History

Surf Rock is Arabic

Latin Arabia History, Music 0 Comment
Surf Rock is Arabic

We tend to think of surf rock as an all-American musical style. However, it has some amazing roots.


Misirlou – an early example of Surf Rock

Source: Surf music – Wikipedia

Dick Dale developed the surf sound from instrumental rock, where he added Middle Eastern and Mexican influences, a spring reverb, and rapid alternate picking characteristics.

Take for instance, the famous tune, Misirlou, which goes back to a Mediterranean folk song of unclear origins. Misirlou (1963), by Dick Dale and the Del-Tones, was an early example of American surf rock.

So where did MISIRLOU come from?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misirlou

The earliest known recording of the song was by a rebetiko musician, Tetos Demetriades, in 1927. In 1930, Michalis Patrinos and his rebetiko band recorded a cover version in Athens, Greece. As with almost all early rebetika songs (a style that originated with the Greek refugees from Asia Minor in Turkey), the song’s actual composer has never been identified, … Patrinos, who originally lived in Smyrni, named the song “Mısırlı” or “Misirlou” which means an Egyptian Muslim girl, as opposed to Egyptian Christians who were referred to as Αιγυπτιοι (Aigyptioi) in Greek.

There is a debate over who composed the melody. Did the Greek band really compose it? Was the composition a modification of an earlier tune? There are claims that “Misirlou” was Arabic in origin, and actually comes from an Egyptian singer/composer Sayyid Darwish.

Nevertheless, Dick Dale was half-Lebanese, and an Oud player before he picked up guitar. He grew up playing these melodies, and would have been familiar with the tune. Dick brought all of that experience with him when he created surf music.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misirlou

The song was rearranged as a solo instrumental rock guitar piece by Dick Dale in 1962. During a performance, Dale was bet by a young fan that he could not play a song on only one string of his guitar. Dale’s father and uncles were Lebanese-American musicians, and Dale remembered seeing his uncle play “Misirlou” on one string of the oud. He vastly increased the song’s tempo to make it into rock and roll. It was Dale’s surf rock version that introduced “Misirlou” to a wider audience in the United States

Let’s go back to an earlier Greek recording of the tune.


The Greek recording

One of the comments on the video says:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPSDH4hdS3Y

There are claims “Misirlou” is Arabic in origin, specifically coming from Alexandrian singer/composer Sayyid Darwish and his song “Bint Misr.” He supposedly recorded it around 1919 but until a copy surfaces, we’ll just have to wonder! DICK ROSEMONT

Indeed, many Arabs claim the tune as their own Arab original.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misirlou

The song’s oriental melody has been so popular for so long that many people, from Morocco to Iraq, claim it to be a folk song from their own country. In fact, in the realm of Middle Eastern music, the song is a very simplistic one, since it is little more than going up and down the Hijaz Kar [link inserted] or double harmonic scale (E-F-G#-A-B-C-D#).

The Hijaz Kar is one of the Arabic musical scales, called maqam. As Misirlou was based on that basic Arab scale – amenable to modification – this is another indication that the tune was probably not originally composed by the Greek band, though they might have modified an earlier composition. Almost certainly the tune went back further. Maybe to Egypt, maybe further back.

It might be a stretch, but it might go back to the Hijaz, the western side of Saudi Arabia.

So there you have it. Surf Music may be Arabic in origin.

So it looks like this:

Hijaz (?) → Egypt → Greek neighborhood in Turkey → Greek recording in America →
Adopted by Dick Dale to Surf Music

Try not to forget that when you hear these blond, blue-eyed All-American boys play the song.

BUT, FINALLY IF THAT IS NOT ENOUGH TO CONVINCE YOU!

Check out this tune: SURFING TO MECCA, by Tempest. It blends American Surf Music with Arabian music almost seemlessly. You will immediately see that Surf Music is the child of Arab Music.


Posted on YouTube: February 25, 2015

If that does not convince you, then you are tone deaf.

May 8, 2017 – Edited: Minor edits.
November 24, 2017 – Edited: Added video.
September 4, 2020 – Edited: Added text and video.
September 28, 2021 – Fixed video links.
November 19, 2024 – Changed from page to post

Elite in Colombia

Latin Arabia History, News 0 Comment

From a wonderful article I found.

 

Colombia awakens to the Arab world

21/07/2009

…

Colombia, like all Latin American countries, houses large communities of Arab origin. What do these groups represent to your country, and what do they represent in terms of closer ties with the Arab world?

Yes, we have significant Arab communities in our country, particularly of Lebanese origin. Currently in Colombia we have approximately 700,000 people of Lebanese origin, who are descendents of the 30,000 immigrants who came from Lebanon to settle in Colombia in the late 19th century. Ten percent of the members of the Colombian Parliament are of Arab origin. We also have great businessmen, scientists, etc, of Arab origin. I have just visited Lebanon because I think that we should start to boost our relations and our blood ties.

…

Arabs are less that 3% of the population but 10% of the Senate in Colombia.

Palestinians are less that 3% of the population but 10% of the Senate in Chile.

Do you see a pattern here?

The Arabs are elite in many countries in South America.

The Lebanese of Mexico

Latin Arabia History, Lebanese 0 Comment

From the article in the previous post, but this time we will concentrate on his points about Mexico

Arabs Making Their Mark in Latin America: Generations of Immigrants in Colombia, Venezuela and Mexico

By Habeeb Salloum.

…

I spoke with Michel Jacabo Eljure, whose father emigrated from the district of Qura, located in present-day Lebanon. He is a retired businessman who owned a ranch in the Yucatán. He spoke Arabic well and was familiar with the history of the Arabs in Mérida. According to him, even though the Lebanese were only 1 percent of the city’s 1.5 million population, they controlled 30 percent of the commercial and industrial establishments. As for religion, he explained that the Lebanese were originally evenly divided between Maronite and Orthodox Christians. Today, they are all Roman Catholics with only about 20 families still practicing the Orthodox rites. From time to time, a priest travels from Mexico City to administer to these few families’ needs.

With the tolerance of peoples to others in mind, I asked Michel, “Why is it that in countries like Canada, multicultural societies are encouraged and here in Mexico it’s total assimilation?” He replied, “Our society is montholitic. We want everyone to be Roman Catholic and speak Spanish. In our community only about 20 people still read Arabic.”

He continued, “As for our food, it’s another matter. Even a great number of the non- Lebanese in Mérida cook in their homes our kubbah, grape leaves and other Arabic foods. At least we contributed some of our heritage to Mexico – now our beloved homeland.”

This essay appeared in Al Jadid, Vol. 6, no. 30 (Winter 2000)

I am not saying Mexico’s way is best, but notice the total assimilation of the Arab community. Notice also that these Lebanese are not commercial and industrial elites.

The Arabs of Colombia

Latin Arabia History 0 Comment

Some wonderful history from an article which I found here:

I am quoting from the section on Colombia.

Arabs Making Their Mark in Latin America: Generations of Immigrants in Colombia, Venezuela and Mexico

By Habeeb Salloum.

…

The society to which the Arabs came in the late 19th and early 20th centuries reinforced the almost total loss of the language.  The church was all-powerful and every inhabitant had to fit into the narrow view of the Spanish-Catholic world of that time.

I asked George Baladi, a longtime immigrant living in Cartagena, if there were any Muslims among the early Arabs in Colombia. He replied, “I am told that five Muslim families from Tripoli, in present day Lebanon, had come with the early immigrants, but they all had to become Christian.”

…

In the political arena, the Arab immigrants have also left an impressive mark.  Gabriel Turbay ran for president in 1946, and Julio César Turbay Ayallah, born to an Arab father and Colombian mother, served as president of the country from 1978 to 1982.  When first elected he is reported to have stood up in Parliament and declared that he was proud to be of Arab descent.

…

At any one time, there are from 20 to 30 members of Parliament and the Senate who are of Arab origin.  It is estimated that there are over a quarter of a million Colombians of Arab descent —  almost all tracing their origins to Syria, Lebanon and Palestine.

…

In spite of their small number and almost total assimilation, the Arabs have left a significant mark on Colombian society.  In every city where they reside, restaurants and cafes proudly display the nameRestaurante Arabe or Comida Arabe.  The Arab dishes, kubbah, shish kabab, taboula, tahini, and all types of pies stuffed with cheese, meat, sweets, and vegetables are well-known among the Colombians.  Many Colombians have come to think of these delicacies as their own foods, and a good number of these dishes are sold frozen in almost all markets.

Strangely enough, even though the Arab immigrants’ descendants have lost their tongue and most of their traditions, they still form social clubs, and about 25 percent marry within the Arab community.

This essay appeared in Al Jadid, Vol. 6, no. 30 (Winter 2000)

The author severely undercounts the Arabs in Colombia. He may be ignoring Arabs who are more settled for many generations, or he may be ignoring Arabs of Christian backgrounds.

Notice that the author says: “It is estimated that there are over a quarter of a million Colombians of Arab descent.” Yet, Wikipedia alone estimate that there are 700,000 Lebaneses Colombians.

The infuriating tendency of Lebanese not to number themselves among the Arabs – even though they are Arab speaking – causes havoc with statistics.

Often, the number of Arabs in a Latin American country is woefully underestimated.

Unless there is a good reason, I usually multiply the number of Lebanese x 2.1 – to account for Syrian Christians, and other Arabs – to get a good estimate of the Arabs in a country. This often produces reasonable results. Not always, but it does cross check in countries where the numbers are more reliable.

Palestine and Honduras, where Palestinians are heavily populated, would not come in under this estimate.

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