Ray Barretto – A Deeper Shade of Soul
Ray Barretto
Listen/Download – Ray Barretto – A Deeper Shade of Soul
Greetings all.
I hope everything’s groovy at your specific GPS location, and anywhere else you choose to roam.
Summer is winding down, slowly, and while the weather is still warm (some might say hot) the days of summery freedom are also coming to an end, with the wife and kids headed back to school, and the rhythm of life changing once again.
To present a brief ‘state of the Corners’ address, things are mainly cool hereabouts. The Funky16Corners Radio Show has developed into something more satisfying (at least for me, hopefully for you all too) over the summer, and I’m having a lot of fun doing it.
The DJing opportunities around here have, for a variety of reasons (some that I am not privy to), all but vanished, but I will be heading down to DC again toward the end of September to spin with my man DJ Birdman (more details to follow soon), so hopefully I’ll be able to touch base with some of the Capitol City heads who have always been so cool.
Other than that, things should continue on a steady course, with new mixes (regular old Funky16Corners and Soul Club) coming, as well as a steady stream of funk, soul, jazz and rare groove to soothe your troubled mind (and mine too, if I’m lucky).
The tune I bring you today is something I came to in a roundabout way.
The first time I had any inkling of Ray Barretto’s ‘A Deeper Shade of Soul’ was back in 1989, when I heard it sampled by the Dutch group Urban Dance Squad in their song of the same name. Of course even though I knew it was probably a sample, I had no idea who it was, and pretty much left it at that.
Flash forward a few years and my buddy Haim lends me the CD reissue of Barretto’s 1968 ‘Acid’ album, and I’m listening to it (wishing I had an OG) and all of a sudden ‘A Deeper Shade of Soul’ comes pouring into my ears and I’m all WTF?!? and the lightbulb goes on over my head, and then (of course) blows up.
Now these many years later, and I’m all hip to Ray Barretto and all of that good mid-to-late 60s Latin soul and funk, and while I had a couple of his 45s and LPs, an OG of ‘Acid’ (possibly THE essential Latin soul LP) had still eluded me.
Well, another one of those Asbury Lanes garage sales rolled around, and it was a particularly rewarding one, and I’ve just about run my way through all my ready cash, and then some dude I’ve never seen before sets up a table full of LPs, and before I know it me and about a half dozen other heads are pulling all kinds of OG Latin LPs out of his crates. As I mentioned, I was just about tapped out, and when I discovered that these LPs (while affordable) were not cheap I had to put back a couple of very nice things, including an OG Lat-Teens LP, but I walked away with a nice, clean copy of ‘Acid’.
While I still dig the Urban Dance Squad tune (it has a kind of stoney groove that I like) there’s just no comparison with Barretto’s original.
‘A Deeper Shade of Soul’ is an absolutely perfect slice of soulful boogaloo, with prominent piano, percussion (natch…) and a horn chart that digs into ‘Knock On Wood’ for inspiration. The arrangements were handled by none other than Harvey Averne, so you know it’s good.
‘Acid’ was Barretto’s first LP for Fania, following his earlier chart success (on labels like Tico and UA) with tunes like 1963’s ‘El Watusi’.
If you haven’t heard ‘Acid’ (which also includes ‘Soul Drummers’, ‘Mercy Mercy Baby’, and ‘Teacher of Love’ among others) you should grab yourself a reissue (or an OG if you can find it) since it’s a great album from start to finish.
I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll be back in the middle of the week.
Peace
Larry
Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press
Digging, DJ Gigs, Funk, Funky16Corners, Funky16Corners@Viva Internet Radio, Latin Soul, LP tracks, Original Versions, Soul
Themocracy
Ahhhh….One of my favorite albums of all time in any genre..Still hunting for an OG
Pure class..I also love some of his 70s albums on Fania in addition to his 60s Lps, but this is the pinnacle.
Ooh I love this! Finding an OG was nigh on impossible so I got the CD – great album in whatever medium. Johnny Colon “You Gotta Love Me” another of my faves in the same vein…and Hector Rivera “At The Party” album has been a regular play for the last month for me:) Cheers Larry!
Larry,
Thanks for this and the rest of the site! Top toons, eclectic in a jazzy, funky, soul, latin, reggae – you know what I mean – kind of way.
Keep on doing it – very much appreciated.
I definitely came to this track the same way you did (through the UDS sample), but man does the original smoke or what? This is just what I needed as a reminder that there are a few months of good weather left before the grip of cold returns. Restart the party!!!!
Ah yeah, UDS! Rude Boy Remmington was the MC (awesome stage name or what? He started as a ska man way before UDS), the awesome guitar player was nicknamed Tres Manos (as he played like he had three hands). One of my favorite Dutch bands ever. Rude Boy, what’s up? The story goes that the guitar player of Rage Against The Machine saw UDS perform live, opening for Living Colour, and wanted his own rap/rock band right away. Which became RATM. But anyway, Ray is incredible and Acid is a monster of an album, although I only own it as a flimsy re-issue CD. Thanks for having me look for my old UDS tapes again, Larry! Peace; Ingmar
Awesome song, i had the urban dance squad single on cassette.
Urban Dance Squad!!
That Rage Against The Machine story is true, and UDS never got the global recognition Rage Against The Machine (after the ran with the UDS style) have gotten, sadly! Everybody go and buy the classic, reissued on 180 grams vinyl Mental Floss For The Globe!
Off course that was also my first introduction to Ray Baretto.
I have the very rare 7″ of ray barretto – deeper shade of soul backed with teacher of love on fania white demo in excellent condition. never see it for sale must be very rare. anybody knows what it is worth