Jose Feliciano, Weston, Erin and Me…

I’m not like other guitar players. In fact, I'm not even like most acoustic players because I use the nylon-string acoustic. I do play steel-string and the electric guitar, too, because I love rock 'n' roll and guitarists like Jimi Hendrix, but my bread and butter has always been the nylon-string. Very few guitarists play nylon-string. They don't know how to get the sound out of them. That's something I've spent a lot of time on…It still makes sounds and does things that surprise me. Any time I think I've learned all the tricks, I'll come up with something, or somebody else will, and a new door opens. It's beautiful.
Jose Feliciano
Everything I learned was from records and listening to other people. Segovia was my classical influence, and then I liked Charlie Byrd a lot, too. In the 1960s, when Charlie brought bossa nova to the United States along with Stan Getz, I started listening to acoustic guitar players like Luiz Bonfa, Alirio Diaz - they were fantastic. But in the popular bag, it was Charlie Byrd who taught me through his records to do certain things on the nylon-string guitar that you're not supposed to do, like bending the note and playing kind of bluesy. All of the guitar purists scoffed at me in my teenage years when I played in the Village. But see, I did those things on the acoustic because I loved rock 'n' roll. I couldn't afford an electric guitar, so I would kind of play my acoustic like an electric. I loved it.
Jose Feliciano

***Sombra…Una Voz, Una Guitarra (1965) signed by Jose***

It was exciting, sure. I loved Segovia. With rock 'n' roll, like the other kids my age, I discovered it on the radio and from American Bandstand. I picked up on rock 'n' roll between 1955 and '56, and in '56 Elvis came along and made us all rock 'n' roll fans. I remember doing Elvis songs at the school assemblies. They'd tell me, 'We're letting you go on, but please, don't excite the kids. Don't play anything too exciting.' Did I listen? F#ck no! I played what I played, you know? The kids would scream - it was great. After my performance, I'd go back to the classroom, and everybody would stand up and clap, which was pretty cool. The teachers had to deal with that. So that was my first taste of success and being accepted by the kids at school as a performer. You never get tired of that, believe me.
Jose Feliciano on early idolatry
I've always had blistering speed with my right hand. People call it 'flamenco,' but it's not. I've heard the phrase 'Jose Feliciano and his Flamenco Guitar' - that's not what it is. I'm not a flamenco guitarist. I happen to play a nylon-string guitar that flamenco guitarists also use, but I'm not a flamenco guitarist.
Jose Feliciano
I love creating new music for my fans. I love the challenge of continuing to create hits and I love working with my producer, my musicians and my fans. I’m breathing so I’m making music. It’s that simple.
Jose Feliciano

***Canta Otra Vez (1971) signed by Jose***

Weston, Connecticut is a cool town. Erin and I have lived here for twenty years and our children have thrived here. Located forty-five miles northeast of New York City, Weston retains a bucolic charm with two acre zoning, interesting architecture (mid-century masters Mies Van der Rohe and Richard Neutra both designed homes here!), great schools, a vibrant arts community and endless stone walls. It has a colorful history with actors: Marilyn Monroe lived here after finishing The Seven Year Itch as did other icons Rodney Dangerfield, Bette Davis, Christopher Plummer and Robert Redford.

Weston also has a longstanding relationship with musicians. Fritz Reiner, conductor of the New York Philharmonic, led summer programs with the entire orchestra at his home in the 1940s, choreographer and ballet master George Balanchine summered here, far from the sweltering asphalt of New York City, disco diva Donna Summer lived on Crystal Lake, and chanteuse Eartha Kitt spent the twilight of her life in this leafy, wooded community.

Perhaps the most famous musician, who has been a long time Weston resident despite his numerous other homes, is Rolling Stone Keith Richards and his supermodel wife Patti Hansen. Keith and Patti have lived here for nearly forty years and both of their daughters attended the local Weston public schools. I've been told by some residents who preceded us that it was not unusual for Keith and Patti to attend Back To School nights and the school plays, where Patti supplied her fearsome skills as a makeup artist. Turns out even the most venal and decadent Rolling Stone can be domesticated, although the sight of Keith prowling the halls of the Weston Middle School sans drinks, drugs and smokes is unusual and unsettling!

Despite all his fame and notoriety, Keith Richards is not the most talented guitarist in Weston. By his own admission, Keith is the second best guitarist in his hometown to Jose Feliciano, "We have never crossed paths even though Weston is a very small town. There's only one gas station and one market…That's right, he's a much better guitarist than me..and I haven't trained like him." A deferential show of respect and a proper nod from one guitar titan to a fellow guitarist of towering talent.

Born blind with congenital glaucoma in Puerto Rico, Jose Feliciano and his family moved to New York City when he was five years old. Jose was already showing an aptitude for music, banging on percussion at age three, and later playing the accordion. Soon, he was smitten with the guitar, as Jose remembered his early influences, "I listened to a lot of Spanish guitarists. There was Yomo Toro who was such a great player. He played the requinto. I started out on the instrument when I was about nine, but I don't think I was a guitarist till I was fourteen, I played the requinto like Yomo Toro. When I was fifteen, I became an avid fan of Andres Segovia. He brought so much respectability to the guitar. I remember when I tried to apply to the High School Of Music & Art in New York City, they wouldn't take me because I played the guitar. I had to play the piano - that's what they said. In my situation, because I was very poor and we lived in a small apartment, I couldn't have a piano, so Music & Art was out. Juilliard was out, too, because you needed money to go there."

Since the fancy music schools were not an option, Jose got his real education busking in the streets of New York City and playing coffee houses and clubs in the nascent though burgeoning folk scene in Greenwich Village, crossing paths with Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Ramblin' Jack Elliott and Dave Van Ronk. Through his coffee house earnings, Jose was able to contribute to the family coffers, and his family was grateful for the much needed financial remuneration.

***Fantastic Feliciano (1966) signed by Jose***

While performing in 1963 at Gerdes Folk City in Greenwich Village, Jose was “discovered” and signed by RCA Victor A&R executive Jack Somer. In 1965, Jose released his first album, The Voice And Guitar Of Jose Feliciano, and several others followed, but Jose hit his commercial stride when he hooked up with producer Rick Jarrad, a friendship and professional relationship which would endure for the next fifty years. Jarrad, at the time, was producing Harry Nilsson and the Jefferson Airplane.

Rick suggested songs which were different - “California Dreamin’ “ by the Mamas and the Papas and “Light My Fire” by The Doors - not the usual fare. Initially, Jose was skeptical since both songs had enjoyed tremendous chart success a year earlier, but Rick was insistent and encouraged Jose to put his spin on the tunes. Feliciano! released in 1968, became a monstrous worldwide hit, reaching Number Three on the Billboard charts. In fact, the first single was “California Dreamin’ “ and the b-side was “Light My Fire." When asked what The Doors thought of his recording, Jose recounted years later, "I did hear from (Doors guitarist) Robbie Krieger who said 'That was the way the song really should have been done.' I think Ray Manzarek, the keyboardist, liked what I did. I was a Doors fan, so that was just my way of showing The Doors that I liked their music. I never thought that my version would be a hit because the A side of the single was "California Dreamin'." Clearly, this single is a worthy candidate for the best ever 45 rpm!

Riding high on the success of this record, Jose’s profile was raised ever higher, and he was asked to perform the National Anthem at Game Five (Detroit Tigers vs. St. Louis Cardinals) of the 1968 World Series by his friend, Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell, an eventual inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Jose sang the anthem his way, with soulful, yearning vocals accompanied by his fleet, finger picked acoustic guitar. A smattering of boos followed along with applause that the blasphemous performance was over. No one had ever sung the National Anthem like this. It was not sung in a stodgy, traditional way, rather it reflected the sensibilities and creativity of Jose. He recalled, "After I sang it, it was really strange to hear me being booed... and I didn't know what happened."

What followed was the worst that America has to offer. Angry calls to the Detroit Tigers front office precipitated a boycott of Jose's music on commercial broadcast radio and Jose was told that "Some veterans were taking off their shoes and throwing them at the television screens." There was a hue and cry to deport Jose from the miseducated and misinformed, sadly, a seemingly unending U.S. tradition. Indeed, it is not possible to deport a naturalized U.S. citizen, nevertheless, it affected and hurt Jose, "I was a little depressed to tell you the truth. And then they stopped playing me, like I had the plague or something." It is hard to believe that this performance almost derailed and scuttled his career.

***Feliciano 10 To 23 (1969) signed by Jose***

The unexpected and unintended consequence of his improvisation on the National Anthem, however quaint as it may seem today, are the many artistic interpretations that followed. It's not a straight line from Jose Feliciano's Latin folk to Jimi Hendrix's incendiary rock explosion at Woodstock in 1969 to Marvin Gaye's NBA All Star Game soul burner in 1983 to Whitney Houston's transcendence on an aircraft carrier in 1991, or maybe it is. As Jose admitted, "The only thing I can say about all these versions is that they wouldn't have done it if I hadn't done it - and I'm glad I did it.

Though the airplay dried up for a time, Jose continued to find college campus concerts more welcoming and he toiled away. Nothing overcomes a black list like releasing a Top 10 Holiday mainstay, even though "Feliz Navidad" was a bit of a fluke recording. Jose recalled that producer Rick Jarrad and he were working on a Christmas album in 1970, "Rick said to me, 'Jose, why don't you write a new Christmas song?' Well, at the time, the newest Christmas song was "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" with Brenda Lee. And I thought to myself, 'Well Rick, you're asking for a tall order. How do I write something as good as Irving Berlin's "White Christmas"?" And I have to say, I put my mind to it. I thought about it and I came up with this very simple song using Puerto Rican instruments, like the cuatro, which my uncle taught me how to play when I was a little boy."

An anthem was born, a Christmas standard was introduced, and "Feliz Navidad" has been as ubiquitous as Nat King Cole's "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting)," and Bing Crosby's "White Christmas," and just as beloved. As the song recently celebrated its fiftieth anniversary, Jose remarked, "I feel it celebrates the continuing joy it's bringing to generations of families around the world. And it's about the true meaning of Christmas - being with family, sharing good meals and music. My proudest memory simply continues to be those many moments when I hear people all around the world singing my song. That blows my mind. I never would've imagined that could ever have been the case with one of my songs. I am so proud that it is the most popular global bilingual song, written by me in Spanish and English." A stunning achievement for any artist, Jose continues to bring joy and happiness to so many all over the world, and it is equally remarkable that he lives with his family just down a quiet Weston street.

Given our hometown connection, Erin and I have been blessed to see Jose several times over the years. He and his wife Susan, together fifty years, married almost forty (and introduced by Ernie Harwell - something great did come out of the Detroit debacle!), have been tireless supporters of the Weston community. Whether headlining with a full band at Westport's Levitt Pavilion for thousands, singing Midnight Mass at Assumption Church for congregants or performing an impromptu solo acoustic show for fifty at the Weston Senior Center, Jose's generous spirit is as infectious as his music is compelling.

So it was a fitting reintroduction to Jose and his music that he performed his first show in nearly eighteen months at the Weston Arts Fair on July 17, 2021. "Look, we haven't played in a long time and it was important for me and my family to play our first show here in my hometown, Weston. Please don't boo if we mess things up, It's been awhile," he quipped before the show started. His vocals sounded great and his guitar picking remained flawless. It's a good thing Keef didn't show up, he would have been shredded. Highlights included "California Dreamin'," "Light My Fire," and a stirring "Ain't No Sunshine," which Jose dedicated to his late great friend Bill Withers.

***Alive Alive-O (1969) signed by Jose***

After the show, Erin and I were led backstage through the internecine hallways by our friend Wendy and met with Jose and his beautiful and charming wife Susan in their dressing room. I told him that Keith Richards was using no false modesty when he said that he was the second best guitarist in Weston, "Oh you are very kind to say that. You know, I have never met Keith Richards but he was a big influence. The fuzz tone he used on 'Satisfaction' was a very important sound to me." Susan handed Jose the albums and told him what he was signing. Susan loved Alive Alive O!, an album he recorded at the London Palladium, "Oh, look at the back of this album, there’s Trudy (his beloved sight dog), and on the mic, a small picture of Jose. This is the only album (and he released more than sixty) which has two pictures of Jose on the (back) cover," she explained. As he signed Fantastic Feliciano, she told me that the original drawing hangs in their hallway. It is a beautiful rendering. Erin and I introduced our two friends who were visiting, one from Los Angeles via Iran, and the other from London via Iran. Jose brightened, "Oh, it is so nice to meet you. I would love to go to Iran some day. I really think I can help the people there. Music is a great healer and that's what they need, love and music." And that’s exactly what Jose provides. My friends, Erin and I thanked him for his kindness, generosity, and especially his music.

As talented as he is humble, Jose Feliciano is an amazing artist, a healer, a humanitarian, a great man and a great neighbor. He is definitely the best guitarist in Weston! We wish he and his family peace and blessings.

Vaya con dios!