If anything, the historic recording that you hold in your hands is a tribute to Johnny Pacheco's childhood-- and to the sweet Cuban songs that ignited his imagination while the future bandleader was growing up in the Dominican Republic. Released in 1961 on Al Santiago's Alegre label, "Pacheco Y Su Charanga" is seeped in the classy charanga aesthetic of acrobatic flute melodies and lively layers of violins pioneered by legendary Cuban outfits such as Orquesta Aragón and Arcaño y sus Maravillas. These are two of the orchestras that a young Johnny Pacheco would listen to on Cuban radio during his formative years before he moved to New York.

My dad was a bandleader, says Pacheco from his home in New York. He had five children but always said that it was me who would follow his steps. "Los demás son sordos," he'd say. "The other ones are deaf." My dad played the saxophone, the clarinet and the violin. He'd give me lessons in the afternoon, when I came home from school.

Pacheco, who began as a percussionist and later switched to flute, took his first artistic steps in the late '50s as a member of Charanga Duboney, the orchestra he founded with virtuoso keyboardist Charlie Palmieri. The two men were good friends but had their share of musical disagreements. Eventually, Pacheco decided to leave La Duboney and form his own charanga.

I recorded a demo album with my group Pacheco y su Charanga but nobody paid attention to me, he recalls. It was the saddest moment of my life.

Fortunately, Pacheco had a good friend in radio DJ Ralph Font. It also helped that the musician had a potential smash single in his hands-- the demo was none other that the irresistible El Güiro de Macorina, with its unabashedly frank double entendre lyrics ("dile a Macorina que me toque el güiro/sí, que me toque el güiro") and a peerless arrangement by Pacheco's friend Louie Ramírez.

Font played the record during a Friday night broadcast. The following morning, people were all over town looking for 'the Macorina song’.

And how could they not? As performed by Pacheco and his spirited charanga, El Güiro de Macorina is the kind of songs that makes you smile no matter how many times you listen to it. The hypnotic violin patterns, the tireless flute melodies, the buoyant vocal chorus-- every single element conspires for the creation of a timeless slice of pure tropical perfection.

There are many pleasures to be found on this album. The opening “La Melodía”, which Pacheco recorded after meeting its Cuban composer in New York, as well as the session's other big hit, El Agua del Clavelito, which includes one of Pacheco's cousins playing the first violin.

Listening to "Pacheco Y Su Charanga" so many years after its original release is a particularly moving experience considering the illustrious career that Pacheco would enjoy for decades to come. After recording a number of exquisite sessions with his charanga, he would switch to the conjunto format in the early '60s, create the Fania label and become a key figure in the New York salsa explosion of the '70s-- as a commercially viable songwriter, talented producer and musical director with the mega-orchestra Fania All Stars. All thanks to that clever DJ who fell in love with 'the Macorina song’.

I always say that artists should never give up on their dreams, says a smiling Pacheco. My career has been 50% talent and 50% luck. Sometimes, there's a guardian angel who's there to help you.


Credits:

Johnny Pacheco – Leader, Flute
Carlos Piantini - Violin
José “Chombo” Silva - Violin
Daniel González - Violin
Hector Pellot – Piano
Victor David Perez – Bass
Manny Oquendo – Percussion
John Palomo – Percussion
Julian Cabrera – Percussion

Lead Vocal – Elliot Romero
Chorus – Pedro Manuel Calzado


Producer – Al Santiago
Original Album Design – Israel Sanabria




Written by Ernesto Lechner
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