New Jersey-Born Nadia Chamoun: A Vocal Legacy on Voix de L'Orient and Alkawakeb Records
New Jersey-Born Nadia Chamoun: A Vocal Legacy on Voix De L'Orient and Alkawakeb Records
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| Nadia Chamoun. Caravan 27 October 1960. Courtesy of Newspapers.com |
In the past five years, Arab America has bid farewell to several of its women singers from the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s – Arab America’s golden age of recorded sound. Marquees and headlines for haflat and mahrajanat featured their names and they, on occasion, sang at christenings, bar mitzvahs, weddings, anniversary celebrations, funerals, and memorials. The legendary Fadwa Abeid passed on 14 January 2022 in Livonia, Michigan; Leila “Lillian” Mazloom Kouri died on 29 March 2020, near Richmond, Virginia, and Nadia Chamoun took her last breath in Warren, Michigan, on 26 March 2019.
While some sources in the 1950s claim Nadia Chamoun was born in Lebanon, in fact, Nadia was born on 16 March 1921 in Bayonne, New Jersey, to Mike and Julia Chamoun. Nadia’s father, Mike Chamoun, immigrated to the United States around 1909 from Greater Syria at the age of 16 with his mother Sara and brother Eddie. Although of Lebanese ancestry, Julia was born in Brazil and came to the United States in 1906. Brazil, Argentina, and the United States received the lion’s share of emigrants from the Levant especially between 1906 and 1910. Mike Chamoun and Julia "Hauzie" Chamoun married on 20 May 1918 in lower Manhattan and likely at Saint Joseph’s Maronite Church in Little Syria. In a year’s time, the Chamoun’s had their first child, Anne, in 1919, followed by Nadia. Interestingly, birth records for the State of New Jersey show Anne Marie Chamoun’s birth on 30 March 1919, and a second child with no first name listed 16 March 1921. This, of course, was Nadia.
It's difficult to determine the size of Bayonne, New Jersey's Arabic-speaking population in 1920. The Chamouns certainly did not go it alone and the proximity of Brooklyn and Manhattan's lower westside made the settlement of people from Greater Syria and Egypt inevitable. One hundred years later, Bayonne is approximately six percent people of Arab descent, according to some sources. Residents trace their ancestry to Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, and Iraq.
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| NOTE: Nadia's name did not appear in the New Jersey birth index because parents could list their initial instead of their child's name. Thus "Shamon, M. & J" on 16 March 1921 in Bayonne, NJ. Volume 63, p. 808. Courtesy of Ancestry.com |
The Chamouns left the US and moved to Achrafieh, Lebanon around 1926. In addition to Anne Marie and Nadia, they had Theresa, Milia, Margaret, Rizk, and Antoine. Family members in Lebanon, referred to Nadia as Teckla. She attended Immaculate Conception Catholic School. During this time, Lebanon and Syria remained under League of Nations backed French mandate and Jordan, Palestine, and Iraq under British control. Nadia’s star began to rise as mandate territories struggled to become independent countries. On 3 October 1932, Iraq gained independence from Great Britain. Within four years, Baghdad Radio or Republic of Iraq Radio went on the air as a three hour per day, three days a week broadcast. It seems to have been preceded by Radio Cairo and Palestine Radio. Nadia Chamoun would later appear on the Near East Radio station and Iraqi radio.
Nadia emerged as a star of stage and screen by the time she reached eighteen years old. One of her first roles in a full-length motion picture was in the Egyptian film The Apple Seller (Byeat Altifah) in 1939. The premise of the story centers on a wealthy lead character who wagers to transform a poor/working class person into a high society socialite. Within a year, and at only nineteen, Chamoun rented the Carrion Café in Tower Square in Beirut. She married Ali Al-Arys around this time as well. He would be her first husband. Chamoun and Al-Arys converted the café into a theater of sorts. Their performers from Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, and across the Near East danced, sang, and entertained patrons. Between 1941 and 1945, Chamoun worked a circuit of American, European, and Middle Eastern military bases and entertained servicemen. Her popularity skyrocketed even more as a result. In 1947, Nadia appeared in a second film – the Desert Princess Planet. Nadia recorded several sides on the Abdallah Chahine's label Voix de L'Orient. In addition to small roles in some films, Nadia also appeared in several television shows and appeared on Near East Radio. Among those who backed Nadia during Near East Radio performances were the Rahbani Brothers - Assi, Mansour, and later Elias. Moving into the 1950s, Nadia's career crossed the Pacific Ocean to both North and South America.
Back in the United States, RCA Victor emerged from the research and development stages of microgroove technology to give us the vinyl LP and the 45 RPM disc by 1949. Despite rumors to the contrary the 45 RPM vinyl record was not a response to Columbia Records’ 33 1/3 RPM LP vinyl disc.
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| Voix De L'Orient ad from Shabaka magazine, 1954. Courtesy of Akram N. Al-Rayess and the Foundation for Arabic Music Archiving & Research. |
Nadia Chamoun’s US-singing debut launched on Thursday, October 2, 1953, as Brooklyn’s Caravan newspaper announced she would perform at the Twenty-Second Syrian-Lebanese American Federation of Eastern States Convention in New York City. Prospective attendees, the Caravan proclaimed, would “hear and see something really beautiful.” The Syrian-Lebanese American Federation of Eastern States evolved out of the Syrian American Federation of New England established in 1931 and 1932. The Southern Federation, also established in 1931, had already assembled the southeastern states of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida including the deep South and much of the southwest. After her 1953 performance and visiting relatives in the States, Chamoun returned to Lebanon resumed management of her club and her singing career.
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| Nadia Chamoun from Caravan 9 March 1961. Courtesy of Newspapers.com |
The Lebanon Nadia returned to had recently elected her distant relative Camille Chamoun to the Office of President in 1952, just before her departure to the United States. Nadia returned to tour in Lebanon and Egypt and this included guest performance at the invitation of her distant relative President Chamoun. Initially, President Chamoun received praise for overseeing a period of economic prosperity but then faced condemnation for being a borderline autocratic leader. Moreover, by 1958, Emile Chamoun opposed Egyptian President Gamal Ebdel Nasser's idea for a United Arab Republic that would have included Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon. Concern that President Chamoun would either unconstitutionally seek to extend his term or assume another term raised suspicions among some. Fearing a revolt among Nasser backed sympathizers in Lebanon, President Chamoun, leaned on the so-called Eisenhower Doctrine and requested U.S. military intervention. United States Marines soon landed in Lebanon. Political and religious tensions heightened and fighting ensued between those who opposed President Chamoun and government-backed forces under Chamoun's leadership. Ultimately, Chamoun did not seek a second term, General Fuad Chehab was elected president, and U.S. troops withdrew from Lebanon. Backlash against some of Nadia's recorded music impacted record sales.
Through a combination of record distribution and circulation and the diasporic grapevine, Nadia’s popularity increased in South and North America. Chamoun visited and performed in Brazil, Argentina, and other parts of South America before returning the United States in August 1960. She spent most of 1959 and 1960 touring and living in Brazil. Although one Caravan reporter claimed this to be Nadia’s “first visit to the United States,” organizers of the Eastern Federation’s annual convention knew different. They invited Chamoun to perform from August 11-14, 1960, at Federation of the Eastern States Annual Convention hafla in Washington, DC with Tony Abdelahad, Naim Karacand, and Mike Hamway. She followed up that appearance at the 1960 mahrajan in Pawtucket, Rhode Island on Labor Day weekend. During her stay in New York and New Jersey she lodged with relatives and the Caravan took charge of requests to have her perform at any events. Among the first to book her post-Pawtucket mahrajan were sisters Ann Noah Pitzella, Rose Noah Abraham, and Teresa Noah Hage at the Cedars of Lebanon Restaurant and Night Club in Buffalo. Teresa Noah Hage married violinist Antoine Hage and Buffalo’s Cedars of Lebanon became a must-stop location for both Arab American musicians and visiting Arab musicians from abroad including Najeeba Morad, Anwar Mansey, Joe Budway, Sabah, and Wadi El Safi. By October 1960, Chamoun began taking out booking ads in the Caravan as simply “The Famous Singing and Dancing Star – Nadia” with an address and telephone number in Highland Park, New Jersey. We believe the 516 Braun Avenue or the 32 Cedar Avenue address was shared with her sister Anne, who was now Anne Chehade, married to a George Chehade. After the Buffalo show, Nadia made an appearance in Detroit and returned to New Jersey.
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| Nadia's ad from 16 February 1961, Caravan. Courtesy of Newspapers.com |
Coverage of Nadia Chamoun’s 1960-61 visit peaked in January 1961 with stops in the Midwest and South and recording some of her previously recorded songs for Anthony Abraham’s Alkawakeb Records. Alkawkeb Records was largely a record duplication outfit in Newark, New Jersey. Under Anthony Abraham’s ownership it released a combination of 78, 45, and 33 1/3 RPM records. Most of Alkawakeb’s inventory had already appeared on Baidaphon, Abdelahad, and Morad records. It is best known for its 78 RPM releases by Hanan, Elie Baida, Philip Solomon, Kahraman, Tony Abdelahad, Odette Kaddo, and its selection of 33 1/3 LPs, notably Village Wedding, Evening in Town, Middle East Modern Instrumental, Om Kalsoum & Fairuz, Balabel Al Mohrajan, Evening with Sabah, and Evening with Zhoor. Chamoun’s LP titled Evening with Nadia remains an immensely illusive vinyl release. It rarely, if ever, shows up in any private personal or institutional collection. She also had songs on LP, Balabel Al Mohrajan. Finally, accompanied by her sister and brother-in-law, Nadia visited Anne’s husband’s family in Terre Haute, Indiana, and performed in Miami, Florida, in January 1961. Within two months she returned to Beirut.
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| Nadia Chamoun performs. |
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| A minor scratch makes for a rough start on Nadia Chamoun as Miss Nadia Shmmun on Alkawakeb 45 rpm. Courtesy of Richard M. Breaux collection. |
https://youtu.be/J4NDa8WCxG8
Nadia Chamoun continued to operate her business and she made several television appearances, but we don’t know exactly why she returned to the United States by 1969. Meanwhile, audiences turned out to see her perform in various Middle Eastern countries and she appeared on Baghdad Radio in the early 1960s. As the 1960s progressed, reports of her performances disappeared. Was it a fading music and acting career or a personal choice after reaching the half-century mark? Did she foresee the coming Lebanese Civil War from 1975 to 1990? Some believe it was the death of her second husband, Antoun Bou Haydar (brother of Beirut's newly elected mayor Shafic Bou Haydar). Whatever the cause, at some time she met Simon S. Tannous, commonly known as Sam, and the two wed in Las Vegas, Nevada, on September 16, 1973. Sam was previously married with children (Julia, Diane, and Richard) then in their 20s. The couple listed Massachusetts as their state of residence but over the next twenty years lived in Nevada and Texas.
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| Nadia Chamoun sits next to George Chehade (her brother-in-law) and is surrounded by his brothers in Terre Haute, Indiana. The Terre Haute Tribune-Star 22 January 1961. Courtesy of Newspapers.com |
Although her television, movie, and musical career lay far behind her, Nadia Chamoun Tannous might have been found singing at private family events – especially weddings. Family members recall Nadia’s love of travel, singing, and dance – things that remained core to how Nadia Chamoun Tannous expressed her humanity. Sam died in 1990 in Nevada and Nadia eventually moved to Warren, Michigan, about twenty-seven miles from Detroit. As mentioned above, Nadia Chamoun Tannous died in 2019 just 10 days after her ninety-eighth birthday.
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| Nadia Chamoun, Elie Baida, and Olga "Kahraman" Agby appear of the LP cover of Balabel Al Mohrajan. Image courtesy of Bilal Arnous. |
Special Thanks to Saint Shabel Church (Warren, Michigan), Akram N. Al-Rayess, the Foundation for Arab Music Archiving & Research, and Rima Chamoun.
Richard M. Breaux
© Midwest Mahjar
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