The Complete 78s, Vol. 1 by Tito Puente (CD, Sep-2010, 2 Discs, Fania)

Album Features
UPC:	846395071023
Artist:	Tito Puente
Format:	CD
Release Year:	2010
Record Label:	Fania
Genre:	International, Mambo
Number Of Discs:	2

Track Listing
DISC 1:
1. Corazon, Un
2. Solos Tu Y Yo
3. Mambo Macoco
4. Abaniquito
5. Titos Mambo
6. Babalaqua
7. Baile Simon
8. Quiero Mi tambo
9. Cuban Cutie
10. Burujon Puñao, A
11. Babarabatiri
12. Cuban Mambo
13. Mambolero
14. Mi Guaguanco [New Guaguanco]
15. Mambo La Roca
16. Lo Dicen Todas
17. Esy
18. Nuevo Mambo, El
19. Drinking Mambo, The
20. Oye Lo Que Tiene El Mambo

DISC 2:
1. Soy Feliz
2. No Lo Hago Mas
3. Vibe Mambo
4. Por La Mañana
5. Willie and Ray Mambo
6. Tinguaro
7. Mambo Con Puente
8. Baile Mi Mambo
9. Tatalibába
10. Guajeo En Dominante
11. Mambo Gallego
12. Quiereme y Veras
13. Rey Del Timbal, El
14. Que Lindo El Mambo
15. Titoro
16. Mamey Colorao'
17. Camina Camaron
18. Mari Juana
19. Mambiando
20. Mambo Suavecito

Details
Playing Time:	118 min.
Producer:	Joe Conzo (Compilation)
Distributor:	TVT Records (Dist.)
Recording Type:	Studio
Recording Mode:	Stereo
SPAR Code:	n/a

Album Notes
Personnel: Manny Oquendo, Mario Bauzá, Mongo Santamaría.Liner Note Author: Joe Conzo.In what is perhaps the most admirable reissue campaign in Latin music history, Emusica head Giora Breil commissioned Joe Conzo to compile and annotate a four-volume collection from the dawn of Tito Puente's leadership of a band, a series of 156 songs recorded from 1949 to 1955 and released on the Tico label as 78 rpm records. Although Puente was recording for RCA around the same time (those sides appear on The Complete RCA Recordings, Vol. 1), these Tico songs present a far different side of the Latin maestro, and there are few parallels between the material. Where Puente was recording plentiful swing crossovers for RCA ("Tuxedo Junction" and "Take the 'A' Train" in addition to his early masterpiece "Ran Kan Kan"), his material for Tico found him keeping mostly to what his core audience in Spanish Harlem wanted to hear: plentiful hard mambos with the occasional bolero or ballad and, overall, few direct concessions to mainstream music. This was the equivalent of Duke Ellington on OKeh or Charlie Parker on Dial -- recordings for the hardcore faithful that showed a band as it existed instead of as it wanted to be sold. However, despite assumptions either way, that doesn't necessarily make this a better or worse set than the fruits of the RCA years, and indeed, for a crossover audience whose numbers usually overwhelm the core base, Puente's Tico recordings will be less familiar and even less dynamic. But the level of musicianship was high, with future heroes Mario Bauzá and Mongo Santamaria heard throughout. In at least one area, however, Puente's band wasn't at its peak, and that was in the vocals. Vicentico Valdes is heard most often here, and although he's a fine singer, he is no equal of the great Cuban, Beny Moré (especially when he tries on a Moré classic like "Babarabatiri"). But even though it lacks the epoch-shifting importance of "Ran Kan Kan" or "Oye Como Va," The Complete 78s, Vol. 1 is a treasure trove for Latin fans. ~ John Bush

Editorial Reviews
4 stars out of 5 -- These recordings sound as fresh as the day they were cut, but they're tinted with a sense of an era that's gone forever.
Mojo