Decoding "Despacito"

Chapter 1

Feliz Navidad

José Feliciano

1970

Players

José Feliciano: Artist, composer

Rick Jarrard: Producer

Susan Feliciano: Wife, fan

If you could pinpoint the beginnings of what would later be termed crossover, some of it would undoubtedly be found in the music of José Feliciano. In 1968, the Puerto Rican guitarist and singer captured the public imagination with his mind-bending cover of Light My Fire, a vocal tour de force where the voice shares as much glory as Feliciano s guitar. One can find bolero references here, but, really, this is an homage to the Doors and Jim Morrison, performed by a Puerto Rican virtuoso whose music is as steeped in the blues as it is in Latin music. The track was produced by the man who would become Feliciano s longtime friend and producer, Rick Jarrard.

Light My Fire would peak at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 that year, establishing Feliciano as a force in the business and paving the way for his 1968 Grammy as Best New Artist.

After that success, you might think that Feliz Navidad was part of a carefully planned strategic move. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Feliciano was working on an album of Christmas songs, with a couple of originals to be included among the covers. Jarrard suggested an original track and Feliciano came up with Feliz Navidad almost on a whim. The song became bilingual, he said, because he didn t want pop radio not to play it.

To understand how revolutionary, and prescient, this decision was, you only have to look at what the future of Latin music would hold, with bilingual songs populating the charts in record numbers five decades later.

As for Feliz Navidad, its popularity grew slowly but surely through the years, finally attaining that rarest of standings: It s now a classic holiday song. In both Spanish and English.

Rick Jarrard

We ve been friends for so many years. We re brothers. He calls me every day and every night and we end up having a Grand

Leila Cobo is the vice president and Latin industry lead at Billboard and heads the Billboard Latin Music Conference. She has published two novels and three books about Latin music, including a top-selling biography of the late Jenni Rivera.

An up-tempo journey through some of Latin music s greatest hits. . . . The narrative is rapidly paced, just like the music that fills its pages, and is best served while playing the songs it chronicles. At its core, this is a book about believing in what many considered impossible: It s too much Spanish, said American radio programmers about the titular megahit, which demonstrates the power of music to change attitudes. There is something special about learning the magic of this music from the people who were there and how seemingly niche sounds like salsa, which began in the streets of New York City in the 1960s, would end up resonating in places as far-flung as Japan. The organizer and host of Billboard s annual Latin Music Conference, Cobo is a highly knowledgeable guide, and she delves deep into the canon to make a convincing case for Latin music as a significant driver of American culture at large. An entertaining oral history of the songs that put Latin culture on the map.
Kirkus Reviews