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.
RE: Lives and Legends of Flamenco (in reply to Paul Magnussen)
I am probably not the best to answer since I already own this book, but I went through a lot to get it. Lots of research because it is out of print so people charge a bundle for it.
Let me say though that I love this book, and any self-respecting aficionado should own a copy. The anecdotes in it are fascinating, and the historical significance is huge. My only complaint is that Donn Pohren is a little hard on guitarists like Montoya and Ricardo who tried to push the envelope technically. He is definitely an old school dude. But the information about famous and obscure singers, dancers and guitarists makes this the single most important scholarly book on flamenco in English in my opinion. Besides The Art of Flamenco also by Pohren, which is readily available.
I love this book and I think it needs a reissue. If somehow it can be updated by another knowledgeable person I would buy it again.
_____________________________
"I'm just a poor crazy man in love with his art." Santos Hernandez
Posts: 1812
Joined: Nov. 8 2010
From: London (living in the Bay Area)
RE: Lives and Legends of Flamenco (in reply to Santiago)
quote:
Has there just been the first edition?
I believe there have been two: the first in 1964, and an update in 1988.
With regard to flamenco books generally, I’ve been told that that not everyone cares to deal with Amazon as their commission is high. You therefore can’t assume, because something shows only as second hand on Amazon, that it’s out of print.
Lives and Legends, however, does not appear in the current catalogue of The Bold Strummer (publisher of the 1988 edition), and so it does indeed appear to be out of print.