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Almendra (Almendra album)

January 01, 1970

Almendra (pronounced [alˈmendɾa]; Spanish for "almond") is the self-titled debut studio album by Argentine rock band Almendra which was released in 1969 on Vik, a subsidiary of RCA Victor. To distinguish it from the band's next release, Almendra II, it is also known as Almendra I. The album represented the first full-length musical endeavour of nineteen-year-old Luis Alberto Spinetta, having formed the band in the mid 1960s along with Emilio del Guercio, Edelmiro Molinari and Rodolfo García. The famous artwork, showing a crying man with a toy arrow stuck on his head, was designed by Spinetta to embody the different lyrical themes of the album.

Almendra
Studio album by
Almendra
ReleasedNovember 29, 1969
RecordedApril–September 1969
StudioTNT Studios, Buenos Aires
GenreRock
Length37:35
LanguageSpanish
LabelVik (RCA Victor)
ProducerAlmendra
Almendra chronology
Almendra
(1969) 		Almendra II
(1970)
Singles from Almendra
  1. "Muchacha (ojos de papel)/Ana No Duerme"
    Released: January 20, 1970

By the late 1960s, the nueva ola phenomenon was losing popularity and Los Gatos' debut single, "La balsa", had catapulted the emergence of Argentine rock. The success of Los Gatos paved the way for Manal and Almendra; the three groups are considered the foundational trilogy of Argentine rock, singing serious and artistic songs in Spanish at a time when this was discouraged. Spinetta's lyricism has been celebrated for its poetry, surrealism and idiosyncratic use of grammar and accent. Almendra incorporated musical influences from the Beatles, jazz, and Argentine music such as tango and folk music.

Upon release, the album achieved critical and commercial success, aided by the popularity of the single "Muchacha (ojos de papel)", which remains one of Spinetta's most celebrated compositions. Almendra is often listed as one of the greatest and most influential albums in the history of Argentine rock music, serving as a foundation of what is locally known as rock nacional and, by extension, rock en español in general. The album remains a paradigm of Argentine 1960s youth culture, signaling the growing influence of the counterculture of that decade in the country.

Background and development edit

 
Spinetta with his parents Julia and Luis Santiago, graduating from high school in 1968.

Almendra was formed in the barrio of Núñez in Buenos Aires.[1] Luis Alberto Spinetta and Emilio del Guercio became friends while attending the San Román high school in Belgrano.[1][2][3] They published a magazine, La costra degenerada, with their own articles and drawings and shared common interests and points of view about music, sex, power and religion.[4] Spinetta was a fan of the Beatles, but del Guercio was more interested in folk music.[5] They were inspired by surrealism and the psychedelic experience, although they had not used drugs at that point.[1][5] Edelmiro Molinari and del Guercio were in a band called Los Sbirros – making cover versions of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Shadows and Los Teen Tops – along with Ángel del Guercio, Ricardo Miró, Santiago "Chago" Novoa and Eduardo Miró (later replaced by del Guercio).[3] Spinetta had joined Los Larkins, where Rodolfo García was the drummer.[6] Spinetta and García then joined Los Masters, a band led by Guido Meda; the group had a succession of names, including Los Beadniks, Los Beatniks and Los Mods.[7] The groups merged, although Meda disliked the idea and stepped aside.[7] Almendra was ready to start playing, but García had to serve in the military and they waited a year until he returned.[7] At this embryonic stage Spinetta had composed "Plegaria para un niño dormido" and "Zamba", a song he would record in 1982 as "Barro tal vez".[3][6][8] During the second half of the 1960s, Argentina and the world were experiencing political, social and cultural changes. The Argentine Revolution overthrew the government of Arturo Umberto Illia in June 1966, establishing Juan Carlos Onganía as a military dictator. Leonid Brezhnev was appointed General Secretary of the USSR, LSD advocate Timothy Leary was sentenced to 30 years in prison and the Vietnam War escalated.[8] The Beatles released Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, influential examples of the emerging countercultural genre of psychedelic music. Tango opera María de Buenos Aires by Ástor Piazzolla and Horacio Ferrer premiered, the literary Latin American Boom (including Pablo Neruda and Julio Cortázar) flourished, Mercedes Sosa made bold political statements as a preeminent exponent of nueva canción and the French New Wave was rewriting the language of cinema.[8] The group absorbed these local and international cultural influences. Spinetta became interested in Friedrich Nietzsche, particularly Thus Spoke Zarathustra (which inspired the Almendra song, "Hermano perro").[8][9] Lalo Schifrin, Thelonious Monk, Tom Jobim, the Rolling Stones and Les Double Six were also cited as influences.[8]

 
A nineteen-year-old Spinetta performing with Almendra at the Festival Pinap, 1969.

In 1967, Los Gatos released their first single, "La balsa", backed with "Ayer nomás". The song catapulted the burgeoning "rock nacional" scene in Buenos Aires, establishing the commercial viability of rock music sung in Spanish, and turning what originally was an underground scene into a widespread youth culture phenomenon.[10][11][12] "La balsa" sold over 250,000 copies, an impressive number for that time, especially for a song with Spanish lyrics that differed from the cheerful and shallow efforts of the contemporary nueva ola movement.[13] Spinetta told Juan Carlos Diez in 2006: "It was a very good thing because it was the example that [rock in Spanish] could be done. I believe that "La balsa" was a great inspiration for everyone. And also other tracks of Los Gatos. Each track contained a mystery that, at the same time, was a poetic motivation, a great incentive for us."[14] After a Los Gatos concert, Spinetta met producer Ricardo Kleiman and invited him to the band's rehearsals.[15] When Kleiman heard the band play he signed them to RCA Victor, and in November 1968 Almendra released their first single: "Tema de Pototo", backed with "El mundo entre las manos".[16] Almendra began playing live, with performances during the summer of 1969 in Mar del Plata and an appearance at the Ancón Festival in Peru.[16] Their Buenos Aires debut was at the Di Tella Institute as part of Three Beat Shows, where they introduced "Fermín", "Ana no duerme" and "Que el viento borró tus manos", songs which would appear on their first studio album.[16] Almendra released a second single, "Hoy todo el hielo en la ciudad" backed with "Campos verdes"; it was also released in Peru, where it was more successful than it was in Argentina.[17] Between April and September 1969, the band recorded their first LP at TNT Studios, Buenos Aires,[18] while a third single ("Tema de Pototo", backed with "Final") was released.[17] At the time of Almendra's release, the influence of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones had overshadowed the success of the nueva ola, exemplified by the popular teen pop music TV show, El Club del Clan.[18]

Composition edit

 
One of Almendra's chief influences was the Beatles, so much so that they were called the "Argentine Beatles", also due to their influence on the country's popular music.[19][20][21]

Almendra, considered one of Argentina's first rock albums,[22] is characterized by stylistic diversity;[4] it fuses elements of contemporary pop music, jazz, tango and Argentine folk music.[23] A major influence was the Beatles, particularly their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.[24][25] For instance, in "Muchacha (ojos de papel)", lyrics such as "ojos de papel" ("paper eyes") and "pechos de miel" ("honey breasts") are reminiscent of those in "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" ("newspaper taxis" and "marmalade skies"),[24] and "Laura va" was inspired by "She's Leaving Home".[24] Tango influences may be heard in "Plegaria para un niño dormido" and "A estos hombres tristes".[24] Andrés Torrón of Uruguayan newspaper El Observador noted a similarity between Almendra and Pink Floyd's 1967 album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn; feeling that "although reminiscences of Syd Barret can be found in the melodies and prose of the Spinetta of those years, there were already a number of personal traits that would make him one of the most influential rock musicians on this side of the world."[26] Music journalist Diego Fischerman described the album as a "heterogeneous world, where, like the Beatles, each song was a surprise and where the best traditions of rock (pursuit, nonconformity, curiosity, eagerness to conquer new musical territories) came together with a Buenos Aires of conflicting cosmopolitanism."[27] According to Carlos Polimeni of newspaper Página/12, "In Almendra's first record are the Beatles, Cortázar, the French May, free jazz, the experimentation of the Di Tella, the avant-garde tango, the folklore of projection, the French Nouvelle Vague, Borges, and the new trends in national plastic arts, among other influences, but none markedly mentioned or honored axiomatically."[19]

Spinetta's lyrics have been widely studied for their lyricism, poetic quality, precise use of language, and rich visual imagery; as well as the innovation of singing them in Spanish.[9] They are characterized by an abundance of metaphors and a surrealism deeply influenced by songs such as "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and "Strawberry Fields Forever".[28][29] Writing for Noisey in 2016, Eduardo Santos argued that "although it does not have any song with protest lyrics or hymns against the establishment, Almendra is an album very influenced by the hippie culture with its ideals of peace, coexistence and love."[30] He also felt that the lyrics "[frolic] between poetry and the experiences of the group members."[30]

 
"Muchacha (ojos de papel)"
One of Spinetta's most enduringly popular compositions,[31] the album opener characterizes a girl using ambiguous adjectives and metaphors.[32] According to Germán Arrascaeta of La Voz del Interior, it "recycled the surrealism of André Breton in an effort to give the ruling beat music a twist."[33]
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The album opens with "Muchacha (ojos de papel)", one of the most celebrated songs in Argentine rock history. Spinetta dedicated the song to Cristina Bustamante, his girlfriend at the time,[34] and has compared the romantic ballad to songs like "Tu nombre me sabe a hierba" by Joan Manuel Serrat and "Julia" by the Beatles.[9] Musician Alejandro del Prado described its lyrics as "almost pornographic at the time", citing phrases such as "pechos de miel" and "quédate hasta el alba" ("stay until dawn").[9] The length of the nine-plus-minute "Color humano", written by Edelmiro Molinari, concerned the record label since it precluded radio play. The jazz-inspired jam session[9] is composed of two relatively short vocal segments surrounding a five-minute guitar solo by Molinari.[9] The ballad "Figuración" is characterized by its use of the recorder, played by Del Guercio.[35] Rolling Stone Argentina considered that the track, "anticipates certain ways of Sui Generis although in the final chorus the deep voice of Pappo and other boys of the environment known as 'Circus' are noticed."[35] The lyrics of "Figuración" have been described as metaphysical, with Spinetta urging the listener to disfigure themselves.[9] In "Ana no duerme", a sleepless girl is restlessly waiting; its lyrics refer to the need of many teenage girls to repress their sexuality.[36] Spinetta described the title character as "that being that is always waiting. That girl who hopes to be loved, who expects a little bit of friendship, of understanding, who wants to leave her vulgar world of womanhood, who wants to occupy another place. [...] At that time, a girl of 16 or 17 was not the woman she can be today."[6] The strongly paced track, with a rhythmic shift representing the "interrupted dreams" of the title character,[9] has been compared to Pink Floyd's "See Emily Play"[26] and is considered "the most rocker moment" of the album.[35] Although the "Ana" in the song was long thought to be Ana María Spinetta (Luis Alberto's sister), he denied it on more than one occasion.[36] Film producer Ana Aizenberg claims to be the inspiration after an affair she had with Spinetta.[36]

 
"A estos hombres tristes"
"In that [Buenos Aires of conflicting cosmopolitanism,] in which the police were engaged in cutting the hair of "hippies" and miniskirts were considered immoral, and where Piazzolla became massive [...], could appear a song like "A estos hombres tristes", with its resonances of the Swingle Singers and the Burt Bacharach of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, jazz readings à la Brubeck and [a] deep melancholy."
—Diego Fischerman, Página/12, 2009.[27]
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"Fermín" describes a mentally ill character in an institution. The song changes a line from the French folk song, "Marlbrough s'en va-t-en guerre", from "Mambrú se fue a la guerra, no sé cuándo vendrá" ("Mambrú left for the war; I do not know when he will return") to "Fermín se fue a la vida, no sé cuándo vendrá" ("Fermín left for life; I do not know when he will return"). According to Spinetta, "life for the insane is like war for the sane."[24] Reflecting on the track, Spinetta said: "In front of my house lived an incredible character called Carlitos, a retarded boy, who is in part the personification of Fermín for me. With Carlitos we shared moments of joy when we were kids. Although he could not play ball with everyone, he felt accompanied in his tremendous problem when we were with him. It is also an apology, because I remember that his mother punished him a lot, even in front of the other boys. I do not know if the degree of illness of the song's Fermín is as actue as that of Carlitos, but serves to define the situation of the alienated as a propitious cell to receive the most aberrant injustices.[6] "Plegaria para un niño dormido" urges not to wake a poor child up, letting him be happy in his dreams. The criticism of society's injustice is, in Spinetta's words, "a complaint made with tenderness."[24] He called it "the symbol of a Christian ideology: neighborliness, solidarity."[24] "A estos hombres tristes" has been described as "[outlining] a kind of compressed suite", with "airs of jam-session and urban song".[35] It was inspired by the melancholy of Sundays in Argentina, with Spinetta saying: "Sunday was always a sad day, I do not know why. At the same time it was happy because there was football, the family gathered, there was good food. The importance that was given to the weekend in our country in those years was tremendous. But the personal solitude at that time was very clear."[6] The album ends with "Laura va", a baroque pop song which took Spinetta a year and a half to write.[6] An attempt to emulate the Beatles' "She's Leaving Home",[6] it features an "evocative counterpoint" played with the bandoneón.[35] Rolling Stone Argentina considered that Spinetta's vocals in the track "[timidly insinuate]" a crooner facet that he would further explore later in his career.[35]

Release and commercial reception edit

 
Almendra in a 1970 photo shoot.

Almendra was released on November 29, 1969, on Vik, a subsidiary of RCA Victor.[18][37] Some sources, however, place the release of the album in early 1970,[9][38] time in which the band released a typewritten, photocopied flyer that said: "Over the course of six months of intense work, we have learned that what is transcendent is no longer owned by the author and belongs to everyone. That is why January 15 is an important date for us and for you: it is the release of our first long play to you."[39] The band produced a 35mm black-and-white promotional short film featuring "Campos verdes" and "El mundo entre las manos", which was shown in cinemas as part of the newsreel Sucesos Argentinos.[40] On June 6, 1969, Almendra presented the album in Teatro Coliseo with Vox Dei, Leonardo Favio and Los Abuelos de la Nada.[40][41] They made television appearances on Tropicana, Sábados circulares, Sótano beat, and "an unhappy appearance" on Bernardo Neustadt's show.[40] Regarding the songs' concert presentation, particularly of "Muchacha (ojos de papel)", Spinetta stated in 1984: "... when we premiered ["Muchacha"] in Coliseo, the success of the song was so resounding that I cried myself, I could not believe it. [...] The emotion that I felt was tremendous. Indelible. I cried on stage, because I felt that all the people were shocked with that. Instantly. Success came later. I felt that the song pierced through the people, just as when I premiered "Plegaria" or "Figuración", "Muchacha" pierced through the people. With Almendra I repeatedly saw boys and girls crying, of emotion or of happiness."[42] In early 1970, Spinetta published a series of drawings in the second number of the short-lived magazine Alquitrán, in which he illustrated each of the songs of Almendra.[30]

Ricardo Alejandro Kleinman had signed Almendra with RCA Victor as part of his project of promoting new and "distinguished" music such as Led Zeppelin, Cream, The Who and Traffic, which he featured in his radio show Modart en la noche alternating with more commercial acts. Part of this project was the inclusion of Spanish-language music that acted as "an Argentine equivalent of the aesthetic searches of post-Revolver rock, which is what was consumed by young people with purchasing power, mostly university students, in Europe and the United States." However, Almendra found its audience outside of the demographic target that had been expected, becoming popular among the common porteño youth.[27] Wide commercial success arrived when "Muchacha (ojos de papel)", was used in a television commercial for fabrics aimed at the youth.[18][43] The song, with "Ana no duerme" as its B-side, was released as the album's only single on January 20, 1970.[18] In 1996, Spinetta stated that he was unhappy with that advertisement, but did not have enough money to hire a lawyer at that time.[43] On March 5, 1970 Gente stated that, 20 days since its release, the album had sold 10,000 copies.[44] Cristina de Irala of the magazine reported on their successful presentation in the touristic city of Mar del Plata, writing: "At that hour of the early morning, in a city in full summer season, one became aware that the 'beat music' movement really is a phenomenon. Which one of our musical monsters could go on a stage and fill a room in those conditions?"[44] The same year, journalist Margot de Kumec noted the "religious attention" and identification that the band generated among its young audience.[45]

 
Almendra performing in 1970.

Tracks off Almendra appear in various compilation albums of the band released by RCA Records, including a self-titled one of 1972,[46] Muchacha ojos de papel of 1980,[47] Serie 20 éxitos of 1995,[48] and Inolvidables – 20 grandes éxitos of 2003.[49] In 1979, Almendra reunited and performed a series of concerts that attracted massive audiences, something that had been rarely seen in the country because of the so-called National Reorganization Process.[50][51] A double live album recorded at Estadio Obras Sanitarias in December 1979 was self-released on May 3, 1980, featuring several renditions of songs from the band's 1969 studio debut.[52][53] In 1992, BMG Argentina released the first CD reissue of the album. Titled Almendra (Cronología), its tracklist is organized in chronological order and subdivided into three sections. The first one, titled "The first singles", contains songs released before the album, which are "Tema de Pototo", "El mundo entre las manos", "Hoy todo el hielo en la ciudad", "Campos verdes", "Gabinetes espaciales" and "Final". The CD's middle section consists of the Almendra album, followed by some of the band's subsequent songs, under the title: "The singles that were and were not". It includes "Hermano perro", "Mestizo", "Toma el tren hacia el sur", "Jingle" and "Rutas argentinas".[18] The album was included in the 1999 box set Almendra 68/70, released by BMG Argentina for subscribers of the Argentine edition of Rolling Stone.[54] Sony BMG released the first European edition of the album in 2005, as a digipak CD.[55] In 2015, Sony Music reissued fifteen classic albums of Argentine rock—including Almendra—in vinyl, respecting every detail of their original editions' packaging.[56]

Cover art edit

He was the character of the retarded Argentine. Playing the role of an idiot ... It's kind of pathetic. Of course, with the little plunger, he has not even been injured; a mediocrity Almendra attacks.

— Spinetta on the album cover, 2008.[9]

The album cover, designed by Spinetta, shows a distressed man with his hair covered by a scarf and a tear running down his cheek; a toy arrow is stuck on his head, and he is wearing a pink shirt with the name of the band.[39] Spinetta used tempera and pencils on mat paper.[9] RCA considered the artwork incomprehensible and noncommercial, and shelved its first version.[57] Spinetta said, "We were not going to allow the record to be released without it. I had the picture in my head very clearly, and I went home and did it again. We did not want to leave things in the hands of mediocre company dudes that make album covers like [sausages]."[4] Emilio García said in 2008 that the label thought most record buyers were women, and artwork should depict men as handsomely as possible:[39] "They could not believe it, because the cover of an LP (at the time) featured artists' faces or holding electric guitars; we came out with a cover like that, which I still consider absolutely great."[57]

On the album's track listing, each song is identified with a symbol from the cover: a teardrop, an eye, or a toy arrow. The teardrop identifies "Muchacha (ojos de papel)", "Figuración", "Plegaria para un niño dormido" and "Que el viento borró tus manos", the most rock-oriented songs; the eye, "Color humano" and "A estos hombres tristes", the most melancholic songs; and the toy arrow "Ana no duerme", "Fermín" and "Laura va", songs with proper names.[58] The inner sleeve describes each icon:[59]

  • Eye: Songs sung by the Man of the Cover while he is unconscious in the void
  • Teardrop: Songs as bright as the thousand-year-old teardrop shed by the Man of the Cover
  • Toy arrow: Songs sung to the tear shed by the Man of the Cover by men tied to their destinies

Emilio del Guercio said that the toy arrow represents absurdity and the teardrop sentimentality and melancholy.[9] According to Argentine graphic artist Rep, the artwork conveys a grotesque, dramatic flavor and the feeling that the album should be taken seriously but not too seriously.[9]

Critical reception edit

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [22]

According to Eduardo Berti, the album received generally positive reviews, with Rodolfo Alchourrón's orchestral arrangement of "Laura va" universally acclaimed.[4] However, journalist Diego Fischerman of Página/12 disagreed, writing in 2009:

In 1968, what was later called rock was not in the newspapers. What's more, there was no criticism of popular music there. The pioneer, in that matter, was Jorge Andrés, in his articles for the magazine Análisis and, a little later, in the newspaper La Opinión. That is why when it is said, as in the brochure of the box that gathers all the production of Almendra, that "the critics approved them and the public adored them", it is a lie. The public was scarce and there was no criticism, if you discard what was published in [Pinap], which rather responded to modest press operations of the recording labels to impose that new product, the "beat music", which between 1968 and 1970 flooded the market.[27]

The rock magazine Pelo stated that "this album may be the synthesis of a new music emerging.[4] A La Prensa review described it as "a thin melancholy," and it "[faces] its manifestation with the seriousness and depth of who wants to give a testimony of their world, a concern usually oblivious to young authors and performers."[4] The magazine Gente was enthusiastic: "Did you already listen to the first LP by the group Almendra? Do not waste time, fool, because I assure you it is the best album of the beat genre produced in our country."[4] Also from Gente, Cristina de Irala wrote in early 1970 that Almendra was "an authentic demonstration of talent, music and beauty."[44] Journalist Margot de Kumec wrote in 1970 that "they proclaim in their creations a deepening in the essence of men", and praised their "poetry, melody and rhythm".[45] A Clarín review of the album was harsh: "The lyrics of each track do not have an equal level, with the aggravation of being poorly fused with musical metrics."[4] Spinetta said that much of his resentment of the press was born at that time, when he "realized that large magazines like Gente or Siete Días fabricated articles. They put what they wanted."[4] In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Iván Adaime gave the album a five-star rating, calling it a masterpiece and writing that it "is great from the beginning till the end" and "not only one of the first Argentinean rock albums, but one of its best."[22]

Legacy edit

We must remember: in just two years (1968–1970) and two very different albums (an LP and a double album) Almendra radically changed Argentine popular music. It was a mysterious ray that was integrated from the area of Bajo Belgrano to the bohemian gestures of the countercultural longhairs of the Plaza Francia-La Cueva-La Perla triangle.[nb 1] [...] Almendra expressed through a musical project the potencies and tensions of their own time.

— Mariano Del Mazo, Página/12, 2017.[62]

Almendra is considered one of the most important records in the history of Latin American rock.[30] It has been voted the most important record in Argentine rock history on various occasions.[9] A July 1985 survey by journalist Carlos Polimeni for Clarín ranked Almendra as by far the greatest album in the history of Argentine rock music; respondents included local musicians Charly García, Gustavo Cerati of Soda Stereo, Celeste Carballo, Miguel Mateos, Alejandro Lerner and Raúl Porchetto, among others.[4] In 2007, the Argentine edition of Rolling Stone ranked it sixth on its list of "The 100 Greatest Albums of National Rock".[63] In 2006, the Latin alternative music magazine Al Borde ranked Almendra 10th on its list of the 250 Best Albums of Ibero-American rock. Spanish online newspaper Diariocrítico.com included the album in its 2016 feature of "The 20 Best Records of Argentina", with journalist Sergio Ariza Lázaro describing it as a masterpiece.[64] Chilean newspaper La Tercera ranked Almendra thirteenth in its 2017 list of "The 20 Best Albums of Argentine Rock".[65]

"Muchacha (ojos de papel)" remains a symbol of the band and "an emblem of the social and individual conquests of the 1960s."[35] It is now considered "the quintessential love song of rock nacional."[66] The track was second on MTV and Rolling Stone Argentina's Top 100 Songs of Argentine Rock[citation needed] and Rock.com.ar's Top 100 Argentinean Songs of the Last 40 Years.[67] Al Borde ranked the song 45th on its list of 500 Most Important Songs of Ibero-American Rock.[68]

The album had a seminal influence on Argentine rock. During the 1960s, a generation of musicians from the La Cueva bar on Avenida Pueyrredón was trying to reflect an everyday reality absent from popular music since the tango era. Called "progressive music" by journalists, the movement was catapulted by the commercial success of Los Gatos, the house band of La Cueva.[18][69] The recognition of Los Gatos in 1967 paved the way for Almendra and Manal, "progressive music" bands that divided the musical panorama by synthesizing two sides of Buenos Aires, one sophisticated and one more linked to the tango. Audiences created a rivalry around the two, inspired by the Beatles and Rolling Stones rivalry, identifying Almendra as the former and Manal as the latter.[38][43] These three bands are considered the pillars of what is known in Argentina as rock nacional ("national rock"),[18] and rock en español in general.[70] Serious, artistic Spanish-language songs were unprecedented in the country.[70] According to Rolling Stone, Almendra reached "one of the highest levels of quality, innovation and precocity" in Argentine music; "if not pioneers (because there is no Almendra without Los Gatos), they put into 3D a variety of sounds, accents and adjectives which are still the textbook of the new generation."[71]

 
The members of Almendra and Manal in a 1970 poster for Pelo magazine.

While Los Gatos were mainly influenced by beat music, and Manal by the blues, Almendra made an impact with a uniqueness reflected in surreal lyrics and album art, as well as the lack of an article preceding their name (as did Manal).[18] On this matter, Mariano Del Pozo of Página/12 wrote: "It is remarkable a third position that seems inherent in the essence of Almendra. Whether aesthetically—listening to [their] two albums, it is not wrong to locate the band between the beat of Los Gatos and the blues of Manal—as well as Del Guercio's sympathy for Peronism or for Spinetta's always singular poetic and spiritual pursuits, Almendra stood out in a peculiar originality."[62] In 1996, Spinetta reflected: "If I had to rescue something from that period it would precisely be an outpouring of lyricism, something Almendra kind of is."[43] He used Spanish idiosyncratically, writing "y el ave aquel" instead of the correct "y el ave aquella" in "Fermín"[18] and changing the accent of some words (a poetic device criticized by some members of the press,[4] evident in the pronunciation of "figúrate" in "Figuración" and "plegaria" in "Plegaria para un niño dormido").[18] This use of the accent characterized Argentine rock's second generation—whose most notable representative was Sui Generis—until bands like Virus continued to use the language ingeniously in the 1980s.[18] Writer Eduardo Berti felt in 2012 that the album, "endures as an effective testimony of the first steps of an exceptional composer."[38] According to Emilio del Guercio,

Today those songs are classics but, at that time, they were considered cutting edge. Eventually I realized that most of them are threaded by the songwriting tradition of our country. They are Argentine songs. The real avant-garde revolutionizes what it inherits. Almendra was heir to the best Argentine music, and combined its elements without prejudice.[39]

Almendra is considered a paradigm of the growing influence of the youth-led counterculture of the 1960s on Argentina at that time, as well as a representative of that generation.[62][71] After Spinetta's death, President of Argentina Cristina Fernández de Kirchner said: "That record of the teardrop, when we would call albums long plays, and "Muchacha (ojos de papel)", I will never forget them."[72] Charly García, also on the occasion of Spinetta's death, stated: "I can not describe the shock that Almendra's first album caused me. For me, "La balsa" was the originator of Argentine rock, but without a doubt, Luis Alberto and company were its architects."[73]

Track listing edit

All tracks are written by Luis Alberto Spinetta except where noted

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Muchacha (ojos de papel)"3:04
2."Color humano" (Edelmiro Molinari)9:09
3."Figuración"3:32
4."Ana no duerme"2:42
Side two
No.TitleLength
5."Fermín"3:16
6."Plegaria para un niño dormido"4:01
7."A estos hombres tristes"5:56
8."Que el viento borró tus manos" (Emilio del Guercio)2:36
9."Laura va"2:48
Total length:37:35

Personnel edit

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Almendra.[18]

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ The porteño underground of the 1960s had its epicenter in the triangle formed by a precarious musical bar called La Cueva in Avenida Pueyrredón, the Torcuato di Tella Institute in Florida Street, and Plaza Francia. Besides originating rock nacional, this countercultural youth subculture made important advances in Modern art and are today considered the first hippies of the country (despite not using that name themselves).[60][61]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Luis Alberto Spinetta. Almendra (Video) (in Spanish). Buenos Aires, Argentina: Quizás porque. Encuentro. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
  2. ^ Spinetta & Berti 2014, p. 10.
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Bibliography edit

  • Alabarces, Pablo (November 1, 1993). Entre gatos y violadores: el rock nacional en la cultura argentina (in Spanish). Buenos Aires, Argentina: Colihue. ISBN 950-581-243-4.
  • Diez, Juan Carlos (2012) [2006]. Martropía. Conversaciones con Spinetta (in Spanish). Buenos Aires: Aguilar. ISBN 978-987-04-2677-6.
  • Larrea, Agustina (May 1, 2014). Quién es la chica: Las musas que inspiraron las grandes canciones del rock argentino (in Spanish). Random House. p. 13. ISBN 9789873650307.
  • Marchi, Sergio (2019). Spinetta: Ruido de magia (in Spanish). Buenos Aires, Argentina: Planeta. ISBN 978-950-49-6461-2.
  • Maritano, Alma; Petruzzi, Herminia L. (2009). Teatro por la identidad: antología (in Spanish). Buenos Aires, Argentina: Ediciones Colihue. p. 188. ISBN 978-950-581-159-5.
  • Pintos, Víctor (1993). Tanguito: La verdadera historia (in Spanish). Buenos Aires, Argentina: Planeta. ISBN 950-742-375-3.
  • Polimeni, Carlos (2002). Bailando sobre los escombros: historia crítica del rock latinoamericano (in Spanish). Buenos Aires, Argentina: Editorial Biblos. p. 101. ISBN 978-950-786-298-4.
  • Spinetta, Luis A.; Berti, Eduardo (2014) [1988]. Crónica e iluminaciones (in Spanish). Buenos Aires, Argentina: Editora AC, Planeta. ISBN 978-950-49-4055-5.

External links edit

January 01, 1970
almendra, almendra, album, almendra, pronounced, alˈmendɾa, spanish, almond, self, titled, debut, studio, album, argentine, rock, band, almendra, which, released, 1969, subsidiary, victor, distinguish, from, band, next, release, almendra, also, known, almendra. Almendra pronounced alˈmendɾa Spanish for almond is the self titled debut studio album by Argentine rock band Almendra which was released in 1969 on Vik a subsidiary of RCA Victor To distinguish it from the band s next release Almendra II it is also known as Almendra I The album represented the first full length musical endeavour of nineteen year old Luis Alberto Spinetta having formed the band in the mid 1960s along with Emilio del Guercio Edelmiro Molinari and Rodolfo Garcia The famous artwork showing a crying man with a toy arrow stuck on his head was designed by Spinetta to embody the different lyrical themes of the album AlmendraStudio album by AlmendraReleasedNovember 29 1969RecordedApril September 1969StudioTNT Studios Buenos AiresGenreRockLength37 35LanguageSpanishLabelVik RCA Victor ProducerAlmendraAlmendra chronologyAlmendra 1969 Almendra II 1970 Singles from Almendra Muchacha ojos de papel Ana No Duerme Released January 20 1970 By the late 1960s the nueva ola phenomenon was losing popularity and Los Gatos debut single La balsa had catapulted the emergence of Argentine rock The success of Los Gatos paved the way for Manal and Almendra the three groups are considered the foundational trilogy of Argentine rock singing serious and artistic songs in Spanish at a time when this was discouraged Spinetta s lyricism has been celebrated for its poetry surrealism and idiosyncratic use of grammar and accent Almendra incorporated musical influences from the Beatles jazz and Argentine music such as tango and folk music Upon release the album achieved critical and commercial success aided by the popularity of the single Muchacha ojos de papel which remains one of Spinetta s most celebrated compositions Almendra is often listed as one of the greatest and most influential albums in the history of Argentine rock music serving as a foundation of what is locally known as rock nacional and by extension rock en espanol in general The album remains a paradigm of Argentine 1960s youth culture signaling the growing influence of the counterculture of that decade in the country Contents 1 Background and development 2 Composition 3 Release and commercial reception 4 Cover art 5 Critical reception 6 Legacy 7 Track listing 8 Personnel 9 See also 10 Notes 11 References 12 Bibliography 13 External linksBackground and development edit nbsp Spinetta with his parents Julia and Luis Santiago graduating from high school in 1968 Almendra was formed in the barrio of Nunez in Buenos Aires 1 Luis Alberto Spinetta and Emilio del Guercio became friends while attending the San Roman high school in Belgrano 1 2 3 They published a magazine La costra degenerada with their own articles and drawings and shared common interests and points of view about music sex power and religion 4 Spinetta was a fan of the Beatles but del Guercio was more interested in folk music 5 They were inspired by surrealism and the psychedelic experience although they had not used drugs at that point 1 5 Edelmiro Molinari and del Guercio were in a band called Los Sbirros making cover versions of the Beatles the Rolling Stones the Shadows and Los Teen Tops along with Angel del Guercio Ricardo Miro Santiago Chago Novoa and Eduardo Miro later replaced by del Guercio 3 Spinetta had joined Los Larkins where Rodolfo Garcia was the drummer 6 Spinetta and Garcia then joined Los Masters a band led by Guido Meda the group had a succession of names including Los Beadniks Los Beatniks and Los Mods 7 The groups merged although Meda disliked the idea and stepped aside 7 Almendra was ready to start playing but Garcia had to serve in the military and they waited a year until he returned 7 At this embryonic stage Spinetta had composed Plegaria para un nino dormido and Zamba a song he would record in 1982 as Barro tal vez 3 6 8 During the second half of the 1960s Argentina and the world were experiencing political social and cultural changes The Argentine Revolution overthrew the government of Arturo Umberto Illia in June 1966 establishing Juan Carlos Ongania as a military dictator Leonid Brezhnev was appointed General Secretary of the USSR LSD advocate Timothy Leary was sentenced to 30 years in prison and the Vietnam War escalated 8 The Beatles released Revolver and Sgt Pepper s Lonely Hearts Club Band influential examples of the emerging countercultural genre of psychedelic music Tango opera Maria de Buenos Aires by Astor Piazzolla and Horacio Ferrer premiered the literary Latin American Boom including Pablo Neruda and Julio Cortazar flourished Mercedes Sosa made bold political statements as a preeminent exponent of nueva cancion and the French New Wave was rewriting the language of cinema 8 The group absorbed these local and international cultural influences Spinetta became interested in Friedrich Nietzsche particularly Thus Spoke Zarathustra which inspired the Almendra song Hermano perro 8 9 Lalo Schifrin Thelonious Monk Tom Jobim the Rolling Stones and Les Double Six were also cited as influences 8 nbsp A nineteen year old Spinetta performing with Almendra at the Festival Pinap 1969 In 1967 Los Gatos released their first single La balsa backed with Ayer nomas The song catapulted the burgeoning rock nacional scene in Buenos Aires establishing the commercial viability of rock music sung in Spanish and turning what originally was an underground scene into a widespread youth culture phenomenon 10 11 12 La balsa sold over 250 000 copies an impressive number for that time especially for a song with Spanish lyrics that differed from the cheerful and shallow efforts of the contemporary nueva ola movement 13 Spinetta told Juan Carlos Diez in 2006 It was a very good thing because it was the example that rock in Spanish could be done I believe that La balsa was a great inspiration for everyone And also other tracks of Los Gatos Each track contained a mystery that at the same time was a poetic motivation a great incentive for us 14 After a Los Gatos concert Spinetta met producer Ricardo Kleiman and invited him to the band s rehearsals 15 When Kleiman heard the band play he signed them to RCA Victor and in November 1968 Almendra released their first single Tema de Pototo backed with El mundo entre las manos 16 Almendra began playing live with performances during the summer of 1969 in Mar del Plata and an appearance at the Ancon Festival in Peru 16 Their Buenos Aires debut was at the Di Tella Institute as part of Three Beat Shows where they introduced Fermin Ana no duerme and Que el viento borro tus manos songs which would appear on their first studio album 16 Almendra released a second single Hoy todo el hielo en la ciudad backed with Campos verdes it was also released in Peru where it was more successful than it was in Argentina 17 Between April and September 1969 the band recorded their first LP at TNT Studios Buenos Aires 18 while a third single Tema de Pototo backed with Final was released 17 At the time of Almendra s release the influence of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones had overshadowed the success of the nueva ola exemplified by the popular teen pop music TV show El Club del Clan 18 Composition edit nbsp One of Almendra s chief influences was the Beatles so much so that they were called the Argentine Beatles also due to their influence on the country s popular music 19 20 21 Almendra considered one of Argentina s first rock albums 22 is characterized by stylistic diversity 4 it fuses elements of contemporary pop music jazz tango and Argentine folk music 23 A major influence was the Beatles particularly their 1967 album Sgt Pepper s Lonely Hearts Club Band 24 25 For instance in Muchacha ojos de papel lyrics such as ojos de papel paper eyes and pechos de miel honey breasts are reminiscent of those in Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds newspaper taxis and marmalade skies 24 and Laura va was inspired by She s Leaving Home 24 Tango influences may be heard in Plegaria para un nino dormido and A estos hombres tristes 24 Andres Torron of Uruguayan newspaper El Observador noted a similarity between Almendra and Pink Floyd s 1967 album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn feeling that although reminiscences of Syd Barret can be found in the melodies and prose of the Spinetta of those years there were already a number of personal traits that would make him one of the most influential rock musicians on this side of the world 26 Music journalist Diego Fischerman described the album as a heterogeneous world where like the Beatles each song was a surprise and where the best traditions of rock pursuit nonconformity curiosity eagerness to conquer new musical territories came together with a Buenos Aires of conflicting cosmopolitanism 27 According to Carlos Polimeni of newspaper Pagina 12 In Almendra s first record are the Beatles Cortazar the French May free jazz the experimentation of the Di Tella the avant garde tango the folklore of projection the French Nouvelle Vague Borges and the new trends in national plastic arts among other influences but none markedly mentioned or honored axiomatically 19 Spinetta s lyrics have been widely studied for their lyricism poetic quality precise use of language and rich visual imagery as well as the innovation of singing them in Spanish 9 They are characterized by an abundance of metaphors and a surrealism deeply influenced by songs such as Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and Strawberry Fields Forever 28 29 Writing for Noisey in 2016 Eduardo Santos argued that although it does not have any song with protest lyrics or hymns against the establishment Almendra is an album very influenced by the hippie culture with its ideals of peace coexistence and love 30 He also felt that the lyrics frolic between poetry and the experiences of the group members 30 nbsp Muchacha ojos de papel source source track track One of Spinetta s most enduringly popular compositions 31 the album opener characterizes a girl using ambiguous adjectives and metaphors 32 According to German Arrascaeta of La Voz del Interior it recycled the surrealism of Andre Breton in an effort to give the ruling beat music a twist 33 Problems playing this file See media help The album opens with Muchacha ojos de papel one of the most celebrated songs in Argentine rock history Spinetta dedicated the song to Cristina Bustamante his girlfriend at the time 34 and has compared the romantic ballad to songs like Tu nombre me sabe a hierba by Joan Manuel Serrat and Julia by the Beatles 9 Musician Alejandro del Prado described its lyrics as almost pornographic at the time citing phrases such as pechos de miel and quedate hasta el alba stay until dawn 9 The length of the nine plus minute Color humano written by Edelmiro Molinari concerned the record label since it precluded radio play The jazz inspired jam session 9 is composed of two relatively short vocal segments surrounding a five minute guitar solo by Molinari 9 The ballad Figuracion is characterized by its use of the recorder played by Del Guercio 35 Rolling Stone Argentina considered that the track anticipates certain ways of Sui Generis although in the final chorus the deep voice of Pappo and other boys of the environment known as Circus are noticed 35 The lyrics of Figuracion have been described as metaphysical with Spinetta urging the listener to disfigure themselves 9 In Ana no duerme a sleepless girl is restlessly waiting its lyrics refer to the need of many teenage girls to repress their sexuality 36 Spinetta described the title character as that being that is always waiting That girl who hopes to be loved who expects a little bit of friendship of understanding who wants to leave her vulgar world of womanhood who wants to occupy another place At that time a girl of 16 or 17 was not the woman she can be today 6 The strongly paced track with a rhythmic shift representing the interrupted dreams of the title character 9 has been compared to Pink Floyd s See Emily Play 26 and is considered the most rocker moment of the album 35 Although the Ana in the song was long thought to be Ana Maria Spinetta Luis Alberto s sister he denied it on more than one occasion 36 Film producer Ana Aizenberg claims to be the inspiration after an affair she had with Spinetta 36 nbsp A estos hombres tristes source source track track In that Buenos Aires of conflicting cosmopolitanism in which the police were engaged in cutting the hair of hippies and miniskirts were considered immoral and where Piazzolla became massive could appear a song like A estos hombres tristes with its resonances of the Swingle Singers and the Burt Bacharach of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid jazz readings a la Brubeck and a deep melancholy Diego Fischerman Pagina 12 2009 27 Problems playing this file See media help Fermin describes a mentally ill character in an institution The song changes a line from the French folk song Marlbrough s en va t en guerre from Mambru se fue a la guerra no se cuando vendra Mambru left for the war I do not know when he will return to Fermin se fue a la vida no se cuando vendra Fermin left for life I do not know when he will return According to Spinetta life for the insane is like war for the sane 24 Reflecting on the track Spinetta said In front of my house lived an incredible character called Carlitos a retarded boy who is in part the personification of Fermin for me With Carlitos we shared moments of joy when we were kids Although he could not play ball with everyone he felt accompanied in his tremendous problem when we were with him It is also an apology because I remember that his mother punished him a lot even in front of the other boys I do not know if the degree of illness of the song s Fermin is as actue as that of Carlitos but serves to define the situation of the alienated as a propitious cell to receive the most aberrant injustices 6 Plegaria para un nino dormido urges not to wake a poor child up letting him be happy in his dreams The criticism of society s injustice is in Spinetta s words a complaint made with tenderness 24 He called it the symbol of a Christian ideology neighborliness solidarity 24 A estos hombres tristes has been described as outlining a kind of compressed suite with airs of jam session and urban song 35 It was inspired by the melancholy of Sundays in Argentina with Spinetta saying Sunday was always a sad day I do not know why At the same time it was happy because there was football the family gathered there was good food The importance that was given to the weekend in our country in those years was tremendous But the personal solitude at that time was very clear 6 The album ends with Laura va a baroque pop song which took Spinetta a year and a half to write 6 An attempt to emulate the Beatles She s Leaving Home 6 it features an evocative counterpoint played with the bandoneon 35 Rolling Stone Argentina considered that Spinetta s vocals in the track timidly insinuate a crooner facet that he would further explore later in his career 35 Release and commercial reception edit nbsp Almendra in a 1970 photo shoot Almendra was released on November 29 1969 on Vik a subsidiary of RCA Victor 18 37 Some sources however place the release of the album in early 1970 9 38 time in which the band released a typewritten photocopied flyer that said Over the course of six months of intense work we have learned that what is transcendent is no longer owned by the author and belongs to everyone That is why January 15 is an important date for us and for you it is the release of our first long play to you 39 The band produced a 35mm black and white promotional short film featuring Campos verdes and El mundo entre las manos which was shown in cinemas as part of the newsreel Sucesos Argentinos 40 On June 6 1969 Almendra presented the album in Teatro Coliseo with Vox Dei Leonardo Favio and Los Abuelos de la Nada 40 41 They made television appearances on Tropicana Sabados circulares Sotano beat and an unhappy appearance on Bernardo Neustadt s show 40 Regarding the songs concert presentation particularly of Muchacha ojos de papel Spinetta stated in 1984 when we premiered Muchacha in Coliseo the success of the song was so resounding that I cried myself I could not believe it The emotion that I felt was tremendous Indelible I cried on stage because I felt that all the people were shocked with that Instantly Success came later I felt that the song pierced through the people just as when I premiered Plegaria or Figuracion Muchacha pierced through the people With Almendra I repeatedly saw boys and girls crying of emotion or of happiness 42 In early 1970 Spinetta published a series of drawings in the second number of the short lived magazine Alquitran in which he illustrated each of the songs of Almendra 30 Ricardo Alejandro Kleinman had signed Almendra with RCA Victor as part of his project of promoting new and distinguished music such as Led Zeppelin Cream The Who and Traffic which he featured in his radio show Modart en la noche alternating with more commercial acts Part of this project was the inclusion of Spanish language music that acted as an Argentine equivalent of the aesthetic searches of post Revolver rock which is what was consumed by young people with purchasing power mostly university students in Europe and the United States However Almendra found its audience outside of the demographic target that had been expected becoming popular among the common porteno youth 27 Wide commercial success arrived when Muchacha ojos de papel was used in a television commercial for fabrics aimed at the youth 18 43 The song with Ana no duerme as its B side was released as the album s only single on January 20 1970 18 In 1996 Spinetta stated that he was unhappy with that advertisement but did not have enough money to hire a lawyer at that time 43 On March 5 1970 Gente stated that 20 days since its release the album had sold 10 000 copies 44 Cristina de Irala of the magazine reported on their successful presentation in the touristic city of Mar del Plata writing At that hour of the early morning in a city in full summer season one became aware that the beat music movement really is a phenomenon Which one of our musical monsters could go on a stage and fill a room in those conditions 44 The same year journalist Margot de Kumec noted the religious attention and identification that the band generated among its young audience 45 nbsp Almendra performing in 1970 Tracks off Almendra appear in various compilation albums of the band released by RCA Records including a self titled one of 1972 46 Muchacha ojos de papel of 1980 47 Serie 20 exitos of 1995 48 and Inolvidables 20 grandes exitos of 2003 49 In 1979 Almendra reunited and performed a series of concerts that attracted massive audiences something that had been rarely seen in the country because of the so called National Reorganization Process 50 51 A double live album recorded at Estadio Obras Sanitarias in December 1979 was self released on May 3 1980 featuring several renditions of songs from the band s 1969 studio debut 52 53 In 1992 BMG Argentina released the first CD reissue of the album Titled Almendra Cronologia its tracklist is organized in chronological order and subdivided into three sections The first one titled The first singles contains songs released before the album which are Tema de Pototo El mundo entre las manos Hoy todo el hielo en la ciudad Campos verdes Gabinetes espaciales and Final The CD s middle section consists of the Almendra album followed by some of the band s subsequent songs under the title The singles that were and were not It includes Hermano perro Mestizo Toma el tren hacia el sur Jingle and Rutas argentinas 18 The album was included in the 1999 box set Almendra 68 70 released by BMG Argentina for subscribers of the Argentine edition of Rolling Stone 54 Sony BMG released the first European edition of the album in 2005 as a digipak CD 55 In 2015 Sony Music reissued fifteen classic albums of Argentine rock including Almendra in vinyl respecting every detail of their original editions packaging 56 Cover art editHe was the character of the retarded Argentine Playing the role of an idiot It s kind of pathetic Of course with the little plunger he has not even been injured a mediocrity Almendra attacks Spinetta on the album cover 2008 9 The album cover designed by Spinetta shows a distressed man with his hair covered by a scarf and a tear running down his cheek a toy arrow is stuck on his head and he is wearing a pink shirt with the name of the band 39 Spinetta used tempera and pencils on mat paper 9 RCA considered the artwork incomprehensible and noncommercial and shelved its first version 57 Spinetta said We were not going to allow the record to be released without it I had the picture in my head very clearly and I went home and did it again We did not want to leave things in the hands of mediocre company dudes that make album covers like sausages 4 Emilio Garcia said in 2008 that the label thought most record buyers were women and artwork should depict men as handsomely as possible 39 They could not believe it because the cover of an LP at the time featured artists faces or holding electric guitars we came out with a cover like that which I still consider absolutely great 57 On the album s track listing each song is identified with a symbol from the cover a teardrop an eye or a toy arrow The teardrop identifies Muchacha ojos de papel Figuracion Plegaria para un nino dormido and Que el viento borro tus manos the most rock oriented songs the eye Color humano and A estos hombres tristes the most melancholic songs and the toy arrow Ana no duerme Fermin and Laura va songs with proper names 58 The inner sleeve describes each icon 59 Eye Songs sung by the Man of the Cover while he is unconscious in the void Teardrop Songs as bright as the thousand year old teardrop shed by the Man of the Cover Toy arrow Songs sung to the tear shed by the Man of the Cover by men tied to their destinies Emilio del Guercio said that the toy arrow represents absurdity and the teardrop sentimentality and melancholy 9 According to Argentine graphic artist Rep the artwork conveys a grotesque dramatic flavor and the feeling that the album should be taken seriously but not too seriously 9 Critical reception editProfessional ratingsReview scoresSourceRatingAllMusic nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 22 According to Eduardo Berti the album received generally positive reviews with Rodolfo Alchourron s orchestral arrangement of Laura va universally acclaimed 4 However journalist Diego Fischerman of Pagina 12 disagreed writing in 2009 In 1968 what was later called rock was not in the newspapers What s more there was no criticism of popular music there The pioneer in that matter was Jorge Andres in his articles for the magazine Analisis and a little later in the newspaper La Opinion That is why when it is said as in the brochure of the box that gathers all the production of Almendra that the critics approved them and the public adored them it is a lie The public was scarce and there was no criticism if you discard what was published in Pinap which rather responded to modest press operations of the recording labels to impose that new product the beat music which between 1968 and 1970 flooded the market 27 The rock magazine Pelo stated that this album may be the synthesis of a new music emerging 4 A La Prensa review described it as a thin melancholy and it faces its manifestation with the seriousness and depth of who wants to give a testimony of their world a concern usually oblivious to young authors and performers 4 The magazine Gente was enthusiastic Did you already listen to the first LP by the group Almendra Do not waste time fool because I assure you it is the best album of the beat genre produced in our country 4 Also from Gente Cristina de Irala wrote in early 1970 that Almendra was an authentic demonstration of talent music and beauty 44 Journalist Margot de Kumec wrote in 1970 that they proclaim in their creations a deepening in the essence of men and praised their poetry melody and rhythm 45 A Clarin review of the album was harsh The lyrics of each track do not have an equal level with the aggravation of being poorly fused with musical metrics 4 Spinetta said that much of his resentment of the press was born at that time when he realized that large magazines like Gente or Siete Dias fabricated articles They put what they wanted 4 In a retrospective review for AllMusic Ivan Adaime gave the album a five star rating calling it a masterpiece and writing that it is great from the beginning till the end and not only one of the first Argentinean rock albums but one of its best 22 Legacy editWe must remember in just two years 1968 1970 and two very different albums an LP and a double album Almendra radically changed Argentine popular music It was a mysterious ray that was integrated from the area of Bajo Belgrano to the bohemian gestures of the countercultural longhairs of the Plaza Francia La Cueva La Perla triangle nb 1 Almendra expressed through a musical project the potencies and tensions of their own time Mariano Del Mazo Pagina 12 2017 62 Almendra is considered one of the most important records in the history of Latin American rock 30 It has been voted the most important record in Argentine rock history on various occasions 9 A July 1985 survey by journalist Carlos Polimeni for Clarin ranked Almendra as by far the greatest album in the history of Argentine rock music respondents included local musicians Charly Garcia Gustavo Cerati of Soda Stereo Celeste Carballo Miguel Mateos Alejandro Lerner and Raul Porchetto among others 4 In 2007 the Argentine edition of Rolling Stone ranked it sixth on its list of The 100 Greatest Albums of National Rock 63 In 2006 the Latin alternative music magazine Al Borde ranked Almendra 10th on its list of the 250 Best Albums of Ibero American rock Spanish online newspaper Diariocritico com included the album in its 2016 feature of The 20 Best Records of Argentina with journalist Sergio Ariza Lazaro describing it as a masterpiece 64 Chilean newspaper La Tercera ranked Almendra thirteenth in its 2017 list of The 20 Best Albums of Argentine Rock 65 Muchacha ojos de papel remains a symbol of the band and an emblem of the social and individual conquests of the 1960s 35 It is now considered the quintessential love song of rock nacional 66 The track was second on MTV and Rolling Stone Argentina s Top 100 Songs of Argentine Rock citation needed and Rock com ar s Top 100 Argentinean Songs of the Last 40 Years 67 Al Borde ranked the song 45th on its list of 500 Most Important Songs of Ibero American Rock 68 The album had a seminal influence on Argentine rock During the 1960s a generation of musicians from the La Cueva bar on Avenida Pueyrredon was trying to reflect an everyday reality absent from popular music since the tango era Called progressive music by journalists the movement was catapulted by the commercial success of Los Gatos the house band of La Cueva 18 69 The recognition of Los Gatos in 1967 paved the way for Almendra and Manal progressive music bands that divided the musical panorama by synthesizing two sides of Buenos Aires one sophisticated and one more linked to the tango Audiences created a rivalry around the two inspired by the Beatles and Rolling Stones rivalry identifying Almendra as the former and Manal as the latter 38 43 These three bands are considered the pillars of what is known in Argentina as rock nacional national rock 18 and rock en espanol in general 70 Serious artistic Spanish language songs were unprecedented in the country 70 According to Rolling Stone Almendra reached one of the highest levels of quality innovation and precocity in Argentine music if not pioneers because there is no Almendra without Los Gatos they put into 3D a variety of sounds accents and adjectives which are still the textbook of the new generation 71 nbsp The members of Almendra and Manal in a 1970 poster for Pelo magazine While Los Gatos were mainly influenced by beat music and Manal by the blues Almendra made an impact with a uniqueness reflected in surreal lyrics and album art as well as the lack of an article preceding their name as did Manal 18 On this matter Mariano Del Pozo of Pagina 12 wrote It is remarkable a third position that seems inherent in the essence of Almendra Whether aesthetically listening to their two albums it is not wrong to locate the band between the beat of Los Gatos and the blues of Manal as well as Del Guercio s sympathy for Peronism or for Spinetta s always singular poetic and spiritual pursuits Almendra stood out in a peculiar originality 62 In 1996 Spinetta reflected If I had to rescue something from that period it would precisely be an outpouring of lyricism something Almendra kind of is 43 He used Spanish idiosyncratically writing y el ave aquel instead of the correct y el ave aquella in Fermin 18 and changing the accent of some words a poetic device criticized by some members of the press 4 evident in the pronunciation of figurate in Figuracion and plegaria in Plegaria para un nino dormido 18 This use of the accent characterized Argentine rock s second generation whose most notable representative was Sui Generis until bands like Virus continued to use the language ingeniously in the 1980s 18 Writer Eduardo Berti felt in 2012 that the album endures as an effective testimony of the first steps of an exceptional composer 38 According to Emilio del Guercio Today those songs are classics but at that time they were considered cutting edge Eventually I realized that most of them are threaded by the songwriting tradition of our country They are Argentine songs The real avant garde revolutionizes what it inherits Almendra was heir to the best Argentine music and combined its elements without prejudice 39 Almendra is considered a paradigm of the growing influence of the youth led counterculture of the 1960s on Argentina at that time as well as a representative of that generation 62 71 After Spinetta s death President of Argentina Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner said That record of the teardrop when we would call albums long plays and Muchacha ojos de papel I will never forget them 72 Charly Garcia also on the occasion of Spinetta s death stated I can not describe the shock that Almendra s first album caused me For me La balsa was the originator of Argentine rock but without a doubt Luis Alberto and company were its architects 73 Track listing editAll tracks are written by Luis Alberto Spinetta except where notedSide oneNo TitleLength1 Muchacha ojos de papel 3 042 Color humano Edelmiro Molinari 9 093 Figuracion 3 324 Ana no duerme 2 42 Side twoNo TitleLength5 Fermin 3 166 Plegaria para un nino dormido 4 017 A estos hombres tristes 5 568 Que el viento borro tus manos Emilio del Guercio 2 369 Laura va 2 48Total length 37 35Personnel editCredits adapted from the liner notes of Almendra 18 Almendra Luis Alberto Spinetta vocals electric and acoustic guitars rhythm guitar harmonica Emilio del Guercio bass guitar flute vocals backing vocals Edelmiro Molinari electric and acoustic guitars lead guitar bass guitar organ piano backing vocals Rodolfo Garcia drums tambourine jingle bell whistling backing vocals percussive addition Guests Pappo sic Sam and other Circus people backing vocals in Figuracion Santiago Giacobbe organ in Ana no duerme Rodolfo Alchourron guitar arrangements and conducting in Laura va Acknowledgements Alicia Varadi harp Simon Zlotnik viola Bernardo Stalman violin Tito Mariano glockenspiel Walter Cironi bassoon Gustavo Bergalli flugelhorn Mario Tenreyro French horn Carlos Pompeyo flute Alberto Misrahi bass clarinet Jose Bragato cello Rodolfo Mederos bandoneon oscar Figueroa coordinationSee also edit nbsp Rock music portal nbsp Latin music portal nbsp 1960s portal nbsp Argentina portal Origins of Argentine rock Cultural impact of the Beatles Garage rock Uruguayan Invasion Pescado Rabioso Aquelarre Color HumanoNotes edit The porteno underground of the 1960s had its epicenter in the triangle formed by a precarious musical bar called La Cueva in Avenida Pueyrredon the Torcuato di Tella Institute in Florida Street and Plaza Francia Besides originating rock nacional this countercultural youth subculture made important advances in Modern art and are today considered the first hippies of the country despite not using that name themselves 60 61 References edit a b c Luis Alberto Spinetta Almendra Video in Spanish Buenos Aires Argentina Quizas porque Encuentro Retrieved January 31 2016 Spinetta amp Berti 2014 p 10 a b c Fernandez Bitar Marcelo November 9 2015 Partiendo hacia la locura La Agenda in Spanish Government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires Retrieved April 29 2016 a b c d e f g h i j k Spinetta amp Berti 2014 p 20 a b Spinetta amp Berti 2014 p 12 a b c d e f g El mundo entre las manos Pagina 12 in Spanish November 21 1999 Retrieved January 31 2016 a b c Spinetta amp Berti 2014 p 14 a b c d e Spinetta amp Berti 2014 p 13 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Elepe el origen del primer disco de Almendra in Spanish Buenos Aires Argentina Elepe TV Publica June 25 2008 Archived from the original on January 28 2017 Retrieved January 31 2016 Puchades Juan June 19 2007 40 anos de La Balsa El primer himno del rock argentino in Spanish Efe Eme Retrieved December 14 2016 A 45 anos La balsa el tema proa del rock nacional Los Andes in Spanish Clarin Group July 2 2012 Archived from the original on January 31 2017 Retrieved December 14 2016 Alabarces 1993 pp 43 45 Del Guercio Emilio 2009 La balsa Como hice Season 1 Episode 5 in Spanish Encuentro Retrieved December 15 2016 Diez 2012 p 467 Spinetta amp Berti 2014 p 15 a b c Spinetta amp Berti 2014 p 16 a b Spinetta amp Berti 2014 p 18 a b c d e f g h i j k l m Almendra 1992 Almendra Cronologia Media notes CD Liner notes by Rafael Abud BMG Argentina ECD 1036 a b Polimeni Carlos November 24 1999 El pasado casi siempre retorna Pagina 12 in Spanish Retrieved January 31 2016 Enriquez Mariana March 26 1998 Suplemento NO Pagina 12 in Spanish Retrieved January 31 2016 Lingenti Alejandro February 11 2012 La tristeza de seguir viviendo sin su amor Perfil in Spanish Editorial Perfil Archived from the original on April 22 2016 Retrieved February 2 2016 a b c Adaime Ivan Almendra Almendra AllMusic All Media Network Retrieved January 30 2016 Gentile Juan Francisco August 6 2012 Los elefantes saben descansar van a morir de paz in Spanish Marcha Noticias Archived from the original on September 28 2013 Retrieved January 30 2016 a b c d e f g Spinetta amp Berti 2014 p 21 Diez grandes discos que existen gracias a Sgt Pepper s Lonely Hearts Club Band Los Inrockuptibles in Spanish Argentina June 7 2017 Retrieved April 14 2018 permanent dead link a b Torron Andres February 7 2016 Todo sigue teniendo musica El Observador in Spanish El Observador Retrieved February 6 2016 a b c d Fischerman Diego November 29 2009 El mundo entre las manos Pagina 12 in Spanish Retrieved April 8 2018 Diez 2012 p 472 Diez 2012 p 474 a b c d Santos Eduardo April 28 2016 Mira las ilustraciones que Spinetta hizo para el primer disco de Almendra in Spanish Noisey Retrieved April 8 2018 Polimeni 2002 p 101 Maritano amp Petruzzi 2009 p 188 Arrascaeta German February 9 2012 Luis Alberto Spinetta A medida de la eternidad La Voz del Interior in Spanish Clarin Group Retrieved February 2 2016 Querol Matias Luis Alberto Spinetta y los dias de la vida I in Spanish About com Archived from the original on April 16 2013 Retrieved January 31 2016 a b c d e f g Luis Alberto Spinetta 100 grandes canciones Rolling Stone Argentina in Spanish Publirevistas S A February 8 2017 Archived from the original on April 11 2018 Retrieved April 14 2018 a b c Larrea 2014 p 13 Allen Ariel November 29 2014 A 45 anos del lanzamiento del primer disco de Almendra su actualidad in Spanish La Izquierda Diario Retrieved January 31 2016 a b c Spinetta los libros de la buena memoria in Spanish National Library of the Argentine Republic October 2012 Archived from the original on May 6 2017 Retrieved May 6 2017 a b c d Cocaro Gabriel Martin December 14 2009 El origen de la nueva cancion urbana N in Spanish Clarin Clarin Group Archived from the original on March 3 2016 Retrieved January 31 2016 a b c Spinetta amp Berti 2014 p 19 Muchacha ojos de papel Video in Spanish Buenos Aires Argentina Como hice Encuentro Retrieved March 21 2016 permanent dead link Pintos Victor November 4 1999 La verdadera historia de Muchacha ojos de papel in Spanish Rock com ar Archived from the original on September 4 2009 Retrieved April 7 2018 a b c d Neumeyer Lily Producer December 12 1996 Mejor hablar de ciertas cosas Pequenas historias del rock argentino Television documentary in Spanish MTV Latin America LSPE008 a b c de Irala Cristina March 5 1970 Cuatro jovenes con poesia Gente y la actualidad in Spanish Magicas Ruinas Retrieved April 8 2018 a b de Kumec Margot 1970 Almendra el hombre dibujado en un pentagrama Musica joven in Spanish Magicas Ruinas Retrieved April 8 2018 Almendra 1972 Almendra LP record Argentina Vik RCA Victor APG 1519 Almendra 1980 Muchacha ojos de papel LP record Argentina RCA Victor AVS 4765 Almendra 1995 Serie 20 Exitos CD Argentina RCA Victor BMG Argentina 74321 27558 2 Almendra 2003 Inolvidables 20 grandes exitos CD Argentina RCA 8287 655447 2 Pintos 1993 p 64 Pintos 1993 p 65 Pintos 1993 p 66 Almendra 1980 Almendra en Obras Double LP record Argentina Almendra Editora ML 712 Almendra 1999 Almendra 68 70 box set Argentina Rolling Stone Argentina BMG Argentina 74321 72036 2 Almendra 2005 Almendra CD album digipak Europe Sony BMG 8869 738668 2 Se agotaron en pocos dias los vinilos de rock nacional reeditados Clarin in Spanish Clarin Group June 5 2015 Retrieved April 30 2017 a b Vitale Cristian June 25 2008 Almendra explica Almendra Pagina 12 in Spanish Retrieved January 30 2016 Marchi 2019 p 139 Fabregat Eduardo July 18 2009 Diez historias y un cacho de plastico Pagina 12 in Spanish Retrieved January 30 2016 Gaffet Hernan Director 2006 Argentina Beat Documentary film in Spanish Buenos Aires Argentina Poleri Foligna Gaffet Sobre hippies y otras yerbas in Spanish Magicas Ruinas Retrieved March 27 2017 a b c Del Mazo Mariano May 28 2017 Todos estos anos de Almendra Pagina 12 in Spanish Retrieved November 28 2017 Los 100 mejores discos del rock nacional Rolling Stone Argentina in Spanish Publirevistas S A April 2007 Ariza Lazaro Sergio March 15 2016 Los 20 mejores discos de Argentina I in Spanish Diariocritico com Retrieved February 8 2018 Los 20 mejores discos de rock argentino segun Culto Culto La Tercera in Spanish Santiago Chile Copesa May 25 2017 Retrieved February 8 2018 Jatib Gustavo August 23 2017 Esenciales Muchacha ojos de papel in Spanish Rock com ar Retrieved November 28 2017 Las 100 de los 40 Rock com ar in Spanish Archived from the original on March 8 2016 Retrieved February 13 2024 Mercado Jose Luis November 14 2007 Las 500 del Rock Iberoamericano 50 Anos Para No Olvidar Las Primeras 100 Al Borde in Spanish Retrieved February 13 2024 Kleiman Claudio August 10 2002 El grupo que en los 60 invento el rock en castellano Pagina 12 in Spanish Retrieved January 30 2016 a b Velazquez Delgado Jorge July 15 2011 Imaginarios utopicos en la cultura De las utopias renacentistas a las posindustriales in Spanish Kazak Ediciones p 31 ISBN 9789872657314 a b Bellas Jose November 20 2013 Spinetta de Coleccion los anos de Almendra Rolling Stone Argentina in Spanish Publirevistas S A Archived from the original on May 6 2016 Retrieved January 30 2016 La Presidenta recordo con emocion a Luis Alberto Spinetta Radio Continental Grupo Latino de Radio February 9 2012 Retrieved January 30 2016 Charly Garcia recuerda a Luis Alberto Spinetta Rolling Stone Argentina in Spanish La Nacion SA February 23 2012 Archived from the original on July 10 2015 Retrieved December 15 2016 Bibliography editAlabarces Pablo November 1 1993 Entre gatos y violadores el rock nacional en la cultura argentina in Spanish Buenos Aires Argentina Colihue ISBN 950 581 243 4 Diez Juan Carlos 2012 2006 Martropia Conversaciones con Spinetta in Spanish Buenos Aires Aguilar ISBN 978 987 04 2677 6 Larrea Agustina May 1 2014 Quien es la chica Las musas que inspiraron las grandes canciones del rock argentino in Spanish Random House p 13 ISBN 9789873650307 Marchi Sergio 2019 Spinetta Ruido de magia in Spanish Buenos Aires Argentina Planeta ISBN 978 950 49 6461 2 Maritano Alma Petruzzi Herminia L 2009 Teatro por la identidad antologia in Spanish Buenos Aires Argentina Ediciones Colihue p 188 ISBN 978 950 581 159 5 Pintos Victor 1993 Tanguito La verdadera historia in Spanish Buenos Aires Argentina Planeta ISBN 950 742 375 3 Polimeni Carlos 2002 Bailando sobre los escombros historia critica del rock latinoamericano in Spanish Buenos Aires Argentina Editorial Biblos p 101 ISBN 978 950 786 298 4 Spinetta Luis A Berti Eduardo 2014 1988 Cronica e iluminaciones in Spanish Buenos Aires Argentina Editora AC Planeta ISBN 978 950 49 4055 5 External links editAlmendra at Discogs list of releases Almendra statistics tagging and previews at Last fm Almendra at Rate Your Music Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Almendra Almendra album amp oldid 1206961612, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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