Cassette Corner
Flamenco cassettes were a huge thing in Spain during the 1970s and through to the 1990s; they were easier to come by than vinyls and many tapes didn't even have vinyl editions. Most markets, food stores and gas stations would nearly always have cassette display units (expositores de casetes) with a good selection of flamenco tapes. This page is dedicated to some interesting flamenco (mainly guitar) cassette releases over the years.
Click-index to Page Content
- Mystery Paco de Lucia Recording
- Manolo Sanlucar - "Recital Flamenco" Versions
- Sabicas & Sanlucar Mano a Mano
- Entre Dos Aguas on Paco de Lucia Tapes (not him playing)
- Manolo Sanlucar - Covers from Same Photo Shoot
- Confusing Paco de Lucia Releases
- Mano a Mano (Serie Automóvil con Poster)
Mystery Paco de Lucia "Interpretations" Recording
In the very early 1980s, at about the age of 17, I wanted to learn some Paco de Lucia pieces and managed to do so thanks to a flamenco guitarist of Polish descent named George "Jorge" Wojtas (El Polaco), who had transcribed — brilliantly — much of Paco's material. (Read more about this within the "Chandos Bar" section on my "A Life Dedicated to Flamenco Guitar" page.) One day, George lent me a cassette copy of a commercial album with someone playing Paco de Lucia pieces. The recording made a huge impression on me at the time, as the playing and interpretation of the pieces was awesome. I seem to remember George saying the player was a pre-teen Niño de Pura, but I later discounted this as it was never mentioned in any bios or articles about him or in any of his interviews etc. Interestingly, an amazing zapateado on the tape was the only piece that, as far as I knew, was not associated with Paco de Lucia, and was therefore the odd-piece-out on the album; it was actually this piece that inspired me to start composing my own music.
For one reason or another, I pretty much forgot about this recording over the years until 2018 when it suddenly came into my mind and I had the urge to hear that zapateado again. However, not knowing the name of the guitarist or the name of the album (I'd never seen an actual original commercial copy), the task of finding it seemed daunting. I did some Internet searches with terms such as "Paco de Lucia - Interpretaciónes." This returned results mainly for the classic album "Paco de Lucía Interpreta a Manuel de Falla,. However, there was also a listing for the following cassette:
Interpretando a Paco de Lucia (Gramusic 1976)
Cassette Cover
Reverse Side - Credits
A quick look at the tape's contents assured me that this was the recording I'd heard all those years back. Nine of the 10 tracks are Paco de Lucia pieces (including his difinitive arrangements of others' work, namely "Panaderos Flamencos," "Mantilla de Feria" and "Impetu"); and yes — the remaining piece is the zapateado that I so wanted to listen to again, and the credit for this composition is given to one J. Cantero. Needless to say, I bought the tape from where I found it listed — Todocoleccion, a type of national Spanish version of eBay. I was not disappointed. Two of the three aforementioned Paco de Lucia arrangements, "Panaderos Flamencos" and "Impetu," are credited to their original composers — E. (Esteban) de Sanlucar and Mario Escudero respectively — while the other, "Mantilla de Feria" (another E. de Sanlucar composition), is credited only to Paco.
The track listing is as follows (I believe this material to be in the public domain and so have made some of the titles — including the amazing zapateado — clickable links to MP3s):
Side A
-"Entre Dos Aguas" (originally played by Paco de Lucia on the album Fuente Y Caudal)
-"Farruca de Lucia" (originally played by Paco de Lucia on the album El Duende Flamenco de Paco de Lucia)
-"Guajiras de Lucia" (originally played by Paco de Lucia on the album Fantasia Flamenca de Paco de Lucia)
-"Mi Inspiracion" (originally played by Paco de Lucia on the album Fantasia Flamenca de Paco de Lucia)
-"Panaderos Flamencos" (originally played by Paco de Lucia on the album Fantasia Flamenca de Paco de Lucia)
Side B
-"Almoraima" (originally played by Paco de Lucia on the album Almoraima)
-"Mantilla de Feria" (originally played by Paco de Lucia on the album Fantasia Flamenca de Paco de Lucia)
-"Barrio la Viña" (originally played by Paco de Lucia on the album El Duende Flamenco de Paco de Lucia)
-"Zapateao" (composed by J. Cantero - not played by Paco de Lucia on any album)
-"Impetu" (originally played by Paco de Lucia on the album La Fabulosa Guitarra de Paco de Lucia)
I imagined I'd find the recording less awesome than when I originally heard it, being more familiar now with the music and having done so much more guitar playing in the intervening years. In fact, the opposite was true — I was much more impressed this time around. The playing is superlative; it is assured, strong, exciting and fearless (particularly in the picado passages), and the interpretations are among the best — if not
the best — I've heard up to now. The copyright year is 1976, which is amazing as the album includes an interpretation of the buleria "Almoraima" which had only been released by Paco that same year! It would take a certain type of player to technically attain and stylistically absorb a brand new Paco bulerias and get it recorded in such a short time. So that leaves the question — just who is the guitarist on this album...?
Well, unfortunately, and incredibly, there is no credit for the interpreter anywhere on the album. This is very strange. Maybe the producers were worried that, despite the "Interpretando" in the title, buyers would think they'd bought a Paco de Lucia album (his name being so prominent on the cover) and would not be happy if they saw that it was in fact another player. Or possibly the player wanted to remain anonymous for some reason, such as to avoid any possible legal problems arising from Paco's record company? Who knows? The staggering level of the playing left me thinking that surely I must know who it is — after all, there are not many players of that era who could play to that level. Antonio Prieto "El Curry" came to mind as he's certainly one of the few who has the fearless picado, although there's not enough of him playing Paco pieces to compare adequately. Searches for J. Cantero, the credited composer of the great zapateado, just brought me back to this album, which was also made available on vinyl.
Vinyl Edition
A bit more searching around led to this:
La Guitarra: Homenaje a Paco de Lucia (Tronk/Discobox 1976)
Cassette Cover
Reverse Side - Credits
This cassette is from the same year, 1976, and has exactly the same track listing (with the same credits for each piece) as the first tape. I bought this version (again from Todocoleccion) in the hope that it may reveal the guitarist. Again, unfortunately, there is no mention of who is playing. A search for information on this version, which doesn't seem to have had a vinyl edition, let to the plot thickening even further.
Serie Homenajes: "Homenaje a Paco de Lucia" (Trama/Marfer 1976)
Cassette Cover
Reverse Side - Credits
Yet another 1976 version of the same recording, this time with the pieces in a different order except for "Entre Dos Aguas" and "Almoraima," which still respectively head Side A and Side B. However, the cover now gives us the name of a guitarist - at last! The credit reads
"A la guitarra: P. Romo Jr." A bit of a disappointment actually — I'd never heard of the guy and a search on the internet just led to links (very few) in connection with this release version. Maybe this was a brilliant guitarist who stopped playing or died years ago and so no information exists. My theory — and this would soon appear to be correct — is that it's a made-up name. I found a copy on the trusty Todocoleccion — yes, this is becoming a collection. Again, seeminlgly no vinyl edition of this version. The next find would bolster my theory about the made-up name.
Al Aire de Paco de Lucia (Nevada/Dial Discos 1976)
Cassette Cover
Reverse Side - Credits
Amazingly, a fourth 1976 version, which I happened upon (again in Todocoleccion) while looking for actual Paco de Lucia cassettes. This one's also on vinyl. The tracks are in the same order as the previous cassette. This one also credits a guitarist on the cover, and the name also appears on the reverse of the inlay card: it is one Curro el de la Cartuja. So do we finally have the real guitarist? I think not! Again, searches bring up precious little — and just in connection with the tape. Another made-up name. This is getting silly. However, all the tapes so far are nice items for my collection. I'd love to know why the real guitarist is not getting credited for this recording. Maybe there's another version with the real name. If there is, it's certainly not this next one, which again came from searching for Paco de Lucia cassettes, but this time on eBay.
Vinyl Edition
Homenaje a Paco de Lucia (Flash/Flyson 1977)
Cassette Cover
Reverse Side - Credits
This one I bought from eBay and is copyrighted 1977, and would appear to have been a cassette-only release made in Barcelona (the previous four versions were made in Madrid). It has my favourite cover so far, and on it we are told that the guitarist is Manolo Ruiz. Again, it didn't take a lot of searching around to realize that it's another made-up name — that's the third fake name so far! The track sequencing is the same as on the previous two cassettes, only "Barrio La Viña" is misspelled as "Barrio Da Viña" and the credit for the "Panaderos Flamencos" goes to Paco de Lucia and not E. de Sanlucar. This version came as quite a surprise, as I really thought there couldn't be any more editions of this material. I was obviously wrong. The next one adds a couple of interesting twists to the story...
Homenaje a Paco de Lucia (Drips 1977)
Cassette Cover
Reverse Side - Credits
As far as I'm aware, this was another cassette-only release and is also from 1977 like the previous tape. This time we see a return to not including any credit for a guitarist, although it makes little difference as the name would probably be fake like the previous ones. When I first saw this cassette (Todocoleccion again) I thought okay, another version of the same thing, and so it is — sort of. As can be seen on the cover, "Impetu," "Panaderos Flamencos" and "Zapateado" are missing, and to make up for them an "Alegrias," a "Fandangos" and a piece called "Transparencias" have been added. This got me thinking, as the album already contains interpretations of two of Paco's alegrias compositions, "Mi Inspiracion" and "Barrio La Viña" (called "Barrio De Viña" here). What could this third alegrias be — maybe the cantiñas from Almoraima? And the fandangos — maybe from Fuente y Caudal? It would be great to hear interpretations of these two pieces. Then there's the mysteriously named "Transparencias" — what could this be? All the pieces are credited to Paco de Lucia as composer. This was going to be interesting.
Upon receiving the tape, I unwrapped it (it was still factory sealed), popped it into my cassette player and forward-wound straight to the "Transparencias" piece at the end of Side A, only to find out that it's actually the zapateado under a different name (the mind boggles) and should not therefore be credited to Paco de Lucia as composer. So now onto the "Fandangos" and "Alegrias" on Side B. These really did take me by surprise, as they are not Paco de Lucia pieces, but rather two compositions from Manolo Sanlucar, namely "Canto a Huelva" (the fandangos) and "Añoranza Gaditana" (the alegrias [in D]) from his second album Inspiraciones (1970). At first, I was sure the tracks had been lifted straight from said album, and I'm quite familiar with the alegrias in particular as I once learned it and so listened to it over and over. However, a careful comparison revealed subtle — but only very subtle — differences in the phrasing and so it turns out that the two pieces are in fact covers of Manolo's pieces — presumably by the same "mystery" guitarist. So good is this player, that he has managed to nail Manolo's style and nuance so closely, and it's possible that these interpretations have a slight edge on the originals. (Click on "Fandangos" and "Alegrias" to hear MP3s of these interpretations.) As if you probably hadn't already guessed, this isn't the end of the story, although it's not far off. The next cassette credits another guitarist — are we finally about to find out the truth...?
Guitarra Española: Paco Cerezo Interpreta a Paco de Lucia (Trak/Star Music 1984)
Cassette Cover
Reverse Side - Credits
Although the name Paco Cerezo came up more in searches than any of the previous names, it was always in connection with tracks from this album (there seem to be some digital downloads available here and there with that name as the player) and so I'm afraid it's another fake name. The track sequencing is the same as on cassettes 3, 4 & 5, Paco de Lucia gets all the composition credits and the alegrias "Barrio La Viña" gets yet another misspelling — this time as "Barrio LaVilla." A vinyl edition was issued under the title Interpreta Paco Cerezo Lo Mejor de Paco de Lucia and with a very different cover.
Vinyl Edition
So far, there have been seven versions of this album, and four made-up guitarist names. We've had "P. Romo Jr," "Curro el de la Cartuja," "Manolo Ruiz" and "Paco Cerezo." I managed to find an eighth (and I believe final) version with yet another made up guitarist.
Guitarra Flamenca 2: Las Mejores Obras de Paco de Lucia (Knife Music 1998)
Cassette Cover
2001 cassette with exact same track listing and guitarist name
CD Edition
This final (I think) cassette has only 8 tracks, and interestingly brings back the interpretations of the two Manolo Sanlucar pieces — "Fandangos" and "Alegrias" — that were on the 6th tape. The other two alegrias pieces — "Mi Inspiracion" & "Barrio La Viña" (listed as "Barrio de Viña") — by Paco de Lucia are also present, which means that 3 of the 8 tracks are alegrias compositions. "Guajiras de Lucia" is listed as "Guajiras de Luna" and the made-up guitarist this (last?) time is "Juan de la Herminia."
So — will the real guitarist please stand up?
I only recently — early May 2022 — discovered who the actual guitarist is, and it's fascinating. It is someone who has really only been on my radar during the last two or three years. He was already a virtuoso around the time that Paco de Lucia, Manolo Sanlucar and Serranito were making their mark in the early 1970s, and he merits being mentioned alongside them. He doesn't seem to have made any albums of his own compositions, of which the ones I've heard (I now believe he is the composer of the "J. Cantero" zapateado) are fabulous. Maybe he didn't compose very much and has therefore not been recognised in the same way as the aforementioned three giants, or maybe he just had no interest in pursuing composition — he still plays the same pieces (his own ones as well as Paco's compositions and arrangements) as he did over 45 years ago, and with just as good technique for the most part. There seems to have never been any mention of the Paco de Lucia interpretations/homage album anywhere in connection with him, including in an interview — the only one I've been able to find — conducted in late 2021. Before I reveal who it is and how I came to find out, here is an image recap of the eight cassettes discussed during this article:
Version 1 Version 2 Version 3 Version 4 Version 5 Version 6 Version 7 Version 8
As well as all the above-mentioned cassettes and related vinyl and CD edition(s), the material has also been issued on the CDs El Encanto de la Guitarra Latina and Guitarra Flamenca: Homenaje a Camaron y Paco de Lucia (pictured right) and as digital downloads on various platforms.
Finally, I can reveal that the "mystery" guitarist is............Julio Vallejo
(click here to read more on the "Guitarists" sub-page "Under-The-Radar Virtuosos")
Manolo Sanlucar Album "Recital Flamenco" - Various Versions
Manolo Sanlúcar's first solo recording was the 1964 EP Manolo Sanlúcar y Su Guitarra Flamenca on the Zafiro label. It featured four tracks - Alegrias, Seguiriyas, Bulerias and Soleares. Manolo's first full solo LP, Recital Flamenco, was released in 1968 and is a fantastic spirited album (10 tracks) with some of Manolo's most classic pieces such as his soleá, alegrias, farruca, bulerias and guajira. The full tracl listing is: Side A - Puertatierra (Alegrias), Puerto de Malaga (Malagueñas), Recuerdo de Javier Molina (Farruca), Caminito de Alcalá (Soleares), Patio Jerezano (Bulerias Flamencas); Side B - El Cañaveral (Guajira), Llanto Minero (Tarantas), Castellanas (Bulerias Clasicas), Los Caireles (Zapateado), Pincelada (Tientos). The album had five cassette releases in total - two of them with cover design exclusive to cassette (1977 release has tracks in different order).
Manolo Sanlúcar's 1964 EP recording
Cover of original LP released on the Marfer label (1968)
First cassette edition, released on Marfer's Trama label (1974)
Second 1974 Trama cassette release (cover design exclusive to cassette)
1977 cassette on Impacto label from Discos Belter (cover design exclusive to cassette)
1987 cassette release on the Dial Discos "Diamante" label
Another 1987 release, this time on Dial Discos' "Doblon" label