A year after The Doors had a hit with their release of 'Light My Fire' from their eponymous debut album, along came José Monserrate Feliciano Garcia who put out his version. Originally the b-side of his cover of the Mamas & The Papas 'California Dreamin'', both from his "Feliciano!" album, a Seattle DJ decided to turn the record over and play the flip side - from there the song took off.
"Feliciano!" was José's 8th album, but would be his most successful. All cover songs, from Lennon/McCartney to Bacharach/David, Fred Neil and Tom Paxton, they were a platform for the unique interpretations he brought to well-known songs of the time.
The following year, his 11th album was this one, '10 to 23', the one that fell into my eyeline and became a favourite for quite a while. The cover attracted me. Although it doesn't really show in the photograph, the front has an embossed portrait of José.
Like "Feliciano!" this album was mainly covers. The "10" in the album title refers to the first track - 'Amor Jibaro' - recorded when he was, yes you guessed it, 10 years old. Again, three of them were Lennon/McCartney Beatles standards, with two tracks written by the brothers Gibb, 'First of May' and 'Gotta Get a Message to You'. There's an intricately performed instrumental of Jimmy Webb's 'By The Time I Get To Phoenix' and then to me, the best song ever done by José, Cole Porter's hauntingly, tragically beautiful 'Miss Otis Regrets'. I can't get enough of this song, this version, this interpretation. It is glorious. The other stand-out track is 'Rain', the only self-penned song on the album, but well worth it's inclusion. It was co-written with Hilda, (Janna née Hilda Pérez) his wife at the time.
All José's music, regardless of the composer or the theme, stays true to his roots. There is always a background, a base, of his Latin upbringing. Born in Lares, Puerto Rico and moving to Spanish Harlem in NYC when he was 5 he was surrounded by music. At 7 he taught himself accordion and by 9 when he made his first public appearance he was teaching himself the guitar his father bought him.
Blind since birth, one of José's stories was from the early days playing at Gerde's Folk City in Greenwich Village. One night he was doing an impression of Bob Dylan when he found out afterwards that Dylan was in the audience. Oops.
If you only ever listen to José at Christmas singing 'Feliz Navidad' it's never too late to broaden your range. Find a compilation or dig back and listen to some of his classic releases. This one is a good place to start.
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