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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Surf Music General Discussion »

Permalink Spanish influence in Surf

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Hey folks,
when I discovered "Spanish Kiss" (Dick Dale):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RmfRWaVDUI

I realized how much surf can be influenced by Spanish music (flamenco, etc), which is one of the aspects I love most about surf.

Do you know other surf songs with such Spanish vibe?

I think you’ll find there’s many Spanish influenced surf songs. Whilst not being Spanish (Cuban I believe) here’s one of my favourites that’s been done in surf and flamenco

Paul

The Dead Planet Surfers

https://youtu.be/AVurISkI-GM

How do you get those videos to embed like that??

Last edited: Nov 01, 2017 13:11:58

Like this? insert the link to the "video attachments" below the "reply" box.

"You can't tell where you're going if you don't know where you've been"

Hate to be a stickler but Gypsy music from Spain is not Spanish. It's gypsy and only local to some regions in southern Spain, coming from a non-Spanish, non-indigenous people. The Spanish themselves would insist that the distinction be kept clear - I know of no European country where the locals want gypsies to be considered along with them, no matter their gifts.
If you listen to Spanish folk music you will find nothing that resembles flamenco at all with its oriental melismatic augmented modes and chromaticism, 6/8 dance rhythms, phrygian non-progressions and obsessive thrumming on the tonic. Until around 1960, Flamenco was used to describe dances and sung poetry with minimal guitar accompaniment with handclaps. Gypsy Flamenco music derives from Indian, Arabic and North African music and only resembles Spanish music insofar as it adopted the Spanish guitar, and that only relatively lately.
Spanish music proper has a different spirit than gyspy music and is much closer to other European folk and classical forms.

Squink Out!

Los Coronas (from Spain) certainly draw from the music around them.

Rev

Canadian Surf

http://www.urbansurfkings.com/

Los Twang! Marvels

(I'm a little surprised this thread got this far without them being mentioned.)

No one from the band is actually from Spain, but in the context of this topic, their music is Latin themed, none the less.

-Cheers, Clark-

-Less Paul, more Reverb-

Last edited: Nov 01, 2017 18:54:19

JObeast wrote:

Hate to be a stickler but Gypsy music from Spain is not Spanish. It's gypsy and only local to some regions in southern Spain, coming from a non-Spanish, non-indigenous people. The Spanish themselves would insist that the distinction be kept clear - I know of no European country where the locals want gypsies to be considered along with them, no matter their gifts.
If you listen to Spanish folk music you will find nothing that resembles flamenco at all with its oriental melismatic augmented modes and chromaticism, 6/8 dance rhythms, phrygian non-progressions and obsessive thrumming on the tonic. Until around 1960, Flamenco was used to describe dances and sung poetry with minimal guitar accompaniment with handclaps. Gypsy Flamenco music derives from Indian, Arabic and North African music and only resembles Spanish music insofar as it adopted the Spanish guitar, and that only relatively lately.
Spanish music proper has a different spirit than gyspy music and is much closer to other European folk and classical forms.

All true! Could we just rename this thread Moorish Influence in Surf Music?

The Exotic Guitar of Kahuna Kawentzmann

You can get the boy out of the Keynes era, but you can’t get the Keynes era out of the boy.

Last edited: Nov 01, 2017 19:06:22

the bambi molesters do a cover of 'siboney' also

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=webvDjNTTzs

www.surfintheeye.com

Siboney, Malagueña and The Breeze And I (Andalucía) were all written by Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona. So, though they do sound "Spanish" to most of our ears, strictly speaking they're not.

Ivan
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JObeast wrote:

Hate to be a stickler but Gypsy music from Spain is not Spanish. It's gypsy and only local to some regions in southern Spain, coming from a non-Spanish, non-indigenous people. The Spanish themselves would insist that the distinction be kept clear - I know of no European country where the locals want gypsies to be considered along with them, no matter their gifts.

But Flamenco is inherently Spanish, no matter which part of Spain you're referring to. Limiting anything that can be named Spanish to Castillan culture is an extremely narrow definition of the word. You also have flamenco inspiration in Spanish music. Los Brincos from Madrid made a hit with "Flamenco" (1964).

guitarist, The Mobsmen

Great thread. I sometimes wonder if there is a musicologist out there who can put together not only the above but how it all wound together in SoCal and in other places. How much was purely musical(it's never purely musical) vs cultural, the latin influences that were budding in American pop at the time, the local melting pot, the technologies that were evolving, etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XU4RsZ2foWo

mj
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Cool

Judging by the opening soundtrack of the British movie Passport to Pimlico 1949 La Guajira (uncredited) pre rock and roll, Latin pop was certainly radiating to these shores. Only a few years post WW2 and pretty good music compared what my war time parents had in their record collection.

A lot of Surf tunes use the Andalusian Cadence, Am, G, F , E7, or variations thereof. I’ve read ideas on its origin and the opinions include, Spain, Greece or even ancient Israel. I don’t know if this clarifies the mud at all, but it is an interesting bit of trivia.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

Wavy wrote:

JObeast wrote:

Hate to be a stickler but Gypsy music from Spain is not Spanish. It's gypsy and only local to some regions in southern Spain, coming from a non-Spanish, non-indigenous people. The Spanish themselves would insist that the distinction be kept clear - I know of no European country where the locals want gypsies to be considered along with them, no matter their gifts.

But Flamenco is inherently Spanish, no matter which part of Spain you're referring to. Limiting anything that can be named Spanish to Castillan culture is an extremely narrow definition of the word. You also have flamenco inspiration in Spanish music. Los Brincos from Madrid made a hit with "Flamenco" (1964).

Well of course Flamenco (which means ‘flemish’) happens in Spain. But I wonder if the gypsies who play it consider themselves Spanish. And the nation may be dominated politically by Madrid and Castille but no one here is ignorant of the wide autonomy of Spanish regional culture.
Gypsy Flamenco does not happen all over Spain but is concentrated and original to the region of Andalusia where gitanos are concentrated. The sprit of Catalan or Galician music bears little of the oriental mark of Andalusian music.

Squink Out!

I would aim the original and continual sound influence squarely on Dick Dales shoulders.
To me it sounds like his entire sound is made up of pre written music from the Spanish area of Europe or North Africa.
If you look at 'the original' California surf music sound you don't hear the foreign influence of Dick Dales music. The frantic tremolo picking comes from Dick Dales style. Not from say the Surfaries, the Marketts, the Lively Ones, The Pyramids, etc...
While Dick Dale certainly had his following, as a teen in the mid 1960's I can say he absolutely wasn't (what was considered surf ) the only surf sound out there.
But his style was certainly influenced by music from the southern European area.

Last edited: Dec 28, 2017 12:49:22

Joelman wrote:

I would aim the original and continual sound influence squarely on Dick Dales shoulders.
To me it sounds like his entire sound is made up of pre written music from the Spanish area of Europe or North Africa.
If you look at 'the original' California surf music sound you don't hear the foreign influence of Dick Dales music. The frantic tremolo picking comes from Dick Dales style. Not from say the Surfaries, the Marketts, the Lively Ones, The Pyramids, etc...
While Dick Dale certainly had his following, as a teen in the mid 1960's I can say he absolutely wasn't (what was considered surf ) the only surf sound out there.
But his style was certainly influenced by music from the southern European area.

Dick Dale was of Lebanese descent and apparently raised with Arabic influences. He may well have been exposed to music that included scales which were different from the mainstream. Likewise, instruments such as the Oud were part of his life. I’m certain that these were part of the reason he played The guitar as he did.

Minor key music is not unique to Spain, or any other place. The entire Mediterranean region shares many common elements including influences from cultures that no longer exist. All of us, whom play guitar, are playing an instrument with deep roots in the Middle East. Trying to separate the influences is tricky at best because these influences were everywhere.

The Mediterranean was central to many cultures and an easily navigable body of water gave communication a boost. Every time a ship pulled into a harbor there was cultural exchange. They probably debated the merits of instrument design and various techniques as fervently as we do today.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

Now I’m just repeating myself. Smile

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

Last edited: Dec 28, 2017 14:05:22

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