Manolo Caracol
Encyclopedia
Manuel Ortega Juárez. was a flamenco
cantaor(singer).
Born in Seville
, Spain, he was descended from a long line of flamenco artists including Enrique Ortega (father and son) and Curro Dulce, and he was possibly related to El Planeta and El Fillo. The family was also known for its bull fighters.
Under the stage name El Caracol, he "gained international fame as much for his flamboyant personality as for his extraordinary cante
." Later his juergas (days long flamenco parties) became notorious. Although as a singer he always retained the ability to deliver the core of the traditional art, he was not ashamed to commercialize flamenco to attract a mass popularity; then he gained fame and fortune, as well as adding to a checkered reputation. For the most part, this was during what was later widely known as a decadent age in the history of the art, the age of Ópera flamenca.
In 1922 as a youth, he had been awarded the first prize (shared with El Tenazas) at the Concurso
de Cante Jondo
de Granada
, organized by intellectuals like Manuel de Falla
and Federico García Lorca
. However, in the first stage of his career, he made a living singing mostly at private parties, which at the time, were, together with cafés, the usual stages for flamenco artists.
During the Spanish Civil War
(1936-1939), he started touring with theatre companies as: owing to the war, private parties were difficult to find. This kind of theatre show, very common at the time (see ópera flamenca) was a musical with commonplace love stories set in Andalusian or gypsy context and their musical pieces were usually a mixture of Spanish popular song called copla andaluza or canción española. In 1943, he met Lola Flores
, with whom he started an intense professional and emotional relationship. They became the most popular artistic couple in Spain during the forties, spreading their fame even to several Spanish American countries. His most popular songs in the field of copla andaluza, which he used to call zambra
, date from that time: songs like La salvaora and La niña de fuego became immensely famous in Spain. He also took part in several films such as Un caballero famoso (1942), Embrujo (1946), Jack el Negro (1950) and La niña de la venta (1950).
Although sometimes criticized by a very orthodox section of the flamenco public (mainly because of his facet as a singer of copla andaluza, a style which purists consider spurious, but also because of the irregularity of his performances), he is usually considered as one of the singers that better represent 'Duende
' (a typical flamenco term which basically means "inspiration"). He possessed a deep, earthy, yet warm voice, and delivered the flamenco cantes (songs) with passion, originality, and extremely personal phrasing. He excelled in a wide variety of flamenco styles, including Martinetes, Seguiriyas, Soleá
, Malagueñas
(especially in the style of el Mellizo), Bulería
s and Fandango
s, among others. His renderings of Fandangos, in particular, were so personal that they have come to be known as Fandangos Caracoleros.
Caracol died in a road accident in Madrid
, Spain.
we can expect he will always sing well; From somebody like Caracol (...) you could expect anything: either he was a disaster or he was an absolute genius. (Ángel Álvarez Caballero, El cante flamenco, 1998)
Anselmo González Climent: "With Caracol, it is impossible to remain emotionally detached (...), from the first line, since the "temple" itself he starts running through our sensibility and invades us thoroughly. He forces us to take part until our egos are suppressed." (quoted by Álvarez Caballero in La discografía ideal del flamenco, 1995)
Ricardo Molina about Caracol's anthology Una historia del cante flamenco: "From the caña
to the group of Malagueñas (flamenco style)
, this anthology is an evil personification of Caracol messing up the definite forms of the past." (quoted by Álvarez Caballero in La discografía ideal del flamenco, 1995)
Una historia del cante flamenco, originally published by Hispavox in 1958 with guitarist Melchor de Marchena remains his most seminal work. It was republished, together with other recordings, in the compilation El genio: Manolo Caracol in the Quejío CD collection published by Hispavox and compiled by J.M. Gamboahttp://www.esflamenco.com/product/en18732023.html. This recording excludes his zambras. For other recordings available, see links below.
Flamenco
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
cantaor(singer).
Born in Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
, Spain, he was descended from a long line of flamenco artists including Enrique Ortega (father and son) and Curro Dulce, and he was possibly related to El Planeta and El Fillo. The family was also known for its bull fighters.
Under the stage name El Caracol, he "gained international fame as much for his flamboyant personality as for his extraordinary cante
Cante flamenco
The cante flamenco is one of the three main components of flamenco, along with toque and baile...
." Later his juergas (days long flamenco parties) became notorious. Although as a singer he always retained the ability to deliver the core of the traditional art, he was not ashamed to commercialize flamenco to attract a mass popularity; then he gained fame and fortune, as well as adding to a checkered reputation. For the most part, this was during what was later widely known as a decadent age in the history of the art, the age of Ópera flamenca.
In 1922 as a youth, he had been awarded the first prize (shared with El Tenazas) at the Concurso
Concurso de Cante Jondo
El Concurso del Cante Jondo was a well-known celebration of the art of flamenco, its music, song, and dance, held in Granada, Andalusia on Corpus Christi, the 13th and 14th of June, 1922.-Falla's purpose:...
de Cante Jondo
Cante jondo
Cante jondo is a vocal style in flamenco. An unspoiled form of Andalusian folk music, the name means deep song It is generally considered that the common traditional classification of flamenco music is divided into three groups of which the deepest, most serious forms are known as cante jondo...
de Granada
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
, organized by intellectuals like Manuel de Falla
Manuel de Falla
Manuel de Falla y Matheu was a Spanish Andalusian composer of classical music. With Isaac Albéniz, Enrique Granados and Joaquín Turina he is one of Spain's most important musicians of the first half of the 20th century....
and Federico García Lorca
Federico García Lorca
Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca was a Spanish poet, dramatist and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27. He is believed to be one of thousands who were summarily shot by anti-communist death squads...
. However, in the first stage of his career, he made a living singing mostly at private parties, which at the time, were, together with cafés, the usual stages for flamenco artists.
During the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
(1936-1939), he started touring with theatre companies as: owing to the war, private parties were difficult to find. This kind of theatre show, very common at the time (see ópera flamenca) was a musical with commonplace love stories set in Andalusian or gypsy context and their musical pieces were usually a mixture of Spanish popular song called copla andaluza or canción española. In 1943, he met Lola Flores
Lola Flores
María Dolores "Lola" Flores Ruiz was a Spanish singer, dancer, and actress.- Professional career :Flores was born in Jerez de la Frontera, Cadiz . Although thought to be only part gypsy, she strongly identified with the Spanish gypsy culture...
, with whom he started an intense professional and emotional relationship. They became the most popular artistic couple in Spain during the forties, spreading their fame even to several Spanish American countries. His most popular songs in the field of copla andaluza, which he used to call zambra
Zambra
The Zambra, also known as the Zambra Mora is a flamenco dance performed by the Romani people of Granada which is believed to have evolved from earlier Moorish dances and has some similarities to belly dancing. In Maghrebi Arabic spoken in Morocco, zambra means "party"...
, date from that time: songs like La salvaora and La niña de fuego became immensely famous in Spain. He also took part in several films such as Un caballero famoso (1942), Embrujo (1946), Jack el Negro (1950) and La niña de la venta (1950).
Although sometimes criticized by a very orthodox section of the flamenco public (mainly because of his facet as a singer of copla andaluza, a style which purists consider spurious, but also because of the irregularity of his performances), he is usually considered as one of the singers that better represent 'Duende
Duende
Duende is a difficult-to-define word used in the Spanish arts, including performing arts. From the original meaning , the artistic and especially musical term was derived...
' (a typical flamenco term which basically means "inspiration"). He possessed a deep, earthy, yet warm voice, and delivered the flamenco cantes (songs) with passion, originality, and extremely personal phrasing. He excelled in a wide variety of flamenco styles, including Martinetes, Seguiriyas, Soleá
Soleá
"Soleares" is one of the most basic forms or "palos" of Flamenco music, probably originated around Cádiz or Seville in Andalusia, the most southern region of Spain...
, Malagueñas
Malagueñas (flamenco style)
Malagueñas is one of the traditional styles of Andalusian music , derived from earlier types of fandango from the area of Málaga, classified among the Cantes de Levante. Originally a folk-song type, it became a flamenco style in the 19th century. It is not normally used for dance, as it is...
(especially in the style of el Mellizo), Bulería
Bulería
Bulería is the second CD released by David Bisbal, following Corazón Latino. It is primarily dance music, containing both slow and fast pieces. Two of the songs on the album were co-written by Bisbal...
s and Fandango
Fandango
Fandango is a lively couple's dance, usually in triple metre, traditionally accompanied by guitars and castanets or hand-clapping . Fandango can both be sung and danced. Sung fandango is usually bipartite: it has an instrumental introduction followed by "variaciones"...
s, among others. His renderings of Fandangos, in particular, were so personal that they have come to be known as Fandangos Caracoleros.
Caracol died in a road accident in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, Spain.
Critics' reviews
Álvarez Caballero: "It's true that Manolo Caracol could sink to the lowest levels, real slumps in which his singing was just a parody of itself, but this often happens to cantaores of his type, who are motivated by emotional impulse, and the knowing flamenco fan knows that this can happen. From a regular singer like MairenaAntonio Mairena
Antonio Cruz García, known as Antonio Mairena was a famous flamenco singer. He led the movement towards the revival of traditional flamenco in the fifties and subsequent decades....
we can expect he will always sing well; From somebody like Caracol (...) you could expect anything: either he was a disaster or he was an absolute genius. (Ángel Álvarez Caballero, El cante flamenco, 1998)
Anselmo González Climent: "With Caracol, it is impossible to remain emotionally detached (...), from the first line, since the "temple" itself he starts running through our sensibility and invades us thoroughly. He forces us to take part until our egos are suppressed." (quoted by Álvarez Caballero in La discografía ideal del flamenco, 1995)
Ricardo Molina about Caracol's anthology Una historia del cante flamenco: "From the caña
Cana
In the Christian New Testament, the Gospel of John refers a number of times to a town called Cana of Galilee.-The marriage at Cana:Among Christians and other students of the New Testament, Cana is best known as the place where, according to the Fourth Gospel, Jesus performed his first public...
to the group of Malagueñas (flamenco style)
Malagueñas (flamenco style)
Malagueñas is one of the traditional styles of Andalusian music , derived from earlier types of fandango from the area of Málaga, classified among the Cantes de Levante. Originally a folk-song type, it became a flamenco style in the 19th century. It is not normally used for dance, as it is...
, this anthology is an evil personification of Caracol messing up the definite forms of the past." (quoted by Álvarez Caballero in La discografía ideal del flamenco, 1995)
Recordings
As happens with most flamenco artists of the past, Caracol's discography is in complete disorder. His recordings are regularly republished, but in different compilations, sometiemes in careless remasterizations, by different record companies.Una historia del cante flamenco, originally published by Hispavox in 1958 with guitarist Melchor de Marchena remains his most seminal work. It was republished, together with other recordings, in the compilation El genio: Manolo Caracol in the Quejío CD collection published by Hispavox and compiled by J.M. Gamboahttp://www.esflamenco.com/product/en18732023.html. This recording excludes his zambras. For other recordings available, see links below.