December 12: Today, on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, we tip our hats to one of the songs I love to sing out loud in the car. However when he hits the Spanish verse I must admit that some very interesting things come out of my mouth, none of which are actually real words. But the intention of this song, as stated by Mr. Feliciano was to bridge the gap in language and culture, not accentuate it. And that is exactly what the Puerto Rican singer Jose Feliciano does. I would argue that his work (along with Santana) has paved the way for the “Cross-over” impact of future artists such as Rickey Martin, Marc Anthony and Gloria Estefan. But what makes me admire this man is the fact that he has been so successful with his career despite the fact that he was born blind. Granted I would also be impressed by anyone with his guitar ability and resume’, which includes work on albums by John Lennon, Joni Mitchell, Cat Stevens, Carlos Santana and Paul Simon! But to do it all blind and keeping a great sense of humor, that is amazing. (Side Note Story – Someone once presented Jose with a cheese grater when they heard he could read brail. He said, I have read this. It is the most violent book I have ever read) So our hero of the day is Jose Feliciano, who wrote this next Christmas classic in 1970 for the album Feliz Navidad. The song, Feliz Navidad has gone on to become one of the top 25 Christmas songs in the world. Using two simple verses, one in Spanish and the other in English, Feliciano blends the lyrics over the joyful tempo of both an acoustic guitar and the Puerto Rican Custro (the national instrument of Puerto Rico). The result of this melody has gone on to become one of the most downloaded and aired Christmas songs in the United States and Canada. Today, I would like to present you with Feliz Navidad: https://youtube/watch?v=RTtc2pM1boE
Posted on: Fri, 12 Dec 2014 06:22:05 +0000
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