The first time that Christina Aguilera’s “Ain’t No Other Man” blasted out of my radio, I recognized the sample. It was the Moon People - no, hold on, it was Dave Cortez – er…anyway, it was that Latin funk thing on the Speed label, right? Well, yes, but those fatback drums and incredible horns were actually culled from the very first release on Speed: the artist was Luis Avilés and the Latin Blues Band, the album was Take A Trip Pussycat, and the song was “I’ll Be A Happy Man.” The Speed label was very keen on recycling, and the backing track to the Bobby Marín composed tune was used on a further three cuts recorded for Speed and its subsidiaries.

Speed Records was started in 1966 by Stan Lewis - a man who moved in the music business hub centered around Morris Levy’s Roulette Records. Lewis had worked on the Latin boogaloo movement, producing sides for George Goldner’s Cotique label before heading out on his own. Just like Goldner, who lost the Tico, Roulette, Gone and End labels to Levy, so Lewis sold Speed to Levy in the late 60s. Lewis formed a tightly knit team of executives and producers around the label, including Morty Craft, Bobby Marín and an uncredited Louie Ramírez. Together, they produced the majority of the records on the label.

Marín remembers that Louis Avilés and The Latin Blues Band was a local group. On this album, Avilés and his musicians were backed by some of the finest session players in the New York scene - most notably, Bernard Purdie on drums. His funky touch is especially noticeable on “Lay An Oz On Me Baby,” “Take A Trip” and “I’ll Be A Happy Man.” Marín points out that the unison horns that dominate the album were typical of Louie Ramírez’s genius. During the '70s and '80s, Ramírez would become the most requested arranger and producer in salsa.

Like many other albums in the Speed catalogue, this record mixes fantastic early salsa tracks such as “Hasta Cuándo” and “Oye Mi Guaguancó” with Latin Soul and boogaloo. The album's promotional single paired up “Take A Trip” with the risqué “Pussycat” - a track full of bawdy ad-libs by various members of the group and studio crew. An acetate was produced featuring just the backing track of “I’ll Be A Happy Man,” probably prior to its use on the Moon People album as “Happy Soul.” In fact, many of the cuts on this album were also used by Morty Craft on the Moon People album Land Of Love. The title track was simply the “Lay An Oz” backing track re-edited, “Fishing With Sid” was “Take A Trip,” whereas "Pussycat" became "Monty’s Harlem."

This is a second look at the Speed catalogue from inside the world of Fania Rare Grooves. We hope that you agree in stating that it's a fine record.


Liner notes written by Dean Rudland.

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