Silvio Rodriguez

Silvio Rodríguez



Background information
Birth name Silvio Rodríguez Domínguez
Born November 29, 1946 (age 65)
Origin San Antonio de los Baños, Havana Province, Cuba
Genres Nueva trova
Occupations Singer-songwriter
Instruments Guitar, vocals
Years active 1967–present
Website www.zurrondelaprendiz.com
Silvio Rodríguez Domínguez (born November 29, 1946 in San Antonio de los Baños)is a Cuban musician, and a leader of the nueva trova movement.
He is considered Cuba's best known folk singer and known for his highly eloquent and symbolic lyrics. Many of his songs have become classics in Latin American music, such as Ojalá, Playa Girón, Unicornio and La maza. He has released nearly 20 albums.
Rodríguez, musically and politically, is a symbol of the Latin American Left. Hislyrics are notably introspective, while his songs combine romanticism, love (even eroticism), revolutionary politics (such as Che Guevara or Fidel Castro), and idealism. He has been referred to as "Cuba’s John Lennon."[1]
Contents [hide]
1 Biography
2 U.S. Appearance
3 Discography
4 References
5 External links
[edit]Biography

Rodríguez was born on November 29, 1946 in San Antonio de losBaños, a fertile valley in Havana Province known for its tobacco crop. He was raised in a family of poor farmers. His father, Víctor Dagoberto Rodríguez Ortega, was a farmer and amateur poet who supported socialist causes. His mother, Argelia Domínguez León, was a house wife. On many occasions Rodríguez has spoken how his love of music was developed by his mother, who would pass time singingboleros and songs from Santiago. Although Rodríguez had an uncle who played the bass, his mother had a far greater influence. Later, she also collaborated with him on a few musical works.
When the Revolution led by Fidel Castro triumphed in January 1959, Rodríguez was only 13 years old, and, like most Cubans of his generation, became involved in the new Revolutionary enthusiasm. He participated in theLiteracy Campaign held in 1961, and then started working as a comics designer in a magazine. During this period a friend of his, Lázaro Fundora, taught him how to play the guitar.
Guitar playing took a major role in his life while he was doing his military service in the army, during 1964, but it wasn't until 1967, with his first television experience, that he started to become well known andinfluential among Cuban revolutionary youth. With pro-revolution yet very independent lyrics (together with his very informal dress code), Rodríguez soon attracted the animosity of some members of the new Culture Ministry, which was devoted to the eradication of the United States' influence in Cuban culture.[citation needed] In this context, a very important role was played by the culturalinstitution Casa de las Américas and its then director Haydée Santamaría, the former a respected revolutionary who participated in the Moncada barracks assault of 1953 and sister of Abel Santamaría, who was tortured and killed after the failure of the assault. Haydée Santamaría became a protective mother-figure of the young composers and of several of his colleagues at the time. Casa de las Américas becamethe home not only for the new Cuban trovadores but also for many other Latin Americans on the left. It was in this institution that Rodríguez met Pablo Milanés, and Noel Nicola, who along with Rodriguez would become the most famous nueva trova singers and composers.
In 1969, for almost five months, he worked as part of the crew on the fishing boat Playa Girón, and during this fertile episode hewrote 62 songs, among which are the famous "Ojalá" and "Playa Girón." The lyrics and music of these songs became a book named Canciones del Mar. In 1976, he decided to join Cuban troops in Angola, playing for the soldiers.
After more than 40 years of artistic work, Rodríguez has now written a vast number of songs and poems (said to be between 500 and more than one thousand), many of which have...