By Fernie Ruano Jr.
His emotive voice and endless guitar riffs are as synonymous with pop music as toys and gift boxes are to millions of Americans when the calendar strikes mid-December.
It doesn’t matter where you grew up, where you live and how old you are; you’ve probably heard his voice right around Christmas wishing you ‘Feliz Navidad’ as you make the last minute trip to your favorite store, mall and turn on the radio in your car.
But even though Puerto Rican-born singer and guitarist Jose Feliciano, 68, is widely-recognized for his Christmas-themed, 1970 hit song, ‘Feliz Navidad’, the infectious song written by Feliciano which is a staple around the dinner table and pork roast, Jose Feliciano is responsible for much more than providing your generation's holiday anthem.
Feliciano is an international star that has influenced popular music for more than two generations, in multiple languages no less. Aside from being the first Latin artist to score a crossover into the mainstream market, Feliciano long ago introduced the world to a rambunctious, yet technically sound way of handling a guitar, thanks to his creativeness in picking at the six strings, if not rolling and running them like few have ever done. His extended and improvisational riffs are to die for, if not to fall in love with.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iia3OW7TkRU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iia3OW7TkRU
His emotion and tenderness in song is unique, namely in classic Spanish ballads such as ‘Cuando pienso en ti’, ‘La copa rota’ and ‘Que sera’, to name a few. The kid from Lares was born blind to humble beginnings, but that didn’t stop him from taking his guitar at 17 and heading for coffee shops all over Greenwich Village, Connecticut in hopes of making a few bucks to help his family. He played in bars and clubs, too.
Jose Feliciano is a true talent and treasure that will forever have a storied place in popular music history, no matter what language you speak and what time of year it is.
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