Feliciano

If there was one artist in the late 60's/early 70's who could bridge the "gap" between our parents and ourselves, in our god-awful rock and roll music, it was José Feliciano. José was cross cultural, cross genre, and definitely cross generational. I had a latino mother who tolerated my Santana music easily enough and a father who took delight in swing, jazz, folk, calypso, and blues. That broke the barriers enough for toleration of some of my music, but you couldn't sneak Beatles, Stones, Jefferson Airplane, even The Mamas & The Papas past them for a second. However, when José was featured on a television variety show, performing The Doors classic "Light My Fire", now that swung right by them and when I brought home FELICIANO! I was amazed how easily they ate up Mamas & Papas ("California Dreamin'"), and The Beatles, as well as The Doors, all wrapped up pretty in a latin-folk-jazz bow!José is probably one of the world's greatest guitarists and without hesitation I will go so far as to compare him directly to Segovia. Just listen to what he does with Lennon & McCartney's "And I Love Her" and you will see what I mean. His technical prowess on acoustic guitar without a hint of slide-squeak on the neck strings, with finger-picking at lightning flamenco speed is nothing short of amazing. He can run up and down strings and chords like a programmed machine and never show an ounce of fatigue and if he makes technical errors I challenge anyone to find so much as one!Before the more modern use of "chill", José was the king of "chill out music" though be forewarned, that term is exceedingly misleading! Even on the softer ballads José will have you sitting up straight to try and hear just exactly what he is doing with those incredible fingers. His soul blues vocals and lyrical treatments, even scatting sometimes, are magnificent, and all this beautiful music is wrapped up in orchestral arrangements which are lightly caressing and not invasive.FELICIANO! was a landmark album in '68, #2 on the chart and 59 weeks there, it also reached #3 on both the Jazz charts and the R&B charts! José garnered himself two Grammy's with it, huge accolades from the critics and trade press, and solidified his presence in the music industry. On the counter-culture side, José was under the same production tutelage as Jefferson Airplane and Harry Nilsson, so his music was being gobbled up both by the hippy movement and by the conservative parentage. I don't think there was ever, or ever has been again, an artist who so easily appealed to both side of a generational or cultural gap.If you don't know José, you owe yourself a favor. Either pick this CD or the double album - single disc offering of 10 TO 23 / FIREWORKS (see link below) or both. The three albums are must-have desert island perfect 10 works of art that should be included in any collection of rock, folk, blues, or jazz. José drips talent from every pore and to listen to these works is to swim in the ocean of musical ambrosia. To those who owned this original masterpiece on vinyl: the remastered sound is gorgeous! Same applies to the other CD referenced below.For more amazing guitar work and soulful blues vocals please don't miss  ], a single disc double album set that takes this music to an even greater level encompassing everything from classical to rock.

When Feliciano undertakes a song, written by someone else, it is as if the song was destined by the heavens for him especially.

The music itself is great. My mom wanted this CD for Christmas but it wasn’t going to come until February so I ended up giving to her for her birthday in April. As soon as I opened it for her I noticed that the case was cracked, which was disappointing since it was supposed to be new and it was shipped in a padded envelope. I decided it’s too much trouble to return so we’ll live with it. The music however is great! We’ve enjoyed listening to the CD several times over the weekend. Just beware of the condition when you order it.

It's hard to believe that this "album" came out 40 years ago. I suppose it does sound a bit "dated," but there is such a fresh feel to the arrangements. I didn't like Jose Feliciano's cover versions of these songs at the time they came out, but after hearing them over the years, I learned to love them. I finally bought the album in the 80's and it sounded great on a good stereo system versus the radio or a cheap stereo. Over the years, I have slowly replaced many of my albums to CD format. I waited a while on this one and now that I've played it a few times, I wish I'd gotten it sooner. Feliciano plays a "mean guitar" as one of my good friends said. Hearing his voice and arrangements take me back to a simpler time when California music was so comforting. As far as landmark value, it was one of the first Latino albums to make it big. I didn't think about that at the time. In the 60's we just liked good music regardless of race, culture or creed and this is good.

Excellent item, support and service :)!!!

Very good recording sounds just like the album I used to have

I LOVE this “vintage” music!!!!Makes me feel HAPPY & nostalgic!!

You will enjoy this cd.

This was the first 'cassette' I purchased many years ago, so it brought back many happy memories of this wonder man with a wonderful voice. Was a little disappointed that it was not an exact copy of all the songs but nevertheless very enjoyable.

The vinyl copy of this LP has given me graet pleasure for over 50 years. Having decided to do away with a turntable I was delighted to pick up this CD version. The songs on the album were originally recorded by other artists but he transorms them in his own unique style.

Jose Feliciano has been a recording artist for many years and this album has some of his early hits such as Light My Fire and some great versions of famous hits eg California Dreaming and Sunny which to me are better than the original versions.

This is such a wonderful CD Jose Feliciano has such an expressive singing voice all the tracks are well chosen and the orchestrations are trully wonderful making this a must have.

Worked well until the return date expired and now only plays until track 7!!!!