Antonio Gonz\u00e1lez Batista was born in the Gra\u00e7ia neighbourhood, Barcelona, in 1926. The son of a gipsy man who earned a living as a fisherman (hence the nickname El pesca\u00edlla, ie The Young Hake). Antonio used to help him while he carried out his trade, and at nights he also used to accompany him \u2013 more willingly, I imagine \u2013 when he sang and played guitar at El Tablao de la Pava. Antonio would show his talent very early on. He learns the rules of the game soon and word quickly gets around in Barcelona. Well into the 1940s, he is already king of the flamenco rumba. His sense of rhythm starts to possess the perfect cadence, sparkling and free. It’s a rhythm that sprouts from tradition and will improve with the Cuban influence: son, mambo, guaguanc\u00f3, chachach\u00e1\u2026 The infinite skill at marking the cadence of the rhythmic beat becomes masterful. He seasons his lyrical bitterness with succinct and measured strokes: some bongos here, rhythmic handclaps there, the precise guitar over there, some caj\u00f3n drums\u2026 And the voice. Naked. The tone is proud, distinguished, tormented. With subtle cracks, runaway crescendos. At the dawn of the 1950s, the long-lived artistic association between Lola Flores and Arturo Caracol comes to an end, torn apart by their personal break-up. Lola is determined to control her own destiny. She starts to forge her legend \u2013 not only the artistic one \u2013 and after a few love affairs she starts a relationship with Gerardo Coque, a football player for Atl\u00e9tico de Madrid and co-owner with her of her show. Smitten for a while with the young Antonio after seeing him in Madrid, she gets him to sign a contract with them. It will be just a matter of time: the flirting behind the scenes, the intimate proximity, the sideways glances, the art of seduction, soon have their effect. However, Antonio isn’t and won’t ever be as ambitious as Lola, and hands over both the professional and the artistic command, something rare according to tradition at that time. History follows its course. Lola’s myth is already huge, a giant monster that devours everything it finds in its way: men, audiences, songs, herself. Antonio decides to be a supporting actor rather than the lead. He becomes a mere guitarist to the outside world, accompanying the legend, father of her children, a discreet but solid support, and he withdraws more into himself. Films, tours, TV programs\u2026 His role is always secondary. Every now and then, there is a spark of genius: a song on one of her records, a minor role on the screen, two or three rumbas in the middle of a show, a single or EP ever more infrequently. Like the crownless king of a kingdom without land, he decides to spend the last twenty years of his life as a recluse in his own exile: family, memories, friends, past glories, the odd party at El Lerele (the family’s house) which might go on for days. In a genre that is wrongly considered to be just about fun, a mere tributary to something of more substance, it’s always been counterproductive to remain silent. Even more when a loud voice has often been the natural way to be heard. Only a few \u2013 the great ones, as it happens \u2013 chose silence as the only worthy attitude. Antonio Gonz\u00e1lez Batista took that path all his life. On November 12, 1999, he quietly passed away. Ximo Bonet<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Antonio Gonz\u00e1lez El Pesca\u00edlla, husband of Spanish legendary artist Lola Flores, takes the limelight in this compilation of his best tracks for the Belter record label. The king of flamenco rumba at the peak of his power. Flamenco rumba is an irresistible style born out of the mixture of the gipsy tradition with elements from Cuban genres such as son, mambo, guaguanc\u00f3 and guaracha. Includes key titles of the genre such as ‘Sarandonga’, ‘Que me coma el tigre’, ‘Sabor a m\u00ed’ and ‘Extra\u00f1os en la noche’ (‘Strangers In The Night’). Several tracks feature vocal duets with Lola Flores.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":4783,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[213,66],"product_tag":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-42722","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-flamenco-en","7":"product_cat-spanish","8":"product_shipping_class-default","9":"pa_formato-cd-en","10":"pa_formato-lp-en","12":"first","13":"outofstock","14":"purchasable","15":"product-type-variable","16":"has-default-attributes"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/munster-records.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/42722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/munster-records.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/munster-records.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/munster-records.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/munster-records.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/munster-records.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=42722"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/munster-records.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=42722"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/munster-records.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=42722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}