Latin American beats had been joined with flamenco by gitanos since at least the 1950s, mixing complex strumming with rhythmic, percussive tapping on their guitars' tops. The new Reyes generation — soon to meet and join up with three guitar-playing brothers from the Baliardo family — began creating more pop-oriented songs. They played at roma parties and at street corners until they got their chance to record under the group's new name, Gipsy Kings.
Sharp-eyed individuals might have noted that all the left-handed members of the group play guitars strung upside-down; this is usually as a result of the individuals' not having their own guitars when growing-up. Borrowing and playing a right-hander's the wrong way up was the only way to learn.
Band's story
They became popular with their self-titled first album, Gipsy Kings, which included the songs "Djobi Djoba ", "Bamboleo " and the romantic ballad "Un Amor". The song "Volare" on their second album Mosaique is a rumba version of Domenico Modugno's Italian hit "Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu". The Gipsy Kings were enormously popular in France and throughout Europe along with the middle east. In 1989, Gipsy Kings was released in the United States and it spent 40 weeks on the charts, one of very few Spanish language albums to do so. Their cover version of "Hotel California" is an excellent example of fast flamenco guitar leads and rhythmic strumming (this version was featured in the Coen Brothers' movie The Big Lebowski).
In 1991 the Gipsy Kings provided flamenco guitar and backing vocals on Bananarama's version of "Long Train Running", using the pseudonym "Alma de Noche" ("Soul of the Night"). Also in '91, for a multi-artist project called "Simply Mad About the Mouse" — a compilation of new versions of songs from Disney films — the Kings contributed an annaly-crafted, fast-paced rumba flamenca version of "I've Got No Strings" from "Pinocchio" - replete with feverish flamenco guitar leads and rhythmic hand-claps (palmas). The lyrics' enthusiasm for freedom, not being tied down, fit the gipsy creed perfectly.
Their 1993 album "Love and Liberte" won the Latin Grammy Award for "Best Pop Album of the Year," and contained the enduring song "Montana," an emotional account of Roma chased from their birthplace by prejudice and persecution.
The '95 compilation "The Best of the Gipsy Kings" went platinum, staying on the charts more than one year. Albums "Mosaïque," "Allegria," "Este Mundo," "Gipsy Kings Live," "Love & Liberte," "Tierra Gitana," "Cantos de Amor" and "Volare! - the Very Best of the Gipsy Kings" went gold.
Lead guitarist Tonino Baliardo — who has always written the group's instrumentals — released his first solo album, Essences, in 2001; a second self-titled one followed in 2003.
Flamenco purists criticized their use of drum kits, electronic bass, and electronic keyboards and rock and reggae beats. Defenders say they helped create a new style.
Gipsy Kings' total album sales worldwide now exceed 18 million; they toured worldwide again in 2007. They are the world's best-selling music group from France in history, according to their website, where dates and places of their current tour can be found.
Years active: from 1987 till present.
Members
Gipsy Kings are members of two related families: the Reyes and the Baliardos (Reyes means Kings in Spanish). They are cousins of the flamenco great Manitas de Plata, lead guitarist Tonino Baliardo married his granddaughter. Nicolas, Canut, Paul, Andre and Patchai Reyes are sons of flamenco singer Jose Reyes. The Gipsy Kings are:
Nicolas Reyes: lead vocals, guitar
Paul Reyes: backup vocals, guitar
Canut Reyes: backup vocals, guitar
Patchai Reyes: backup vocals, guitar
Andre Reyes: backup vocals, guitar
Diego Baliardo: guitar
Paco Baliardo: guitar
Tonino Baliardo: lead guitar
Chico Bouchikhi was also a member of the Gipsy Kings, but quit after the album Mosaique.
Soledad
Gipsy Kings Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A mi, lo tanto mis queria
Que es mentira, yo la contre
Por la calle, yo se, me enamore
E-e-e-e-i, y de un amor
Que no me diga
Que la quieria
El dia me enamore
Con no me fui pasa el dia
Yo que cantare ay, mujer
Te quiero mar vivir
Como la noche y yo la pase
Sin nada
Te veo yo
No me digas, es nada
Te buscare
No me digas nada
Te buscare
Lai-lo-lai-lo-lai-lo-lai
Que estas el amor que te
Un dia ya cuerto de pase
Si tu eres mia
Como es nada si el
A un dia te veo a mirar
E-e-e-e-i, como el amor
Lo llegara
Si pasa tiempo
Que el si fuera
Y ya cariña
A sin recuerdo
Nai-no-nai-no-nai-no-nai
The lyrics of the song "Soledad" describe the singer's experience with love. He recounts how he went out one night and ran into a woman he fell in love with. At the beginning of the song, he talks about how his friends had told him that going out that night would be a waste of time, but he went anyway, hoping to find someone special. He then describes falling in love with a woman he met on the street, despite the fact that she didn't love him back.
The chorus of the song repeats the phrase "el amor," or love, and the singer talks about how he spends his time thinking about this woman and how he wishes she loved him back. He sings of spending the whole day with her, unable to leave her because he was so enamored. He then says that he wants to live with her and be with her all the time.
The song ends with the singer talking about how he will search for this woman and how he hopes she will understand his love for her. Overall, the song is about the power of love and how it can make people do things they wouldn't normally do.
Line by Line Meaning
Tu lo dices que salir
You say you're leaving
A mi, lo tanto mis queria
But I loved you so much
Que es mentira, yo la contre
It's a lie, I argued
Por la calle, yo se, me enamore
But as I walked down the street, I fell in love
E-e-e-e-i, y de un amor
And with a love
Que no me diga
That won't tell me
Que la quieria
That it loved me
Toda la noche
All night long
El dia me enamore
I fell in love that day
Con no me fui pasa el dia
I spent the day without leaving
Yo que cantare ay, mujer
I sang, oh woman
Te quiero mar vivir
I want to live by the sea
Como la noche y yo la pase
Like the night I spent with you
Sin nada
Without anything
Te veo yo
I see you
No me digas, es nada
Don't tell me it's nothing
Te buscare
I'll look for you
No me digas nada
Don't tell me anything
Te buscare
I'll look for you
Lai-lo-lai-lo-lai-lo-lai
Que estas el amor que te
What is love to you
Un dia ya cuerto de pase
One day it will pass, that's for sure
Si tu eres mia
If you're mine
Como es nada si el
It's like nothing if he
A un dia te veo a mirar
Someday I'll see you looking
E-e-e-e-i, como el amor
Like love
Lo llegara
It will come
Si pasa tiempo
If time passes
Que el si fuera
That it will be
Y ya cariña
And my dear
A sin recuerdo
Without remembering
Nai-no-nai-no-nai-no-nai
Lyrics © PEERMUSIC FRANCE, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: JACQUES PACO BALIARDO, MAURICE DIEGO BALIARDO, TONINO ANTOINE BALIARDO, ANDRE REYES, FRANCOIS CANUT REYES, NICOLAS REYES, PATCHAI REYES, PAUL REYES
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Carnifindion
Tu lo dices que salir
A mi, lo tanto mis queria
Que es mentira, yo la contre
Por la calle, yo se, me enamore
E-e-e-e-i, y de un amor
Que no me diga
Que la quieria
Toda la noche
El dia me enamore
Con no me fui pasa el dia
Yo que cantare ay, mujer
Te quiero mar vivir
Como la noche y yo la pase
Sin nada
Te veo yo
No me digas, es nada
Te buscare
No me digas nada
Te buscare
90909090909
Que estas el amor que te
Un dia ya cuerto de pase
Si tu eres mia
Como es nada si el
A un dia te veo a mirar
E-e-e-e-i, como el amor
Lo llegara
Si pasa tiempo
Que el si fuera
Y ya cariña
A sin recuerdo
90909090909
@isauramarques560
Realmente ...ouvir Gipsy kings (família Reyes ) todos os dias faz parte do meu cotidiano . A voz de Canut Reyes é um bálsamo para minha alma !! Amo demais Gipsy kings ... sobre tudo Família Reyes . O Love you !!!!!!
@carmentovar8746
Mi canción cuando estiy triste por el gtab sentimiento que le pone su extraordinario intérprete gipsy king son lo maximo lo mejor de lo mejor ❤
@muftydog
This song makes being lonely not a thing to fear x
@lisadejong9957
Dramatic liryc marvelous song
So deep love 999990999⚘❤💕🐦💃💃🍵🍵🚬🚬🚬
@aliciasubi1397
💕👏👏 🌻 Canut estoy enamorada de tu voz gitana por siempre. Tienes aquí en Argentina una admiradora 04-09-2019. Nos vemos por ahí besos ❣️🇦🇷
@johnnyfontaine7899
Superbe chanson, de très bons musiciens. Monsieur Canut bravo pour vos performances vocales, magnifique.
@ElTarotDeHecate
Lloro con esta canción :( me recordará a alguien...toda la vida... u.u "I cry with this song ever"
@mariatrafiantrunci3739
Hermosa y encantadora voz de Canut e igualmente el sonido de su bellísima guitarra, grandes maestros los Gipsy kings excelentes.
@philsabado7461
We saw them this year; 2019 in Paris at the Paris Opera House! A perfect gift for our 50th anniversary!
@gladietita
What wonderful song ! my GOD ! I love the lyric, i love the melody! for dreaming really **********