[JPL] José Felicano, Chico & The Man, Light My Fire, High Heeled Sneakers....

[Arturo Gomez]

José Felicano is a sightless, guitarist, composer, percussionist and
vocalist from Puerto Rico not be confused with the Puerto Rican salsa singer
José "Cheo" Feliciano. José Feliciano has been a staple of Latin American
since the  early 1960s and in 1967 crossed over to Top 40 pop radio and rock
n roll with his acclaimed RCA album that had his double-sided hit,
California Dreamin' and Light My Fire. Since then he has recorded many
English language albums that include folk, rock, Latin, blues, funk and
other elements while maintaining wide popularity throughout Latin America to
this day as a bolero and ballads Spanish language singer singer. In the
mid-70s through his freindship with fellow Puerto Rican, the late comic
Freddie Prinze, José got the nod to sing the theme song for Prinze's
sucessful TV show, Chico & The Man. Feliciano is also a mainstay of
Christmas music in a wide variety of radio formats because of his huge
bi-lingual hit, Feliz Navidad aka I Wanna Wish You A Merry Christmas.

In 1968 because of his sucessful RCA recordings which was the same company
as NBC, Feliciano got to sing the Star Spangled Banner for the baseball All
Star game in Detroit, he simply strummed his guitar in a slower, bluesier
version with a bit of scatting at the end that angered many viewers sparking
a controversy that forced cancellation of many scheduled concerts and TV
appearances.

Arturo