I discovered Cuba’s work via the Nu Yorica and Nova Classics 01 compilations. Tracks from those compilations that have acquired cult status include “Do You Feel It?[1]” (most likely his interpretation of the Latin traditional “El Ratón“[2]), and “El Pito (I’ll Never Go Back to Georgia)[3].”
[Youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-xIxdwpqY8&]
His biggest hit was the 1966 “Bang! Bang![4],” which achieved unprecedented success for Latin music in the United States.
Joe Cuba (1931 – February 15, 2009), was a Puerto Rican musician who was considered to be the “Father of Latin Boogaloo“. The lyrics to Cuba’s music used Spanglish, a mixture of Spanish and English, becoming an important part of the Nuyorican Movement, somewhat the Latin version of the Harlem Renaissance.