[SYN-033]
It's hard to describe the music of José Feliciano without venturing into a dangerous thicket of multi-hyphenated compound nouns. No single musical style would be enough to satisfy his artistic inclinations, so he delved into a whole bunch: jazz, flamenco, soul, Latin-American folk, blues and mainstream pop, to name only six. Both his singing and his guitar playing display a cutting force, a unique bite that lends a sharp edge to even the smoothest ballad. Due to congenital glaucoma, Feliciano has been blind since birth. In 1950, when he was five, he moved with his family from Puerto Rico to New York. Feliciano's big crossover moment came in 1968, and at the 1969 Grammys, he was named Best New Artist. Though Feliciano's subsequent career has been long and fruitful, only one more song - the 1974 theme to TV's "Chico and the Man" - worked its way into the general public's consciousness. You'll find it on this disc, along with several other hits. — Mac Randall