RIP Ralph Mercado. Click Here for NY Times Obituary.
As I was looking over the records I had selected for this week's set, I thought about revising some selections in order to feature more songs that would pay tribute to a man that did so much to promote latin music around the world. It was at this moment that I realized that Ralph Mercado's influence on latin music is so widespread that I can play virtually any song in my vinyl collection and there's a good chance that the artist is somehow connected to Mercado. Finally, I went with my original selection. In this week's track list alone, there are six artists that Ralph Mercado represented at one point - Tito Puente, La Lupe, Ricardo Ray, Bobby Cruz, Ray Barretto, and Eddie Palmieri.
This week's selection highlights some boogaloo and soul. You don't want to miss the Fania All Stars' live version of Marvin Gaye's "If This World Were Mine," featuring Joe Bataan and La La.
Also, the song "If (We Had Peace Today)" comes off one of my favorite albums, Eddie Palmieri's Harlem River Drive. I highly recommend you take a listen to the entire record, it is truly great.
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