In 1968, the Catalonian song was loosing it’s presence.
It was time for a type of artist that,
without resigning to the creation of his own universe, wouldn’t
take himself very seriously and knew how to look at the problem from
the distance, with a smile always ready, or with a healthy laugh
OK: Here’s Pere Tàpias.
Pere (whose real name is Joan) decided
that he’d rather take the guitar than the black lawyer’s
gownand from his Vilanova he started bombarding audiences with his
funny songs, with sticky melodies, and written in a sometimes doubtfull
Catalonian but very popular: "La tia Maria", "Moreno de la Fe", "Una dolça història d'amor"...
After several small albums, the big ones started coming, (Para serviros
-1973-, Si hace sol -1975-), but Pere Tàpias is, more than
anything, a man of scene. His presence is inconfundible, made the
audience laugh and, accompanied by his guitar only, made the stage full
with his songs, small monologues. An authentic show that made him one
of the big triumphants of 1976, in frot of more than 60.000 people.
Towards the end of the 70’s and beginning of the 80’s, Pere
Tàpias continued performing with excellent albums, arranged by
Francesc Burrull: 400 pendones –that included his hit,"La moto"-
and Passeig del Carme –a more ambicious work, that wouldn’t
make a hit: the audince didin’t want their schemes shifted.
During the following years, with the desprestiged of the Government
that had used himand that now looked at him as a force difficult to
control,he releases 2 more albums: (Xàndals i barretines -1982-
i La mar de bé -1987).
Our friend then concentrates in TV and
radio shows and another of his big passions: The gastronomy. But the
love for the music is one hard to kill.
UIT the new millenium, Pere
Tàpias has decided, as a prelude to his posible return to stage,
to edit a CD of part of his greatest hits. Songs
with "Rosa", "Txa txa txa final", "La moto", "Al darrer adéu",
"Passatges footingueros", "Amor matemàtic", la primera parte del
Passeig del Carme, "Antònia", "El plusquamperfecte", "La
canción de las trompetes"and "Vola, vola, vola" (some new
songs, with the brief "Se arruga") they can be found by the audience
that mnissed them and discovered by the new generations.
And for this ocassion the songs had dreesed in formal gowns. This CD is
not a revival, is a new recording, with arrangements griten by his ex
teacher Toni Xuclà, and played by a luxury accoustic team
(Xuclà himself on guitar, Pep Pascual in sax, Ferran
Martínez in accordeon, Ignasi Zamora in bass and Michael Weiss
in drums).
We can’t forget the collaboration of the band Maresme in the instrumental fragment Paseo del Carme that closes the album.
Equivalent to the Catalonian of the big
French singer-humorists like Pierre Perret and Ricet-Barrier (Pere
Tàpias feels really comfortable). And, in times of mental
dryness, I sincerely believe that his new disc should be considered a
matter of public health.
BOOKINGS:Tel.00 34 93 798 64 66 / Fax.00 34 93 757 40 56(Barcelona) Spain
www.myspace.com/peretapias E-Mail: vipmusic@vipmusicsl.com
