THE JOE BATAAN & PETE RODRIGUEZ DISCOGRAPHIES

I should have done these a while back but better late than never. When you start researching Latin soul, you realize it’s hard to come by reliable artist discographies, especially when they record for different labels over the course of their careers. In some cases, you have to disentangle a lot of confusing information, such as the surprising number of errors on the joebataan.net site or the fact that Remo re-released a couple of Rodriguez’s albums with new titles.

I was going to add my Speed Records discography but Reynaldo82 already has one up (I put in my recommendations into his comments section). At some future point, I might try to do one for Joe Cuba but he has several early releases (pre-Tico) that I’m still trying to track down so I’m not quite there yet.

Folks should feel free to send in additions/corrections via comments!

The Joe Bataan LP Discography [1]

Gypsy Woman (Fania 340) 1967

Subway Joe (Fania 345) 1967

Riot! (Fania 354) 1968

Poor Boy (Fania 371) 1969

Singin’ Some Soul (Fania 375) 1969

Mr. New York and the East Side Kids (Fania 395) 1970/1?

Sweet Soul (Fania 407) 1971

The Song of Joe Bataan (a best of compilation) (Fania 411) 1971/2>? [2]

St. Latin’s Day Massacre (Fania 420) 1972

Bataan in San Frantasia (Fania, recorded but unreleased) [3]

Salsoul (Mericana 124) 1973

Afrofilipino (Salsoul 33471) 1975

Mestizo (Salsoul 8534) 1980

II (Salsoul 8549) 1981

Years of Soul (Century, Japan) 1992 [4]

Call My Name (Vampisoul 065) 2005

King of Latin Soul (w/ Los Fulanos) (Vampisoul 111) 2009

Of this bunch, my personal recommendations would be:

Essential:Gypsy Woman, Riot!, Singin’ Some Soul, Salsoul, Afrofilipino, Call my Name
Worth having: Subway Joe, Poor Boy, Mr. New York and the East Side Kids, Sweet Soul, St. Latin’s Day Massacre, Mestizo
Completionists only: The Song of Joe Bataan, II, Years of Soul, King of Latin Soul

Of the various 7″ releases, I’d recommend “Gypsy Woman,” “Ordinary Guy” (the alternate mix, recorded in 1967, not the later version which appeared first on Riot!), “Latin Soul Square Dance” (the only recording from Live From San Frantasia that survived), “latin Strut,” and “Woman Don’t Want To Love Me” (the 7″ version is slightly different from what appears on Afrofilipino.

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Notes:

[1] Nailing down the years can be tricky since Fania usually didn’t include the date of publishing for their early releases. However, I tried, when I could, to cross-check this against charts from the era (usually in Billboard).

[2] Normally, I wouldn’t include a “best of” or similar anthology but since this appeared during his Fania years, I decided to include it.

[3] What really sucks is that this album was completely recorded but never released and in theory, the tapes might still be out there but no one seems to have located them…yet.

[4] An obscure CD-only release out of Japan.

Thanks to Reynaldo82 for his excellent Fania discography.

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If anyone out there has corrections/additions, please add on. And most importantly, no one in the Latin music scene has heard from Pete in nearly 40 years! If anyone’s been in contact with him, please let us know!

The Pete Rodriguez LP Discography [1]

At Last! La Magnifica (Remo LPR-1511) 1965
(Later reissued as Boogaloo…ese Pete está en algo…! (Remo LPR-1525)

La Reencarnacion (Later reissued as King of Boogaloo (Remo LPR 1517) 1965/6? [2]

Latin Boogaloo (Alegre SLPA-852) 1966

I Like It Like That/A Mi Me Gusta Asi (Alegre SLPA-855) 1966/7?

Oh That’s Nice/Ay, Que Bueno (Alegre SLPA-860) 1967

Christmas Boogaloo/Boogaloo Navideño (Alegre SLPA-861) 1967

Hot and Wild (Alegre SLPA-865) 1968?

Latin Soul Man (Alegre SLPA-875) 1968? [3]

Best Of (Alegre SLPA-878) 1969 (compilation of old material)

Now! (Alegre SLPA-881) 1969

Ruben Blades con la Orquesta de Pete Rodriguez: De Panama A New York (Alegre SLPA-885) 1970 [4]

Right On!/Ahi Na Ma! (All-Art 1567) 1971 [5]

Of this bunch, my personal recommendations would be:

Essential: Latin Boogaloo, I Like It Like That, Oh That’s Nice.
Worth having: Hot and Wild, De Panama A New York, Right On!
Under evaluation still: At Last!, La Reencarnacion, Latin Soul Man, Now!
Completionists only: Christmas Boogaloo, Best Of

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Notes:

[1] Much as I’d like to work out a 45 discography, there’s very little publicly known about the state of different Latin 45s. Suffice to say, there’s more than people know about but more research is necessary before one can begin to assemble anything comprehensive.

[2] Remo clearly was trying to milk their Rodriguez catalog as much as they could by reissuing his two LPs with “Boogaloo” in the title even though neither album had a single boogaloo on it. Shameless (though arguably smart) marketing move.

[3] Trumpet player, Tony Pabon, one of the main songwriters for Rodriguez since the beginning, leaves the group at this point and forms “Tony Pabon and His All-Stars” which later becomes “La Protesta” by the early 1970s. Timbalero Benny Bonilla, who joined Rodriguez’s group midway through their Remo era, also left with Pabon. Between those two, plus Manny Rodriguez (Pete’s brother), came all of Rodriguez’s main boogaloo hits: “Pete’s Boogaloo,” “I Like It Like That,” “Oh, That’s Nice” and “Micaela.”

[4] In the late 1960s, Blades was in New York, finishing law school, and came to the attention of producer Pancho Cristal at Alegre who suggested that he and Rodriguez work together. Blades then returned to Panama to finish school before returning to the U.S. in 1974, upon which he became one of the biggest singers of the salsa era.

[5] Rodriguez’s Remo albums are considerably harder to track than his Alegre output but again – none of it is boogaloo-related. His Alegre output went through three distinct phases. The first four albums – Latin Boogaloo through Christmas Boogaloo – were recorded when the group was the height of their popularity. By Hot and Wild and Latin Soul Man, they were in transition mode as boogaloo was losing its appeal and you can hear that shift in the song selection on the two LPs. Once Pabon and Bonilla leave by the time Now! is released, the group has not only lost two of its core members but they’re also trying to survive the transition into salsa, including their last album, on the Pancho Cristal-co-founded label, All-Art.

Thanks to Daniel Green and Garcia Vega for their exhaustive Alegre discographic info. Thanks also to Reynaldo82 for help with filling in some blanks.