#088
Farfisa
Quase no principio destas m4we fiz uma selecção inteiramente dedicada ao vocoder, instrumento amiúde utilizado pela musica popular porque permite “electrificar” a voz humana. Desta vez decidi pegar numa outra ferramenta musical, talvez menos bem vista mas que deixou rasto nos trilhos por onde a pop foi passando, seja como contraponto em agulha às guitarras, seja como pavimento do bombo e da tarola da bateria, numa só nota repetida num percutivo staccato ou num longo e trôpego langor de “acompanhamento” da melodia vocal. Sim, esta semana decidi dedicar-me ao Farfisa.
A Fabbriche Riunite di Fisarmoniche foi fundada em 1946 em Osimo na província italiana de Ancona pela junção de três fabricantes de acordeons mas, talvez por causa do Vox Continental, começaram a produzir teclados combo, ou seja que tinham também acompanhamento rítmico. Como eram mais em conta tiveram bastante aceitação e ao modelo Compact comercializado em 1964 seguiram-se o Professional em 1967, o FAST no ano seguinte e ainda o VIP já em 1970.
Saliente-se o percussor a tudo isto, Dave “Baby” Cortez, que em 1959 alcançava o top slot da Billboard Hot 100 com o tema The Happy Organ, tornando-se assim o primeiro afro-americano a ter um hit instrumental na posição cimeira das tabelas de vendas.
Mas o reconhecimento escrito nos livros é sempre cinzelado com nomes que foram dedilhando a historia da pop: Sam The Sham e os seus faraós com Woolly Bully; Spooner Oldham o teclista de serviço no famoso Muscle Shoals Sound Studio onde Percy Sledge gravou o intemporal When A Man Loves A Woman; ou o continuo uso dado por Richard Wright ao teclado na construção da identidade musical dos Pink Floyd. Estes três na década de sessenta, juntamente com Ron Mckernan dos Grateful Dead e Hugg Banton dos Van der Graaf Generator, o próprio Sun Ra foi fazendo umas incursões ao espaço no comando de um modelo Professional, Philip Glass utilizou um Mini-Compact em Einstein on the Beach e Steve Reich designou quatro diferentes edições na peça Four Organs.
Na década seguinte não só Elton John arrancaria estranhos timbres dos “marfins” italianos como por exemplo na minha escolha de Your Sister Can’t Twist (But She Can Rock’n’ Roll), ou até mesmo Mike Oldfield o utilizaria em Tubular Bells enquanto, do outro lado do bom gosto, Klaus Schulze e Manuel Göttsching “planavam” com Farfisa. Caída por uns anitos em descrédito a marca seria no entanto reabilitada pela new wave dos Blondie, Talking Heads, B-52s, Squeeze ou Costello que ainda recentemente, na faixa Mistook Me for a Friend do LP The Boy Named If, incorporou esse som que tanto marcou os seus primeiros álbuns.
No entanto é fácil reparar como o som da Farfisa se faz notar particularmente por outras bandas do planeta, da Etiópia de Chifara por Mulatu Astatke ao Camboja com Ros Sereysothea e Penh Jet Thai Bong Mouy, na Indonésia com Koes Plus em Kolam Susu ou na India onde Ananda Shankar, neto de Ravi, caminhou pelas Streets of Calcutta ou até na Grécia de Stratos Dionisiou de quem escolhi Allaxe Koritsi Mou Myalo. Por outras bandas os Chicha Libre, banda formada em Brooklyn que em 2008 editava Mi Plato De Barro, os suecos Tonbruket com Trackpounder, editado em 2011 no album Dig it to the End, a banda de Madrid The Moonstones, aqui em Fuzz, Farfisa y Fiesta que também dá titulo ao primeiro album editado em 2011 ou os Inspiral Carpets que em 2014 convidavam John Cooper Clarke para cantar Let You Down.
Como tanta outra coisa, o Farfisa já foi, já deixou e já voltou a ser um statement, de moda de estética, de toma-lá-um-teclado-baratucho-que-está-mesmo-a-dar para fosgass-granda-solo-de-orgão, numa percepção rotativa entre quem o usa e quem do seu disfruta com prazer…
Não me despeço sem aqui deixar duas curios: uma demonstração de John Dales:
e uma outra demo de Les Bonner, o top honcho da Farfisa no Reino Unido nos 70 e 80s.
I’m out in Carver Gardens in a trailer
And I’m playing my Farfisa in a soul band
Five brothers in a little room
No bigger than a bathroom
Sweat on the walls too
People say I’m crazy ’cause I’m coming here to blow
All I’ve got to say is I’ve got to bite off a little groove flow
I’m flowing
Bruce Hornsby – No Home Training
#staysafe #musicfortheweekend
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Almost at the beginning of these m4we I made a selection entirely dedicated to the vocoder, an instrument often used in popular music because it allows the human voice to be “electrified”. This time I decided to pick up another musical tool, perhaps less well regarded but which has left ample skidmarks on the tracks run by pop, either as a sharp “needley” counterpoint to the guitars, or as floor for the bass and snare drums, in a single note repeated in a percutive staccato or in a long, wobbly languor of “accompaniment” to the vocal melody. Yes, this week I decided on a pledge to the Farfisa organ.
Fabbriche Riunite di Fisarmoniche was founded in 1946 in Osimo in the Italian province of Ancona by the combination of three accordion manufacturers but, perhaps because of the Vox Continental, they started to produce combo keyboards, that is, that also had rhythmic accompaniment. As they were more affordable, they were widely accepted and the Compact model marketed in 1964 was followed by the Professional in 1967, the FAST the following year and the VIP in 1970.
The forerunner of all this is Dave “Baby” Cortez, who in 1959 reached the top slot of the Billboard Hot 100 with the tune The Happy Organ, thus becoming the first African-American to have an instrumental hit in the top position of the charts.
But the acknowledgment written in the books is always chiseled with names that have been fingering pop history: Sam The Sham and his pharaohs with Woolly Bully; Spooner Oldham the keyboardist on duty at the famous Muscle Shoals Sound Studio where Percy Sledge recorded the timeless When A Man Loves A Woman; or Richard Wright’s continued use of the keyboard in the construction of Pink Floyd’s musical identity. These three in the sixties, along with Ron Mckernan of the Grateful Dead and Hugg Banton of the Van der Graaf Generator, Sun Ra himself made some forays into space in command of a Professional model, Philip Glass used a Mini-Compact in Einstein on the Beach and Steve Reich designated four different editions in Four Organs.
In the following decade, not only would Elton John extract strange timbres from the Italian “ivories”, as for example in my choice of Your Sister Can’t Twist (But She Can Rock’n’ Roll), or even Mike Oldfield would use it in Tubular Bells while , on the other side of good taste, Klaus Schulze and Manuel Göttsching “glided” with the Farfisa. Falling into disrepute for a few years, the brand would, however, be rehabilitated by the new wave of Blondie, Talking Heads, B-52s, Squeeze or Costello who, even recently, in the track Mistook Me for a Friend from the LP The Boy Named If, so incorporating this sound that so much marked his first albums.
However, it is easy to notice how the tone and colour of the Farfisa is particularly noticeable in other bands throughout this world, from Ethiopia Chifara by Mulatu Astatke moves us to Cambodia with Ros Sereysothea and Penh Jet Thai Bong Mouy, in Indonesia with Koes Plus in Kolam Susu or in India where Ananda Shankar, grandson of Ravi, walked through the Streets of Calcutta or even in the Greece of Stratos Dionisiou from whom I chose Allaxe Koritsi Mou Myalo. Other bands include Chicha Libre, a band formed in Brooklyn that in 2008 put out Mi Plato De Barro, Swedes Tonbruket with Trackpounder, released in 2011 on the album Dig it to the End, the Madrid band The Moonstones, here in Fuzz, Farfisa y Fiesta that also gives title to the first album released in 2011 or the Inspiral Carpets that in 2014 invited John Cooper Clarke to sing Let You Down.
Like so much else im pop, Farfisa has come, gone, gone a little more and gone back to being a statement, from fashion to aesthetics, from take-a-cheap-keyboard-that-is-really-hip to f**k-thata-grand-solo-ya-just-did, in a rotating perception between those who use it and those who enjoy it with pleasure…
I won’t say goodbye without leaving here two curios: a demonstration by John Dales and another demo from Les Bonner, Farfisa’s top UK honcho in the 70s and 80s (see links above for both)
I’m out in Carver Gardens in a trailer
And I’m playing my Farfisa in a soul band
Five brothers in a little room
No bigger than a bathroom
Sweat on the walls too
People say I’m crazy ’cause I’m coming here to blow
All I’ve got to say is I’ve got to bite off a little groove flow
I’m flowing
Bruce Hornsby – No Home Training
#staysafe #musicfortheweekend
The Nude Party – Astral Man
The B-52’s – There’s A Moon In The Sky (Called The Moon)
Juaneco Y Su Combo – Me Robaron Mi Runa Mula
The Rollies – Menari A Go Go
Squeeze – Farfisa Beat
Them – Baby Please Don’t Go
Stratos Dionisiou – Allaxe Koritsi Mou Myalo (Change Your Mind Girl!)
Pere Ubu – On The Surface
Ros Sereysothea – Penh Jet Thai Bong Mouy (Ago Go)
Hans-Günter Wagner – Medley 1
Emillia Contessa – Burung Dalam Sangkar
American Analog Set – Too Tired To Shine II
Los Chijuas – Changing The Colors of Life
Prince – When You Were Mine
Strawberry Alarm Clock – Incense And Peppermints
The Individuals – I Don’t Play (Soul Version)
Inspiral Carpets – Let You Down ft. John Cooper Clarke
Kid Loco – Farfisa Punk And The Partisan Funk Kool Band
Stereolab – Farfisa
The Cowsills – The Rain The Park And Other Things
The Swingin’ Medallions – Double Shot (Of My Baby’s Love)
Elton John – Your Sister Can’t Twist (But She Can Rock’n’ Roll)
Toni Basil – Mickey (Version en Español)
Aksak Maboul – The Mooche
Billy Swan – I Can Help
Koes Plus – Kolam Susu
Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs – Woolly Bully
Dave ‘Baby’ Cortez – The Happy Organ
The Moonstones – Fuzz, Farfisa y Fiesta
The Invisible Eyes – Cyclone
Chicha Libre – Mi Plato De Barro
Mulatu Astatke – Chifara
Titiek Sandhora – Gunung Fujiyama
Elvis Costello & The Imposters – Mistook Me for a Friend
Ananda Shankar – Streets of Calcutta
Bruce Hornsby – No Home Training
The Grass Roots – Midnight Confessions
Tonbruket – Trackpounder
Percy Sledge – When A Man Loves A Woman
Roxy Music – In Every Dream Home a Heartache