Venezuela Bids Adios to A Much Loved Folk Legend

 

Venezuela's most famous and best loved folk musician Simon Diaz, known affectionately by his fans as Tio Simon (Uncle Simon), has died aged 85. The news of his death sparked a huge outpouring of support for his life and work on the social networking site Twitter from Venezuelans, folk music fans, and his fellow musicians. 

His daughter Betsimar Díaz made the announcement on 19 February, tweeting. “Tearfully I announce to the country that my beloved father passed away this morning, in peace”..He had been suffering for some years from Alzheimer's Disease.

Over a long career he wrote over 200 songs, but his most famous composition is "Caballo Viejo", which became a huge international hit for the Franco-Spanish group the Gipsy Kings after they renamed it "Bamboleo". 

From the 1970s to the 1990s he hosted a number of children's TV shows that promoted Venezuelan folk traditions, humour and songs, something which won him a special place in the hearts of those Venezuelans who grew up with him.

Born on the 8 August 1928 in Barbacoas and baptized Simón Narciso Díaz Márquez, he is famous for his renditions of folk songs known collectively as joropo or música criolla from the area known as Los Llanos, a vast swathe of seasonally-flooded cattle country that stretches from Venezuela into Colombia.

Considered a national treasure, over a career spanning more than 60 years he almost single-handedly rescued for future generations the traditional working songs of Los Llanos. His great achievement was to take these simple songs called tonadas and reinterpret them with spare arrangements that highlight the sometimes haunting vocals, and bring to life the daily chores of the cattle ranch. 

He was also known for his wicked sense of humour and made more than one tongue-in-cheek song about life on the Llanos, like "El Peine".

So influential has Simon Diaz been on Venezuelan folk music that tonadas like "Tonada de Luna Llena", "La Vaca Mariposa", and "Luna de Margarita"  have been recorded by a host of singers across Latin America and Spain, including Mercedes Sosa, Caetano Veloso, Joan Manuel Serrat, Gilberto Santa Rosa and contemporary indie musicians like Devendra Banhart and Natalia Lafourcade. 

A 2007 album called simply "Simon: Remixes" brought together Venezuelan electronica groups like Babylon Motorhome, Masseratti 2 lts. Todosantos and Panasuyo interested in reinterpreting songs like "Mi Querencia", "La Tonada del Cabrestero" and "Arbolito Sabanero" for a new generation.

In 2008, Tio Simon was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Latin Grammys after a campaign by a group called "Venezuelans in Hollywood", supported by actors such as "The Mummy" actress Patricia Velasquez, and musicians such as Oscar D'Leon, Los Amigos Invisibles, Ricardo Montaner, Jose Luis Rodriguez ("El Puma") and the Gipsy Kings.

Click here for a video of "Caballo Viejo"
Click here for a video of "Angustia" by Simon Diaz remixed by Babylon Motorhome
Click here for a video of "La Tonada del Cabrestero"
Click here for a video of "Alma Llanera" 

Simon Diaz - Tonada del Cabrestero

UPDATE - 19/02/2014: Venezuela Bids Adios to a Much Loved Folk Legend

Venezuela's most famous folk singer and composer, Simon Diaz, celebrated his 83rd birthday on 8 August with a huge outpouring of support for his life and work on the social networking site Twitter from Venezuelans all over the world.

A national treasure, Simon Narciso Diaz Marquez was born in Barbacoas, Guarico, in 1928 and over a career spanning more than 60 years has singlehandedly rescued for future generations the traditional working songs of the vast seasonally-flooded cattle country known as Los Llanos.

Tio Simon (Uncle Simon), as he is known to his fans, took these simple songs called tonadas  and reinterpreted them with spare arrangements that highlighted the vocal, bringing to life the daily chores of the cattle ranch.

So influential has Simon Diaz been on Venezuelan folk music that his tonadas have been recorded by a host of singers across Latin America and Spain, including Mercedes Sosa, Caetano Veloso, Joan Manuel Serrat, and Gilberto Santa Rosa.

Tonada del Cabrestero
Camino del llano viene, Puntero en la soledad (repeat)
El cabestrero cantando, ay Su copla en la madrugá (repeat)

Ahó... a... a...
El toro pita la vaca
Y el novillo se retira
Como el novillo era toro
La vaca siempre lo mira
Mariposa, nube de agua

La luna busca la sombra, y no la puede encontrar(repeat)
Porque la sombra se esconde, Aaaa Detrás de la madrugá(repeat)

Ahó... a... a...
No llores más nube de agua
Silencia tanta amargura
Que toda leche da queso
Y toda pena se cura
Lucerito nube de agua

Ya viene la mañanita
Cayendo sobre el palmar
Y el cabestrero prosigue
Con su doliente cantar

Ahó... a... a...
Mañana cuando me vaya
Quien se acordará de mi
Solamente la tinaja
Por el agua que bebí
Lucerito nube de agua

Video of an early song by Simon Diaz from 1965 - El Peine

Video of a modern reworking by Babylon Motorhome of a Simon Diaz classic - Angustia

Simon Diaz & Hugo Blanco - El Peine

"El Peine" ("The Comb") is a tongue-in-cheek song by Venezuelan folk singer Simón Díaz from the early days of his career in 1965, just after he'd got his big break singing with harpist and composer Hugo Blanco.

The video shows a young Díaz sitting with a furruco, the special drum used in gaita music from Maracaibo, which is played by rubbing the hands down the stick attached to the drum head.

From the beginning Díaz stood out as a comedian and "El Peine" is no exception, playing on the similarity in sound between the Spanish word for comb and the word for a delicate part of the male anatomy.

Accompanied by a jaunty harp, a four-stringed guitar known as a cuatro and maracas, the verse goes "lend me your comb to play some music and start the party with a barrel of guarapita", referring to the heady cocktail of raw cane alcohol and passion fruit juice called guarapita which is popular along Venezuela's Caribbean coast.

Tio Simón (Uncle Simon), as he is known to his fans, is considered a national treasure in Venezuela and for many years presented a children's show that promoted folk traditions, humour and songs.

Born in 1948 in Barbacoas and baptized Simón Narciso Díaz Márquez, he is famous for his renditions of folk songs known collectively as joropo or música criolla from the area known as Los Llanos, a vast swathe of seasonally-flooded cattle country that stretches from Venezuela into Colombia.

His most famous composition is "Caballo Viejo" - which became a huge international hit for the Franco-Spanish group the Gipsy Kings after they renamed the song "Bamboleo".

He also recorded a very popular version of the country's unofficial anthem "Alma Llanera".

Some of his most famous songs were remixed a few years ago by young electronica artists such as Baylon Motorhome,  who added a lilting ska beat to the song "Angustia". 

Simon Diaz honoured at Latin Grammy Awards

Venezuela's best-loved folk singer Simon Diaz is finally being recognized by the Latin Grammy organizers for his contribution to Latin music.

The composer of "Caballo Viejo" - a massive international hit for the Gipsy Kings as "Bamboleo" - will pick up a Lifetime Achievement Award at a special ceremony on 12 November, the day before the Ninth Latin Grammy show at the Hobby Centre in Houston, Texas.

The award represents a major milestone in the long and illustrious career of Diaz, who celebrated his 80th birthday on 8 August this year.

The announcement on 30 September came after a campaign to "bring Simon Diaz to the 2009 Grammy" by a group called "Venezuelans in Hollywood", supported by actors such as "The Mummy" actress Patricia Velasquez, and musicians such as Oscar D'Leon, Los Amigos Invisibles, Ricardo Montaner, Jose Luis Rodriguez ("El Puma") and the Gypsy Kings.

A Facebook group supporting the campaign currently has 51,000 members.

Also collecting awards will be New York salsa legend Larry Harlow, from the Fania Allstars, and the Cuban composer and guitarist Juanito Marquez.

Click here for a video of "Caballo Viejo"

Click here for a video of "Angustia" by Simon Diaz remixed by Babylon Motorhome