Boy bravo
Luis Manuel Ferri Llopis (Ayelo de Malferit, August 3, 1944-Villarrubio, April 16, 1973), artistically known as Nino Bravo, was a singer-songwriter Spanish.
Biography
Beginnings
He was born in Ayelo de Malferit and his parents were Luis Manuel Ferri Espulgues and Consuelo Llopis Molines. He moved with his family to Valencia at the age of two and at the age of 16 he began working at the Valencian jewelry store Casa Amat, where he became a lapidary. He also worked as a winemaker in the restaurant run by Jesús Císcar at the Valencia Airport [citation needed ] .
During these years he combined work with his love of singing, founding the ensemble Los Hispánicos at the end of 1962, with his friends Félix Sánchez and Salvador Aranda Navarro "Boro". The musical trio becomes a quartet with the entry of Eliseo Ferrando Fenollar on drums, becoming very popular in the Sagunto neighborhood, where they performed in numerous fallas, dances and festivals of the time, becoming finalists in the national radio contest Party in Spain. The ensemble dissolved in October 1963.
The Supersons
Luis Manuel lost his job, but given his friendship with Vicente López, bassist of Los Superson, and taking advantage of the fact that they were looking for a replacement due to the loss of their singer Carlos Lardíes in a traffic accident, he joined the group to finally become permanent member. Later on, Josep Bosch, lead guitar and Saturnino (Nino) Naredo, rhythm guitar, founders of the group, left the group, being replaced by the brothers José and Vicente Juesas, on guitar and keyboard.
They located their rehearsal place in the Valencian town of Catarroja in the corral of the house of one of its members, the trumpeter Juan Enrique Morellá. This group was the one that accompanied him in all his performances until the end of his artistic career. However, they had to make a hiatus in their performances due to Luis Manuel's military service in 1966, which he completed in Cartagena in the Navy. When he returned, he was employed in an office, and presented him as a solo singer at the La Vall d'Uixó Song Festival in 1968.
He performed his first galas and a recital at the Teatro Principal in Valencia that caused him losses, along with his first manager, Miguel Siurán, who baptized him with the stage name of Nino Bravo. After being rejected by the RCA record label at the end of 1968, in 1969 he was hired for four years by Fonogram (under the Polydor label) by the hand of its artistic producer Alfredo Garrido García. His first single was recorded with songs by Manuel Alejandro: Como todos and Es el viento . He attended the Barcelona song festival with the song I must not think of you , where he was eliminated.
Success
He arrived in the summer of 1969, when Augusto Algueró gave him I love you, I love you, song created for the Argentine film Kuma Ching performed with a different lyrics by Lola Flores and that for different reasons, even having her recorded the actress Carmen Sevilla and the singer Raphael, had not succeeded in the record market. A I love you, I love you followed I'm looking. (1969), That'll be my house., Love door, Sorry. (1970), My great love (1971), Noelia, My dear mom, Yellow letters, A kiss and a flower, My land, Carolina and Free (1972), among others. As a posthumous song, it also became famous America, America (1973).
He participated in the selection for the Eurovision Song Contest on two occasions. In the first, in 1970, she performed with the song That will be my house : she did not make it to the final, which Julio Iglesias won with Gwendolyne . The second and most remembered was her in the program Passport to Dublin , where she came in third position, the singer Karina being chosen as the representative of Spain.
In July 1970 he participated in the III World Song Olympics held in Athens, finishing fourth with the song El adiós by Augusto Algueró.
In 1970 he participated in the V Song Festival of Rio de Janeiro, with the song Elizabeth, representing Spain. He was accompanied by the artist Carmen Sevilla as a Spanish jury and by the composer and producer Augusto Algueró as conductor representing Spain, as well as the Spanish artist Rosa Morena, who represented Andorra as a participant. In this contest, singer Piero won first prize, interpreting Pedro nadie representing Argentina.
In February 1971, Nino performed at the twelfth edition of the Viña del Mar Song Festival in Chile, a stage where he only performed three of his songs with great success. Despite the fact that the public asks him to extend his performance, the contract specified only three songs. In addition, as the conductor of the orchestra assured: "I could not have sung any more songs, since we, the orchestra, only possessed the scores of the three planned songs."
On April 20, 1971, he secretly married María Amparo Martínez Gil, a relative of lawyer and consultant Miguel Mira Juan, whom he never met. After that he traveled to Buenos Aires to perform in a special program on channel 9 together with the Argentine tango singer Ledesma. Nino Bravo went on a long tour in Latin America that had begun in September 1971, during which he performed in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Mexico, Puerto Rico, New York, and Miami.
On January 24, 1972, their first daughter, María Amparo, was born. Shortly after, she released her third album, entitled A kiss and a flower , with which she achieved great success in Spain and Latin America.
In November 1972, he participated in the VII Song Festival of Rio de Janeiro, with the song Mi tierra as the Spanish representative, where he managed to tie for first place with the American David Clayton-Thomas. Weeks later, her fourth album was released, entitled My land , which includes one of her main hits: Libre .
On tour in Bogotá (Colombia), Nino Bravo was arrested because of a law that forced all foreign artists to give a free concert at La Media Torta. The problem was that not only was Nino forced to perform the performance, but he had to pay for an entire orchestra, which meant a significant financial loss. The matter was settled after paying the fine imposed by the Colombian government. Leaving aside the incident, Nino achieved great success in South America, both in his television appearances and in the galas he gave.
On March 16, 1973, he performed his last performance in Valencia, inside Parador 73 of the well-known Valencian Fallas. There she sang, for the first and only time, the Hymn of the Valencian Community by José Serrano, accompanied by the audience. Shortly after, the Jardines de Neptuno from Granada hosted what would be the last performance of the Valencian interpreter.
Death
On the morning of Monday, April 16, 1973, Nino Bravo, accompanied by his guitarist and friend José Juesas Francés and the Dúo Humo, left Valencia early for Madrid. A month earlier Nino Bravo had become the duo's representative and the reason for the trip was to go to the recording studio to make some adjustments to a forthcoming single. Bravo also had some minor commitments with his own record label (Polydor-Fonogram); the return was projected for Tuesday the 17th at night.
It had been proposed to make the trip by plane, but finally due to various circumstances it was decided to do it in the second-hand car recently acquired by Nino in Valencia, a white BMW 2800 L from 1970 with registration plate GC-66192. At that time, many high displacement cars were bought and registered in the Canary Islands to avoid paying the luxury tax. He had previously owned a Seat 124 Sport 1600 and a Mercedes Benz W110 190D, all registered in the Canary Islands. Thus, they left Valencia on the N-III highway between 7:30 and 8:00. There were almost 352 km ahead until the capital of Spain.
Almost two hours later they stopped to refuel and have breakfast in the Cuenca town of Motilla del Palancar and before 10:00 they continued on their way. But suddenly a few kilometers away, in the municipality of Villarrubio, in a curve in which a fatal accident had occurred that same month, located at P.K. 95,190 of the N-III highway, (today at the entrance branch 95 towards Valencia, of the A-3 Autovía de Valencia), the vehicle, driven by the singer, left the road and rolled over several times.
Nino Bravo and the wounded were taken in several private vehicles to Tarancón, located 13 kilometers away. In a small hospital run by Mercedarian nuns called Santa Emilia, they received the first cures, being transferred with the only ambulance available to the town to Madrid, some 80 kilometers away. However, the singer died a few kilometers from the capital of Spain, and was admitted, already deceased, to the Francisco Franco Health Center in Madrid (now the Gregorio Marañón Hospital). However, and parallel to this "official" information, eyewitnesses to the accident and a rescue operation have reported that Nino was extracted already deceased from the wreckage of the car, quickly introducing him into the ambulance to avoid harassment of the press.
After the accident, the car was in a nearby field until it was taken to Valencia, to a garage near the instrument store that Bravo used to frequent, and the vehicle was never heard from again. The workshop was closed and turned into a sailing federation. The car was registered in the census of the Valencia City Council in the name of the company Valencia Tracción S.A. which disbanded in 2009.
His burial in the Valencia cemetery was massively attended, with more than 10,000 people cheering the deceased in an atmosphere of great emotion.
Legacy
After his death, a posthumous album appeared, titled ...y volume 5, which includes ten songs recorded weeks before his death. Among them is America, America , which became a hymn for his American fans and one of his greatest hits. Also on this album appears the only song composed by Nino Bravo, titled Vivir.
On September 12, 1973, five months after the death of Nino Bravo, a macro-concert was held in the Plaza de Toros in Valencia in tribute to the singer, in which the following performed, among others: Jaime Morey, Yaco Lara, Dúo Smoke, Control, Basilio, Mari Trini, Víctor Manuel, Los Mismos, Daniel Velázquez, 5 Xics, Formula V, Bruno Lomas, Mocedades, Juan Pardo, Julio Iglesias, Dova, Los Puntos, Manolo Escobar and Los Superson. With more than twenty thousand attendees, the collection was the gift that the artists gave to the second daughter of Nino Bravo, Eva María, born on November 27, 1973. The recording of this concert is included in the double album Los Spanish artists to Nino Bravo.
The figure of Nino Bravo reappeared with force in the Spanish-speaking music scene in 1995, when the album 50 Aniversario was released. Duets between the late artist and current successful singers were made in this record production, thanks to the technique. It soon became the most successful album by the Valencian, whose sales are estimated at more than a million copies.
Following the appearance of the Internet, his admirers have made various proposals, such as the organization of the First Meeting of Fans, Friends and Family of Nino Bravo, or support for the creation of the Nino Bravo Museum in Aielo de Malferit, his hometown, founded in 2006.
In 2007 two books were published that recovered his memory: And the voice became a myth by Guillermo Ortigueira, which reviews the singer's career and is a new version of the old book by the same author & #34;Nino Bravo, the story of a good man", and From Manolito to Nino Bravo, written by Boro Aranda, which tells the true story of the origin and musical beginning of Nino Bravo in his first group, Los Hispánicos, made up of Luis Manuel Ferri, Salvador Aranda and Félix Sánchez. In 2013 it was announced that an official biography of Nino Bravo was in the works. written by Darío Ledesma, which was finally published in March 2022.
One of the last massive tributes paid to the artist was on June 22, 2013 when 'Los Superson', Nino Bravo's musical group, met again more than four decades after his death to bring back the sound of their original concerts, this time accompanied by singer José Valhondo at the express wish of Nino Bravo's family, as well as by the Melomans vocal quartet.
Every year the supersons also dedicate a tribute concert to the figure of Nino.
Songs
From mid-1969 to April 1973, Nino Bravo recorded 60 songs, which have become quintessential romantic classics. Two of those songs, recorded in its early days and archived by the record company, appeared posthumously in 1980 and 2003: Quién eres tú and I will love you, respectively. In 2005 another unpublished song came to light, Sin realizing it, which was recorded as a demo. There are also tribute songs, such as the one composed by Juan Carlos Calderón for the album Duetos 2 which, under the title Dicen, was performed by artists such as Eva Ferri, María Conchita Alonso, Marcos Llunas or Sandra Morey.
Free
Libre is one of several songs that José Luis Armenteros, a former member of Los Relámpagos, composed exclusively to be performed by Nino Bravo.
There is a conspiracy hypothesis (denied by its composers) that the lyrics of the song Libre are inspired by the story of Peter Fechter, one of the first people who lost his life trying to jump over the wall of Berlin just a year after its construction. However, one of its composers, Pablo Herrero, has denied the existence of any relationship between the song and the Berlin Wall.
In 1998 it was used by Amena for an advertising campaign, played by Marc Parrot under his alias El chaval de la peca.
Discography
EP (45rpm)
- Nino Bravo (1969 - Polydor/80042/A: "As all"/B: "It is the wind").
- Nino Bravo (1969 - Polydor/80046/A: "I must not think of you").
- Nino Bravo (1969 - Polydor/80048/A: "You will change/B: "Freedom").
Studio albums
- I love you, I love you (1970)
- Nino Bravo (1971)
- A kiss and a flower (1972)
- My land (1972)
- ...and volume 5 (1973)
Compilations
- 1973 Nino Bravo (Specific Edition of Readers)
- 1973 Nino Bravo (Special Disk Edition)
- 1973 Spanish artists to Nino Bravo (concert-home)
- 1974 Nino Bravo (Specific Edition of Readers)
- 1974 Nino Bravo (Circle Collecting of Readers)
- 1975 The Best of Nino Bravo
- 1976 Nino Bravo (Super 20)
- 1980 The Voice of Nino Bravo (with new arrangements by Luis Cobos)
- 1981 The Yesterday of Nino Bravo
- 1981 Tus Canciones Favorites "Who are you" (includes unpublished subject)
- 1983 The Great Successes of Nino Bravo, Vol. 6
- 1985 There was a Vez... Nino Bravo
- 1988 Nino Bravo (reissue of "Wait A Lance...")
- 1990 30 Great Original Successes
- 1992 Nino Bravo (Planet Agostini compilation)
- 1995 50th Anniversary (doubts with national artists under the arrangements and direction of Juan Carlos Calderón, additional arrangements by Jacobo Calderón and Maryni Callejo)
- 1995 Anniversary 1945-1995 (digitalization of "La Voz De Nino Bravo" and under the arrangements and direction of Juan Carlos Calderón, additional arrangements by Jacobo Calderón and Maryni Callejo)
- 1997 Due 2 (under the arrangements and direction of Juan Carlos Calderón, additional arrangements by Jacobo Calderón and Maryni Callejo)
- 2002 That will be my house and other great successes
- 2002 Tribute to Nino Bravo (triple CD Conmemorative MovieMusic)
- 2003 His first three LPs (Ray Lama Music Edition)
- 2003 30 Years (Edition of Universal Music Chile)
- 2003 All Nino, The Complete Work of Nino Bravo
- 2004 Universal Collection.es (find your last 3 albums)
- 2005 Success (Nhoa Music Edition)
- 2005 N1NO, All Numbers 1 of Nino Bravo (recollection with unpublished song "Without realizing", remixes and DVDs with video clips and television presentations)
- 2005 Successes, Vol. 2 (Nhoa Music Edition)
- 2006 N1NO, All Numbers 1 of Nino Bravo (release without DVD)
- 2009 Your 50 Best Songs
- 2009 Nino Bravo·40 Years with Nino
- 2011 2x1 Nino Bravo
- 2012 30 Gold Songs
- 2013 Nino Bravo: In Freedom By The Blue House
- 2016 Complete discussion (Special Edition of Universal Music)
Festivals
The time in which Nino Bravo's recording career developed was predominantly festival-going. Unfortunately, most of these festivals succumbed within a few years, but in the particular case of Nino, he leaves us with an important trail of participation, both in official participation and as a guest artist.
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Spain
- 1968 I Festival de Cantantes Noveles de Vall d'Uxó. Not classified for the end. Song interpreted: Canzione per te.
- 1969 II International Festival of Barcelona. Not classified for the end. Song interpreted: I mustn't think of you..
- 1970 Eurovision Festival 1970. Not classified for the end. Song interpreted: That'll be my house..
- 1971 International Atlantic Festival. Participation as guest artist.
Brazil
- 1970 V Festival Internacional da Canção. Finalist. Song interpreted: Elizabeth.
- 1972 VII Festival Internacional da Canção. 2.a position. Song interpreted: My land.
Venezuela
- 1971 New Wave World Festival. Participation as guest artist.
Chile
- 1971 XII Festival Internacional de la Canción de Viña del Mar. Participation as guest artist. Songs interpreted: You'll change., My dear mom and I love you, I love you.
Greece
- 1970 III World Olympic of Song. 4th position. Song interpreted: Bye..
Switzerland
- 1971 Montreux Jazz Festival. Participation as guest artist. Songs interpreted: Like everyone., I love you, I love you and Love door.
Netherlands
- 1972 Festival Copa de Europa de la Canción. 2.a position. Song interpreted: Love door.
Specials
Chile
- 1971 Summer Special in the Spanish Stadium of Las Condes, Santiago. Participation as guest artist. Songs interpreted: Bye., My great love, That'll be my house., Elizabeth, Our home will be the world, Noelia, Sorry., Love door, Like everyone., I love you, I love you, The train is leaving and It's the wind..