Fania Records, the leading catalog of tropical music in existence who's catalog includes landmark recordings by virtually every luminary of the genre including Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Ruben Blades, Hector Lavoe, Willie Colon, Johnny Pacheco, Eddie Palmieri, Ray Barretto and Larry Harlow among many others, will release on Tuesday, April 14, the release of the Fania All Stars' live album, San Juan 73.
This was the debut concert of the Fania All Stars in San Juan, and the first ever concert to be held at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum, all in all a fantastic set from the vaults of Fania Records seeing release for the first time ever! This is the Fania All Stars in peak form in front of a huge, appreciative audience! Killer percussion and horns throughout, with passionate group and solo vocals with titles including "Mi Debilidad" with Ismael Quintana, "Que Rico Suena Mi Tambor" with Ismael Miranda, "El Raton" with Cheo Feliciano, "Pueblo Latino" with Pete Rodriguez, "Mi Gente" with Hector Lavoe, "Soy Guajiro". "Soul Makossa" and "Congo Bongo".
The discovery of this complete yet never-released album in Fania's vaults was among the most exciting finds since the company began sifting through the treasures contained therein. San Juan 73 is the live recording of the Fania All Stars' concert that inaugurated the Roberto Clemente coliseum in Puerto Rico in 1973. That night, Hector Lavoe, Cheo Feliciano, Celia Cruz, Bobby Cruz, Ismael Miranda, Ismael Quintana, Pete "El Conde" Rodriguez, Santos Colon and Justo Betancourt got together on one stage for an unforgettable performance. A complete success, the concert sold-out with over two thousand people left outside, and in many ways positioned the group for future success. Promoter, Rafael Viera recalls, "It was the beginning of something that to this day, has not be surpassed by anything in Latin Music. The Fania All Stars became a religion. Every radio station played the music, everyone danced to the sounds of 'Quitate Tu' and 'Estrellas De Fania.'"
The San Juan concert as well as the riot-causing concert at New York's Yankee Stadium was both recorded. Because Yankee Stadium was filmed as the centerpiece for Salsa, the film Masucci was then making, he felt that Live At The Yankee Stadium was strategically the best album to release. "That the San Juan concert was ever recorded was soon forgotten and the tapes were put into deep storage, untouched for over 30 years. However when I was searching the Fania archive, I stumbled across most of them," says A&R Specialist Dean Rudland. San Juan 73 takes the listener back in time lending the chance to hear the music much as it would have sounded the day of the performance - giving insight into how the Fania All Stars became the most famous salsa group of them all.
The discovery of this complete yet never-released album in Fania's vaults was among the most exciting finds since the company began sifting through the treasures contained therein. San Juan 73 is the live recording of the Fania All Stars' concert that inaugurated the Roberto Clemente coliseum in Puerto Rico in 1973. That night, Hector Lavoe, Cheo Feliciano, Celia Cruz, Bobby Cruz, Ismael Miranda, Ismael Quintana, Pete "El Conde" Rodriguez, Santos Colon and Justo Betancourt got together on one stage for an unforgettable performance. A complete success, the concert sold-out with over two thousand people left outside, and in many ways positioned the group for future success. Promoter, Rafael Viera recalls, "It was the beginning of something that to this day, has not be surpassed by anything in Latin Music. The Fania All Stars became a religion. Every radio station played the music, everyone danced to the sounds of 'Quitate Tu' and 'Estrellas De Fania.'"
The San Juan concert as well as the riot-causing concert at New York's Yankee Stadium was both recorded. Because Yankee Stadium was filmed as the centerpiece for Salsa, the film Masucci was then making, he felt that Live At The Yankee Stadium was strategically the best album to release. "That the San Juan concert was ever recorded was soon forgotten and the tapes were put into deep storage, untouched for over 30 years. However when I was searching the Fania archive, I stumbled across most of them," says A&R Specialist Dean Rudland. San Juan 73 takes the listener back in time lending the chance to hear the music much as it would have sounded the day of the performance - giving insight into how the Fania All Stars became the most famous salsa group of them all.
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