نقاش:البلاك كوتس
Untitled
تعديلانا بقول العنوان يبقى " البلاك كووتس" عشان النطق يبقى اسهل , ايه رئيكم؟ --Eskandarany (مناقشه) 23:12، 25 يونيه 2010 (يو تى سى)
- زى ما هو كده بسيط. ده رأيى, و كمان مكتوب بالانجليزى. --Mahmudmasri (مناقشه) 01:20، 26 يونيه 2010 (يو تى سى)
The Black Coats Story part1
تعديلThe Story of the Black Coats
Part 0ne
Introduction
As one of the key members of "The Black Coats" band who is still alive, I am writing following many requests from my fellow Egyptian's musician who are interested in knowing more about the history and formation of this unique band. Please understand that this is from my own memory and the memory of others around during this time, so if there are some errors I would be happy to correct them. Unfortunately, the band itself was not recorded or reported accurately enough, so information is often hard to find and now largely relies on the memories of the few.
The Black Coats was unusual in its focus on the band as a whole, we worked together in a way that was uncommon because usually musicians are only there to accompany a singer. Every musical instrument in our band had the chance to shine and be recognised for their individual skills.
Influences
In the early 1960s, before I was a member of the Black Coats, I was a huge fan of the first rock group bands in Egypt called The Sky Rockets and The Bell Boys. Everyone loved them and many tried to follow in their footsteps. Some friends and I started a new band called Il Mandos where I was the manager and the band members were the Famous Nabil Selim on Piano, Yervant vocalist, Nubar on Spanish guitar (we could not afford electric guitar), Magdi Nashed Drummer and Ardilas on Saxophone. Il Mandos played at Miami Casino in Alexandria around 1961 (for 9 pounds a night, a lot of money at this time..).
The following year they played at The Sporting Casino in Alexandria, With huge success, then
they had an offer from Samir ElSalhy (Saxophone) a new contract at The Auberge night club, so they changed their name to "Star Dust",. after they played at Cleopatra Hotel then at the Belvedere in Hilton hotel Cairo.
Later they left Samir Elsalhy and became " The Stars" and went working abroad for many years from Syria, Lebanon, Dubai, Sudan, Switzerland.
Formation of The Black Coats
The Black Coats started around 1966 as quartet with Ismail El hakim (Lead Guitar and Vocal), Sherif Zaza (drummer and lead singer), Medhat Hanafi ( Base Guitar) Magdi Aziz (Keyboard). They came from Egypt's middle and upper classes with their slick looks and fashionable clothes, with the best sound system and new instruments, they quickly became the envy of other musicians.
In May 1968 Ismail wanted to introduce a new sound to the Black Coats by playing The Blues and adding a brass section. Ismail asked us: Yehia El-Shamma (Saxophone), Magdi Bakir (Trumpet) and Magdi El Houseiny (Keyboard) ( who later became famous on his own right), to join the band after Magdi Aziz left to live in England. This achieved what Ismail was looking for and created a new and exciting sound for The Black Coats which was complemented by the fancy Hammond Keyboard (I believe this was the first time in Egyptian band had played with one). Black Coats (مناقشه) 17:11، 30 يوليه 2024 (يو تى سى)
The Black Coats part 2
تعديلThe Story of the Black Coats
Part two
We used to practice At Ismail's home in Garden City, then we all moved to his Villa in Hellwaan where we lived there and rehearsed nearly every hour and every day.
It was a different time back then, we didn't have the facilities or technologies of today, we would be over the moon if we could find someone coming back from abroad with new a record, or if we could record a song from a powerful radio station that picked up music from abroad with a cassette tape (which was often bad quality of sound).
After finding a song we liked, we would have to use our own ear to find the Cords and Lyrics, Ismail and Magdi would frantically write the chords and music down, whilst drummer Sherif Zaza would learn the beat. Every one of us worked together to hear and learn our part in the song, then try to perform it.
The first Gig for the new Black Coats was in Guizira Tennis Stadium around June 1968 Organized by Mounir Hanna and attended by few thousand people, it was an incredible launch for the new Black Coats band. At this time, it was extremely uncommon for an Egyptian band, to play at a stadium in front of thousands, it was our first big Gig, it was monumental for our band. We started with a piece of music composed by Ismail and later became our most traditional start, followed by Sherif Zaza's song "I closed my Eyes and count to ten" by Dusty Springfield.
I remember this night like it was yesterday, we were all standing by our changing room staring into the abyss of thousands of people eagerly shouting and applauding for us to start. We all experienced fear and excitement like we had never felt before and I remember Sheriff Zaza being sick from fear.
we followed this by another big show in the French school Collège De La Salle - Frères AlDaher Cairo.
Ismail add a new member to the Black coats, Noga, he was a student from Ghana and was a wonderful dancer, while we played he danced on the stage. His dancing lifted the mood greatly, and created a fun atmosphere.
The exuberating music we produced gained incredible fame, and this was the start of an upward climb into more and more success. Our sound was new to our audiences and people often remember it as revolutionary in influencing future sounds and styles.
By Yehia El-Shamma The Saxophonist with The Black Coats
to be continued... Black Coats (مناقشه) 17:16، 30 يوليه 2024 (يو تى سى)
The Black Coats part 3
تعديلBy Yehia El-Shamma The Saxophonist with The Black Coats
The Story of the Black Coats
Part three
The Black Coats at their Peak
It was the big event when we started at El-Haramlek in El-Montazah, Alexandria (a former palace for King Farouk). We played every night except Mondays, we played every Fridays and Sundays a daytime "Matinee" show for young audiences which became the most popular and sought after, as many younger audiences were captivated by our music. The popularity grew to the point where hundreds maybe thousands of people queued all the way from the gate of El-Montazah to El-Maamoura beach.
When the summer finished, we went to play at the Merryland park in Heliopolis Cairo, which was owned by Abdel Hamid Khalil. he liked the Black Coats and were happy to pay us almost twice the rates of other Nightclubs in Egypt.
The Matinee's began in Cairo as well, which was the first time Cairo had really seen Matinee shows for a bands such as ours. The following year we did the same in El-Haramlek then Merryland again with more fame and success, we felt our potential as a band was never ending and we were excited to see how far we could go...
Our Repertoire:
the songs we played was chosen by all of us but mainly by Ismail El hakim, he was influenced greatly by Otis Redding, Santana and the style of Jimmy Hendrix.
He Adored Otis Redding and introduced him to me, I was taken by him and I think of Otis Redding as one of the greatest soul artist ever.
Many of the music played and sung by us was composed and written by Ismail himself, which not many people knew that and many thought it was some famous songs we copied from the radio.
here is some of the songs we used to play:
" I closed my Eyes and count to ten" by Dusty Springfield
"Respect" Otis Redding/" Aretha Franklin
"Black Magic Woman" Santana
"I love you" Eddie Holman
"The music play" Matt Monro
"Mamy blue" Pop Tops
"Michelle" (The Beatles)
"Let it be" (The Beatles)
" yester me, yester you, yesterday" Steve Wonder
" If ever you're lonely" Petula Clark
"Yesterday" the Beatles
"My Way" Frank Sinatra
"Speak softly" Andy Williams from the God Father.
"The Way it used to be" Engelbert Humperdick
"Those were the days" Mary Hopkins
"Dellila" Tom Jones
"Sympathy" Rare Bird
"Love Story" Andy Williams
"Love me tonight" Tom Jones
"To love sombody" The Bee Gees
"Je T'aime-mon monplus" Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin
"Spooky" by Dusty Springfield
"We made it Happen" Engelbert Humperdick
"It's impossible" Perry Como
"I've ugotta get a message to you" The Bee Gees
"Try a little Tenderness" Otis Redding
"na na na hey hey goodbye" by Steam
"Stranger in the Night" Frank Sinatra
"Somthing" Frank Sinatra (The Beatles)
" you don't have to say you love me" Dusty Springfield
"All of a sudden" Matt Monro
"Hard to Handle" Black Crows
"Tramp" Otis Redding
"Security" Otis Redding
"dizzy" Tommy Roe
"I'll never fall in love again" Tom Jones
"I who have nothing" Tom Jones
"A time for us" Tom Jones
"Just say I love her" Tom Jones
"I've gotta get a message to you" The Bee Gees
"get ready" temptations
"25 or 6 to 4" chicago
"War" Edwin Starr
"Love is Blue" Andy Williams
"A Time for us" Andy Williams
"Daydream" Wallace Collection. Laughing Caval
"Take my heart" Engelbert Humperdic
to be continued...to be continued. Black Coats (مناقشه) 17:22، 30 يوليه 2024 (يو تى سى)
The Black Coats part 4
تعديلThe Story of the Black Coats
Part four (Final Part):
The following year we played in the summer at El-Haramlek again then in winter we played at Tamerina in Alharam, Cairo.
Through this time we lived in a dream world and never thought of the time or the future, we had many people taking our pictures and taking recordings on their cassette machine, many pictures been published in the newspaper and magazine, but none of us kept these precious pictures or recording...(to this day and I hope a recording might be discovered somewhere)
There were no video cameras or mobile phones like today, the TV and Radio were very reluctant on showing this Western music as some were worried about its influence on young audiences.
Times Changing:
As the 1970s began to roll in, so did the concern from some famous Egyptian artists who started to worry about their own popularity in the face of this new Western music in Egypt that young audiences were so interested in. Such as the music of the Black Coats and Les Petite Chats . In turn, many Newspapers reported about this new craze, falsely suggesting that such music has a negative effect on young audiences by encouraging them to dance too closely and consume alcohol. This was completely untrue. The Majority of our Matinee shows were young audiences, and the tickets only allowed the entrance fee and one soft drink. Our audience was there for the love of the music, as were we.
The Government authority at this time with the influence of those famous artist believed it might be dangerous for the young ones, and soon enough they stared to put restriction on renewing licenses for the Matinee shows and restrictions on night time closing. Some nightclubs could not renew their license at all and had to close down. This was a difficult time for many bands, as finding work was difficult due to many Nightclubs turning their backs in favour of Arabic shows to avoid controversy or licensing problems, this was the start of the decline of this type of bands although great and wonderful talented musicians came after and did their best to shine but they suffer the same struggle.
Many bands had to perform Arabic and Franco Arab music in order to find jobs as the number of audience declined in favour of Arabic singers and dancers.
This ultimately led me to leaving the Black Coats with a heavy heart as I was married and had to earn a living. As did other musicians during this time, I immigrated to England where I started a new life. Also, Magdi Bakir and Medhat Hanafi left the band, whilst Ashraf Salmawy (Guitar) joined in.
The Black Coats played one more summer in El-Haramlek without the Brass section. Then in Winter 1971 , Magdi El Houseiny left too and Ezzat abu Oaf joined in for a few months, they played at Mina House Alharm. The Black Coats' last performance was in 1971 at Grenada Heliopolis with Mohamed Helal in Keyboard instead of Ezzat.
Ismail El Hakim was appalled of the type of customers who kept asking him to play Arabic music and he found the type of audience did not understand or care for his music. This caused him a huge sadness that all his life's work became wasted, he decide to give it up, and stopped playing. He struggles with depression and started drinking heavily (only Whiskey never ever had drugs) but he had a weak liver which ultimately led to his early death in 1979. God bless his Soul, he was one of the greatest men I've ever known as a friend, artist and human being, I still miss him so much..
Through this early years Les Petit Chats who started at Miami Casino then in 1967, then at Elagami hotel, then at Omar Elkhaiyam Boat in Cairo and at Palestine hotel in ElMontazah Alexandria.
We were always friends and used to meet after finishing every night at Miami shopping area and sit together having early breakfast and laugh and joke together.
They had to stop too performing few years later, it took them more than ten years for them to return again with huge success as many fans were eager to hear this great band again, it was a good feeling that they had the desire and the strength to come back and keep going and keep the legacy of this amazing music for almost fifty years witch is remarkable and tribute to every member of Les Petite Chats.
We shared the same success, but The Black Coats played a completely different style, we played English and American songs, we never played French, Italian or Spanish songs.
Those were the days of the Egyptian Rock-age, and for many they were the 'good old days', when the Egyptian groups were musicians performing as a "band" not just musicians playing for a singer.
Thanks to all of you who made this time when it was all started, one of the best times in our memory.
Love to everyone.
Yehia El-Shamma
black coats