cantes, same letras and melody) when he opened for Manuel at a concert here in Jerez. A short time later, I noticed Antonio was injecting (more like enhancing and clarifying) that twist into his performances of the soleá Joaquín de la Paula 4. I asked him about it and, with much delight, he confirmed the observation.
A lot of people don’t know that Antonio’s grandfather (Agujetas Viejo), father (Manuel) and I think one of his aunts all died on December 25th. Antonio died two days later, on the 27th. I don’t know if he was conscious right up to the end, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he hung on out of defiance, stubbornness and sheer willpower.
I never heard him speak poorly of his father, and he held strong beliefs about right and wrong, at least during the time I knew him. For a while, he’d sometimes come by my place for lunch. During that period, he got wind of something a relative of his had done to me. He didn’t ask about it or anything, but said quietly, “Come on, let’s go shopping. I have to buy something.” We went to a nearby supermarket, he bought a leg of cured ham and, when we got back to my place, he gave it to me. He said he’d heard about the dirty deed and the gift was his way of making things right. He liked to repeat something his father used to say: “Hay que tener un compromiso” (you have to have a commitment).
RE: Antonio Agujetas died early yest... (in reply to RobF)
Thanks, RobF. We weren’t close. Lots of people knew him better than I did. I only knew him in the last 15 years of his life, when he was more subdued and dependent on others.
What I still find surprising are the contrasts of his life: Despite his tough childhood, he was sensitive and affectionate. He was a loose cannon and could be trouble, but he had principles. People would shun him, and yet he could hold a crowd spellbound when he sang.
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RE: Antonio Agujetas died early yest... (in reply to Norman Paul Kliman)
Thanks for the detailed history. Interesting how flamenco requires the Aficionado to take note of details. I have notice this myself over the years where a little observation the cantaor is totally unaware of himself, then a discussion about it, and soon after that detail is exploited in juerga or on stage, etc., revealing the living art of this thing.
RE: Antonio Agujetas died early yest... (in reply to Ricardo)
That’s the one. Instead of a melodic twist, I should have called it an extension or prolongation of the melodic line. A similar maneuver works in bulería por soleá, too (bulería larga), and probably more styles. I think there’s something similar happening in that cante attributed to el Pinini. La Fernanda vieja really stretches it out in that Rito video, as I recall.
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From: Washington DC
RE: Antonio Agujetas died early yest... (in reply to Norman Paul Kliman)
quote:
ORIGINAL: Norman Paul Kliman
quote:
I only had the fortune to meet and play for Diego, I hope he is still around.
I've just heard that Diego died earlier today. He was a nice guy and almost as good a singer as his brother Manuel.
Oh bummer! He gave me the “authentic” experience I had always wanted to find in Spain (for example, entering each cante on count 7, etc.). I was very lucky. Plus, unlike his brother he was into Bulería which was fun. But it was a lot of Soleá, Romance, Fandango, that I had the pleasure to accompany. A little siguiriyas too.
Very emotive in Fandango:
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He gave me the “authentic” experience I had always wanted to find in Spain (for example, entering each cante on count 7, etc.). I was very lucky. Plus, unlike his brother he was into Bulería which was fun. But it was a lot of Soleá, Romance, Fandango, that I had the pleasure to accompany. A little siguiriyas too. 
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