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Alí Rafael Primera Rosell (31 October 1942 – 16 February 1985) was a musician, composer, poet, and Venezuelan political activist. He was born in
Coro,
Falcón State,
Venezuela and died in
Caracas on 16 February 1985. He was one of the best known representatives of
Nueva canción
("new song") in Venezuela – his songs "condemning exploitation and
repression, and celebrating resistance, struck a chord among a wide
public,"
[1] and he is known in Venezuela as
El Cantor del Pueblo (
The People's Singer).
[2] In 2005 the Venezuelan government declared his music to be
national heritage.
Early life
Alí Primera was baptized as Rafael Sebastián Primera Rosell by his
parents Antonio Primera and Carmen Adela Rossell; he was known as Alí
because his grandparents were Arabs. Poor from the start, he lost his
father when he was three. His father, who served as an official in Coro,
died accidentally during a shooting incident that occurred when some
prisoners tried to escape from the jail in town in 1945. As Primera was
still quite young when his father died, he travelled with his mother and
2 siblings through different towns on the
Paraguaná Peninsula, including San José,
Caja de Agua, where he graduated from elementary school;
Las Piedras and finally,
La Vela de Coro, near
Punto Fijo.
It was in this town that Primera worked a number of jobs, from a
shoeshiner at the age of 6 to a boxer, due to the miserable conditions
his family lived in. These jobs did not, however, discourage him from
continuing his studies.
In 1960, Primera and his family left La Vela looking for a better life and moved to
Caracas, where he enrolled in the "Liceo Caracas" in order to complete his education. After he graduated in 1964, he enrolled at the
Central University of Venezuela
to study Chemistry at the Faculty of Science. While at the university,
he started singing and composing music. At first, it was a just a hobby
for him, but it gradually came to take up all of his time. His first
songs,
Humanidad and
No basta rezar, the latter of which was presented at the Festival of Protest Songs organized by the
Universidad de los Andes in 1967, propelled him to fame.
The People's Singer
Between 1969 and 1973, Primera lived in Europe thanks to a scholarship he received in 1968 from the
Communist Party of Venezuela to continue his studies in
Romania.
Once in Europe, he earned a living by washing dishes and occasionally
sang in places that respected his work. He recorded his first album
Gente de mi tierra
in a studio in Germany. Primera's compositions talk about the suffering
of the people, destroyed by poverty and social inequality. Because of
his songs, he quickly made his way into the hearts of the people and
soon became known as
El Cantor del Pueblo or
The People's Singer.
Primera's work at the time of his death
Primera died in a car accident on 16 February 1985 on the
Autopista Valle-Coche in
Caracas.
Before his death, Alí Primera had started a new album at the end of
1984 that combined the recurring themes of his songs with beats that he
had never used before such as the
gaita from
Zulia State in Venezuela.
Discography
Year of publication |
Title |
Published by |
1969 |
Gente De Mi Tierra |
Independent |
1972 |
De Una Vez (Canciones del Tercer Mundo – Para Un Solo Mundo) |
Verlag Plane (Germany) |
1973 |
Lo Primero de Alí Primera |
Cigarrón – Promus (Venezuela) |
1974 |
Alí Primera, Volumen 2 |
Cigarrón – Promus (Venezuela) |
1975 |
Adiós en dolor Mayor |
Cigarrón – Promus (Venezuela) |
1976 |
Canción Para Los Valientes |
Cigarrón – Promus (Venezuela) |
1977 |
La Patria Es El Hombre |
Cigarrón – Promus (Venezuela) |
1978 |
Canción Mansa Para Un Pueblo Bravo |
Cigarrón – Promus (Venezuela) |
1979 |
Cuando Nombro La Poesía |
Cigarrón – Promus (Venezuela) |
1980 |
Abrebrecha |
Cigarrón – Promus (Venezuela) |
1981 |
Al Pueblo Lo Que Es De César |
Cigarrón – Promus (Venezuela) |
1982 |
Con El Sol A Medio Cielo |
Cigarrón – Promus (Venezuela) |
1984 |
Entre La Rabia Y La Ternura |
Cigarrón – Promus (Venezuela) |
1985 |
Por Si No Lo Sabía |
Cigarrón – Sonográfica (Venezuela) |
1986 |
Alí ¡En Vivo! (posthumous) |
Cigarrón – Promus (Venezuela) |
References
Mark Dinneen (2001), Culture and customs of Venezuela, Greenwood
External links
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