THE RECENT SURGE in interest in Latin music has been a boon to one star of the 1960s and 70s who already needed little help filling concert halls worldwide. Despite this new-found recognition on the back of a Latin revival, Jose Feliciano has taken it all in his stride.
'It's a circumstantial thing. I've always recorded in both languages. I've been doing Latin music since 1966. It just happens that at the moment I have a Spanish album out,' he explains.
The Puerto Rican-born, New York-raised blind singer, songwriter and guitarist's career is on a roll. His Latin album, Senor Bolero, is doing well on the charts and he is maintaining his usual hectic touring schedule, having recently played concerts on the west coast of the United States and in Australia.
The current Latin trend has generated broader exposure for his Spanish-language recordings, but for almost as long as he has been playing Feliciano, 57, has juggled two careers. He was already a star in Latin America well before his 1968 hit cover version of The Doors song, Light My Fire, brought him international fame.
Senor Bolero brings the six-time Grammy award winner full circle. His recording career began in Argentina with an album of Spanish boleros called El Sentimiento to which he brought the many diverse musical influences he had acquired growing up in New York. He was breaking new ground with well-worn material, and immediately had hits on his hands with the singles Poquita Fe and Usted.
Two years later in Los Angeles, Feliciano recorded the soulful, Latin-tinged version of Robby Krieger's Light My Fire. His version sold almost as well as the original.
