Fania All Stars: Latin-Soul-Rock (50th anniversary) [CRAFT]

Why you'll love it

This 50th anniversary edition is remastered from the analogue sources by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio, pressed on 180g vinyl and housed in a tip-on gatefold jacket replicating the original. It catches salsa's biggest stars mixing it up with rock and soul, much of it at their Yankee Stadium show in 1973.

This edition

• 50th anniversary edition
• 180g vinyl
• All-analogue lacquers cut by Kevin Gray
• Tip-on gatefold jacket
• Reprinted liner notes by Jerry Masucci
• Stereo mix

About the album

On August 24, 1973, about 40,000 people packed Yankee Stadium for the Fania All Stars, reportedly the biggest crowd a Latin concert had ever drawn. So many fans rushed the field that the set ended after "Congo Bongo," and those tapes became the backbone of this album, with producer Jerry Masucci finishing a few tracks in New York afterwards.

The guest list is the hook. Manu Dibango brings "Soul Makossa," recorded live in Puerto Rico that November, while Jorge Santana of Malo, drummer Billy Cobham and Mahavishnu Orchestra keyboardist Jan Hammer push the band towards rock and fusion. "Chanchullo" is the tune Tito Puente reworked into "Oye Como Va," and "Viva Tirado" and "El Ratón" show how naturally salsa took to a bit of extra voltage. Larry Harlow co-produced with Masucci, and the horn section blazes throughout.

Footage from the concert ended up in the 1976 documentary Salsa!, and in 2014 the All Stars received an ASCAP Latin Heritage Award. Yankee Stadium has seen a fair few home runs over the years; this is the one we'd rather own on vinyl.

Also at Kops: more Fania All Stars on vinyl · browse World

Tracklist

Listen

On Fania / Craft Latino (cat# CR00731), a reissue of the 1974 album.