Camarón de la Isla

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Camarón de la Isla (actually José Monje Cruz ; born December 5, 1950 in San Fernando , province of Cádiz , Spain ; † July 2, 1992 in Badalona , province of Barcelona , Spain) was a Spanish flamenco singer.

Bronze statue of Camarón de la Isla

Life

José Monje Cruz (also Monge Cruz), later known as Camarón de la Isla , was born on December 5, 1950 on the San Fernando peninsula (Cádiz province) in Spain.

The mother, Juana Cruz Castro (called La Canastera ) was born in San Fernando in 1913 and was known in the region as a flamenco singer. She died in 1986. The father, Juan Luis Monje Nuñez, was born near Conil de la Frontera in 1911 and died of chronic bronchial asthma in San Fernando in the 1960s . He worked as a blacksmith in his own forge and was also regarded as a flamenco singer in his hometown. Camarón was born as one of eight children. His eldest brother Manuel was born in 1932. It was followed by Juan ( El Metepata ), Luis ( El Nano ), Remedios, Francisco, Curro, Jesus ( El Pijóte de la Isla ), José ( El Camarón de la Isla ) and Isabel. The Gitano family led a simple life.

He received the stage name Camarón ( English: sand shrimp) in his childhood from his uncle Joseíco. This was given to him because of his slim figure, light skin and blond hair. The addition de la Isla ( English: from the island) refers to his birthplace San Fernando, which is located on a peninsula.

Camarón dropped out of school when he was ten and started helping his father in the blacksmith shop. At the age of 16 he made up a simple school leaving certificate. Camarón originally wanted to be a torero . But since the people of San Fernando asked him more and more often to sing, rewarded him and gave him something to eat, he rejected this plan for the future. He found singing " easier ".

In 1976 Camarón married 16-year-old Gitana Dolores Montoya, later known as La Chispa , with whom he lived until his death. This marriage produced four children: Luis, Gemma, Rocio and José. Camarón's first daughter Juana was born from an affair with Marie Paz before his marriage.

Camarón was a heavy smoker and used other drugs such as hashish , cocaine and heroin . Despite several withdrawal treatments, he repeatedly relapsed. In some cases, this also affected his performances and recordings. His last album Potro de rabia y miel ( Spanish foal out of anger and honey) is seen as an admission of his impotence towards the drug heroin ( colloquial Spanish caballo, the horse / torture rack). In 1986 Camarón caused a car accident in which two people died. He was sentenced to one year in prison, but did not serve it.

In 1992 Camarón went to a clinic in the United States because of serious health problems and was diagnosed with lung cancer . For the past few months he has been retired to a clinic in Badalona (Barcelona province, Spain). On 2 July 1992 at 7:10 AM died Camarón . The funeral took place at his request in the hometown of San Fernando. About 50,000 to 100,000 people attended the funeral. The admiration of the fans and the national and international fame of Camarón were like that of a pop star. This was not common in traditional flamenco until then. His status as a political and cultural figure of identification for the Spanish gitanos is evident from the fact that Camarón was buried with the blue-green flag of the gitanos spread over the coffin .

Musical career

Beginnings and shaping

In Camarón's parents' house, flamenco was part of everyday life. He recalls: “Whenever artists were in town to perform in San Fernando, the party ended at our home. The forge became the meeting point and there they were together until dawn. I heard all of this and things got stuck. Everything I learned from the old. ” Already in his childhood he acquired a wide repertoire of songs. According to Camarón , his mother in particular had a strong influence on his musical development. Through them he learned the traditional flamenco chants like the Bulerías and Siguiriyas .

At the age of seven, Camarón began to sing on the streets and in bars of his hometown. From 1959 he also appeared in the La Venta de Vargas restaurant , where he made important contacts with other flamenco singers.

In 1962 he won first prize at the Concurso Flamenco del Festival de Montilla (Cordoba Province, Spain). A year later, she performed at the renowned Spring Festival in Seville (Seville province, Spain). This is considered a key event on the way to a professional singing career, as many well-known flamenco artists saw Camarón perform here in public and were enthusiastic about his talent.

Breakthrough and Success

From 1964 Camarón was on tour with the Ballet de Arte Español and Miguel Quesada Falcón (better known as Miguel de los Reyes ). In 1966 he received a permanent contract at Torres Bermejas de la plaza del Callao , a well-known flamenco bar ( tablao ) in Madrid. He then went on tour with Dolores Vargas ( La Terremoto ) and Juanito Valderrama. Camarón made his first studio recordings in 1968 as a singer for the guitarist Antonio López Arenas and in 1969 for Sabicas .

Camarón de la Isla and Paco de Lucía (painted by Aguijarro (Antonio Guijarro Morales))

In Madrid, Camarón met the guitarist Francisco Sánchez Gómez, better known as Paco de Lucía . The collaboration resulted in a total of nine albums. The first record was released in 1969. Like the following two albums, it was entitled El Camarón de la Isla con la colaboración especial de Paco de Lucía . This, like the following albums, was produced by Paco de Lucía's father, Antonio Sánchez Pecino. It included both the typical Gitano singing Camarón as well as Paco de Lucía's novel guitar playing. The combination of traditional and commercial elements created a link between flamenco and popular music . However, the first album did not sell as expected. In 1970 and 1971 Camarón and Paco de Lucía recorded two other important albums: Cada vez que nos miramos and Son tus ojos dos estrellas . For the title song Canastera of their fourth album of the same name from 1972, they received the Silver Plate at the Flamenco Song Competition Antonio Mairena . To make it clear to the public that the work of Camarón and Paco de Lucías was already to be regarded as groundbreaking for flamenco, the record company brought out a compilation of the first four albums in 1973 .

From 1974 onwards, the 16-year-old Gitano guitarist José Fernandez Torres ( Tomatito , Spanish for small tomato), until then almost unknown , accompanied Camarón during live performances. At the same time, the collaboration with Paco de Lucía was continued on the album Soy caminante . In 1975 Camarón received the Premio Nacional del Cante por la Cátedra de Flamencología de Jerez .

After his marriage to La Chispa in 1976 and the release of the album Castillo de arena , a quieter phase began in Camarón's career. This changed with the release of the album La leyenda del tiempo in 1979. It was the first album that Camarón recorded with Tomatito rather than Paco de Lucía. The influential producer was Ricardo Pachón. La leyenda del tiempo was created as a concept album and, in addition to contemporary studio technology, made use of new instruments such as sitar , keyboard and synthesizer . This is seen as the beginning of Flamenco nuevo or Flamenco Fusion . Commercially, however, La leyenda del tiempo was initially unsuccessful and was sharply criticized. 1981 came out in collaboration with Paco de Lucía, his brother Pepe de Lucía and Tomatito the album Como el agua , a less experimental album, which is understood as a reaction to the strong criticism of La leyenda del tiempo . After two more albums together, including the commercially successful Viviré with Paco de Lucía's sextet, Camarón and Paco de Lucía parted ways in 1985.

In May 1987 Camarón gave a much-noticed concert over three days at the Cirque d'Hiver in Paris. In 1989 he recorded the album Soy Gitano with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra , which went down as the best-selling album in flamenco history.

Together with Paco de Lucía and Tomatito, the last album, Potro de rabia y miel , was created shortly before his death in 1992 . "Al verte las floras lloran" was included in the legendary Wire list The Wire's "100 Records That Set the World on Fire (While No One Was Listening)" .

Discography (selection)

  • Flamenco. Grupo flamenco de Antonio Arenas (1968)
  • Sabicas. La historia del flamenco (1969)
  • El Camarón de la Isla con la colaboración especial de Paco de Lucía - Al verte las flores lloran (1969)
  • El Camarón de la Isla con la colaboración especial de Paco de Lucía - Cada vez que nos miramos (1970)
  • El Camarón de la Isla con la colaboración especial de Paco de Lucía - Son tus ojos dos estrellas (1971)
  • Canastera (1972)
  • El Camarón de la Isla con la colaboración especial de Paco de Lucía - Caminito de Totana (1973)
  • Soy caminante (1974)
  • Arte y majestad (1975)
  • Rosa María (1976)
  • Castillo de arena (1977)
  • La leyenda del tiempo (1979)
  • Gran Festival Flamenco (1981)
  • Como el agua (1981)
  • Calle Real (1983)
  • Viviré (1984)
  • Te lo dice Camarón (1986)
  • Flamenco vivo (1987)
  • Soy gitano (1989)
  • Potro de rabia y miel (1992)
  • Sevillanas (1992)
  • Camarón Nuestro (1993)
  • París 1987 (1999)
  • Antología inédita (2000)
  • Camarón en la venta de Vargas (2005)

Movies

  • 2002 Documentation Digital Duende - The heirs of the Camarón de la Isla - A critical encounter with the flamenco avant-garde
  • 2003 concert recording Camarón de la Isla - Paris 87/88
  • 2005 feature film Camarón , directed by Jaime Chávarri
  • 2006 feature film La Leyenda del Tiempo , directed by Isaki Lacuesta

literature

  • Farke, Oliver (1997): Camarón de la Isla. On the 5th anniversary of death. His work and his life. In: Anda. Flamenco magazine. Volume 14 (06). Pp. 20-31. Anda Published by Münster. ISSN  1433-6146 .
  • López, Carmen (1994a): Camarón de la Isla. Part 1. His family and childhood. In: Anda. Flamenco magazine. Volume 1 (04). Pp. 14-17. Anda Published by Münster. ISSN  1433-6146 .
  • Gamboa, José Manuel / Nuñez, Faustino (2003): Camarón. Vida y Obra. Iberauthor Promociones Culturales: Madrid. ISBN 84-8048-475-6 (Spanish) .
  • López, Carmen (1994b): Camarón de la Isla. Part 2. From bullfighter to singer. In: Anda. Flamenco magazine. Volume 2 (06). Pp. 14-16. Anda Published by Münster. ISSN  1433-6146 .
  • López, Carmen (1994c): Camarón de la Isla. Part 3. Days of love and fame. In: Anda. Flamenco magazine. Volume 3 (09). Pp. 18-21. Anda Published by Münster. ISSN  1433-6146 .
  • López, Carmen (1994d): Camarón de la Isla. Part 4. Illness and death of José Monje. In: Anda. Flamenco magazine. Volume 5 (03). Pp. 14-20. Anda Published by Münster. ISSN  1433-6146 .
  • Marcos (2007): Flamenco Legend. In Search of Camarón de la Isla. Tempus Publishing Limited: Stroud, UK. ISBN 0-7524-3992-8 (English) .

Web links

Websites in Spanish:

Website in German:

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Farke, Oliver (1997): Camarón de la Isla. On the 5th anniversary of death. His work and his life. P. 20.
  2. ↑ Inconsistent information. Some sources state that he was born the sixth child (see López, Carmen (1994a): Camarón de la Isla. Part 1. His family and childhood. P. 14). Other sources say he was the seventh of eight children. ( es: Camarón de la Isla )
  3. ↑ a b Gamboa, José Manuel / Nuñez, Faustino (2003): Camarón. Vida y Obra . P. 24.
  4. ↑ Marcos (2007): Flamenco Legend. In Search of Camarón de la Isla . P. 59
  5. ^ Farke, Oliver (1997): Camarón de la Isla. On the 5th anniversary of death. His work and his life. P. 26
  6. ^ Farke, Oliver (1997): Camarón de la Isla. On the 5th anniversary of death. His work and his life. P. 27
  7. ↑ The numbers fluctuate greatly, there is talk of 50,000 people, for example in López, Carmen (1994d): Camarón de la Isla. Part 4. Illness and death of José Monje. S. 18. Other sources assume a significantly higher number, according to Marcos (2007): Flamenco Legend. In Search of Camarón de la Isla. P. 14
  8. ↑ See e.g. E.g .: Camarón: una bala de plata , Letras Libres in July 2002
  9. ^ Gamboa, José Manuel / Nuñez, Faustino (2003): Camarón. Vida y Obra . P. 32.
  10. ↑ López, Carmen (1994b): Camarón de la Isla. Part 2. From bullfighter to singer. P. 15.
  11. ↑ López, Carmen (1994c): Camarón de la Isla. Part 3. Days of love and fame. , P. 18f.
  12. ↑ To differentiate, the title of the respective first song is often quoted, in this case Al Verte las Flores Lloran .
  13. ↑ Marcos (2007): Flamenco Legend. In Search of Camarón de la Isla. P. 67
  14. ^ A b Farke, Oliver (1997): Camarón de la Isla. On the 5th anniversary of death. His work and his life. P. 27.
  15. ↑ Marcos (2007): Flamenco Legend. In Search of Camarón de la Isla. Pp. 61-104
  16. ↑ López, Carmen (1994c): Camarón de la Isla. Part 3. Days of love and fame. P. 20.
personal data
SURNAME Camarón de la Isla
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Monje Cruz, José (real name); Isla, Camarón de la
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spanish flamenco singer
DATE OF BIRTH 5th December 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH San Fernando , Province of Cadiz
DATE OF DEATH 2nd July 1992
Place of death Badalona , Province of Barcelona