Roy Brown (Puerto Rican musician)
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Roy Brown Ramírez (born 1950 in Orlando, Florida) is a composer, singer and a fervent believer in the cause for the independence of Puerto Rico. Some of his songs have been performed by several renowned international artists.
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[edit] Early years
Brown was born in Orlando, Florida, the son of an American naval officer and his Puerto Rican wife. Brown was raised during turbulent times in the United States. Among the important issues of those days were racism, the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War. Most of these events went on to form an important part in his ideals and his way of thinking.
In the late 60's, Brown enrolled in the University of Puerto Rico. He enjoyed writing poems and while he was a student, he became actively involved in groups against the Vietnam War, poor living conditions, and specially in favor of the independence movement of Puerto Rico. Brown was also involved in the student disturbances which spread throughout the university, by participating in the protest and picket lines.
[edit] First Recordings
During this period he recorded two albums, "Yo Protesto" (1970) (I Protest); and "Basta Ya, Revolucion". During that decade he also recorded: "Roy Brown III"; "Profecia de Urayoán" (Prophecy of Urayoán); and "Distancias" (Distances). Brown's personal life started to suffer because of his political beliefs. He got into trouble with the police, his father and brother didn't want anything to do with him and he was fired from his job in the university. His mother was also dying.
In the late 70's, Brown moved to New York and formed a group called "Aires Bucaneros", with fellow musicians Zoraida Santiago, Carl Royce, Pablo Nieves, and Rucco Gandía, among others. The group traveled and performed in many countries such as Greece, Germany, Spain, Mexico, Ecuador, Cuba, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, etc. He recorded "Aires Bucaneros" (1978); "Casi Alba" (1980); "Nuyol" (1983); "Arboles" (Trees) (1988) and "Balada de Otro Tiempo" (1989) (Ballad of Another Time). "Arboles" was produced by Silvio Rodríguez, in Cuba.
[edit] Return To Puerto Rico
In 1988, Brown returned to Puerto Rico and held a concert at the University of Puerto Rico which completely sold out. The first time he held a concert alone at the same place in the 1970's, only thirteen people showed up.
Among Brown's recordings in the 1990s were: "Distancias en Vivo" (1990) (Distances Live); "Poetas Puertorriqueños" (1991) (Puerto Rican Poets); "Nocturno" (1991) (Nightfall); "En Fuga" (1995) (Fleeing); In 1996, he released a two-disc album called "Coleccion" (1996) (Collection); It contains the best of his musical trajectory through the Puerto Rican music scene. In 1997, Silvio Rodríguez visited Puerto Rico and held a concert with Brown at the Hiram Bithorn Stadium, with an audience of 19,000 people.
[edit] Later Years
In 2000 he reunited with his Aires Bucaneros partner, Zoraida Santiago. Together they released the album, "Bohemia". Showing signs of musical growth, Roy continued to release quality albums in the late 90's and early 2000's with "Poeta en San Juan" (1999) (Poet in San Juan); "Noche de Roy Brown" (1999) (Roy Brown's Night); "Album" (2000) and "Balcon del Fin del Mundo" (2004) (Balcony at the end of World).
On June 7, 2003, Brown let "WPKN" FM of Bridgeport, Connecticut, record his set in the historic "Plaza de la Revolucion" in Lares, Puerto Rico. "WPKN" also recorded Roy's "Ofelia" live from the Nuyorican Cafe in Old San Juan. On February 8, 2004, Brown held a concert in the Antonio Paoli Hall at the Luis A. Ferre Center of the Fine Arts in San Juan to celebrate his 35 years of music trajectory and the shows were all sold-out. Brown performs regularly in the Claridad festival, honors Claridad, a Puerto Rican newspaper which advocates independence.
Joan Manuel Serrat, Susana Baca, Fiel a la Vega, Cultura Profética, Celia Cruz and Lucecita Benitez are among the many artists that have recorded songs written by Roy.
In 2006 Brown recorded an album, titled Que Vaya Bien, with Tao Rodríguez-Seeger from The Mammals and Tito Auger, the frontman for Puerto Rican rock group Fiel A La Vega. A single from this record, "El Banquete de Los Sánchez" (whose lyrics were based on an essay by Puerto Rican writer Luis Rafael Sanchez), was censored by some Puerto Rican radio stations due to the use of the slang term "chicho" (a love handle in Puerto Rican Spanish, but erroneously interpreted in this case as a verb tense for the slang term for sexual intercourse, "chichar"). Public backlash against the censorship attempt guaranteed radio airplay and good sales for the record (reportedly 30,000 copies in two months) during late 2006.
After marrying Puerto Rican former tennis player Emily Viqueira, Brown moved to Mayagüez, Puerto Rico (Viqueira's birthplace), where he currently resides.
[edit] Discography
- Yo Protesto (1969)
- Aires Bucaneros (1978)
- Profecía de Urayoán (1979)
- Nuyol (1983)
- Arboles (1988)
- Balada de Otro Tiempo (1989)
- Distancias en Vivo (1990)
- Nocturno (1991)
- Poetas Puertorriqueños (1991)
- Aires Bucaneros/Casi Alba (1993)
- En Fuga (1994)
- Colección (1996)
- Poeta en San Juan (1998)
- Distancias Clásico (1999)
- La Noche de Roy Brown (1999)
- Album (music)|Album (2000)
- Balcón del Fin del Mundo (2004)
- Que Vaya Bien (2006)
