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I posted this clip quite a while ago and thought maybe some of our newer members might like to hear it.
Back in 1969 I had just recently got interested in this style of playing the guitar called "Flamenco". There wasn't much recorded stuff around where I lived so I just had a couple of albums.
One evening my dad pointed out something in the paper which said that the BBC were televising part of a celebration dinner by the Spanish Society of London and would include some Spanish entertainers and an appearance by a young 22 year old guitarist called Paco de Lucia.
I thought he had a cool name and it looked pretty interesting so I thought I'd record it on a little reel-to-reel tape recorder. (just holding the mic up to the TV speaker)
So this is the very first time I ever saw or heard PdL.
I wish someone had taken a picture of my face at the end!
I posted this clip quite a while ago and thought maybe some of our newer members might like to hear it.
'packed with virtuosity and beauty.
Now starts the search for a better recording, but i could settle for your pirate-tape.
Your strory reminded my of my older brother -about the same time- capturing Bob Dylan's rare appearances on Italian TV. A large and quite italian family, respectfully silent during the moment of his faithful worship, knelt before the TV set, a mic on one hand and a cigarette burning on the other, nearly a candle-like symbol of the then novel music cult.
Wow! Thanks Ron, Thats a great clip. If anyone takes the mickey out of Malgueña ever again....just play them that. I agree with Arash. There isn't a single technique that isnt flawless and I keep forgetting just how good he was at that age. The picado is exceptional though. Those last runs are jaw dropping. When I see some of the 20 year old freaks today (who are still phenomenal), whilst still very fast, dont capture the immense power and sound that Paco had and dont get the picado with that kind of volume and consistency.
My first intro to flamenco guitar was also Paco de Lucia at the Expo 92 concert in Seville. The same thing happened to me, my face fell, I couldnt sleep and spent the rest of the night rewinding and rewatching the video.
I love "straight" guitar playing...no cajon etc Not that I don't like cajon or backing, but that is my favourite.
'Couldn't agree more, Ron. I wish recordings came with a "re-mix" version offering the unvarnished solo guitar track...
I am not sure i should share my humblest opinion on this but I will and ask you to appreciate my measured transparency: I do know ("of") Grisha, and enjoyed a few of his videos on Youtube. I enjoyed his recent Guitar and Orchestra performance e posted here, and understand he was (and certainly still is) an "enfant prodige". Impeccable style, but stiffly somehow, perhaps he could use a dash of emotional liberty in his otherwise extraordinary performance, which in my case would go a long way. Please do not misunderstand this as a shallow critique of one of the finest out there, i wouldn't dare... but it is my CD buying measure. I have not purchased his CD(s) yet for that reason alone.
Good lord, that tremolo sounds like a hummingbird!
Thanx for digging into the personal archives, Ron. I actually like this more than I would if it were a clean, professional, on-site recording. It makes it that much more special that this is exactly how it sounded in some Scottish kid's living room forty years ago...
Man, thatnks for this upload. It reminds us how nice old flamenco was. It reminds me on black and white movies, Ernest Hemmingway and all the old roman movies which I saw together with my father at rainy weekends! And it reminds me on my beginning to learn flamenco guitar. At first I only knew Sabicas, than Nino Ricardo. After that a couple of ole Paco recordings with Camarom and some years later, Vicente and the other modern guys.... Funny, but I started flamenco coz of Sabicas.. not coz of Paco. :.))
Thanks for sharing this gem. What a cool moment to capture - your very first encounter of Paco! Even now, on a forty year old tape recording, he sounds like a ****ing monster. Unbelievable. He is truly untouchable.
I remember the first time I heard Paco - I was visiting my grandad in Spain. I was about fifteen and a disciple of the electric guitar at that point. We were in the car driving on the main road between Punta Umbria and Huelva and he played a tape of Fuente Y Caudal. Cepa Andaluza came on and I was totally blown away. I'd never heard anything quite like it. I couldn't get my ear around it - I had no idea how he could it make a guitar sound like that. In fact, I remember arguing that there was definantely more than one guitar being played!
Anyway, when I returned home, my electric guitar really didn't do it for me anymore. I'd developed quite a bit of technique and was at music college so I stuck with it for a few more years, but eventually I had to take up the flamenco guitar. So now, I sound worse than ever. Thanks Paco!
Ron, I listen to this recording very often thanks to you! It's just obscene. And there's no one comparable. Have you ever heard Paco and Camaron Live from South America or something? Same scratchy quality, distorted etc... which I find charming... just astounding recordings of PdL at his tastiest. Let me know if you haven't heard them and I'll post them somewhere.
Not near Paco, but one guy that has a really blistering picado and his own vibe is Manuel Silveria. Anyone heard of him? Here he is with his Reyes (he even does some Amigo-like stuff but with a tiny bit more bite):
RE: For the Picado Freaks! (in reply to Pimientito)
Hi Pimientito, I just KNEW you guys would have a go at it! Even I slowed it down to half speed on my tape recorder, just to confirm that he actually was playing all the notes and it wasn't just a trick... It's just too beautifully impossibe to ignore and move onto something else! ...(I bet even Grisha is secretly having a go at it as we speak! )
Thank you for posting, Ron. You are right, I am practicing this malaguena. I can honestly say that while I can match the speed of the picado runs and other techniques used, I cannot play it as well as Paco. And probably never will. He puts a lot of feeling into his playing, and his sentiment in this piece is perfect and unmatched. Still, I would like to have your permission to play this in concert I have next week.
A 'numpty' question ;-) Just noticed from Pimientito's tab of PdL's picado that generally the runs begin with middle finger (i.e. M, then I). Daft as it sounds, I've been playing scales religiously beginning with my index finger, and have only just discovered that beginning with M speeds up my scales. What's the collective wisdom on this?
Still, I would like to have your permission to play this in concert I have next week.
You gotta be joking Grisha? It's Paco's piece...I just recorded it off the telly by chance.
Anyway, I bet Paco has completely forgotten about it after 40 years! LOL!
Hey Grisha, How does one get a new, virtuoso-level piece from just hearing it, up to concert level in only a couple of weeks??
Can I have some of those pills?
Best of luck and it would be great if you could post a video of it being played by you. I bet it goes down a storm!
I think Paco kept that one in his bag as a "general" audience pleaser for spots like the Spanish Society and TV etc, rather than real hardcore Flamenco venues.
RE: For the Picado Freaks! (in reply to MarcChrys)
Yeah, this is a point of contention. I noticed over the years that Paco nearly always starts his picado runs with m. This is not true every time but more times than not. It's easier to play them (at least for me) You can start with i and it will be correct but it is as you say much easier to get the spped if you start with m. Runs that start with i have a good reason, like you play a higher string (eg 2cd then 1st) immediatly with m on the next note.
I posted this clip quite a while ago and thought maybe some of our newer members might like to hear it.
Back in 1969 I had just recently got interested in this style of playing the guitar called "Flamenco". There wasn't much recorded stuff around where I lived so I just had a couple of albums. One evening my dad pointed out something in the paper which said that the BBC were televising part of a celebration dinner by the Spanish Society of London and would include some Spanish entertainers and an appearance by a young 22 year old guitarist called Paco de Lucia. I thought he had a cool name and it looked pretty interesting so I thought I'd record it on a little reel-to-reel tape recorder. (just holding the mic up to the TV speaker)
So this is the very first time I ever saw or heard PdL. I wish someone had taken a picture of my face at the end!
And now EVEN NEWER members would like to hear it as well :-) Alas, it appears that the link is dead. Could RonM or anyone who downloaded it back then please re-post the file?
I posted this clip quite a while ago and thought maybe some of our newer members might like to hear it.
Back in 1969 I had just recently got interested in this style of playing the guitar called "Flamenco". There wasn't much recorded stuff around where I lived so I just had a couple of albums. One evening my dad pointed out something in the paper which said that the BBC were televising part of a celebration dinner by the Spanish Society of London and would include some Spanish entertainers and an appearance by a young 22 year old guitarist called Paco de Lucia. I thought he had a cool name and it looked pretty interesting so I thought I'd record it on a little reel-to-reel tape recorder. (just holding the mic up to the TV speaker)
So this is the very first time I ever saw or heard PdL. I wish someone had taken a picture of my face at the end!
And now EVEN NEWER members would like to hear it as well :-) Alas, it appears that the link is dead. Could RonM or anyone who downloaded it back then please re-post the file?
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