Antonio Smash, founding father of the pioneering Sevillian fusion group Smash, dies at 73 | Culture | EUROtoday

If the legendary group Smash was, on the finish of the sixties of the final century, a pioneer of so many issues in native and Andalusian rock, its drummer and founding member, Antonio Smash, at the moment, as a consequence of his younger age (17 years), was an advance in taking part in the drums to which he gave a personality nonetheless recognizable within the outdated recordings. That contact would assist him in knowledgeable profession that will be lengthy, expanded along with his roles as multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer. A profession wherein he at all times loved the respect of his friends as a consequence of his critical situation and dedication to music.

Antonio Samuel Rodríguez, who died yesterday Monday on the age of 73, based Smash along with fellow Sevillians Gualberto García (guitar) and Julio Matito (bass), who can be joined by the Swede Henrik Liebgott, additionally guitar, in what was probably the most secure formation and with which they might document nearly all of their album manufacturing: 4 singles between 1969 and 1970 and, already in that 12 months, his first LP, the remembered Glorieta de los Lotos. A 12 months later, they might publish the second, We Come to Smash This Time. The group’s music was, within the phrases of Luis Clemente (History of Sevillian rock, 1996), “a rare mix of Rolling, country, oriental music, distortion, progressive blues, flamenco, Dylan… They were not even considering making original music, because ‘grinding’ and singing in that way from Andalusia was already an unusual fact.” But there isn’t any doubt that together with her they starred within the spring of the underground Sevillian and the dream of fusion.

The latter got here a bit by probability, after the group’s assembly with the gypsy guitarist Manuel Molina and the looks of the Barcelona patron. divine left Oriol Regás, who sponsored them and paid for his or her keep in Playa de Aro in pursuit of the long-awaited merger. The outcomes weren’t what was anticipated and the dream was shattered, however some recordings remained that little by little got here to mild in two singles, in 1971. The first of them contained the tune that gave them the best recognition, the garrotín. But, unusually, all of Playa de Aro’s manufacturing emerged collectively on the album Avant-garde and purity of flamenco (Chapa, 1978), wherein the songs from Smash would occupy facet A, together with six songs from Jerez agujetasaccompanied on guitar by Manolo Sanlúcar in B. In addition to the garrotín, are discovered the Taranto de Gualberto, los Ketama Tangoshe Alameda Blues and the lengthy rumba I neither keep in mind nor overlook. In whole, 5 creations that would have constituted the primary flamenco fusion mini LP in historical past, as Ricardo Pachón, its actual producer and inspiration, has at all times lamented.

Smash’s life was comparatively temporary, however its shadow was very lengthy, to the purpose that, with out them, all the pieces that got here later within the Andalusian rock and flamenco scene and recording manufacturing wouldn’t be understood. Antonio participated in lots of of those tasks (Kiko Veneno, Pata Negra, amongst many others). One of the primary ones was the recording of the album by the group Goma April 14a piece that guitarist Manuel Imán re-recorded in 2022 with a few of the unique musicians (Pepe el Saxo and Antonio Smash), together with others from the brand new era from Seville and Andalusia. In a phone dialog with this newspaper, the drummer then believed that the revisited work was “more mature and established, compared to the passion that dominated the original recording.”

Antonio additionally had a private and constant solo work, revealed in 2002 and 2012 (secret backyard y bullets of affection), which maybe displays that very same maturity, the product of a life devoted to music wherein he has not stopped increasing his inventive and manufacturing capabilities: within the aforementioned recordings he served as composer, singer, guitarist, arranger and, in fact, producer. In these works he has additionally introduced with him the eclecticism of the early instances, however as an indication, this time, of inventive freedom. His dedication and loyalty to music led him to take part on the 2nd in a tribute to a fellow guitarist, Pedro García Mauricio. There he performed guitar and drums. Unexpectedly, it was the final time.