Pioneering music producer Ricardo Pachón dies at the age of 89

Camarón de la Isla, Lole y Manuel, Rocío Jurado, Pata Negra and Sacramento are just a few of the artists produced and championed by Ricardo Pachón, who died on Wednesday aged 89 in his native Seville. Born in the Andalusian capital in 1937, Pachón was a highly respected sound pioneer who helped transform flamenco in the late 20th century and played a key role in the birth of what became known as Andalusian rock.

His name is attached to many of the landmark recordings of modern flamenco and Andalusian rock, from the 1970s through to the early 21st century. Pachón will be remembered above all for producing La Leyenda del Tiempo (1979), Camarón de la Isla’s enduring masterpiece, and also for helping shape the sound of bands such as Veneno, Pata Negra and Smash, which revolutionised guitar music in Spain.

It was with Smash that Pachón first demonstrated his musical instincts in the early 1970s. The long-haired psychedelic group from Seville was steered by Pachón towards flamenco, most notably on tracks such as El Garrotín. The result helped lay the foundations for Andalusian rock, later popularised by bands including Triana and Imán, both of whom Pachón also produced.

From 1975, Pachón concentrated on developing the musical career of Lole y Manuel, becoming the creative force behind their first three albums: Nuevo día, Pasaje del agua and Romero Verde. They embodied a new generation of flamenco artists determined to break with tradition, attracting a large following as Spain emerged from the Franco dictatorship.

Pachón began working with Camarón de la Isla towards the end of the ‘70s, taking on the production of what would become the singer’s most celebrated recording, La leyenda del tiempo. The album demonstrated how flamenco could break free from purism, embrace new influences and sit comfortably alongside jazz and rock.

The partnership between Camarón and Pachón continued throughout the 1980s, producing highly regarded albums including Calle Real, Viviré and Soy Gitano.

A familiar figure on Seville’s music and arts scene, Pachón also worked with the mercurial and hugely talented Silvio Fernández Melgarejo, known simply as Silvio. He produced another landmark of Spanish underground music, Veneno’s self-titled 1977 album, which paved the way for Pata Negra, a Spanish flamenco-rock band founded by Raimundo Amador and his brother Rafael.

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