Jose Feliciano: On Seeing Success and Shopping for Socks

His name is synonymous with international stardom. He's known throughout the planet as the "Greatest Living Guitarist". He was dubbed as the "Best Pop Guitarist" by Guitar Player Magazine, placing him in the publication among the "Gallery of Greats".

With over fifty years in the business, and 16 Grammy nominations under his belt, he has won innumerable awards and performed with the greatest of the greats. He's done movies, television, and voice-overs. He's been a motivational speaker, a philanthropist, and has received the 'Artist of the Millennium Award' and the "Alma Award for Lifetime Achievement".

Considered the most influential Latino Artist to have ever placed a mark on the American music industry, he is Jose Feliciano.

And today, he's shopping for socks.

Pushing his Wal-Mart cart past dizzying aisles of discount sundries, he is talking to me on his cell phone. Every few minutes, we pause, with a giggle, to allow a self-important announcer to blather mindlessly through the overhead speakers.

"Why do they always let the one with the most irritating voice do it?" I ask. He laughs and says, "Somebody gave her a mic".

Everybody knows Jose Feliciano as "The 'Feliz-Navidad' Guy. He is that blind guy; you know the one with the guitar. He's the one who caused a big stir when he sang that "Latino" version of The Star Spangled Banner at the 68' World Series. He did the theme for Chico and The Man. He's jammed with The Muppets, for cryin' out loud! He's also "jammed" with The New York Philharmonic, The Vienna Symphony Orchestra, and The London Symphony.

Though everyone commonly identifies Jose as the blind guy with the guitar, he and I barely discuss it. For me, as an interviewer, it's simply not an issue. I tell him this, and he says, enthusiastically, "Oh thank you, thank you very much!"

Never mind, his relief at not having to rehash the subject. I'm simply more interested in the fact that he was one of eleven boys in a humble, post World War II home in Puerto Rico. He quit school at seventeen to play guitar full time to help his father support the family. He didn't exactly hail from a carefree childhood.

"My Gawd!" I say. "You come from an immigrant family of nearly a dozen boys! How do you reconcile the little boy you once were, with the international superstar that you are today?  What goes through a man's mind when he reflects on the tremendous road he's taken?"

"It's amazing." He says. He tells me he came from a big family that began when his mother brought two boys into the marriage with his father, and that it grew from there. Even as an artist who has enjoyed half a century of success, he still seems to be blinking like a deer in the headlights. He tells me that the recognition is wonderful. "But I try to stay humble." He says. "Sure, it's amazing to me. Over the years the audience has been very good to me, and I've done this 51 years. I think it is because I try to stay approachable to them. Without them, you don't have much. I came with nothing, and I will leave with nothing." 

"I started as really young kid, like Michael Jackson." He says "Only (laughing now)ŠI grew up."

The chuckling goes up a notch as another burst of Annoying-Voice-Lady blares through the overheads. When the coast is clear, he tells me he is happy that he has fan loyalty, and he never forgets that he is still an every day person. "It bothers me that some of the artists are not as friendly as they should be."

"For example" he says, "I'm here at Wal-Mart. Some people recognize me and the come and say hi. So I say hi! It's no big deal." He says that the only time that the fans become a stress factor is when he is trying to catch a plane. Still, he tries to accommodate them, if only for a second or two. He may be busy, and he may have different types of fans all over the world, he says, "But I approach them all the same."

Born in September 1945, in Puerto Rico, Jose Feliciano immigrated to New York with his family when he was only five. By then, his musical influences were already beginning to take hold. When he was three, his Uncle introduced him to the concertina, an accordion-type instrument that he immediately mastered. He played an upright bass for a number of years, and still enjoys playing percussive instruments. I asked Feliciano what it was like when he first picked up a guitar, the instrument with which he would forever be identified.

"The guitar, to me, was a very interesting instrument" he muses. "I could pick up a guitar and accompany myself, and turn it into an orchestra!"

He laughs when I ask him if he knew, way back then, that he would become a Great. "I always thought that I would be good at it" he says. "But I don't think that anyone who is supposed to be great really knows it. The fans decide that."

Though the Latino community, struggling against bigotry in the 60's and 70's, had much to be proud of in Jose Feliciano, he is quick to tell me that he never considered himself a Latino Artist. "I wasn't pushing a Latin agenda." he says "I was just an artist who happened to be Latino". 

Still, I point out, he was thought to have made a tremendous statement, ruffling more than a few slack-jawed feathers, when he performed an "Artist-Who-Happened-To-Be-Latino" version of the national anthem at the 1968 World Series. Until then, nobody had ever done anything other than the standard rendition of the song. He begins to laugh as I take him back to that day, asking him what he thought about the uproar. "I was really, really surprised at the response! To me it was no big deal." He says. "I just did what I always do. I went up and did the song."

Still laughing, he deadpans a pointed observation: "I can tell you thisŠif the Tigers had put me to do the anthem this time (2006 season)Š they would have won!"

Juggling sock shopping with promoting a new album, Jose occasionally takes a moment to speak in Spanish to someone in his company. I get a mental picture of a guy juggling chainsaws and bowling balls. I tell him that for a fella who has done it all, with every conceivable accolade, it must be hard to come up with something new to try. After all, he has a pretty full resume. "What" I ask, "Do you think is still left for Jose to do?"

"I would really like to win an academy award for best movie score" he says. "I have done TV themes and other things, but that would really be a neat thing to try".

One can't help but notice that Feliciano has not only set his sights on doing a score, but doing an award winning job of it. And he thinks it would be, ahem, "Neat". Doubtless, this too shall become a reality.

I ask him about the newly released English album, entitled "Soundtracks of My Life".

"Is it not a literal translation of my life" he says. "In a musical senseŠyes. It took me five years. I was going through creative periods in my life. Some things happened that led me to it. It's more of a musical landscape. But it is all original. If you listen, you can hear certain time periods influencing the work".

Throughout his career, Feliciano had tremendous success with re-recording old Latin standards, and he did well with his own versions of American songs such as the Doors' "Light My Fire". Though he enjoys putting his spin on things, "I want people to know" he says, "that I am a writer, not just an interpreter of songs."

In between recent International performances with some of the biggest names in music, Feliciano released "Soundtracks of My Life" and is working on and two additional albums in Spanish. Though he has a crazy schedule, he likes to spend time with his two children, who play bass and drums with Dad, in a band he calls "Two Kids and a Blind Guy". He also enjoys fishing and riding horses. "But there is not a lot of time to do everything." He says "I think I am a musical addict."

As we wrap up the call, he in Florida, and me in Michigan, I remind him that the temperature last night was 9 degrees, and tell him to pick up some mittens.

Laughing, he dramatically shivers over the phone.

He is due to arrive for a performance at Saginaw's Temple Theatre on February 10, and he is bracing himself. "I don't like the cold." He says. "But I used to live in New York, and I live in Connecticut, so I can deal with it". I pick on him that he has abandoned us yanks to the weather and retreated to Florida.

"Yes" he says "But I look forward to coming to Michigan. I got my start at some of the clubs in Detroit and Birmingham. I don't miss an opportunity to come back and see the fans there. I'm looking forward to seeing themŠeven if it is cold". 

Mind you, Jose is no fool. The next date on his tour schedule reads: "Maui".

In very much is own way; Jose Feliciano has made a notable contribution to the evolution of rock/pop culture. I am struck by the fact that throughout all of this discussion about his success, he never name drops or makes mention of big-wig record producers and haughty managers. In a continuous circle, drawn with greatly evident respect, it always comes back to the fans.

We're saying goodbye, and it seems to happen, almost on cue: The Annoying-Voice-Lady blasts another overhead announcement about aisle five. As Jose Feliciano grumbles something about "Aisle Five", I ask him if there is anything else he wants his fans to know.

"I want people to know that it's been a great career and I will keep doing it as long as I can." He says "I'm still blown away by my success".  He speaks directly to you then, telling me to pass it along:

"I owe it all to you".

"Tell them," he says, "I'll see you soon."

For information on Jose Feliciano's latest projects, and to hear the version of the national anthem that could have won the World Series for the 2006 Tigers, go to http://www.josefeliciano.com