I was always an unconditional fan of The Everly Brothers, so when the dynamic duo came to Las Palmas, at the beginning of the sixties, I thought it was an opportunity to compare them with my idols. But his manager, José María Laso de la Vega, called us to be the openings of the duo at the Pérez Galdós Theater. There was a friendship with Manolo and Ramón that has lasted the last 65 years of our lives. Already in Madrid, the years pass consolidating our relationship not only in music, which was obviously the most important axis, but in other more personal aspects. And there it was with Manolo with whom I found greater complicity and convergence of vital and professional objectives. Together we decided to fight for copyright and other trade union claims and thus we expanded the circle of conscripts in which illustrious companions of the moment landed such as Manolo Alejandro, Pablo Herrero, Luis Cobos, Pepe Nieto, Fernando Arbex, Manolo Díaz, Juan Pardo, Juan Manuel Serrat, Luis Eduardo Aute and a long list of colleagues.
But Manolo de la Calva was not only a great creator and artist like everyone else. I had an emotional sensitivity to the skin of skin, an empathy away from divism and a smile to manage the less convergent moments. He knew how to be a star while attending his family life with an exemplary fervor and dedication, everyone’s friend and solidarity with the least favored.
Our trajectory in the SGAE forced us to share sentences and joys, but above all to know better the complex circumstances for which many companions were going through. Manolo and Ramón knew how to adapt to the changes and maintain intact their ethical compass and their love for the public, until recently three generations of fans appeared in their concerts and Manolo wasted a real spontaneity and vitality, sincere.
I knew of his health problems for himself, without dramas or pending accounts, he kept the smile and thought of his family and his friends as what was always a integral and realized human being. An exemplary life full of successes and surrounded by faithful friends. I would not want us to fire him with tears, only with music and memories shared. No one dies until he is forgotten, and leaves us his music to celebrate it where extraordinary beings live. I love you, friend.