VA - It's a Good, Good Feeling, The Latin Soul of Fania Records (The Singles) [2021] (4 x CDs)

FANIA

VA - It's a Good, Good Feeling, The Latin Soul of Fania Records (The Singles) [2021] (4 x CDs)

Beyond its worth as a lovingly packaged set of irresistibly energetic music spread across four CDs, Craft Latino’s newest tour of the Fania vault is invaluable as a study of the 20th-century American melting pot in action. While the process of assimilation and adaptation often diluted the proverbial pot’s contents elsewhere in the nation, the unique conditions in New York continually yielded rich results. What could have been a thin soup was instead a chunky stew, the constituent morsels still recognisable yet entirely complementary. In the case of the city’s preeminent purveyor of Latin music, the ingredients – whether their origins were black, white, Cuban, Puerto Rican or much else besides – yielded a meal that was tasty as hell.

Founded in 1964 by bandleader Johnny Pacheco and lawyer Jerry Masucci, Fania was not New York’s first label to serve Latin-American listeners and performers, but it soon became the dominant one. Consisting of 89 A-sides and B-sides released between 1965 and 1975, It’s A Good, Good Feeling reveals the rapid rate of development as the growing roster of acts synthesised styles to create the sound that became world-famous as salsa (even if its progenitors couldn’t agree on what the term meant). Fania showed its slippery nature in its earliest releases, which included both Pacheco’s turbo-charged charango and the doo-wop of 125th Street Candy Store, whose 1965 single Silent Ways launches this set.

When the comedy act Tom and Jerrio hit the Top 20 with Boo-Ga-Loo that same year, Fania was quick to get on the bandwagon while continually demonstrating what else could happen when R&B, soul and pop got Latin overhauls. The first Fania single for one of the label’s future giants, Joe Bataan’s Gypsy Woman is one of many landmark releases here, Bataan transforming The Impressions’ hit into a mambo-fuelled stormer. By the beginning of the next decade, Fania’s greats – most of whom would soon join forces in Fania All-Stars, a supergroup so super that their first concert drew 40,000 fans to Yankee Stadium – had soared far beyond boogaloo, creating a pan-Latin, peculiarly Nuyorican fusion that was equally ecstatic and complex.

While It’s A Good, Good Feeling makes for a satisfying showcase for the Latin soul of heavy hitters like Bataan, Willie Colón and Ray Barretto, many tracks may be discoveries even to the Fania faithful. The fact that two of the latter – El Apollo Sound’s Spinning Wheel, which replaces the bluster of Blood, Sweat & Tears with Havana-ready panache, and Butter Scotch’s Today, an airy take on Philly Soul – are both so different from the explosive salsa that was the label’s signature proves the Fania saga is a continually surprising one. (Uncut).

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Track lists

CD1

01 125th Street Candy Store - Silent Heart 2:27

02 125th Street Candy Store - Hey Girl 2:35

03 Bobby Valentin - Geronimo 3:22

04 Harvey Averne + 9 - Make Out 2:40

05 Willie Colón - Willie Baby 2:45

06 Bobby Valentin - Love Me So 3:06

07 Bobby Valentin - Bad Breath 2:47

08 Joe Bataan - Gypsy Woman 2:32

09 Joe Bataan - So Fine 3:07

10 Harvey Averne And Group Therapy - The Micro Mini 2:15

11 Harvey Averne And Group Therapy - The Think Drink “spiked” 2:46

12 Joe Bataan - Ordinary Guy 3:26

13 Joe Bataan - Too Much Lovin’ 2:36

14 Monguito Santamaria - Juicy 3:02

15 Ray Barretto - Mercy, Mercy Baby 2:46

16 Ray Barretto - Soul Drummers 2:55

17 Joe Bataan - Subway Joe 3:02

18 Joe Bataan - Special Girl 2:51

19 Joe Bataan - Magic Rose 4:04

20 Bobby Valentin - Use It Before You Lose It 3:00

21 Bobby Valentin - Funky Big Feet 2:38

22 Larry Harlow - Mess Around 2:13

23 Larry Harlow - That Groovy Shingaling 2:12

CD2

01 Latinaires - Camel Walk 2:50

02 El Bobby Quesada - Bataola Boogaloo 3:18

03 Joe Bataan - It’s A Good Feeling (riot) (part 1) 2:42

04 Joe Bataan - It’s A Good Feeling (riot) (part 2) 4:25

05 Ray Barretto - A Deeper Shade Of Soul 2:47

06 Ralph Robles - Mercie 3:33

07 Joe Bataan - What Good Is A Castle (part 1) 3:53

08 Joe Bataan - What Good Is A Castle (part 2) 3:07

09 Orchestra Harlow - Grazin’ In The Grass (una Miradita De Amor) 3:17

10 Ray Barretto - Hard Hands 2:28

11 Ray Barretto - Love Beads 2:46

12 Harvey Averne Dozen - Accept Me 2:46

13 Harvey Averne Dozen - Why Can’t We Really Be Free 3:02

14 Ali & Baba - Ungawa 2:53

15 Ali & Baba - Cookin’ With Ali 3:56

16 Monguito Santamaria - Hey Sister 2:26

17 Fania All Stars - Richie’s Bag 3:16

18 Fania All Stars - Red Garter Strut 2:09

19 Ralph Robles - Maybe 3:39

20 Joe Bataan - Sad Girl 2:38

21 Ray Barretto - Together 2:37

22 Ray Barretto - New York Soul 2:45

23 Ralfi Pagán - Who Is The Girl For Me 2:36

24 El Apollo Sound - Spinning Wheel 2:15

CD3

01 Harvey Averne Band - Come Back Baby 3:07

02 Harvey Averne Band - Stand 3:40

03 Ralfi Pagán - Don’t Stop Now 3:10

04 Joe Bataan - My Opera 4:40

05 Harvey Averne Band - Lovers 3:09

06 Harvey Averne Band - Love Never Stays The Same 3:40

07 Joe Bataan - When We Get Married 3:17

08 Monguito Santamaria - Crying Time 2:49

09 The Harvey Averne Band - Let’s Get It Together This Christmas 2:31

10 Ray Barretto - Right On 2:44

11 Ronnie Marks - Some Lonely Heart 3:36

12 Ralfi Pagán - Make It With You 4:42

13 Ralfi Pagán - Stray Woman 2:49

14 Joe Bataan - So Young, Too Young 3:23

15 Joe Bataan - I’m Satisfied 3:35

16 Joe Bataan - This Boy 3:02

17 Joe Bataan - Johnny’s No Good 3:35

18 Ralfi Pagán - Baby I’m A Want You 2:52

19 Ralfi Pagán - Look At Her 2:59

20 Joe Bataan - Shaft 3:57

CD4

01 Joe Bataan - Cry 4:02

02 Joe Bataan - If I Were A King 3:56

03 Ralfi Pagán - My Dream 3:29

04 Ralfi Pagán - It’s Alright 4:18

05 Ralfi Pagán - Up On The Roof 3:07

06 Ralfi Pagán - The Gambler 3:04

07 Ralfi Pagán - Too Late 3:09

08 Ralfi Pagán - To Say I Love You 4:05

09 Joe Bataan - Latin Soul Square Dance 4:18

10 Joe Bataan - Call Me 4:24

11 Ralfi Pagán - Wonderful Thing 2:32

12 Butterscotch - Try Just A Little Harder 3:45

13 Butterscotch - Today 3:10

14 Ralfi Pagán - Didn’t Want To Have To Do It 3:08

15 W. R. L. C. - Johnny’s No Good 3:23

16 W. R. L. C. - Blonde Latin Blues 4:27

17 Joe Bataan - I’m No Stranger 2:19

18 Ralfi Pagán - Just For A Little While 2:39

19 Ralfi Pagán - Loneliest Loneliness 4:30

20 Ralfi Pagán - I Could Never Hurt You Girl 3:20

21 Joe Bataan - Jumping With Symphony Sid (bonus) 3:20

22 Bobby Valentin - Jumping With Symphony Sid (bonus) 3:00

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