Guest post by Nathan Arizona
There was time when Latinos in this country could celebrate a song of ethnic pride and not worry that ICE agents were eavesdropping in the shadows. A time when 41,000 people could fill Yankee Stadium to hear “Mi Gente” and other salsa tunes without being rounded up at the exits.
That time was the 1970s. Salsa was bubbling all over New York City, especially the Bronx, and soon found many listeners around the country. Instead of being forced out, natives of Puerto Rico and other Hispanic countries were pouring in. But they did have to face poverty and disrespect.
So they needed the boost of pride that came with salsa, especially since it was rousing, audacious music they could dance to.
The uplifting “Mi Gente” — “My People” — is considered a salsa anthem. The English translation is a little awkward:
“I am proud of you/My people always respond/They all came to hear me sing/But since I am one of you/I invite you to sing.” But the very first line was an ominous foreshadowing, though not intended as such: “Careful … the madmen are coming.”
The most popular version of the song featured Hector Lavoe, generally considered salsa’s best and most important vocalist. It was written by Johnny Pacheco, founder of Fania Records. Most salsa stars were on the Fania label, including Lavoe. “Mi Gente” was produced by Fania trombonist Willie Colon.
Salsa, a catch-all term for Americanized Latin music, was a youth movement, a renegade form of traditional Hispanic music that added some rock and R&B to the mix. Most of the traditional music had come from Cuba. Most of the salsa musicians were New Yorkers from immigrant families. More traditional Latin musicians looked down on salsa, but salsa artists were selling lots of records and they were not.
A group of prominent musicians performed and recorded as the Fania All-Stars. In 1974 they played in front of some 80,000 people in Zaire. Here is “Mi Gente.” Lavoe is the singer.
Lavoe and Colon often performed together, here in a much smaller venue. You can see why a younger, fresher-looking Lavoe became a sort of matinee idol to female fans. Colon is the trombonist on your left. The trombone was a key instrument in salsa.
The flamboyant Fania artist Celia Cruz, the “Queen of Salsa,” was another whose career was boosted by Colon. She came to New York after a successful career singing more traditional music in Cuba. Here she is at that Zaire concert. You might need sunglasses to take in that dress.
