Filed under: Egypt
Omar Khorshid is where all this insanity started for me, although I did not know it at the time.
Back in 2005, while I was in San Francisco for my job, a friend of mine took me to Aquarius Records, where I picked up a disc called “Radio Morocco“. Although I had purchased a few other compilations of 60’s and early 70’s music from India, Asia and Turkey, as well as discs by Ananda Shankar and Takeshi Terauchi in the past… This was different. What was this music even called? I had no idea. So, to the internet. I started Google-ing everything I could think of. Eventually, I stumbled on some information about Omar Khorshid.
Omar was originally from Egypt, where he got his start playing with Umm Khulthum, Mohammed Abdel Wahab, and Abdel Halim Hafez. He was the first person to introduce electric guitar into Arab music. Apparently, his brother Elhamy tried to imitate his sound but was supposedly not as popular as Omar.
Besides being a musician, Omar was also an actor as well as having scored thirteen motion picture soundtracks. In 1971 he won the Premier Prize at the Film Festival of Tachkand for his music for the film “Abnati El Aziza” (“A Teen’s Life”). His sister is also a famous Egyptian actress, Sherihan Ahmed Abd El Fatah al-Shalakani.
In 1972, he moved to Lebanon where he recorded a handful of solo albums. He returned to Egypt after the civil war began in Lebanon in 1975. Upon his return, he starred in “Hata Akher El-Omr” (“Until The End of Lifetime”) along with Nagwa Ibrahim and Mahmoud Abdel-Aziz.
Omar delivered his most noted performance opposite Madiha Kamel in “El-Arrafa” (“The Fortuneteller”) in 1981. He played a police officer who sympathizes with a student arrested for her political opinions. Two months after the critical acclaim and box-office success of the film, Khorshid was killed in a car accident. One of the more popular rumors was that he was having an affair with a married woman whose husband arranged the accident.
As of March 2007, actor and singer Sameh Youssry is trying to convince members of Omar Khorshid’s family to authorize a biographical movie in which Youssry would star.
The fact that there is not a shrine (or at least a website) dedicated to the man is a mystery. He does not even have a listing on Wikipedia. What little of his solo recordings that are in print and available on compact disc are not exactly his best material, but are will still worth tracking down.
There is also a posting on Waxidermy for this album and Volume 2.
Catalog number VLMX 87 Voix de l’Orient series for A. Chahine & Fils in Lebanon, manufactured and distributed by EMI of Greece, 1978.
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Since the initial posting of this article, Hany Zaki has started work on a website dedicated to Omar Khorshid.
Filed under: Egypt
♬ Zouba
Baligh Hamdi was from Egypt.
Born Abdul Hamid Hamdi Morsi on October 7, 1932, he showed promise as a musician, even at an early age. He had mastered the oud by age 9, and by age 12 he had applied to the Institute of Music Fuad I, but was not admitted due to his young age.
From here, the Google translator gets a little dodgy…
He apparently started his music career while he was attending law school, when an advisor from Egyptian Radio asked him to sing on a radio programme. Eventually he went on to work with Oum Kolthoum (who apparently no one can agree upon a correct spelling of her name) and Abdel Halim Hafez. He conducted and arranged the live recording of Abdel Halim Hafez’s live recording of Mawood, featuring Omar Khorshid (a portion of which was featured on the Sublime Frequencies release Radio Morocco). Baligh Hamdi also worked with Algerian born singer Warda, who he married to for several years.
He moved to Paris in 1985, where he collborated with artists from around the world, including Indian musician Magid Khan. He returned to Egypt in 1993, but died soon after on September 12, at the age of 61.
Over at the great Waxidermy site, they have two more songs from this record posted here (although the names of the songs are Gada and Sahar), as well as a track from the album with Magid Khan here.
Also, you can find a few clips of Baligh playing live, as well as songs performed by Warda, on YouTube at this link.
Thanks to Hany Zaki for the invaluable information, and the picture.
Catalog number 31-73097 Soutelphan of Cairo, Egypt. No release date given.
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UPDATE: 08/13/21 Sublime Frequencies has released a compilation of Baligh Hamdi’s recordings entitled “Baligh Hamdi: Instrumental Modal Pop of 1970’s Egypt“.
Filed under: Egypt
Modern Egyptian music blends musical traditions encompassing indigenous Egyptian varieties as well as Turkish, Arabic, and Western elements. Arabic musical tradition is usually said to have begun in the 7th century in Syria during the Umayyad dynasty. Early Arabic music was influenced by Byzantine, Indian and Persian forms, which were themselves heavily influenced by earlier Greek, Semitic, and ancient Egyptian music. The tonal structure of Arabic music is defined by the maqamat, loosely similar to Western modes, while the rhythm of Arabic music is governed by the awzan (wazn, sing.), formed by combinations of accented and unaccented beats and rests.
From the 1970s onwards, Egyptian pop music has become increasingly important in Egyptian culture, particularly among the large youth population of Egypt. Egyptian folk music, a direct descendant of ancient Egyptian music, is also popular. It is played during weddings and other traditional festivities. In the last quarter of the 20th century, Egyptian music was a way to communicate social and class issues.
Magdy El Hosseini, as well as Omar Khorshid and others, were part of an Western music scene in Egypt from the mid 60s influenced by The Beatles and other beat music of the time. Both Magdy and Omar were in bands that performed in hotels and night clubs. But by the late 60s Omar switched from playing Western music, to more traditional music.
When Omar Khorshid joined the backing orchestra for Umm Kulthum, he had Magdy join as well. Then later, when Omar recorded with the Al Massiyah Orchestra that backed Abdel Halim Hafez, he brought Magdy with him again. Like Omar Khorshid, Magdy tried to find a wide audience outside of Egypt, playing in Lebanon, Kuwait and Bahrain. But after the death of Abdel Halim Hafez, Magdy’s only appearances were on Egyptian television.
Thanks to Hany Zaki for the translation and the invaluable information.
Catalog number 87-74083 on Moriphon Records of Egypt, recorded in 1974.
Filed under: Egypt
Omar Khorshid is where all this insanity started for me, although I did not know it at the time.
Back in 2005, while I was in San Francisco for my job, a friend of mine took me to Aquarius Records, where I picked up a disc called “Radio Morocco“. Although I had purchased a few other compilations of 60’s and early 70’s music from India, Asia and Turkey, as well as discs by Ananda Shankar and Takeshi Terauchi in the past… This was different. What was this music even called? I had no idea. So, to the internet. I started Google-ing everything I could think of. Eventually, I stumbled on some information about Omar Khorshid.
Omar was originally from Egypt, where he got his start playing with Umm Khulthum, Mohammed Abdel Wahab, and Abdel Halim Hafez. He was the first person to introduce electric guitar into Arab music. Apparently, his brother Elhamy tried to imitate his sound but was supposedly not as popular as Omar.
Besides being a musician, Omar was also an actor as well as having scored thirteen motion picture soundtracks. In 1971 he won the Premier Prize at the Film Festival of Tachkand for his music for the film “Abnati El Aziza” (“A Teen’s Life”). His sister is also a famous Egyptian actress, Sherihan Ahmed Abd El Fatah al-Shalakani.
In 1972, he moved to Lebanon where he recorded a handful of solo albums. He returned to Egypt after the civil war began in Lebanon in 1975. Upon his return, he starred in “Hata Akher El-Omr” (“Until The End of Lifetime”) along with Nagwa Ibrahim and Mahmoud Abdel-Aziz.
Omar delivered his most noted performance opposite Madiha Kamel in “El-Arrafa” (“The Fortuneteller”) in 1981. He played a police officer who sympathizes with a student arrested for her political opinions. Two months after the critical acclaim and box-office success of the film, Khorshid was killed in a car accident. One of the more popular rumors was that he was having an affair with a married woman whose husband arranged the accident.
As of March 2007, actor and singer Sameh Youssry is trying to convince members of Omar Khorshid’s family to authorize a biographical movie in which Youssry would star.
The fact that there is not a shrine (or at least a website) dedicated to the man is a mystery. He does not even have a listing on Wikipedia. What little of his solo recordings that are in print and available on compact disc are not exactly his best material, but are will still worth tracking down.
Catalog number GVDL-202 on Voix de l’Orient series for A. Chahine & Fils in Lebanon, and manufactured and distributed by EMI of Greece, 1974.
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Since the initial posting of this article, Hany Zaki has started work on a website dedicated to Omar Khorshid.
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