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I went to the recording and it turned out to be a very big show called Festival Flamenco Gitano, with an ample cast. I then understood why the studio was so big! Anyway, among great artists such as dancers La Singla, who was heading the cast, La Tati, El Guito, Diego Pantoja, singer, dancer, good-humoured and funniest presence on stage, who lifted up everybody's spirits; guitarists Paco Cepero, Pepín Salazar; singers (I seem to remember) El Perrate and Orillo; and among that lot there was a Paco de Lucía! And, would you believe, I also noticed, singing for the dancers in the group, a young voice of rare depth and pathos: one Camarón de la Isla!

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On a later visit to London of the company I talked about earlier, Paco, Camarón, Cepero and the rest of the musicians and singers came again to my place; I think it was the year 1971, and I had just collected a new, wonderful guitar from the Córdoba maker Miguel Rodríguez. It was a palosanto, or rosewood guitar, my first such instrument and it was amazing! Paco played it and said it was the best guitar he had ever held in his hands. In that case, I told him, that guitar could not be in better hands, and I gave it to him as a present. A year later Paco told me he had found some difficulty with the tension on the basses (I imagine his whole approach and technique were constantly going forward and reaching new levels of perfection) and it was no longer suitable for him. So he gave it back to me, all scratched up from having been well and truly used! I was very touched by his honesty and integrity. He could have kept the guitar of course, as I had given it to him; but he obviously felt he must return an instrument he knew I also loved.