Joe
Bataan:
Just
An Ordinary Guy
Some
notes on Gypsy Woman and Subway Joe, his first two releases
by
John Child
The
Joe Bataan albums coupled here, his 1967 Fania label debut Gypsy Woman
and 1968 follow-up Subway Joe, were smash hits and quickly
consolidated his status as the indisputable "number one vocalist of Latin
Soul music"(1)
and "leader of Latin Soul music"(2).
In addition to establishing Bataan and his band, the Latin Swingers, as one of
the hottest acts on New York City's Latin scene, hits from Gypsy Woman
and Subway Joe crossed over to R&B radio and led to gigs at
African American dances.
When
Gypsy Woman hit the streets in 1967, the album's sleeve notes used the
awkward sounding expression "'Soul' Latin" to describe Bataan's style.
It was not until the following year that the liner notes to Bataan's third
album, the gold record winning Riot! , employed the term Latin Soul. However,
neither Gypsy Woman nor Subway Joe offer only a 100%
diet of the burgeoning Latin Soul sound, because both feature a rich mixture of
styles, including boogaloo (the more dominant R&B/Latin fusion form that
paralleled the development of Latin Soul), jala jala (a subspecies of boogaloo)
and typical Cuban forms such as descarga, guaguancó, bolero and cha cha chá.
Born Peter Nitollando Jr. in 1942 of Philippine and
African American parentage, Bataan's upbringing in the tenements of New York
City's El Barrio exposed him to a cocktail of pop, Latin, doo wop and R&B.
His adolescent and early adult years were marked by gang membership, delinquency
and a couple of prison sentences. However music proved to be the salvation of
this Afro-Filipino with a Latino heart and soul when he rounded-up a group of
young Latin musicians to form the Latin Swingers in October 1966.
By a circuitous route, Bataan secured a recording deal with Fania label
co-founder Jerry Masucci (1934-1997). The title track of Gypsy Woman
, first aired by radio deejay Dick "Ricardo" Sugar, became an instant
hit in New York's Latin community. Ironically, Joe had initially written Spanish
lyrics to "Gypsy Woman" for the band's co-lead vocalist Joe Pagan to
perform. It didn't seem to work, so he started singing the song himself in
English at gigs and received an enthusiastic reaction. The late George Goldner,
boss of the Cotique label (a rival of Fania at the time), disapproved of Joe's
rendition and advised him against recording it. Clearly, Joe's refusal to take
this advice proved to be the sounder judgment.
Gypsy
Woman
also spawned the hit Latin Soul ballad "Ordinary Guy", a humble
personal anthem he was to rework on Singin’ Some Soul '69 on Fania and
Afrofilipino '75 on Salsoul. Addressing an ex-lover, Joe plaintively
sings: "I don't have thousands to spend, Or a seaside cottage for the
weekend, I'm just an ordinary guy, You left behind."
Although it was Joe's sweet soulful voice that made the greatest impact, his
skills as a composer (all the tracks on Gypsy Woman and
Subway Joe are credited to him), arranger and pianist should not be
overlooked. A shameless imitator of Eddie Palmieri's style, his tasty piano
solos can be sampled on "Fuego", "Mujer Mia", "Nuevo
Jala Jala" and "Ponte En Algo". During "Nuevo Jala Jala",
lead vocalist Tito Ramos dubs him "La Perla del Barrio" (The Pearl of
the Spanish Harlem).
The swinging "Chickie's Trombone" from Gypsy Woman
performs a number of functions. In addition to providing a showcase for first
trombonist, Joe "Chickie" Fuentes and playing tribute to his prowess
("Listen to the magic of Chickie's trombone, Guaranteed to make you dance
and leave your troubles behind,"), Bataan's lyrics: "Listen to the
trombone, It's all over town," confirm the prevalence of the trombone sound
on the young boogaloo/Latin Soul scene at the time. It's widely regarded that
the instrumentation of Joe's eight-piece band of two trombones, rhythm section,
lead and chorus voices, and similar bands who emerged in the mid-'60s, such as
Johnny Colón and Willie Colón, were inspired by the two trombone (plus flute)
frontline of Eddie Palmieri's group Conjunto Perfecta developed in the early
'60s with trombonist Barry Rogers.
Virtually the same personnel performed on Gypsy Woman and
Subway Joe . They may not have been the greatest players, but their
youthful enthusiasm more than compensated to create a raw, rugged and funky
street-real sound. Latin lead vocalist Joe Pagan died shortly after Gypsy
Woman was made. Tito Ramos substituted on Subway Joe , which
was dedicated to Pagan's memory. Previously Ramos had provided lead vocals to
Johnny Colón's landmark boogaloo albums Boogaloo Blues '66 and
Boogaloo '67 on Cotique, and went on to co-found the TnT Band with
another ex-Colón vocalist, Tony Rojas.
Following Gypsy Woman and Subway Joe , Joe recorded a
further six albums for Fania between 1968 and 1972, and featured in the second
volume of the Fania All-Stars' debut Live At The Red Garter '68.
Thereafter he made his mark on the '70s disco and '80s rap movements with the US
and UK disco hit "The Bottle" (from Afrofilipino '75 on
Salsoul) and the international dance hit "Rap-O Clap-O" (from Mestizo
'80, aka Rap-O Clap-O , on Salsoul).
1. Vilma
Hernández in her liner note to Bataan's third album
Riot! '68 on Fania.
2. Victor Rivera, President of Bataan's Fan Club, in his liner note to
Bataan's fourth album Poor Boy
c.'69 on Fania.
Many thanks
to Larry Harlow and Willie Villegas.
This
profile is published on Latinjam
On Line by permission of the author, Mr. John Child.
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