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Joe Amar – An Israeli Entertainment Star
Joe Amar was an outlier in the Israeli entertainment scene.
A new immigrant from Morocco and a kippah-wearing observant Jew, who did not belong to the mainstream of Israeli society in the 1950s – he did not grow up in a secular family that came from Europe, was not the son of a Holocaust survivor family, nor a descendant of a family of pioneers and swamp drainers, did not acquire education in the Hebrew education system, and did not boast about reading stories by S.Y. Agnon, or poems by Tchernichovsky.
Even his "Mizrahiness" was unusual.
He emphasized it, directed his music towards it, added traditional instruments like the oud and qamancha, and sought to introduce it into the musical mainstream. Into the very heart of Israeli culture that looked to the music played in Europe and America.
In the music industry, there were already singers of Mizrahi origin, popular in their own right, such as: Aliza Azikri, Yossi Banai, Yona Atari, Lilith Nagar, and others. These artists "didn't make a big deal" out of their country of origin – when they sang a song, they simply sang a song. Without considering whether their Mizrahi identity had meaning or questioning whether it contributed or didn't contribute to their success.
The Mizrahi singers of the 1950s and 60s integrated into the existing culture and followed the paths paved for anyone who wanted to succeed in entertainment: Israeli military ensembles or theater stage.
Joe Amar walked a path he paved for himself.
Without asking favors from anyone, and without being nice to anyone to advance his career. He didn't even have a manager. He managed his performance schedule himself, he chose the musicians, the list of songs for performances and recordings.
And he succeeded. Big time.
Within five years, since his first album was released, more and more of his albums were released, selling thousands of copies. His songs were played frequently on the radio, among the songs of other Israeli singers. His performance schedule was packed – in public halls, on Independence Day entertainment stages, at state ceremonies, and at festive events.
His performances and albums added another hue to Israeli music, representing a large segment of the population – all the new immigrants who came from Arab countries, and were labeled as "Bnei Edot HaMizrach" (people of Eastern communities). They saw him as the man who connected their culture to the dominant Western culture.
The Night of Israeli Stars show. Summer 1964. Produced by an American television network as part of a program aimed at bringing Israeli culture to Americans
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In the early 1960s, the mayor of Ramat Gan invited him to come and live in his city, and arranged an apartment for him there.
Joe Amar left the moshav for urban life, close to the big city of Tel Aviv, close to the cultural center of Israel.
Tel Aviv was the city of writers and poets, painters and sculptors, singers and impresarios and all those who were called "Bohemians" – those who led Israeli culture in all its forms and forged its new path. The Sabra spirit. The Hebraic spirit. The secular.
There, the great love songs of Nathan Alterman, Haim Hefer, and Moshe Vilensky, and all the creators whose names had already become famous, were written. There were the big theaters, the important performance halls, and the production studios and record companies. There were the Hebrew newspaper offices, the restaurants and clubs and the esteemed entertainment venues, and there lived the glittering celebrities whose names appeared in the gossip columns of the newspapers.
His residence in the central region was convenient for his musical career. For his business.
He did not connect with the Bohemians, and he did not have a regular seat at "Cafe Kassit," where they used to meet and exchange conversations and ideas that would turn into a song, a sketch, a painting or a sculpture, a scene in a movie.
He was a religious, observant man, wearing a kippah, a devoted family man – married with children, modest in his ways. Not a party-goer and not a Bohemian. A music creator who knew what he wanted. Appearing in elegant attire and focused on the style that defined him. Taking care of his career and treating it seriously – from it he earned his living and from it he upgraded his status and became a well-known singer in Israeli society. Not an idol of teenage girls and not a hedonist seeking attention. Not chasing journalists and not pushing himself into music or gossip columns.
Despite the fame he achieved, he did not disconnect from the roots from which he grew.
In the performance schedule he organized for himself, he made sure to include joyful events of a religious and ethnic nature, and visited communities of North African origin, where he felt at home. There he could find satisfaction and receive love, warmth, and admiration. For them, he recorded several albums with songs in Moroccan. He was their pride and they were the source of his singing and creation.
Saturdays and holidays were not scheduled in his performance calendar.
These he kept for synagogues. There he did what he truly loved to be: a paytan (liturgical poet) and a hazzan (cantor). The combination of entertainment and tradition took him far, to Jews from all corners of the globe.
Joe Amar in a live performance in Paris, 1962
To listen and watch directly on YouTube click here
Just five years after his immigration to Israel and after breaking through the walls of Israeli entertainment, Joe Amar's name reached the ears of impresarios and leaders of Jewish communities around the world.
He performed in Turkey and Iran, in France and Belgium, in Italy and Britain, in the United States and Canada. Before Jewish and non-Jewish audiences, before Ashkenazi and Mizrahi audiences – everyone was captivated by the Jewish singer who came from Israel and sang and played unique sounds, different from Western music and its rhythm that dominated global music markets.
He sang in Hebrew, he sang in Moroccan, in Yemenite, and even in Yiddish. He sang in synagogues and small halls, and filled large concert halls in Europe and America. The most prestigious of all was Carnegie Hall in New York, where he was invited to sing alongside Yaffa Yarkoni, "the queen of Hebrew song", as part of a concert tour organized by American Jewish impresarios.
Besides entertainment shows and concerts, he used to go out every year during the "High Holy Days" between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, to communities that invited him to perform as a Hazzan in their synagogues. The requests to him were so numerous that he had to choose the most suitable one for him.
1966 was a peak year in Joe Amar's career. He released his first albums, including "Greatest Hits," which sold well, performed almost all over Israel, in small and large halls, and as he wrote in his autobiography: "From time to time, the possibilities of making small trips abroad appealed to me, if only for a change of atmosphere."
His last trip that year was to Buenos Aires, Argentina, a country that few Israeli entertainment artists had the privilege of reaching.
Six months later, the Six-Day War broke out.
Israeli society changed its face, and Israeli music took a turn that took Joe Amar to a completely different place.
Joe Amar in a duet with Yaffa Yarkoni in the song "Elem Hen" (Charming Youth), 1966
To watch directly on YouTube click here
In the next chapter:
Israeli music changes its sounds, and Joe Amar reaches the next musical station in his wanderings. To go to Chapter Four click on the link:
This is the third chapter in the biography of Joe Amar – a singer, composer, musical creator who laid the foundations for Mizrahi music in Israel, defined it, and introduced it to the ears of Israelis.
For reading all chapters of the series in the table of contents, click on the following link:
Joe Amar - Introduction to Mizrahi Music in Israel
(5 chapters - separate link for each chapter)
Research, writing, and editing:
Shlomi Rosenfeld
