Πάνος Γαβαλάς

Panos Gavalas was a Greek laïkó singer, composer & self taught musician (bouzouki mainly, baglama, & guitar). Born 26 November 1926 in Athens, Greece - Died 3 December 1988 in Athens, Greece.
In 1945, he opened a shoe store in Kaisariani, while at the same time he also worked in a tavern that his father used to have in Pagrati. After his marriage, in order to support his family, he worked in the mornings as a cobbler, fisherman, barber, welder and loader (in the past) and in the evenings he played in small folk taverns. In 1950, he found himself as a bouzouki player on the stage of the 'Falirikon' club, which, working as a fisherman among other things at the time, he supplied with fish. There he met Βασίλης Τσιτσάνης who took him to Columbia and they played together in some of the historic recordings of Πρόδρομος Τσαουσάκης, Μαρίκα Νίνου, and Σωτηρία Μπέλλου. He entered Columbia Studio III for the first time on 12 September 1950 and played bouzouki on the song Στρώσε Μου Να Κοιμηθώ. His discography as a singer began on 7 April 1954, when he recorded the Κώστας Καπλάνης songs "Το Άδικο" and "Ζωή Σερέτισσα". On 1 October 1956, he recorded his first composition, "Σιγανοψιχάλισμα". In late 1961, he team up with Ρία Κούρτη and they became the longest lasting duo in Greek music. On 28 February 1963, he recorded Κάποιο Πρωϊνό Στον Πειραιά / Στο Έρημο Λιμάνι, the only songs of Mikis Theodorakis he ever sang. In 1967, he and his son, Ιωάννης Γαβαλάς founded Sonata (3).
In 1948, he married Ζωή Γαβαλά, who sang alongside him on a couple of recordings as Ζωή Παναγιώτου.