Search - Jose Feliciano :: Introduction to Jose Feliciano

Four stars in spite of some very obvious shortcomings.

Paul Tognetti | Cranston, RI USA | 02/14/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"You just have to wonder what the people at Fuel Records were thinking when they put together "An Introduction to Jose Feliciano". Aside from two pages of extremely superficial liner notes you really learn very little about this extremely gifted bilingual artist and his music. For one thing, the track list is woefully inadequate in that it does not provide the most basic of information such as who wrote the songs and the track time. Also, you should know that these are not the original RCA recordings so far as I can tell. As a long-time collector who is generally a stickler for the original recordings this did not sit too well with me at first. I have absolutely no idea when these recordings were made. Yet, in spite of all of these annoying flaws one cannot deny the brilliance of Jose Feliciano. This is still a disc worth owning.

"An Introduction to Jose Felicano" features a total of 18 tracks by this two-time Grammy Award winning artist. And I have to admit that although these are not the original recordings this did not seem to diminish my enjoyment of these tunes at all. The fact of the matter is that these recordings are splendid! I really had forgotten just how accomplished a musician this man is. His musical prowess is readily apparent on just about every track on this disc. Aside from being one of the world's great flamenco guitar players, Jose Feliciano can also play bass, banjo, keyboards, timbales, mandolin and the harmonica. Quite impressive! If you remember Jose from his heyday in the late 60's and early 70's then you are sure to enjoy hearing his marvelous rendition of the Doors "Light My Fire" from the golden year 1968. Jose's intimate reworking of that tune climbed all the way to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. A few of his other charted hits appear here as well like "Hi-Heel Sneakers" and the memorable theme from the hit 70's TV show "Chico and the Man". There are also a number of tunes from some of Jose Feliciano's highly successful albums. Jose Feliciano was always very adept at reworking other peoples material and making them all his own. You can hear some great examples of this with songs like "You Send Me", "California Dreamin", "La Bamba" as well as a rollicking version of the Rolling Stones "The Last Time". That one was an unexpected treat! Finally, there is an amazing duet with an unnamed female vocalist. I fell in love with "Stay With Me" the very first time I heard it. However, because of the lack of information provided by the record company, I have absolutely no idea who this female vocalist might be or when the song was recorded. What a shame!

With just a bit more care "An Introduction To Jose Feliciano" would have been a five star offering. Although these are not the original recordings, it is quite obvious to me that these recordings were made with lots of tender loving care. It really is too bad Fuel Records could not have given us more information. So in spite of it all I am prepared to recommend this to you anyway. At the end of the day, this is one highly entertaining disc!"