Oum Kalthoum | Hazihi Lailati (Sono Cairo, 1969)

This record holds a special place in our heart, as it was the first song we ever bought by Oum Kalthoum, not knowing at that time (1996) who she or the composer, Mohamed Abdel Wahab, were. The version we purchased was on CD, not vinyl, and was found at Daff & Raff in Harvard Square while on a trip to visit friends in the Boston Area. The CD version was transliterated slightly differently: "Hathehe Laylati." However one transliterates it, and on whatever medium we experience it, it remains one of our all-time favorite things we've ever heard.

This particular version, a double 7" 45 RPM published in France in 1969, is a repress of the original 1968 double 7" published in Egypt. An LP and a single 7" version were also published in '68. We found our copy at 16 Tons, a record store in Zürich, last December.

It's an epic recording with some sublime Omar Khorshid guitar opening the track. 

(Listen to "Hazihi Lailati")