The flamenco prog rock movement in Spain can be traced to this album, Triana's debut. Long time dictator Franco passed away in 1975, and that event seemed to spawn a host of interesting rock groups interested in rediscovering their historical past, something Franco was loathe to promote, in fear of patriotic regionalism. Triana was so popular in their native Spain, that it wouldn't be too unusual to find a well played cassette in grandma's closet. Dramatic Arabian vocals, fuzz guitar, mellotron, organ, Moog and plenty of great flamenco guitar. Fantastic compositions all the way through. There are two bona-fide 15's here: Track 3 `Recuerdo de Una Noche' followed immediately by `Se de un Lugar'.
Personal collection
LP: 1975 Movieplay
CD: 2003 Fonomusic
The original is a beautiful gatefold LP. For years I thought I had an original, until I looked carefully. My goodness, it was a very obscure 1984 pressing (white label Fonomusic)! The cover feels very much like a 1970s product, and it probably is. My guess is they had extra covers and so they made new pressings to meet demand (Triana were very popular in Spain)*. The first CD was like all of the 1980's Fonomusic CDs - very cheaply done. They made up for this with the 2003 press, which comes in a beautiful triple foldout digi-pak. There's also the bizarre US press on Warner Bros.' "Latin Essentials" series. Really? That's just crazy.
* - A couple of years after writing this post, I did secure a real green label original on Movieplay.
Certifiably a stellar outfit, this and "Hijos del Agobio" are simply outstanding; this being the better of those two, yes. So enthralling are these that I am going to pull those cherished LP's out right now.
ReplyDeleteAlthough, the #1 flamenco-prog flag has to fly in the Mezquita "Recuerdos de Mi Tierra" direction for me... whooo-eee!
Granada are also fair counterparts as well.