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Joe Amar – Relocation and Symbol
1967.
The Six-Day War and its glorious conclusion swept Israeli society into a wave of euphoria.
After the war, victory albums and victory songs were released, glorifying the IDF and its heroism. Nimble impresarios collected 12 songs that dealt with the new reality and produced an album titled: "Jerusalem of Gold," named after the first song on the record. That song, the most significant of those days, expressed the sentiments of Israelis following the conquest of the Old City of Jerusalem and the reunification of the city after two thousand years of exile.
The album, which sold over 100,000 copies, ushered in a new era in Israeli music.
The beginning of the era was marked by a heavy dose of patriotism – songs of praise for the IDF and the heroic soldiers, for the Western Wall and Rachel's Tomb, for Israel, which was a small country and suddenly became very large, from the Golan Heights to the Suez Canal. Then came a wave of Israeli military ensembles songs, and Hassidic music, and rock and pop songs inspired by the music played in Europe and America.
The music industry began to flourish, and the country filled with Hebrew songs, both old and new, with rich productions and arrangements.
Stepping onto the musical stage were graduates of Israeli military ensembles, along with duos and trios who swiftly dominated the scene, becoming sought-after stars for both performances and recordings. They enjoyed the adoration of teenagers, and their songs were ranked on the hit parade that determined fates, deciding who would be popular and who would be forgotten and disappear from the scene.
Joe Amar was not in Israel during the war.
He was abroad, on a concert tour, and arrived immediately after, to do what all other artists did – he was drafted into the reserves and went out to the field to entertain the soldiers with his songs. When he finished his reserve service, he returned to continue his concert tour in great America.
None of his songs were included in the bestselling album, "Jerusalem of Gold."
He tried to integrate into the new wave and released an album of victory songs: "Israel's Songs Of Victory." And he contributed his own song to the Israeli war songs: "From Quneitra to Kantara." The song was played on the radio occasionally but might hint at the direction he took in those days.
The inscription on it is in English, and it displays the new map of Israel with its new borders after the victory in the Six-Day War. This design has a wink to the Jewish audience outside Israel, especially to Americans and impresarios who invited him again and again, and were willing to pay him a lot of money to sign him for a regular performance contract.
The song "From Quneitra to Kantara"
On Jo Amar's victory songs album.
To listen click on the image or here on the YouTube link
Joe Amar's style receded to the sidelines of the musical arena.
He had nothing new to offer in the entertainment market that began to flourish after the Six-Day War. He settled for releasing compilation albums of his Greatest Hits and interspersed them with cover versions of well-known Hebrew songs, those that were popularized by other performers.
Even within Mizrahi families, enthusiasm for the style waned, even among his home audience, the Moroccan immigrants.
The younger generation of new immigrants grew into the new reality and aspired to integrate into Israeli society and its culture. What culture offered them, they took – they listened to Hebrew songs with the new rhythms and danced to the sounds of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and all the bands and singers who changed music in Israel, as in the rest of the world.
Their parents, who had matured and undergone more difficult absorption struggles in Israeli life, continued to love his songs and to yearn for their forgotten shared memories from their absorption years, but Joe Amar could not earn a living from this.
Big money awaited him in the United States.
He continued to fly on the Israel-America route, and extended his stay there more and more, enjoying a warm and wealthy embrace from affluent Jews and Israeli émigrés. He stayed there for long weeks, carrying with him a heritage, tradition, and a unique Israeli flavor that captivated his admiring audience in the large Israeli diaspora of New York.
There he also sang songs in Yiddish for the enjoyment of American Jews who had immigrated there from Europe.
The frequent travels tired him, until he finally decided that his place was there, in the distant diaspora.
In 1969 – just thirteen years after he immigrated to Israel by ship, he left it by passenger plane. He packed suitcases and flew with his wife's children and his four children to live in Brooklyn, a conservative Jewish stronghold. He signed a performance contract with well-known impresarios and performed in clubs familiar to every Israeli who visited America. From there he continued to perform all over the world, and there isn't a single continent he hadn't visited in one of the Jewish communities – for an entertainment performance or as a Hazzan (cantor) in synagogues.
Every year he made brief visits home to Israel, for one or two concerts, to perform before his veteran fans who were already rooted in the country, to remind them of forgotten memories from their shared past during the absorption years.
His forays into the country kept him in the consciousness of Israelis, from all communities and sectors, who honored him and kept a warm spot for him in their hearts. He brought solace to their souls, and every one of his performances kept a whispering ember of music with an original Mizrahi flavor alive – a style that was gradually disappearing amidst the waves of new music sweeping the country.
The ember continued to whisper for a few more years until it began to burn again. From then on and for many years.
In the early 1970s, the first "Mizrahi Song Festival" was launched. The festival officially, and with state patronage, brought Mizrahi music to the stage.
They didn't yet know exactly what this style was, or how it sounded, but it was clear that it gave expression to a third of Israel's citizens, the "Mizrahi communities" ("Mizrahim"). To the culture they left behind in their countries of origin. To the music their ears were accustomed to, and which was different from all other musical styles heard in Israel.
Since then, and for many years, the festival continued to be held annually, cementing Mizrahi music in the consciousness of Israelis until it became a significant part of its culture.
Joe Amar, the pioneer of all Mizrahi singers who came after him, was a guest of honor at these festivals.
Joe Amar as a guest performer at the Mizrahi Song Festival
To listen and watch directly on YouTube click here
For two decades, Joe Amar cultivated a rich musical career, lived comfortably, and was an integral part of the musical scene of American Jews in their communities from New York to California.
From his comfortable position in America, he observed what was happening in Israel, saw the Mizrahi singers who continued his path, and found satisfaction.
After 18 years, longing for Israel struck him, and he tried to resettle there.
Here he found new stars who had adopted his style and taken it to other places. They gave him a place of honor but did not promote him much.
He returned to live in America, close to his children and family. After his wife's death, he decided to return to Israel and spend the rest of his life there, until his passing at the age of 79.
Joe Amar's songs playlist
To watch and listen on YouTube click here
In the next chapter: Joe Amar's musical style.
Joe Amar's work is particularly diverse. He sang Hebrew songs, which were great hits, sang piyutim (liturgical poems) from Moroccan Jewish communities, and sang hazzanut (cantorial music) from communities of European origin.
On this, and more, in the last chapter, at the following link:
This is the fourth chapter in A Musical 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
