Tito Rodriguez - The Legend's 30th Anniversary (2 CD set)

Released 2003
(presumably for 30th anniversary of his death)

WS Latino 5001

Available at Descarga and Prodland

Disk 1 "Los Boleros"

1. Inolvidable 3:10 (Julio Gutierrez) Rec. 11/63
2. En La Oscuridad 3:52 (Rafael Solano Sanchez) Rec. 12/67
3. Bello Amanecer 4:30 (Tito Henriquez) con Cheo Feliciano y La Rondalla Venezolana (posthum.)
4. Sabor A Nada 2:33 (Palito Ortega) Rec. 6/65
5. Tiemblas 3:34 (Catalino Curet Alonso) Rec. 7/69
6. La Tarjeta 2:38 (Chico Novarro) Rec. 3/68
7. La Casa 2:42 (Armando Manzanero) con Cindy Rodriguez y La Rondalla Venezolana (posthum.)
8. Fiesta De Besos 3:22 (Tito Henriquez) Rec. 4/62
9. Olvidame 2:39 (Roberto Cole) Rec. 11/64
10. Vieja Luna 2:21 (Orlando De La Rosa) Rec. 6/64
11. Llevatela 2:15 (Armando Manzanera) con La Rondalla Venezolana (posthum.)
12. Ven Aqui A La Realidad 3:25 (Ernesto Duarte Brito) Rec. 12/65
13. No Te Importa Saber 3:22 (Rene Touzet) Rec. 10/69 con Los Montemar
14. Don Fulano 3:04 (Catalino Curet Alonso) Rec. 5/70
15. Palabras De Mujer 3:37 (Agustin Lara) Rec. 11/66

Disk 2 "Los Bailables"

1. Mama Guela 2:36 (Tito Rodriguez) [Descarga] Rec. 12/59 Live at the Palladium
2. Avisale A Mi Contrario 3:51 (Ignacio Piñeiro) [Guaracha] Rec. 10/64 Carnaval of the Americas
3. El Que Se Fue 3:51 (Tito Rodriguez) [Guaracha] Rec. 3/61 Returns to the Palladium
4. Bilongo 3:16 (Guillermo Rodriguez Fiffe) [Guaracha Afro] Rec. 10/68 Estoy Como Nunca
5. Cara De Payaso 2:02 (H. Barbosa, L. Reis) [Guaracha] Rec. 4/62 Tito's Hits
6. Descarga Cachao 5:00 (Israel Lopez "Cachao") [Descarga] Rec. 8/65 Tito Tito Tito
7. El Vive Bien 5:00 (Tito Rodriguez) [Guaguanco] Rec. 10/69 El Doctor De La Salsa
8. Alma Llanera 3:12 (Pedro Elias Guetirrez) [Joropo Mambo] Rec. 5/63 En Puerto Azul, Venezuela
9. Un Pato "O Pato" 2:11 (Neuza Teixeira, Jaime Silva) [Bossa Nova] Rec. 11/62 Let's Do The Bossa Nova
10. Vamos Ya 2:50 (Noro Morales) [Rumba] Rec. 12/44 unknown album released by Noro Morales Y Su Orquesta
11. Mi Carinito 2:37 (Tito Rodriguez) [Merengue] Rec. 2/69 album unknown to me
12. El Latigo 2:26 (Florencio Hernandez, Mercerdez Alvarez) [Charanga] Rec. 2/61 Charanga, Pachanga
13. Matrimonio Feliz 2:45 (Simon Esquijarrosa) Rec: 10/61 [Guaracha Cha] West Side Beat?
14. Un Domingo Sin Ti 2:45 (Eduado Davidson) [Bossa Nova] Rec. 11/62 album unknown to me (seemingly not Let's Do The Bossa Nova)
15. Cuando Estoy Contigo 1:47 (Tito Rodriguez) [Guaracha] Rec. 2/69 album unknown to me

All songs in this 2 CD set were recorded between 1959 and 1970 with the exception of Vamos Ya, which was recorded in 1944 for Noro Morales. I tried to find the source album for all songs in the second disk, but I was only partially successful.

I'm not a big fan of bolero so I only listened to them once and never went back. Tito Rodriguez is pretty good bolero singer, but it was not enough reason to listen to a CD full of nothing but boleros over and over again. Three of the boleros have been "tempered" with - meaning some musicians decided to record over original recording and re-release it. This trend with Tito Rodriguez recording was started with Gilberto Santa Rosa in A Dos Tiempos De Un Tiempo.

The second disk "Los Bailables" has a lot of good stuff for dancing - the first eight tracks are all very good. El Que Se Fue made salsanewyork.com honor list. Other songs worth checking out for playing for Salsa dance crowd are Mama Guela, Avisale A Mi Contrario, Bilongo, Descarga Cachao and Alma Llanera.