Last splash | Sitt al-Hawanim (1974)

 

“The Sah Al-Dah singer proposes to the girl of his dreams”
from the February 7, 1974, issue of Al-Mawa’id

Composed by accordion player and dance-music composer Mohamed Asfour with lyrics by our old friend Hassan Abu Itman, the A side is a solid entry into the singer's early canon, but it's the mawwal on the B side that hits you in the guts. Ahmed is at his most anguished, most adamant, most pyrotechnic -- and the ensemble is absolutely on fire.

A clipping posted by Egyptian writer Ahmed Naji to his website suggests that, in early 1974, Ahmed Adaweya was engaged to marry the daughter of a kebab seller, 17-year-old Hanim Morsi. Naji notes that, other than this clipping, we never hear about her (or her father, for that matter) ever again.

Ahmed himself never seems to mention her; however, he later recalls that, during his years of apprenticeship and struggle on Mohamed Ali Street, he had fallen in love with girl who lived with her parents and, in an effort to woo her into engagement, got poet Samir Mahjoub and musician Ali Reda to write a song for her. The mystery girl passes away before the two can get married and Ahmed stays a bachelor until he marries Wanisa Ahmed Atef, or Nousa, in 1976. Ahmed and Nousa stay married until Nousa's sudden passing two weeks ago, on May 16, 2024.

Sitt al-Hawanim b/w Mawwal Farah is the last 45 RPM 7" single Ahmed releases with Sout El Hob -- or anyone else, for that matter. The format is on its way out; Sout El Hob releases only two 45s in 1975, Soutelphan issues eight, and Sono Cairo publishes a couple dozen. By 1976, Egyptian fans have lost Farid El Atrache (1974) and Oum Kalthoum (1975) in addition to the little records with the big holes.

Composed by accordion player and dance-music composer Mohamed Asfour with lyrics by our old friend Hassan Abu Itman, the A side is a solid entry into the singer's early canon, but it's the mawwal on the B side that hits you in the guts. Ahmed is at his most anguished, most adamant, most pyrotechnic -- and the ensemble is absolutely on fire.

Ahmed has released six singles -- a dozen sides -- in a short four years and become a seemingly overnight sensation. But it's what happens next that catapults the singer into the stratosphere.

(Listen to "Sitt al-Hawanim")


(Listen to "Mawwal Farah")



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