José Feliciano (born September 10, 1945) is an American of Puerto Rican ethnicity, virtuoso guitarist and composer known for many international hits including "Light My Fire" and the best-selling Christmas single "Feliz Navidad".
| José Feliciano | |
|---|---|
 Feliciano in 2007 |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | José Montserrate Feliciano García |
| Born | September 10, 1945 |
| Origin | Lares, Puerto Rico |
| Genres | Soft rock, Latin pop, bolero, acoustic |
| Years active | 1964–present |
| Labels | RCA Records Optimism Records |
| Website | www.josefeliciano.com |
Childhood
Feliciano was born in Lares, Puerto Rico, on September 10, 1945. Left permanently blind at birth as a result of congenital glaucoma,[1]Feliciano was first exposed to music at age three and would play on a tin cracker can while accompanying his uncle playing the Cuatro.[2]
When he was five, his family moved to Spanish Harlem, New York City, and at age nine, he played the Teatro Puerto Rico in The Bronx.[3]
He started his musical life playing the accordion until his father and family friend, Benjamin Borges, gave him his first guitar in a brown paper bag.
He played every chance he had by himself in his room for up to 14 hours a day listening to 1950s rock'n'roll records, 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 of Segovia.[4]
At 17, he quit school to play in clubs, having his first professional, contracted performance in Detroit.
1960s
In 1963, after some live performances in pubs and clubs around the USA and Canada, especially in Greenwich Village in New York City, and Vancouver, BC, where he played at the same time as Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, he was signed by Jack Somer, an executive at RCA Victor.[5]In 1964, he released his first single "Everybody Do the Click" (which become a hit in Philippines, at nr2 and stayed for 14 weeks in TopTen Hit parade) .
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 were not 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 due to perform in the United Kingdom, but the authorities would not allow his guide dog into the country unless it was in quarantine for six months.
The stringent quarantine measures of those days were intended to prevent the spread of rabies. Feliciano later wrote a song entitled "No Dogs Allowed" (then lately in 1969 become a Netherland Top10 Hit on the charts), which told the story of his first visit to London.[6]
During his British visit, on July 16, 1967, Feliciano gave a live performance on the pirate radio stations Radio 227 and Radio 355, on board the MV Laissez Faire off the British coast, less than a month before the stations were due to be closed by the UK's Marine Broadcasting Offences Act.
Also he was a guest on a popular British TV show with Dusty Springfield, and recorded a rare single for UK RCA called "My Foolish Heart / Only Once" which was played on London radio. And earlier, on June 4, 1967 in London's Speakeasy Club, Jimi Hendrix came to the stage and jammed with him.
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 Harry Nilsson and Jefferson Airplane. They recorded The Doors' song "Light My Fire" in a Latin style, released it as a single, and late in the summer of 1968 it reached #3 on the US pop charts, with over one million copies sold in the US market alone. However the song became a #1 hit in many countries, including Canada, Brazil, and the UK, and was awarded a gold disc.[7]
On the strength of this success, José won two 1969 Grammy Awards for Best New Artist of the Year and Best Pop Song of the Year, which brought him worldwide recognition as a pop star, with popular recognition as a stylistic leader because of his 'crossover' from latin music to English pop rock. He is widely recognized as the first virtuoso classical guitarist to bring nylon string guitar into the pop rock scene.
In October 1968, at the height of protests against the Vietnam War, Feliciano was given the opportunity by Detroit Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell to perform "The Star-Spangled Banner"[8] at Tiger Stadium in Detroit during Game 5 pregame ceremonies of the 1968 World Series.
His highly personalized, slow, latin jazz performance proved highly controversial. As a result of his unusual delivery, many radio stations refused to play his songs, and his career was stalled for almost three years.[citation needed] Even so, in an October, 2006 NPR broadcast, he expressed pride for opening the door for later reinterpretations of the national anthem.
His World Series rendition, which features him accompanying himself on an acoustic guitar, was released as a single which charted for 5 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #50.
In 1969, working with Quincy Jones on the Mackenna's Gold movie soundtrack, José recorded its popular theme song Old Turkey buzzard.
Also that year, he appeared on numerous US TV shows, performing duets with Frank Sinatra, Johnny Cash, Bing Crosby, Glenn Campbell, Andy Williams, Diana Ross, etc., and under the pseudonym Werbley Finster, he recorded a single called So Long Paul about rumors of Paul McCartney's death.
Source: Wikipedia
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