José Feliciano

José Feliciano (En Español - Wikipedia)(English version follows Spanish version)

José Montserrate Feliciano García (Lares (Puerto Rico) - 10 de septiembre de 1945) es un cantante de boleros y baladas, y un destacado intérprete de la guitarra española.

Ciego de nacimiento, muy pronto se interesó por la música. Inició su carrera como músico del llamado Flamenco Pop. Pronto destacó y la RCA lo contrató y tras grabar un sencillo que tuvo muy buena acogida: Everybody Do The Click, se lanzaron a crear el que sería su primer trabajo.

En 1964, publicó su primer álbum. Su éxito fue tal que fue escogido en 1968 para cantar en las Mundiales de béisbol, donde interpretó: The Star-Spangled Banner, siendo el primer cantante en hacerlo en forma estilizada. De esta etapa de su carrera se recuerdan sus interpretaciones en inglés en una vertiente encuadrada dentro del folk y el blues pero que siempre llevo su toque personal tanto en la forma de interpretación vocal como en la ejecución de la guitarra española, incorporación extraña y novedosa en esos estilos de música. Realizo una versión latinizada del éxito de los Doors Light my fire.

Poco más tarde se vuelca de lleno a la música de iberoamerica y sus éxitos pasados, recreando versiones a las que siempre aportó su toque personal al incorporar elementos de blues, tanto en la ejecución de la guitarra como en su forma de cantar.

En 1971 participa en el Festival de San Remo, con la canción Che sará? (¿Qué será?) compuesta por Jimmy Fontana, que sería uno de sus grandes éxitos y en 1975 interviene como músico de estudio en el álbum "Rock n' Roll" de John Lennon participando en tres canciones con guitarras.

Versatilidad sería la palabra que describiría a José Feliciano. Además de tocar la guitarra "maravillosamente" con su inigualable estilo, toca 17 instrumentos más: el bajo, el banjo, el órgano, la guitarra de doce cuerdas, la mandolina, la armónica, el piano, el harpsidordio, el acordeón y entre otros más, algunos instrumentos sudamericanos como: la conga, el güiro dolro, timbales, timbalines, la quique brasileña, kazoo, etc. Canta además en seis idiomas. Al unificar su voz juvenil, el ritmo Jazz-Soul-blues de su guitarra y su inspiración latina, han dado un fenómeno indiscutible, vendedor de millones de discos y ganador de grandes premios.

Cuatro décadas respaldan la labor que el cantante puertorriqueño José Feliciano ha desarrollado alrededor del mundo, quien dio un nuevo impulso a la música latina en 1996 al darle vigencia al bolero que comenzaba a decaer. Cuando de le preguntó ¿por qué grabar precisamente boleros? Feliciano respondió: "Porque cuando yo me fui de mi casa a los 18 años, mis padres creyeron que había olvidado mis raíces latinas, ya que durante mucho tiempo estuve tratando de entrar en el mercado norteamericano; así que para complacerlos y demostrarles que estaban en un error, fuí al Festival Popular de Mar del Plata en Argentina y ahí comencé a cantar boleros como 'Piel Canela', 'Tú me acostumbraste', 'El reloj', 'La barca' y otros más que ya me sabía desde mi infancia. Los grabé con acordes modernos y ahí empezaron a pegar".

Arropado por las influencias norteamericanas y su dominio del idioma inglés inicia un largo camino en el mercado anglosajón desde 1964 hasta la mayor parte de la década de los 70's abarcando géneros que van desde el Pop Norteamericano hasta Rock siempre paseándose por tintes soul, jazz y blues.

En distintas entrevistas John Lennon llegó a declarar que las versiones que Feliciano realizó a temas de los Beatles como "Help", "In My Life" y "A Day In The Life" eran de sus preferidas, dato curioso que no es muy conocido es que en el álbum Rock N' Roll de John Lennon precisamente es José Feliciano quien interviene en 3 canciones tocando guitarra.

Otro dato curioso es que en 1976 el guitarrista de Jazz George Benson graba el tema "Affirmation" original de Feliciano y que éste estrenara en 1975 en su álbum Just Wanna Rock and Roll.

Cabe mencionar que después de un retiro momentáneo que abarcó desde 1978 hasta 1981, Feliciano regresaría pero ahora bajo el sello Motown convirtiéndose en el primer artista latino en ser firmado por una disquera que principalmente producía música Soul, es así que en 1981 lanza su disco Homónimo José Feliciano Producido por Berry Gordy Jr. director de Motown, album influenciado completamente por la música Soul y Funky característica del sello, en 1982 daría paso al que sería el primer disco en español editado por Motown y que sería definitivo en la carrera de Feliciano, titulado Escenas de Amor el cuàl le valdría una nominación como mejor álbum Pop, este disco contiene una colaboración con su gran amigo Carlos Santana, el cuál puso letra a su tema Samba Pa' Ti especialmente para que Feliciano la interpretara, en 1983 Feliciano lanza 2 discos, el primero en inglés titulado Romance In The Night producido por Rick Jarrard el mismo que produjo Feliciano! en 1968, el segundo álbum en español se tituló Me Enamoré y supone hasta entonces el mayor hit de un disco en español para Feliciano valiéndole un Grammy por mejor álbum Pop.

En 1984 Feliciano regresa con su antigua disquera RCA pero sólo para grabar discos en idioma Español, es así que lanza "Como Tu Quieres", en 1985 lanza "Ya Soy Tuyo" que lo vuelve a colocar en los primeros lugares de ventas, en 1986 lanza "Te Amaré".

En 1987 lanza "Tu Inmenso Amor" bajo el sello de Emi Music, y en 1988 vuelve a realizar un álbum en inglés titulado "I'm Never Gonna Change", después de un año en el cuál nació su primera hija Melissa Anne, Feliciano decide grabar en su estudio personal un álbum con toques de Jazz e instrumental titulado "Steppin' Out" y que saldría a la luz en 1990.

Para finales de 1990 Feliciano lanza "Niña" el cuál precisamnete dedica un tema a su hija recién nacida y con la cuál sale en la portada del disco, este disco contiene uno de sus mayores éxitos "¿Porqué te tengo que olvidar?", Ya para 1992 decide lanzar el álbum "Calle Latina (Latin Street) '92 " que contiene ritmos como salsa, vallenato, y en donde se nota a un Feliciano Introspectivo.

Para el período de 1993 a 1995 Feliciano no editaría ningún album pero se mantendría en constante gira, y edita "On Second Though" un álbum de éxitos que grabó en su estudio donde reinterpreta con nuevos arreglos temas tanto en español, inglés e instrumentales y en el cual abarca todos los géneros en los que ha incursionado.
Para finales de 1996 lanza al mercado "Americano", para que en 1998 editara uno de sus mejores discos titulado "Señor Bolero" El cuál le valió Doble Disco de Platino por sus más de 200 mil copias vendidas en EU.

En 2003 editaría "Señor Bolero 2" Con temas totalmente inéditos compuestos por el mismo Feliciano, Rudy Pèrez y Roberto Livi.

De Cantante a Locutor.

Después de dos años en que se mantuvo alejado de los escenarios, pero sin un retiro propiamente dicho, ya que todo ese tiempo lo dedicó a componer, preparar su nuevo disco y cuidar de sus hijos Melisa, José y Michael, el cantante, en un tiempo volvió con nuevos bríos, al grado que firmó un contrato para debutar como locutor en una estación de radio norteamericana. "Si, ahora voy a trabajar en una estación de radio en Connecticut (donde vivo) como locutor; o voy a hacer como un hobby porque a mi siempre me gustó la radio y esta es una estación que pone las canciones americanas de antes. Voy a tener un programa de 9 a 11 de la mañana, básicamente voy a hablar con el público y quizá toque la guitarra; ambas cosas no se acostumbran en la radio de allá. Esto me lo ofrecieron todo el tiempo que yo quiera y cuando me vaya de gira pondrán a otra persona y al regreso, me lo vuelven a dar".

Su primera guitarra era de plastico.

"Tenía ocho años cuando tuve la primera en mis manos, era una guitarra de plástico; creo que cuando la escuché en la radio me enamoré de su sonido, en ese tiempo era acordeonista y dejé el acordeón porque mi voz no se acoplaba a ese instrumento".

Discografía

Inglés/Internacional

1964 The Voice and Guitar of José Feliciano -
1965 Fantastic Feliciano -
1966 A Bag Full of Soul -
1968 Feliciano! -
1968 Souled -
1969 Feliciano - 10 to 23 -
1969 Alive Alive-O! -
1970 Fireworks -
1970 Christmas Album -
1971 Encore! -
1971 Ché Sarà -
1971 That the Spirit Needs -
1972 Sings -
1972 Memphis Menu -
1973 Compartments -
1974 For My Love, Mother Music -
1974 And The Feeling's Good -
1975 Just Wanna Rock and Roll -
1976 Angela -
1977 Sweet Soul Music -
1981 Jose Feliciano -
1983 Romance In The Night -
1989 I'm Never Gonna Change -
1990 Steppin' Out -
1996 Present Tense -
1996 On Second Thought -
2000 The Season Of your Heart -
2006 Six String Lady (the instrumental álbum)-
2007 The Soundtrax Of My Life

Español

1966 El Sentimiento La Voz y la Guitarra -
1966 La Copa Rota -
1967 Sombra -
1967 ¡El Fantástico! -
1967 Más Éxitos de José -
1968 Felicidades Con Lo Mejor de José Feliciano -
1968 Sin Luz -
1971 En Mi Soledad - No Llores -
1971 José Feliciano Dos Cruces -
1971 José Feliciano January 71 -
1971 José Feliciano Canta Otra Vez -
1982 Escenas de Amor -
1983 Me Enamoré -
1984 Como Tú Quieres -
1985 Ya Soy Tuyo -
1986 Te Amaré -
1987 Tu Inmenso Amor -
1990 Niña -
1992 Latin Street '92 -
1996 Americano -
1998 Señor Bolero -
2003 Señor Bolero 2 -
2003 Guitarra Mía Tribute -
2004 A México, Con Amor -
2006 José Feliciano y amigos -
2007 Señor Bachata -
2008 Con México En El Corazón

José Montserrate Feliciano García (born September 10, 1945) is a Puerto Rican singer and virtuoso guitarist, known for many international hits. He was born permanently blind due to congenital glaucoma.

Childhood

Feliciano was born in Lares, Puerto Rico, one of eleven children. He was first exposed to music at age three. At five, his family moved to Spanish Harlem, New York City and, at age nine, he played on the Teatro Puerto Rico. He started his musical life playing accordion until his grandfather gave him a guitar. He reputedly sat by himself in his room for up to 14 hours a day to listen to 1950s rock albums, classical guitarists such as Andrés Segovia, and jazz players such as Wes Montgomery. He later had classical lessons with Harold Morris who earlier had been a student with Segovia.
At 17, he quit school to play in clubs, having his first professional, contracted performance in Detroit.

Career

1960s

In 1963, after some live performances in pubs and clubs around the USA, especially in Greenwich Village, NY, where he played at the same time as Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, he was signed at RCA Victor. In 1964, he released his first single "Everybody do The Click". Later, in 1965 and 1966, he also released his first albums "The Voice and Guitar of Jose Feliciano" and "A Bag Full of Soul", two folk-pop-soul albums that showcased his talent on radio across the USA, where he was described as a "10 finger wizard". He also was invited to the Newport Jazz festival in 1964.

In 1966, he went to Mar del Plata, Argentina, to perform at the Festival de Mar del Plata. There, he impressed RCA Victor officials who told him to stay there to record an album in Spanish. They weren't sure what they wanted to record, but Feliciano suggested they record bolero music. The result was two smash hits with the singles Poquita Fe (Little Faith, a.k.a. Sin Fe, or Without Faith), a song written by fellow Puerto Rican Bobby Capó, and Usted (the formal way to say "you" in Spanish).

A year later Feliciano was to perform in Great Britain, but authorities would not allow his guide dog into the country. The stringent quarantine measures of those days were intended to prevent the spread of rabies. Feliciano later wrote a song entitled No Dogs Allowed, which told the story of his first visit to London.

After two more successful albums, Feliciano, now a household name all over Latin America, moved to Los Angeles. He got together with Rick Jarrard who was at the time also producing Nilsson & Jefferson Airplane. They recorded the The Doors' song Light My Fire in a Latin style and when released as a single, it reached #3 on the U.S. pop charts in late summer, 1968. Many subsequent recordings of "Light My Fire" by a multitude of artists took the arrangement from the Feliciano recording. He immediately became a sensation all across North America, selling millions of albums and followed up his success with another top 20 hit in the USA with his version of "Hi-Heel Sneakers", again recorded with a Latin feel. On the strength of this success he won two Grammy Awards for Best New Artist of the Year and for Best Pop Song of the Year in 1969.

In October 1968, at the height of protests against the Vietnam War, Feliciano was given the opportunity to perform The Star-Spangled Banner at Tiger Stadium in Detroit during Game 5 pregame ceremonies of the World Series. His highly personalized, slow, Latin jazz performance proved highly controversial. He accompanied himself on an acoustic guitar. The rendition was released as a single which charted for 5 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #50. Feliciano's "Star-Spangled Banner" took place 10 months before the more famous Jimi Hendrix rendition at Woodstock.

1970s

In 1970, he wrote and released an album of Christmas music, "Felíz Navidad," and this has probably become his most famous recording. It has been covered by many artists and is now a traditional part of the musical landscape in the U.S, Canada and Latin America around Christmas time.

In 1971, he traveled to Italy to participate in the San Remo Music Festival, singing the song Che Sarà in Italian, earning second place in that contest as well as a standing ovation by the Italian public. He later recorded the song, which became a well-known act in Italy, a great hit in half of Europe, including the Iron Curtain countries, as well as in Asia. Feliciano later recorded it in Spanish as Qué Será, becoming a hit in all of Central and South America, and in English as Shake a Hand, a big hit in Scandinavian countries.

He wrote and performed the theme song to the 1970s comedy series Chico and the Man, and played a guest role on that series as the cousin of Chico (Freddie Prinze), singer Pepe Fernando. In the 1970s, he acted and composed for TV series and movies including McMillan & Wife, Kung Fu episodes, the soundtrack of the movie Aaron Loves Angela in 1976, and Mackenna's Gold with Quincy Jones. He has guested on many albums by other artists including Bill Withers, +'Justments. John Lennon's Rock 'n' Roll, Joni Mitchell Court and Spark, Michael Nesmith's "Tantamount To Treason", Natalie Cole's " Everlasting" and Gloria Estefan's "Alma Caribena".

1980s and beyond

Feliciano holds the distinction of being one of the few singers to have enjoyed success both in Spanish language music and in English language rock and roll. He won five consecutive awards for best pop guitarist from Guitar Player magazine and was voted in jazz, classic and rock fields.

He received a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1987, and continued as a very popular singer during the 1980s. He had his hands cast on the famous Madame Tussauds Museum's 'Wall of Fame,' and has a star in the Walk of Fame of his native Puerto Rico. He also had a great hit in 1987 in Austria with the song The Sound of Vienna, number 1 for four weeks and recorded with the famous Vienna Symphony Orchestra. The Orchestra also performed with him live on national television at Danube Park in Vienna before more than 50,000 people. During the 1980s, record companies gave him space only for the Latin market, and he recorded an impressive number of albums for that market, including the Motown albums Escenas de Amor and Me Enamoré, as well as others from RCA, EMI, and Capitol which added four more Grammys for best Latin performer. He recorded a duet song called Por ella with the most popular Mexican singer at the time, José José.

In 1995, Feliciano was honored by the City of New York, which re-named Public School 155 the Jose Feliciano Performing Arts School. In 1996, he had a short cameo role in the film Fargo.

Feliciano performed the theme song, "Behind the Mask," for the TV series Queen of Swords in 2000.
In 2003 Guitarra Mía, a special tribute to Feliciano, was produced by the Banco Popular de Puerto Rico and aired in Puerto Rico and in cities with large Puerto Rican population in the United States. This television special (and its soundtrack) featured Feliciano and many Puerto Rican and international stars singing some of his most famous songs, along with his personal favorites from other artists. It was first aired in December 2003, just two days after his mother died unexpectedly from a heart attack; in an eerie coincidence, the special's last scenes featured her giving her son a standing ovation, recorded for the occasion a month before.

Each year during the Christmas season, Feliciano's 1970 Christmas song "Feliz Navidad" returns to U.S. airwaves, one of the most-played and most-downloaded radio songs and downloaded songs of the season. "Feliz Navidad" is also recognized by ASCAP as one of the 25 all-time most-played Christmas songs in the world.

On December 6, 2006, Feliciano's new Spanish album, José Feliciano y amigos was released by Universal Records, featuring Feliciano joined in duets with many other Latin American stars including Luis Fonsi, Lupillo Rivera, Luciano Pereyra, Rudy Perez, Cristian Castro, Marc Anthony, Ramón Ayala, Alicia Villarreal, Ricardo Montaner, and Raúl di Blasio. A special edition was later released and featured Ana Gabriel and Gloria Estefan.

In 2007, Feliciano released an album called Soundtrack of My Life, the first English-language album composed and written by him. Feliciano is married to wife Susan; they have 3 children: daughter Melissa and sons Jonathan and Michael.

Sense of humor.

Besides his musical skills, Feliciano is known for his strong sense of humor. He constantly makes fun of people's reactions to his blindness, and has even played practical jokes on friends and family based on this. For example when his then bass player, Ted Arnold, contrived to allow Feliciano to appear to be driving down a busy street fooling some passing police. Another was in a show. Before he played "Light My Fire", he said, "I was going to dedicate this song to Jackie Kennedy but I can't see her anywhere in the audience".

He has performed comedy sketches alongside Freddie Prinze, Sunshine Logroño, the staff of Despierta América and Verónica Castro, among others. He has also parodied fellow artists in his concerts, among them: Julio Iglesias, Raphael, the late Rocío Jurado and Isabel Pantoja. An occasional song at his Spanish concerts is a parody of Bobby Capó's song "El Bardo". While the Right Said Fred song "I'm Too Sexy" was popular in the early 1990s, Feliciano did a parody of it to close his English concerts.

His performance of "Old Turkey Buzzard" became a recurring bit on The Late Show with David Letterman in 2007, until Feliciano himself appeared on the show on October 16 of that year to perform a live rendition of the song.

Discography

English / international

1964 - The Voice and Guitar of Jose Feliciano
1966 - A Bag Full of Soul
1966 - Fantastic Feliciano
1968 - Feliciano!
1968 - Souled
1969 - Feliciano - 10 To 23
1970 - Fireworks
1970 - Felíz Navidad
1971 - Encore!
1971 - Ché Sarà
1971 - That the Spirit Needs
1971 - Another Record
1972 - Sings
1972 - Memphis Menu
1973 - Compartments
1974 - For My Love, Mother Music
1974 - And The Feeling's Good
1975 - Affirmation
1975 - Just Wanna Rock and Roll
1976 - Angela
1977 - Sweet Soul Music
1981 - José Feliciano
1983 - Romance In The Night
1989 - I'm Never Gonna Change
1990 - Steppin' Out
1996 - Present Tense
1996 - On Second Thought
2006 - Six-String Lady (the instrumental album)
2007 - Soundtrax of My Life

Spanish

1966 El Sentimiento La Voz y la Guitarra
1966 La Copa Rota
1967 Sombra
1967 ¡El Fantástico!
1967 Mas Éxitos de José
1968 Felicidades Con Lo Mejor de José Feliciano
1968 Sin Luz
1970 Feliz Navidad
1971 En Mi Soledad - No Llores
1971 José Feliciano Dos Cruces
1971 José Feliciano January 71
1971 José Feliciano Canta Otra
1982 Escenas de Amor
1983 Me Enamoré
1984 Como Tú Quieres
1985 Ya Soy Tuyo
1986 Te Amaré
1987 Tu Inmenso Amor
1990 Niña
1992 Latin Street '92
1996 Americano
1998 Señor Bolero
2003 Señor Bolero 2
2003 Guitarra Mía Tribute
2004 A México, Con Amor
2006 Jose Feliciano y Amigos
2007 Señor Bachata (He was awarded Grammys by both Naras and Laras for this album)
2008 Con Mexico en El Corazón

(Wikipedia)