BIOGRAPHY
Personal Information: Born Jose Monserrate Feliciano, September
10, 1945, in Lares, Puerto Rico; son of a armer/longshoreman;
married Hilda Perez (a club manager), mid-1960s; married Susan
Omillion, 1982; children: Melissa Anne, Jonathan Jose. Began
playing guitar in Greenwich Village clubs, New York City, early
1960s; made professional debut at the Retort Coffee House, Detroit,
1963; "discovered" at Gerde's Folk City; signed with
RCA Records, 1964, and recorded first single, "Everybody
Do the Click," and first album The Voice and Guitar of Jose
Feliciano. Author of an autobiography.
Awards: Grammy awards for best new artist, 1968; best contemporary
male pop vocal performance, 1968, for "Light My Fire";
and best Latin pop performance, 1983, for Me Enamore; 1986, for
"Lelolai"; 1989, for "Ceilito Lindo"; and
1990, for "Por Que Te Tengo Que Olvidar." Latin Music
Expo Lifetime Achievement Award, 1991; numerous gold and platinum
albums.
Although many music lovers know
his name, most could probably name only one or two of the innumerable
songs recorded by guitarist Jose Feliciano. The staying-power
of his biggest hits on American music charts and the fact that
he has been blind since birth have together made Feliciano's
name a household word in the English-speaking United States,
Britain and rest of the world; in the Spanish-speaking world,
however, he is a major star.
Feliciano was born on September
10, 1945, into a Puerto Rican family barely supported by his
father's work as a farmer. By 1950, Feliciano's parents had relocated
the growing family to a Latino section of New York City's Harlem,
where his father found work as a longshoreman. By this time,
young Jose was already beginning to develop an enormous aptitude
with musical instruments. According to his press biography, "His
love affair with music began at the age of three, when he first
accompanied his uncle on a tin cracker can." By the age
of six, Feliciano had taught himself to play the concertina simply
by listening to records and practicing. ater in his career, Feliciano
would master the bass, banjo, mandolin, and various keyboards.
In his early teens, Feliciano
discovered his instrument of choice: the acoustic guitar. Again
he taught himself to play simply by listening to records. The
second of 12 children, Feliciano was blessed with a lucrative
talent; by the age of 16, he was contributing to the family income
by playing folk, flamenco, and pop guitar on the Greenwich Village
coffeehouse circuit. At a time when his father was out of work,
17-year-old Feliciano quit school in order to perform full-time.
He played his first professional show--for which he was paid
by the club instead of from a hat passed through the audience--at
the Retort Coffee House in Detroit in 1963. Back in New York
that year, he was "discovered" at Gerde's Folk City.
The RCA Records executive who
spotted Feliciano quickly arranged a recording contract. The
singer's first album and single, both of which were produced
in English in 1964, failed to make it onto the U.S. music charts;
but the album The Voice and Guitar of Jose Feliciano did catch
on with disc jockeys, who played it regularly on their radio
stations. In his first years with RCA Feliciano's producers focused
on his Puerto Rican background and marketed most of his albums
to Latin American audiences; consequently, his name first became
familiar to Spanish-speaking North American and South American
listeners. Indeed, as early as 1966, before any of his recordings
had appeared on U.S. charts, Feliciano played to an audience
of 100,000 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
RCA began marketing Feliciano
to the English-speaking audiences of England and the U.S. in
1968, when he released his version of the Doors' 1967 hit "Light
My Fire." His reworking of the now-classic tune peaked at
Number Three on the U.S. pop music charts, selling over a million
records and making the singer a celebrity overnight.
Feliciano received two Grammy
Awards for "Light My Fire," one for best new artist
of 1968 and one for best contemporary pop vocal performance.
Feliciano!, the 1968 album that featured "Light My Fire,"
was just as successful, reaching Number Two and earning the guitarist
his first gold album.
Although that release was largely
composed of songs written and previously recorded by other musicians,
Feliciano was able to establish himself as an important artist
by radically redefining the music that he recorded. Both the
Latin influence in his style and his facility with the acoustic
guitar greatly altered the quality of songs that, like "Light
My Fire," were originally recorded by rock bands using electric
instruments. Of that song, Rock Movers & Shakers explained,
"Its slowed-down, sparse acoustic-with-woodwind arrangement
and soul-inflected vocal defines Feliciano's style." Feliciano!
also garnered the unique honor, according to Thomas O'Neil, author
of The Grammys, of becoming a favorite "make out" album
among teenagers.
Following the success of Feliciano!,
its namesake went on tour in both the United States and England,
displaying his talents as a guitarist and as a singer who could
cover a variety of musical styles. At the time, he told Melody
Maker' s Alan Walsh, "I'm just a musician. ... Not a pop
musician or a jazz musician; just a musician. I play guitar but
I also regard my voice as an instrument. I don't really like
to be placed into a compartment and type-cast because I'd like
to work on all levels of music."
Despite all the accolades, Feliciano's
1968 success was sometimes coupled with conflict. During a series
of well-attended dates in England, the blind performer ran afoul
of British quarantine laws about pets: Feliciano's seeing-eye
dog could not enter the country. It was a problem for the musician
not only because he needed the dog for navigation, but also because
she had become something of his trademark onstage; the helpful
canine led the signer to his stool in the center of the stage
at the beginning of each performance and returned to the stage
to bow with him at the end. Feliciano did not return to England
for several years.
Invited to sing "The Star-Spangled
Banner" at the fifth game of the 1968 World Series at Detroit's
Tiger Stadium, Feliciano's disturbed many of his more conventional
listeners with what the Detroit Free Press later called his "tear-wrenching,
soul-stirring and controversial" rendition. He was booed
during the performance and received critical press for months
to follow. The offending interpretation, according to the New
York Times, was simply a matter of style: "His rendition
was done in a slower beat, similar to a blend between soul and
folk singing styles. He accompanied himself on the guitar."
The Times nonetheless quoted one listener as having responded,
"I'm young enough to understand it, but I think it stunk.
... It was nonpatriotic." Another commented, "It was
a disgrace, an insult. ... I'm going to write to my Senator about
it."
Although Feliciano has continued
to record and perform steadily since 1968, he never achieved
the same popularity with a single or album that he did that year.
The album Souled hit Number 24 on the U.S. charts in 1969; also
that year, Feliciano/10 to23 reached Number 16 and earned the
singer a second gold album. In the 1970s,Feliciano's voice entered
just about every American household when he recorded the theme
song for the enormously popular television show Chico and the
Man, in 1974, and "Feliz Navidad (I Wanna Wish You a Merry
Christmas)," which has become a Christmas staple. These
moments aside, however, the guitarist has not repeated the chart
success that launched his career.
Numerous moves to different
record labels and varying marketing strategies have failed to
reignite Feliciano's popularity with English-speaking audiences.
In the mid-1970s, after about ten years of producing Spanish
and English albums for RCA, Feliciano was signed briefly to the
Private Stock label. When that company similarly failed to revive
the interest of English-language audiences, Feliciano signed
with Motown Latino, in 1980. He remained with Motown for several
years but eventually made another switch, this time to EMI/Capitol,
which by the early 1990s had developed a formidable Latin imprint.
Despite his relatively low profile
in the U.S., Feliciano has had consistent international sales--more
than enough to allow him and his family a comfortable life. He
has earned 40 gold and platinum albums internationally. His series
of recordings marketed for Spanish-speaking audiences in the
1980s garnered considerable acclaim, including Grammy awards
for best Latin pop performance, in 1983, 1986, 1989, and 1990.
In 1991, at the first annual Latin Music Expo, Feliciano was
presented with the event's first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award.
In the late 1980s, Feliciano
began a family with Susan Omillion, whom he had met in 1971 and
married in 1982; he had previously been married, in the 1960s,
to Hilda Perez, the manager of one of the cafes where he had
performed early in his career. In 1988, Melissa Anne Feliciano
was born and in 1991, Jonathan Jose. Also in the 1990s, Feliciano's
old Harlem high school, Public School 155, was renamed the Jose
Feliciano Performing Arts School.
Sources
Books The Harmony Illustrated
Encyclopedia of Rock, edited by Mike Clifford, Harmony Books,
1988. O'Neil, Thomas, The Grammys: For the Record, Penguin, 1993.
Rock Movers & Shakers, edited by Dafydd Rees and Luke Crampton,
ABC/CLIO, 1991. The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock &
Roll, edited by Jon Pareles and Patricia Romanowski, Rolling
Stone Press/Summit Books, 1983. Periodicals Billboard, September
7, 1991. Detroit Free Press, May 28, 1993. Down Beat, February
5, 1970. Melody Maker, October 19, 1968; October 26, 1968. New
York Times, October 8, 1968.
Sources Additional information
for this profile was obtained from an L.A. Clip Productions press
biography, 1992.
~~ Ondine E. Le Blanc
BIOGRAPHY 2
by JaguarDog
LIGHT MY FIRE, HI-HEEL SNEAKERS,
FELIZ NAVIDAD & MORE BY JOSE FELICIANO
May 25 '03
The Bottom Line Jose was born blind
as Jose Monserrate Feliciano a victim of genital glaucoma on
10 September 1945 in Lares, Puerto Rico
At the age of 3 he accompanied his
Uncle on a tin cracker can. At the age of 5 years old Jose moved
with his family to Harlem in New York City, New York. At the
age of 6 he taught himself to play the accordion and the concertina
just from listening to records. He also learned how to play the
banjo, the mandolin and various keyboards. He learned to play
the 12-string guitar and at the age of 9 he made his first personal
appearance at "El Teatro Puerto Rico" in the Bronx
in New York City. In 1963 he ran away from home and moved to
Greenwich Village in New York City. He starting playing and singing
the local coffee house circuit in New York after school and on
weekends to earn a living. His style was a combination of folk,
rhythm & blues and Latin American. He quit school in 1962
to except a permanent gig in Detroit, Michigan. In 1963 he was
spotted playing at "Gerde's Folk City in New York and was
signed to a recording contract with "RCA" records.
In 1964 he appeared in the "Newport Jazz Festival"
in Newport Beach, Rhode Island.
In 1964 he releases his first single
titled "Everybody Do The Click" which is a novelty
song that fails to chart. This is followed by his first album
also in 1964 titled "The Voice And Guitar Of Jose Feliciano"
that also fails to chart. In 1965 his second album is released
titled "A Bag Full Of Soul" that once again fails to
chart. He decides to release some Latin American recordings sung
in Spanish next. These albums and 2 singles are major successes
in Central and South America and in many US Hispanic communities.
The titles of these albums follows all were released on "RCA
International" records:
Spanish Speaking Albums
SombrasUna Voz
Una Guitarra
Mas Exitos de Jose Feliciano
El Sentimiento
La Voz y La Guitarra de Jose Feliciano
Spanish Speaking Singles
La Copa Rota
Amor Gitana
His next album of English speaking
songs titled "Fantastic Feliciano" is mostly remakes
of old classics that once again fails to see much chart action.
He finally finds success when he releases his version of a #1
hit by "The Doors" titled "Light My Fire"
that peaks at #3 on the singles chart for him on 27 July 1968.
It also sells a million copies for Jose. The Doors had it peak
at #1 for them the previous year on 3 June 1967 where it stayed
for 3 weeks. His next album which also includes this song is
released next titled "Feliciano!" that peaks at #2
on the album charts where it stays for 3 weeks on 17 August 1968.
The album also includes remakes of 3 John Lennon and Paul McCartney
written songs previously performed by "The Beatles".
It includes a remake of California Dreamin' by "The Mama's
and Papas", a remake of Sunny by "Bobby Hebb"
and songs written by "Tom Paxton" and "Burt Bacharach
and Hal David". The album remains on the charts for 59 weeks,
earns a gold record and ends up being his biggest selling recording.
In November "Light My Fire" peaks at #6 on the UK singles
charts. The Doors' version previously only peaked at #49 in the
UK.
His next release is another remake
titled "Hi-Heel Sneakers" that peaks at #25 on 19 October
1968. It was originally released by "Tommy Tucker"
who had it peak at #11 on 8 February 1964. It was also released
by "Jerry Lee Lewis" and it peaked at #91 for him on
21 November 1964. "Stevie Wonder" had it peak at #59
for him on 28 August 1965. Next to release the song was "The
Ramsey Lewis Trio" where it peaked for them at #70 on 26
March 1966. The flip side of Jose's version titled "Hitchcock
Railway" charts separately and peaks at #77 one-week prior
on 12 October 1968. He plays and sings his unique version of
"The Star Spangled Banner" before the 5th game of The
World Series in Detroit Michigan between the St. Louis Cardinals
and The Detroit Tigers on 7 October. His version was very slow
and different from any previous version and received many boos
from the uncaring baseball fans. One fan was quoted the next
day in the "New York Times" as saying "I'm young
enough to understand it, but I think it stunk. ... It was non-patriotic"
another was quoted as saying, "It was a disgrace, an insult,
I'm going to write to my Senator about it." Nonetheless
RCA decided to rush release this live version on a single and
it peaked at #50 on the US charts on 2 November. On 28 December
he appears at the "Miami Pop Festival" in Hallendale,
FL. Singing and playing in front of over 10,000 people. Other
artists that also attended were "Chuck Berry", "Marvin
Gaye" "The Grateful Dead", "Joni Mitchell",
"Richie Havens" and "Jimi Hendrix" to name
a few. His next release is titled "Souled" that peaks
at #24 on the album charts on 11 January 1969. The album includes
songs written by "John Sebastian", "Bob Dylan"
and "Harry Nilsson". His first single released from
this album was titled "Hey! Baby" that peaks at #71
on 25 January. The flip side of this single also released from
this same album titled "My World Is Empty Without You"
charts seperately and peaks at #87 on 8 February. It is a remake
of a "Supremes" hit that peaked at #5 for them on 15
January 1969. Also in 1969 he provides songs for the Movie "MacKenna's
Gold" with "Gregory Peck", "Omar Sharif",
"Telly Savalas", "Julie Newmar", "Keenan
Wynn", "Ted Cassidy", "Lee J. Cobb",
"Raymond Massey", "Burgess Meredith", "Anthony
Quale", "Edward G. Robinson", "Eli Wallach"
and many others.
On 12 March 1969 he wins the "Best
Contemporary Pop Vocal Artists Performance Award" for his
version of "Light My Fire". He also receives the award
for "Best New Artist" for 1968 at the 11th annual Grammy
Awards. On 27 April he hosts his own TV Special with guest stars
"Glen Campbell", "Dionne Warwick" and "Burt
Bacharach". His next release is titled "Marley Purt
Drive" that peaks at #70 on the singles charts on 3 May.
It is a remake of a song written by "The Bee Gees"
that they had released on their album titled "Odessa"
earlier in the year. He next releases "Feliciano/10 to 23"
that peaks at #16 on the album charts on 2 August. The album
has songs written and song by "The Bee Gees" and "The
Beatles". This album gives him his second gold recording.
On 23 August his next release titled "Rain" peaks at
#76 on the singles charts. This is not the same version as "The
Beatles" or any other artists have ever done, as he is the
writer and producer of this version. His next single release
is from his previous album "Souled" that is another
"Bee Gees" written song titled "And The Sun Will
Shine" that peaks at #25 in the UK in November 1969 but
doesn't make the US Top 100 charts. It is his last single to
ever chart in the UK. His next release is a Live double album
titled "Alive Alive-O! Volume 1" that includes 23 songs.
It peaks at #29 on the US album charts on 3 January 1970 and
would be his last US Top 40 album. It was recorded at the "London
Palladium" and it becomes his 3rd gold selling record. Before
entering the country he had a run in with authorities in England
due to their very strict six-month quarantine laws on all animals
and pets he was not able to have his guide dog accompany him.
His guide dog not only helped him to navigate but also always
stayed by his side on stage and became one of his trademarks.
Because of this problem with the quarantine laws it would be
many years before he would ever return to England again. This
was followed by "Alive Alive-O! Volume 2" that included
only 8 songs on it.
His next release is titled "Fireworks"
that only reaches #57 on the US Album charts in June 1970 and
peaks at #65 in the UK in August. This album as many prior included
more Lennon and McCartney written songs including "Norwegian
Wood (The Bird Has Flown)", "She Came In Through The
Bathroom Window", "Blackbird", "Yesterday"
and "Let It Be". It also included a song previous released
by "The Rolling Stones" and written by "Mick Jagger"
and "Keith Richard" titled "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction".
His next single from this album was "Destiny" that
peaked at #83 on 4 July. The flip side charted separately that
was titled "Suzie-Q" and it peaked at #84 on the same
date. The flip side was a remake of a hit by "Dale Hawkins"
who had taken it to #27 on 10 June 1957. It was next released
by "Creedence Clearwater Revival" who took the song
to #11 on the singles charts on 7 September 1968. He begins to
release Spanish speaking albums again and alternates between
releasing Spanish speaking albums and English speaking albums
for a while. The next album in Spanish is titled "Jose Feliciano"
followed by his next English album titled "That The Spirit
Needs". The English album includes "Wild World"
previously released by "Cat Stevens" and "Take
Me To The Pilot" that was previously released by "Elton
John". In late 1970 he records 15 holiday songs for a Christmas
album to include "Feliz Navidad" but "RCA"
decides to shelve the idea. Translation of "Feliz Navidad"
from Spanish to English is "Merry Christmas".
His next English speaking release
is "Encore! Jose Feliciano's Finest Performances" that
peaks at #92 on the US album charts in May 1971. This is followed
by "That The Spirit Needs" that peaks at #173 on the
Billboard Top 200 album charts in November. In late 1972 he releases
"Jose Feliciano Sings" on "Camden" records
that peaked at #198 in June 1973 on the album charts. This was
followed by "Compartments" that peaked at #156 in November
on the album charts. This album also included back up vocals
with "Steve Cropper" formally of "Booker T. &
The MG's" from 1962 to 1971. Steve would later join "The
Blues Brothers" from 1978 to 1982. He also went on to record
3 solo albums and he started his own record label called "Play
It Steve!" records. In 1974 Jose was asked to record a theme
song for a new Television show starring one of his closest friends
"Freddie Prinze Sr.". He agreed and recorded "Chico
And The Man" that became a weekly ? hour situation comedy
on NBC from 13 September 1974 to 21 July 1978. It starred "Freddie
Prinze Sr." as Chico Rodriguez, "Jack Albertson"
as Ed Brown "The Man" and "Scatman Crothers"
as Louie. The theme song was also released as a single and peaked
at #96 on the charts on 25 January 1975. He releases 2 more English
speaking albums in 1975 "And The Feeling's Good" that
peaks at #136 followed by "Just Wanna Rock 'N' Roll"
that peaks at #165. Also in 1975 Jose appears in his first Movie
titled "Aaron Loves Angela" also starring "Kevin
Hooks", "Irene Cara", Moses Gunn", "Robert
Hooks" "Ernestine Jackson", "Leon Pinkney"
and others. In 1976 he left "RCA" records after 10
years and signed a contract with "Private Stock" records.
His first release with them is "Angela" but fails to
make the Billboard Top 100 singles charts. He also releases 2
albums with his new label in 1976 "Angela" and "Sweet
Soul Music" and neither makes the Billboard Top 200 chart.
On 29 January 1977 Jose's best friend "Freddie Prinze Sr."
committed suicide. The suicide was speculated by many to really
be murder cover-up by "J. Gordon Liddy" and his cronies
but it could never be proved.
In 1978 Jose appeared in the Movie
"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". This silly
musical comedy also starred "The Bee Gees", "Peter
Frampton", "Donald Pleasence", "Steve Martin",
Aerosmith", "Alice Cooper", "Billy Preston",
"Earth, Wind & Fire", "George Burns",
"Bobby Womack", "Bonnie Raitt", "Wolfman
Jack", "Peter Noone", "Gary Wright",
"Wilson Picket", "Alan O'Day", "Robert
Palmer", "Al Stewart", "Connie Stevens",
"Tina Turner", "Joe Simon", "Helen Reddy",
"Johnny Rivers", "Seals and Croft", "Rick
Derringer", "Del Shannon", "Donovan",
"George Benson" and many others. In 1980 he signs a
contract with "Motown" records Spanish label "Motown
Latino". He begins to release a string of Spanish speaking
only albums for the next 10 years with his new label. On 3 September
1983 he had his first and only Top 100 Country hit titled "Let's
Find Each Other Tonight" that peaked at #64 on the singles
chart. On 28 February 1984 he wins "Best Latin Pop Performance"
for his Spanish album titled "Me Enamore" at the 26th
annual Grammy awards show. On 24 February 1987 he wins "Best
Latin Pop Performance" for his Spanish single titled "Lelolai"
at the 29th annual Grammy awards show. Also in 1987 he switches
labels and signs with "EMI" records and continues to
record Spanish speaking albums and singles. In 1989 "RCA"
finally decides to release his Holiday album he had previous
recorded for them in 1970 titled "Jose Feliciano Feliz Navidad".
"Feliz Navidad" is also released as a single and gets
a tremendous amount of airplay over the holiday period but does
not make the regular Billboard Top 100 singles list. It continues
to this day to get tremendous airplay every Christmas season.
On 21 February 1990 he wins "Best Latin Pop Performance"
for his Spanish album titled "Cielito Lindo" at the
32nd annual Grammy awards show. In December 1994 he performs
for "Pope John Paul II" for the "Christmas At
The Vatican" TV special and is later granted a private audience
with him. From 1990 to today he switches recording labels many
times and records on such labels as "RCA", "Capitol",
"Polygram", "Alegre", "Camden",
"International", "Jazz", "Raven",
"EMI" and many others. In late 1997 RCA re-releases
"Feliz Navidad" and it peaks at #70 on the Billboard
singles charts on 10 January 1998.
In 1998 he appeared in the Movie "Fargo"
which also starred "William H. Macy" and "Steve
Buscemi". On 25 August he receives ASCAP's Golden Note Award
at their 6th annual "El Premio ASCAP AWARDS Dinner"
in Miami Beach, Florida.
