As long as you argue with me -- Panos Gavalas & Bemba Fineti
Here's a haunting tune from the great Vassilis Tsitsanis, sung by Mr. Gavalas and Ms. Fineti. Here's what I could find out about Panos Gavalas (from a translation of Greek Wikipedia) -- His first instrument was harmonica, as a youth, he played with "The Hawaiian Girls", and his career lasted until his death in 1988. As is often the case in this sexist world, there is no information on the web about Bemba Fineti.
From the 1962 film Orphan in Foreign Hands, which according to the ever-helpful greekmovies.com site is a fairly standard rich-boy-poor-girl-disaproving-father title, which includes 1) a baby, 2) a nine year split, and 3) a fiancee. All ends well, as these type of films are wont to do -- fiancé is discarded, couple is reunited, and little girl gets father she always had longed for...
Tsitsanis appears here playing the bouzouki (to the right of the singer). And for the purposes of this post it is well worth noting that he is playing a three course* bouzouki without visible amplification (the bouzouki player (apparently a fellow named Koinousis) to the right is playing a four course bouzouki with a pickup).
I note this, because my friend Tom Diamant recently sent me a link to a most excellent website: The Radical Movement for Rebetiko Dechiotification and Bouzouki Detetrachordization. As you might guess from the title, the site is focused on the alleged twin evils of four course bouzoukis, and of the changes wrought by the commercial success of Manolis Chiotis. I can't stress enough what a wonderful site this is (although I do have differing views on M.C.).
Anyways, my sense is that the web-person at the above-mentioned site would definitely prefer Tsitsanis on the right to Koinousis on the left.
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