Evangelina Sobredo Galanes, known as Cecilia, (11 October 1948 – 2 August 1976) was a Spanish singer-songwriter. She took her stage name from the song "
Cecilia
Cecilia is a personal name originating in the name of Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music.
The name has been popularly used in Europe (particularly the United Kingdom and Italy, where in 2018 it was the 43rd most popular name for girls born ...
" by
Simon and Garfunkel.
Biography
The daughter of diplomats, she was born in
Madrid, spent her childhood in several countries (Spain, The United Kingdom, The United States, Jordan, Portugal) and was raised by an American nun. She attained a bachelor's degree in law in Spain before deciding to dedicate herself to music and composition. Her ironic and lyrical songs, sung in a tiny voice, contributed to the
existentialist
Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and valu ...
and
feminist
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
movements of Spanish ''canción protesta'' (''protest songs'') of the 1960s and 1970s.
Career
Her first steps in the music field were with the group Expresión, featuring
Nacho Sáez de Tejada and
Julio Seijas. She wrote and sang in English. This band only published a single in 1970. In 1971 she signed up a contract as a solo artist with
CBS-Spain. Julio Seijas remained as a collaborative musician on Cecilia´s band. She tried to launch her career as 'Eva' but that name was already registered and in use by another
Madrilenian artist. In those days, the CBS-Spain label had release
Simon and Garfunkel´s hit "Cecilia" and Evangelina took on that stage name.
During her musical career as Cecilia, she released 3 LPs and 9 singles that were very well received by Spanish public. Cecilia was also a successful artist in Latin America. Her recordings were released in most Latin-speaking countries. She performed live in Colombia, Venezuela and Puerto Rico. She represented
Spain in the
fourth edition of the
OTI Festival in 1975, which was held in
San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to:
Places Argentina
* San Juan Province, Argentina
* San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province
* San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province
* San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...
, Puerto Rico with the song "Amor de medianoche" (Midnight Love). She ended up first runner-up. In 1976 she was working on several artistic projects, such as a tribute to poet
Ramón del Valle-Inclán
Ramón María del Valle-Inclán y de la Peña (in Vilanova de Arousa, Galicia, Spain, 28 October 1866 – Santiago de Compostela, 5 January 1936) was a Spanish dramatist, novelist and member of the Spanish Generation of 98. He is considered p ...
and launching her music career in the U.S. She was also developing some work as a musical producer.
Death
On the 2nd of August 1976 Cecilia and the musicians of her band drove back to Madrid after a concert in Vigo, Galicia. Early in the morning, they were involved in a car accident near
Benavente. She, along with musician Carlos de la Iglesia, died. She was buried in the Madrilenian
Cementerio de la Almudena
The ''Cementerio de Nuestra Señora de La Almudena'' ( en, Our Lady of Almudena Cemetery), former ''Necrópolis del Este'' (East cemetery) is a cemetery in Madrid, Spain. It is the largest in Madrid and one of the largest in Western Europe. The nu ...
.
Style and influences
While Spanish singer songwriters such as
Mari Trini
Mari may refer to:
Places
*Mari, Paraíba, Brazil, a city
*Mari, Cyprus, a village
*Mari, Greece, a village, site of ancient town of Marius (Laconia), Marius
*Mari, Iran (disambiguation), places in Iran
*Mari, Punjab, a village and a union counc ...
or
Joan Manuel Serrat
Joan Manuel Serrat i Teresa (; born 27 December 1943) is a Spanish musician, singer and composer. He is considered one of the most important figures of modern, popular music in both the Spanish and Catalan languages.
Serrat's lyrical style ...
followed French influences, Cecilia introduced a new style in the 1970s. She brought and combined into her music her American and Middle East experiences and also looked into Spanish folk tradition and literature. She sang in English and Spanish. Cecilia was influenced by
The Beatles,
Paul Simon,
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
and
Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...
as she said in several press interviews. She performed and recorded songs of these artists. Her first single as "Cecilia" featured the song "Reuníos" asking The Beatles to get back together as a group. The front cover of her first album ''Cecilia'' shows Evangelina wearing a boxing glove, a clear reference to Paul Simon's song "
The Boxer".
Cecilia wrote and recorded her own compositions in her studio recordings. The only exceptions are "Lost little thing", cover of
Lennon and
McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. On ...
's "
Dear Prudence" and "Amor de Medianoche" by
Juan Carlos Calderón and Evangelina Sobredo. She composed about 70 songs. The exact number is unknown because some materials remain unpublished. She also wrote several songs for other Spanish artists such as
Julio Iglesias
Julio José Iglesias de la Cueva (; born 23 September 1943) is a Spanish singer, songwriter and former professional footballer. Iglesias is recognized as the most commercially successful Spanish singer in the world and one of the top record ...
,
Massiel
María de los Ángeles Felisa Santamaría Espinosa (born 2 August 1947), professionally known as Massiel, is a Spanish pop singer. She won the Eurovision Song Contest 1968 with the song " La, la, la", beating the British pop singer Cliff Richar ...
, Simone or
Mocedades
Mocedades () is a Spanish singing group from the Basque Country, who represented Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1973 with the hit song "Eres Tú". Since June 2014, ''Mocedades'' has been the name of two bands: one with Izaskun Uranga ...
. She cultivated other artistic fields beside music: poetry, painting and potteryware.
Censorship
Like many other artists in Spain, Cecilia had to deal with the censorship of
General Franco´s
government. Some lyrics and photographs from the albums had to be slightly altered or even removed to be approved. Those elements with references to feminism or to the
Spanish Civil War were specially conflictuous. The song "Un millón de muertos" ("A million dead") after being altered and presented as "Un millón de sueños" ("A million dreams") was not approved to be played on the radio ("No radiable"). ''Cecilia 2'' was the name that replaced "Me quedaré soltera" ("I will remain single") as the album title due to the feminism behind that statement. The front cover of the record, originally showing a pregnant Cecilia, was promptly removed by the record company. The super-hit "Mi querida España" had some words deleted on the final version to minimize subtle references to the Civil War and the end of the dictatorship. However, the authentic lyrics made it to print and came out in the inner side of the
gatefold
A gatefold cover or gatefold LP is a form of packaging for gramophone record, LP records that became popular in the mid-1960s. A gatefold cover, when folded, is the same size as a standard LP cover (i.e., a 12½ inch, or 32.7 centimetre square) ...
cover of the album.
Legacy
There have been posthumous compilations and a re-edition of her songs sung by famous artists like
Merche Corisco,
Miguel Bosé
Luis Miguel González Bosé (born 3 April 1956), usually known as Miguel Bosé, is a Spanish pop new wave singer and actor.
Early life
Bosé was born in San Fernando Hospital in Panama City, Panama, the son of Italian actress Lucia Bosè ( ...
,
Ana Belén,
Manolo Tena, and
Julio Iglesias
Julio José Iglesias de la Cueva (; born 23 September 1943) is a Spanish singer, songwriter and former professional footballer. Iglesias is recognized as the most commercially successful Spanish singer in the world and one of the top record ...
in 1996. Some of her songs such as "Un ramito de violetas" and "Dama, dama" have been covered by many artists worldwide:
Rocío Dúrcal
María de los Ángeles de las Heras Ortiz (4 October 1944 – 25 March 2006), better known professionally as Rocío Dúrcal (), was a Spanish singer and actress. Widely successful in Mexico, she earned the sobriquet of ''Reina de las Rancheras'' ...
,
David Broza
David Simon Berwick Broza ( he, דויד ברוזה; born September 4, 1955) is an Israeli singer-songwriter. His music mixes modern pop with Spanish music.
Biography
David Broza was born in Haifa, Israel. His father was an Israeli–British bus ...
,
Manzanita,
Natalia Oreiro
Natalia Marisa Oreiro Iglesias (; born 19 May 1977) is a Uruguayan actress, singer, songwriter, model, television presenter and fashion designer. Oreiro began her career in telenovelas. Since 2008 she has switched to work primarily in films. O ...
,
Fangoria,
Amaral and
Pablo Milanés
Pablo Milanés Arias (24 February 1943 – 22 November 2022) was a Cuban guitar player and singer. He was one of the founders of the Cuban nueva trova, along with Silvio Rodríguez and Noel Nicola. His music, originating in the Trova, Son and ...
among many others.
Discography
Singles
A total of 11 singles were published during Cecilia's life. 6 of her songs hit the number 1 on Spanish best-selling and radio charts: "Dama, Dama", "Nada de nada", "Andar", "Un ramito de violetas", "Mi querida España" and "Amor de Medianoche". After her death, 3 more singles and a CD-single were released.
* "Try catch the sun" / "Have you ever had a blue day?", ''Expresión'', featuring Nacho Sáez de Tejada (
Nuestro Pequeño Mundo) and Julio Seijas
* "Mañana" / "Reuníos", 1971
* "Fui"/" Dama, Dama", 1972
* "Nada de nada" / "Mi gata Luna",1972
* "Andar" / "Me quedaré soltera", 1973
* "Canción de amor" / "Un millón de sueños", 1973
* "Un ramito de violetas" / "La primera comunión", 1974
* "Mi querida España" / "Nuestra tierra", 1975
* "Amor de medianoche" / "Decir adiós", 1975
* "Tu y yo" / "Una guerra", 1976
* "A million reasons" / "Come the wind", 1976 (Only released in the USA
45 Discography for Epic Records
/ref>)
* "El viaje" / "Lluvia", 1976
* "Doña Estefaldina" / "Nana del prisionero", 1983
* "El juego de la vida" / "Lady in the limousine",1983
* "Desde que tú te has ido", 1996 (only CD-single)
LPs
* ''Cecilia'', 1972. Track list: "Fui", "Dama, Dama", "Señor y dueño", "Mi gata Luna", "Llora", "Portraits and Pictures", "Al son del clarín", "Canción de desamor", "Fauna", "Mama don´t you cry", "Nada de nada", "Lost little thing".
* ''Cecilia 2'', 1973. Track list: "Andar", "Me quedaré soltera", "Si no fuera porque...", "Con los ojos en paz", "Canción de amor", "Un millón de sueños", "Cuando yo era pequeña", "Me iré de aquí", "Mi ciudad", "Equilibrista".
* ''Un ramito de violetas'' 1975. Track list: "Mi querida España", "Decir adiós", "Sevilla", "La primera comunión", "Nuestro cuarto", "Esta tierra", "Mi pobre piano", "Un ramito de violetas", "Don Roque", "Tu retrato".
* ''Amor de Medianoche'', 1975. A greatest hits collection, released because of the OTI Festival. The voice was newly recorded in all songs except "Un ramito de violetas". All songs were remixed. "Llora" was taken half step lower, so the song sounds slower and has longer timing than the original mix. Track list: "Amor de medianoche", "Andar", "Un ramito de violetas", "Nada de nada", "Un millón de sueños", "Mi querida España", "Fui", "Señor y dueño", "Llora", "Dama, dama".
Later collections
* ''Canciones inéditas'', 1983. Posthumous album that includes unpublished songs and discarded materials from previous recordings. Track list: "El juego de la vida", "Doña Estefaldina", "Lady in the limousine", "Tocan a muerto", "Nana del prisionero", "Perdimos algo", "El Testamento", "Como puede vivir", "Sister of the sand", "Quiero vivir palabras", "Soldadito de plomo", "Between the blinds".
* ''20 Grandes canciones'', 1990
* ''Desde que tu te has ido'', 1996
* ''Un millón de sueños'', 2007
* ''Cecilia inédita en concierto'', 2011. 2 CD´s/ 2 LP´s set featuring live radio performances of Cecilia, unpublished for 35 years.
* ''Mi Muñeca'', 2013. Posthumous album that includes unpublished songs and uncensored versions of her greatest hits.
References
Bibliography
* Madrid, José: Equilibrista, la vida de Cecilia. Madrid, Ocho y medio, 2011
External links
*
* www.cecilianet.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cecilia
1948 births
1976 deaths
Road incident deaths in Spain
Singers from Madrid
Writers from Madrid
20th-century Spanish singers
Burials at Cementerio de la Almudena
20th-century Spanish women singers