WARNING !

Do you know that phenomena, you buy an LP, you check it properly
for being in a good condition. This one looks perfect, but when
I was recording it and came to the second side, it appeared
to be pressed almost 1 centimeter out of the center.
So, the first 6 tracks are just fine but tracks 7 to 12
sound a bit FALSE I’m affraid. The music is so nice however,
I didn’t want to withhold it from you.

Rafael Cortijo was one of Puerto Rico’s heroes of the 50’s
and 60’s. His plena’s and bomba’s were and are still among
the most respected in the world. This is his first stereo
recording from 1960. Volare is a well known song of which
he made his own version. If you are familiar wirh the music
of Brazil’s singer Dorival Caymmi, you will recognize the last
song on this album. It used to be called ‘Maracangalha’.
Cortijo’s versions are great, they sound natural as if
they were his own. Like lots of Cortijo’s albums, this one
is also with the great singer ‘Ismael Rivera’ with whom
he worked for many years.

tracks;

1 Oriza
2 Si te mueres no me lleves
3 Volare
4 Que le paso
5 La hija de la vecina
6 Madame Calalu
7 Y Pedro Flores
8 Mofongo pelao
9 Solavaya
10 Los chismosos
11 Dona Chana
12 Me voy a Marancagaya

Plena is the most typical rhythm of Puerto Rico and the master
of the plena was Canario. His real name is Manuel Jiménez and
started his singing career at the age of 5. He was beheld a child
prodigy and that gave him his start towards everlasting fame.
The vocals here belong to Raful. Listen to Canario.

tracks;

1 Llego de Roma
2 Hechisera
3 Buscando a malen
4 Cortaron a Elena
5 Cuando las mujeres quieren a los hombres
6 El mundo se va acabar
7 Santa Maria
8 Por bandolera
9 Que se va José
10 Tanta vanidad
11 La negra Merced
12 Que tabaco malo