Remastering by Ray Staff at Air Mastering, Lyndhurst Hall, London
A native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tito Rodriguez came to New York City in 1939 to sing with his brother’s band. He learned to play a variety of instruments before succeeding as a vocalist with Enric Madriguera, Xavier Cugat, Noro Morales, and José Curbelo. In 1947 he started his first band with René Hernández, Cachao Lopez, and Victor Paz.
Several of the great Latin-American singers went on to form their own aggregations, but Rodriguez was the most successful. One reason is the music, which has the hip drive of Tito Puente (whom he copied during the Palladium battles of the “two Titos”) and the Palmieri brothers. Eddie Palmieri and company perform on some of his best albums. In fact, he and Puente, “the two Titos” headlining at New York City’s famous Palladium, were rivals for the title of Mambo King until Perez Prado took it.
| Lado A | |
| 1 | Sweetness Of You |
| 2 | Yambere |
| 3 | Asi…Asi |
| 4 | My Tobi’s Blues |
| 5 | A Llegado El Guaguanco |
| 6 | This Is Mambo |
| Lado B | |
| 1 | Violets And Violins |
| 2 | Barito |
| 3 | Baranga |
| 4 | Cha-Cha-Cha Para Ti |
| 5 | Sabroso Mambo |
| 6 | Guaguanco Bonito |