Ghetto Records was Joe Bataan\u2019s way to get over on The Man and out of the \u2019hood, a bold move by an artist looking for independence and creative control in an industry that had exploited his talents and treated him like chattel. Hatched from desperation yet full of hope, Ghetto Records came crashing down shortly after its inception. The seven albums in the Ghetto discography languished out of print. \u201cGhetto Records presents\u2026\u201d (1970) by Eddie Lebr\u00f3n was one of them. <\/p>\n
Lebr\u00f3n was Ghetto Records’s first artist. Bataan supervised the pianist’s recording sessions and, importantly, understood Lebr\u00f3n’s desire to have an English-language soul ballad on his album, which was to become a feature of all future releases. To supplement Lebr\u00f3n’s backing band, Orquesta Suave, who had a background in R&B and doo-wop, Bataan brought in high school chum Abdul O’Dool to sing the old chestnut “(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons.” <\/p>\n
Lebr\u00f3n was Puerto Rican and raised in New York from the age of five, making him part of the generation of Nuyoricans that expressed themselves through salsa. In addition to playing the piano and leading Eddie Lebr\u00f3n and His Orchestra Suave, as the band was then called, Lebr\u00f3n also composed and arranged the tunes on the record. Aside from being distinguished as the debut of both Ghetto Records and Eddie Lebr\u00f3n’s band, \u201cGhetto Records Presents…\u201d sported an eye-catching cover by Izzy Sanabria. <\/p>\n
The album is a real treat for heavy salsa and Latin soul lovers that has become a much in-demand record among collectors worldwide.<\/p>\n
Lebr\u00f3n and Orquesta Suave parted ways after recording this album largely because Lebr\u00f3n was increasingly in demand as a sideman. In fact, he continued to play piano with, and compose and arrange for, a host of important salsa outfits over the next two decades. <\/p>\n
We are now reissuing \u201cGhetto Records presents\u2026\u201d once again thanks to our collaboration with Now-Again Records. Our release includes an insert with liner notes and two bonus tracks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Joe Bataan\u2019s Ghetto Records released Eddie Lebr\u00f3n\u2019s \u201cGhetto Records presents\u2026\u201d LP in 1970. The album is a real treat for heavy salsa and Latin soul lovers that has become a much in-demand record among collectors worldwide. Lebr\u00f3n and his band, Orquesta Suave, parted ways after recording this album leaving this outstanding legacy behind. <\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n Reissued once again thanks to our collaboration with Now-Again Records. Our release includes an insert with liner notes and two bonus tracks. <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":118442,"template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[193,201,206],"product_tag":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-118446","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-latin-en","7":"product_cat-latin-soul-en","8":"product_cat-salsa-en","9":"product_shipping_class-lp-en-3","10":"pa_formato-lp-en","12":"first","13":"instock","14":"taxable","15":"shipping-taxable","16":"purchasable","17":"product-type-simple"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/munster-records.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/118446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/munster-records.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/munster-records.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/munster-records.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/munster-records.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/munster-records.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=118446"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/munster-records.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=118446"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/munster-records.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=118446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}