I've been away from the forum for way too long but I wanted to ask this ages ago. Has anyone ever got the real lowdown on who were the Pharos? Only two songs that I can recall tonight came from them... Pintor and Rhythm Surfer. Pintor is a really great song and I have always wanted to know more.
And as long as I am posing questions... Kathy Marshall...has anyone ever heard those home recordings she supposedly made in the 60's? I saw her once at the Pavalon and she was remarkable.

Does anybody know if they were named after the Lighthouse of Alexandria(Pharos) or the Egyptian Kings(Pharaohs)?

Very interesting, Teoslola! I wondered who Irvin was!

It turns out Pintor, contrary to those liner notes, isn't exactly "a Spanish traditional number." It dates to 1946 and the actual title is Angelitos Negros. The composer was Mexican actor and singer/composer Manuel Alvárez Maciste. His lyrics were adapted from a poem (written sometime in the 1940s) by Venezuelan author/politician Andrés Eloy Blanco. Presumably Alvárez Maciste wrote the music. Or, of course, he may have adapted that, too!

Angelitos Negros may have been recorded first for commercial release in 1947 by Antonio Machin, a Cuban singer working in Spain. This may be his commercial recording dubbed over a performance in a film:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cP4xrB3EmRI

The song has been recorded numerous times since as a vocal under its original name, in the the US and elsewhere, and it is used in two different Mexican movies. It may have been written for the first movie. The Aemi title Pintor is explained by the lyrics of the original, which start "Pintor nacido en mi tierra ..."

So, at the time Aemi was putting this out, the song was about 12 or 13 years old and in this case as in many others "traditional" just means "history not investigated."

My notes on some of this from a couple of years ago:

http://www.myspace.com/jnokoontz/blog/433975347

The links seem to have fallen out of this!

I'd guess the Pharos were Aemi, Zappa, and the usual suspects. Maybe not the same ones on both sides.

Jake - My money's on your suggestion that the Pharos = Pharaohs, but that's just a gut feeling.

FWIW, the initial history of Perfidia is about the same as that of Angelitos Negros, except for the change of title, and the fact that its source has always been acknowledged: it was written for a Mexican movie. It became popular in the Latin musical world in its own right and, like Angelitos, found its way into circulation into the US. The Glen Miller version is in Casablanca. It has (different) lyrics in Spanish and English both, but these were omitted when the Ventures adapted it as an instrumental.

Last edited: May 31, 2011 11:26:16

It's the archetype of the lighthouse, right? The beacon that Ptolemy built on the island of Pharos in the harbor of Alexandria. I think Alexandria must be a bit hard to find from the sea without a beacon, not being much above sea level anywhere.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lighthouse_of_Alexandria

I figure that the name of one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World smells a bit of the lamp for the name of a surf band (especially if it's a lighthouse), but "the Pharaohs," makes a good gang/band name, and the variant/trademark spelling is par for the course, what with the Sentinals and (I think originally) the Centurians. I figure people who argue for the lighthouse explanation just haven't thought of spelling "the Pharaohs" as "the Pharos." Heck, I have to look up the spelling of Pharoah every time as it is. I think the Spanish version is Faraon, which helps a bit.

There's a topical conection, too. The waves parted for Pharaoh. Of course, he would have been better advised to stick to the shore on that particular day.

It is kind of a disappoinment that Pintor isn't the name of some famous surfing spot. Or is it?

How do people say Pintor? I've heard PIN-ter though even when I thought it was a place I assumed it was (El) Peen-TOR.

Last edited: May 31, 2011 13:29:36

De veras! For Marshall in Sound of the Surf, too! Plus, I have got to get that Aerni CD ... Why don't I find things like this when I search CD Baby?

I was born in the very early 1970's and Pintor by The Pharos was one of the first tracks that i personally remember hearing and associating somehow w/ Surf Guitar Music in a general....for years i didn't even know who the band were or the name of the track in question.

I just thought that this band, who had created such an exotic mystical piece of guitar music history must of been a huge musical act at some stage...however.... it seem that the band are in fact a group surrounded by a fair amount of mystery - even today.

Well regardless, even today i place Pintor in my top 5 Greatest Surf tracks (in No Order) :

Wipe Out
Pintor
Miserlou
Surf Rider
Penetration / Pipeline
( Comanche by The Revels 1960? )

Hawaii Samurai does Pintor justice. You can find it on Amazon if you want the MP3. Pintor is found on "The Octopus Incident."