In 1982 Cheo Feliciano perfectly ended his relationship with Vaya and Fania Records with the release of the production “Profundo”.
Although Cheo continued as one of the lead singers of the Fania All Stars, the singer of son and boleros from Ponce founded, with his wife Cocó, the company Coche Records that a couple of years later would edit his first album recorded live at the Centro de Bellas Artes Luis A. Ferré in commemoration of his 25 years in the music industry, since his debut in 1959 with the Sexteto De Joe Cuba (the Joe Cuba Sextet).
With Coche Records, Feliciano produced Regresa El Amor, a bolero and ballad album much more inferior to his work with Jorge Calandrelli, and other records, such as the Christmas album Te Regalo Mi Sabor Criollo and Como Tú Lo Pediste, his return to the concept of the sextet, with Jimmy Sabater making a special guest appearance.
As expressed in its title, Cheo ironically said goodbye to Fania with an album with some of the most profound lyrics. The musical director was arranger Luis García, who later on would act as director of his Orchestra Sentimiento 25.
“Profundo”, with Jerry Masucci retired with his millions in Argentina and salsa in the midst of being undermined by the counter payola that was driving the cortavenas ballads of Camilo Sesto and pedestrian merengues like El Africano by Wilfrido Vargas on the radio, was Cheo Feliciano’s response to the cultural debacle of the Latin record world at the beginning of the 1980s.
And safeguarding the class, prestige and good taste of previous releases like Cheo, La Voz Sensual, Estampas and Sentimiento Tú, Cheo surrounded himself with a crew of the most sentimental, creative composers boasting the best reputations of the genre.
From José Nogueras, author of the hit bolero Amada Mía , the song sequence begins with the romantic melody “Amiga”, a song that Feliciano could not match in terms of the impact it had on a national scale as compared to the song found in Sentimiento Tú. Furthermore, he recorded another song by Nogueras, “Hay Que Cantar Para Poder Vivir”, another beautiful melody on par with “Cantándole A Las Cosas Que Se Olvidan”, in which ironically Calandrelli played the piano and Juancito Torres played the flugelhorn; however the song came up very short of repeating the success of the hit Amada Mía.
From the man from Orocovis (Puerto Rico), Ramón Rodríguez, composer from the Conjunto Clásico, in “Periódico De Siempre” , Feliciano paid a well deserved tribute to the paperboys who get up early in the great urban centers to sell the daily news.
From Tite Curet Alonso, Feliciano imprinted in “Profundo” three songs that express the feelings of the people. “Mi Amigo Pedro” is the story about a good citizen from the middle class who prefers to be optimistic despite the hardships of the high cost of living and the backwards values of a consumer society on the verge of exploding. “Trizas” is the analogy of the ravages of the heart provoked by an unrequited love and “Isabel De La Noche”, with the combination of trombones and vibraphone, is a story inspired by Isabel La Negra, a known prostitute from Ponce who lived her life sweetening her bitterness with her nocturnal passions.
The fourth composer of “Profundo” is the Puerto Rican Américo Boschetti, author of “Sentimiento”, a song about a gentleman who, in love with his woman, understands that in life, the mission of humans consists in loving and feeling like a friend to all men, to the wind, the rocks and to the sun as well.
Unfortunately, the album “Profundo” did not get promoted as it should have by Fania Records. Jerry Masucci was living in Argentina, Cheo had already announced that he was leaving and the payola that some of the multinationals were paying in some sectors of the radio was now heading in the direction of other genres.
In 1982 many criticized “Profundo” because it lacked swing and because it had an abundance of strings, female choruses and the drum was muffled. Salsa, as should be recalled, did not escape the then inevitable influence of the ballad. But Cheo, though he should admit that his salsa had lost its flavor, did not mortgage his prestige and he ended his history with Vaya Records with an intelligent album that has a lot of content, as is the norm in narrative salsa.


Credits

Luis García – Tres
Roberto Roena – Bongo
Arturo Ortíz – Piano
José Gazmey – Bass
Papo Pepín – Tumbadoras
Domingo ‘Cuqui’ Santos – Timbales
Oscar Colón – Drums
Adalberto Santiago – Maracas
Elliot Romero – Güiro
Mario Cora – Clave
Carlos Rosario – Vibraphone, Cello
Reinaldo Jorge – Trombone
Francisco ‘Ito’ Serrano – Guitar
Hector Maldonado – Trombone
Rafy Torres – Trombone
Víctor Candelario – Trombone
Juancito Torres – Flugelhorn
Roberto Jiménez – Tenor Saxophone, Flute
Rafael Irizarry – French Trumpet
Harry Rosario – English Horn
Jorge Calandrelli – Piano (“Hay Que Cantar Para Poder Vivir”, “Cantándole A Las Cosas Que Se Olvidan”)
Carlos Rosario – String instruments

Chorus - Cheito Quiñones, Adalberto Santiago, Mario Cora, Elliot Romero
Female Voices - Gilda González, Yanira Torres and Amuny Nacer


Producer – Cheo Feliciano
Co-Producer – Cocó De Feliciano
Musical Director – Luis García
Recording at – Ochoa Recording Studio, Puerto Rico
Engineer – Jaime Camacho
Mixing – Irv Greenbaumn, La Tierra Sound Studio, New York
Arrangements - Mandy Vizoso (“Amiga”), Louis García (“Periódico De Siempre”, Mi Amigo Pedro”, “Trizas”, “Sentimiento”), Jorge Calandrelli (“Hay Que Cantar para Poder Vivir”, “Cantandole A Las Cosas Que Se Olvidan”), Ray Santos (Isabel De La Noche”)
Original Album Photographs – Ruben Marrero
Idea for Original Album – Cocó De Feliciano





Written by Jaime Torres-Torres

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