Phil Manzanera: Songs That Made Me

After being the lead guitarist with Roxy Music, one of the most iconic British Prog-Rock bands of the 1970s and 80s, led by Brian Ferry and including Brian Eno, Phil Manzanera went on to produce albums for Pink Floyd, David Gilmour and John Cale as well as some of the most exciting rock artists to come out of Latin America: Os Paralamos, Fito Páez, Aterciopelados and Draco Rosa, to name a few. The latter endeavour (and his stage surname, which he took from his mother) was a sign of what very few British fans knew; that Phil was half-Colombian, and spent most of his childhood in Latin America, including Venezuela, Colombia and Cuba, whose music massively influenced him. Aged 8, Phil stepped out of his home in Havana to find himself in the midst of a revolution. It was also in Cuba he encountered his first guitar, owned by his mother, who taught him the folk songs inspired by the Cuban Revolution. Phil went on to live in Venezuela and Colombia before being sent to boarding school in England where he became engrossed in the 70s music scene. Here Phil Manzanera tells us about the songs that made him, before he discovered rock and roll.

by Amaranta Wright

‘Cucucurrucucu, Paloma’ by Tomás Mendez

When I was 6 years old, I was taken with my parents to Havana Cuba and my mother starting having guitar lessons. I wanted to touch her guitar all the time, so at one point she said, ‘look I’ll just teach you a few chords what I’m learning’ and this was the song that she taught me. It was written in 1954, so by 1957 it was quite new and had just come out in a Mexican film. My favourite version is the one sung by Caetano Veloso in the Pedro Almodovar film.

‘Guantanamera’ by Joseíto Fernández

The other song that I learnt from my mother was Guantanamera. And of course this was a very famous song that was used with different kinds of lyrics. The version that I like is the one Compay Segundo did in 1946, but the version with the lyrics using the poem of Jose Marti is the most famous one and that’s also one I love.

‘Cuando Sali de Cuba’ by Luis Aguile

We had to leave Cuba after the revolution, just as a new song appeared in the Sixties called Cuando Sali de Cuba ('When I left Cuba') and this was a lovely song that I used to sing, because these were the songs that my mother sang, so they had a very special place in my heart.

'Aloha Oe' (1878) by Liliʻuokalani

After we left Havana we went to live in Hawaii. There was a folk song called ‘Aloha Oe’ which was like a national song and after we left Hawaii on our way to Venezuela, the film Blue Hawaii came out with Elvis who was a massive influence on me and he sang this song in the film.

'Cosas que Dijimos Hoy' by Los Dangers

When I lived in Caracas you could get certain LPs from the UK and one was The Shadows but also there was a Venezuelan band called Los Dangers and I remember having an LP of theirs

‘Esta Tarde Vi Llover’ by Armando Manzanera

While I was living in Caracas we used to go and visit my mother’s family in Bogotá. My mother was from Baraquilla, her whole family was from there and the music my cousins used to play me that I loved were the boleros of Armando Manzanero. And I particularly remember and still love this one.

'Corcovado' by Antônio Carlos Jobim and 'Sozinho' by Caetano Veloso

While in Caracas, I used to listen to the BBC World service and heard this amazing music coming from London, and once I heard the Beatles, I asked to be sent to school in England. However even though I loved British music, I still listened to Latin music and I remember especially in my teenage years, Stan Getz and Astrid Gilberto and one of my favourite songs was Corcovado. I’ve always loved Brazilian music. When I was in Tokyo recently I was lucky enough to play with a girl called Sonia Bernardo, who sung 'Sozinho' by Caetano Veloso and that’s also a great song.