Paco Peña: 'Hendrix was polite and an amazing personality'
Paco Peña's Irish concerts include an appearance at Cork Opera House.
Paco Peña is widely regarded as the world’s finest flamenco guitarist. He’s performed in the great concert venues, including Carnegie Hall and at Sydney Opera House, a personal favourite. He once did a seven-week season in London’s West End, the longest ever run for a flamenco show. Remarkably, he never had formal guitar training. Born in Córdoba, Spain in 1942, he taught himself, picking up the guitar for the first time aged six, and performing professionally by age 12.
“There was a guitar in the house,” says Peña. “We were nine children, but only two of us were males. My brother was a lot older than me. He was second from the top, and I was second from the end. He had a guitar and he liked to play and make up songs.
“We lived in a house where 10 families lived. There was always music around – celebrations of baptism, First Communion, weddings. Everybody joined in, singing, dancing and playing instruments. In that sense, I see great similarities with the Irish – happy people making music together, even though they're not related, but they just join in. As there was a guitar in the house I picked it up now and then and it just captivated me.”
Life was tough in Andalucía growing up in the 1950s. Peña’s family was poor, and southern Spain has for centuries been the country’s poorest region. His mother sold vegetables from a stall at a local market. They also had to live under the yoke of the Franco dictatorship. General Franco’s persecution of those on the losing side in the Spanish Civil War continued long after the conflict ended in 1939.
“My parents were just peasants,” says Peña. “We were not the favourites of the dictatorship. They didn't take any side during the conflict but a cousin of mine was tortured. He couldn't walk on account of the beatings he received. It was a terrible conflict. There was a lot of fear about being outspoken. People kept their thoughts to themselves. You had to toe the line. They were tough times.”
Peña’s life became consumed with the flamenco scene. He was keen to make his mark in the world. A friend’s sister married an English man, which led to Peña and some friends moving to London in 1963. Peña was enamoured with Swinging London, its live music scene and the sense of freedom in the air.
“London was a completely different culture,” says Peña. “Spain was quite demur. In London, there was an openness. Women and girls had their own will. They could do whatever they wanted to do. In Spain, it was much more restricted. It was lovely – to encounter that way of life, early in my life. It was fun.
“But I took my music seriously. In Spain, I was playing with groups and I loved that, but eventually I became a bit disillusioned with it. I decided to go solo. I was practicing and practicing all the time. I loved moving an audience, stirring people into understanding my musical culture. I was not interested in being centre stage, but I wanted my culture to be centre stage. I could do that by transmitting its music. Connecting with the audience was paramount. It was terribly important for me, and I suffered when I couldn't do that.”
Peña rode a wave in the 1960s. The London scene took to his solo flamenco guitar playing with gusto. By 1967, he was performing on a bill with Jimi Hendrix at London’s Royal Festival Hall. The pair were the same age, in their mid-twenties, but within three years Hendrix was dead.
“The festival we performed at was called Guitar-In,” says Peña. “Four types of guitar were celebrated. One was classical Spanish guitar; there was flamenco; there was blues guitar; and there was Jimi Hendrix. He was top of the bill. It was an amazing experience, being in the presence of a really impressive man. He was polite and an amazing personality.
“Even though he was still young, you could see his raw talent. In a way, flamenco is like a cry from the heart. It’s extreme. It’s a very powerful emotion. I found that he had that too, in a different type of music. There was a fantastic rawness about it. There was a cry in his music. It was very profound, as well as being a celebration.”
- Paco Peña and his dance company are touring Ireland, including Cork Opera House, 8pm, Sunday, 7 April. See: www.corkoperahouse.ie
