Tonight in Punta Gorda preparations for Paul Nabor's funeral are going into high gear - or as high gear as laid back Punta Gorda gets. And tonight at 7News, we continue our examination of his peculiar legend. As we told you last night - his body of recorded work is incredibly small: there are only about three songs on one album that are commercially available - maybe collectors have a couple more from earlier years - and his friends have songs they just recorded at his home, known as The Temple.
But the recording of his most famous song is kind of an accident - not in how it happened - but in how it came out. Producer Ivan Duran who made the recording at Diamond Studios in Belize City recalled for us the recording quirk that made "Naguya Nei" a timeless classic:
Ivan Duran, Producer - "Naguya Nei"
"Naguya Nei has to be one of the most beautiful Garifuna songs ever composed. It's just a song that from the first moment you hear it you know it's something special and it touches your heart."
Jules Vasquez reporting
It is a feeling and a sound well known to anyone who's heard the song live - where this is the usual crowd reaction to the opening notes. So beguiling, so gentle yet persuasive, so masterful - yet you'd be shocked to know those opening chords are actually a mistake:
Ivan Duran, Producer - "Naguya Nei"
"That hook on that song on the guitar, the way it starts "dang ding don ty ty thon kong" - that was Nabor tuning his guitar. That's the way he would like start most of the songs and he would be tuning his guitar and I decided to ask him to keep that hook throughout the song. Usually he would start right away and I'll never forget that moment because not only the song, but musically that little hook is something that every single somebody in Belize recognizes even before he start singing and that almost happen by accident. If I had not heard him tuned his guitar that moment, probably would have missed it."
And so instead of a miss, it is a hit - of sorts, but properly put it's an anthem known loved and sung by not only the Garifuna but all Belizeans:
Ivan Duran, Producer - "Naguya Nei"
"And I am sure that will be remembered of as an iconic musical moment for Belizean music and Garifuna music."
We spoke to Duran via face-time from Montreal Canada.
There's still much more about Paul Nabor's legend ahead on 7News tonight as we talked to a pair of good friends who told us 7 things you never knew about him - including how he learned to ride a bicycle at the age of 76 - and how he got his stage name Paul Nabor.
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