The third collaboration from pioneering salsa duo Willie Colón and Héctor Lavoe will debut on 180-gram vinyl and hi-res digital, featuring the classics “No Me Den Candela,” “I Wish I Had a Watermelon” and “Guisando”
Craft Latino announces a special reissue of 1969’s Guisando: Doing a Job, the third collaboration from pioneering salsa duo Willie Colón featuring Héctor Lavoe. With such classic tracks as “No Me Den Candela,” the instrumental “I Wish I Had a Watermelon” (Colón’s response to Herbie Hancock’s “Watermelon Man”) and “Guisando,” the album is a must-have for fans of classic salsa. Returning to wax for the first time in over half a century, Guisando was mastered from its original analog tapes by Dave Polster and Clint Holley at Well Made Music and pressed on 180-gram vinyl for an optimal listening experience. The album, which arrives May 30th, will also make its debut in hi-res digital. A limited-edition “Candela Orange” color vinyl variant (limited to 300 copies), with an exclusive bundle option that includes a Fania T-shirt, is available at Fania.com. Click here to pre-order Guisando: Doing a Job.
While those first two titles were billed under Colón’s name, it became clear that audiences loved the rising stars as a package deal. That partnership was solidified with their third album, 1969’s Guisando: Doing a Job, which featured Lavoe alongside Colón on the album cover, as baby-faced bank robbers—continuing The Hustler’s gangster theme (a common thread throughout their collaborative LPs). The album also marked a significant stylistic shift for the duo, as they moved beyond the boogaloo trend and towards the vibrant, diverse sound that would soon become known widely as “salsa.” Writer Jaime Torres Torres once declared that Guisando was “the first salsa album by a duo,” adding that Colón and Lavoe “Present a rebellious, aggressive and irreverent style of making music.”
Lavoe, meanwhile, can be heard developing his legendary storytelling skills as he sings tales of urban life. Despite the album’s cover art, Torres Torres explains, “Willie and Héctor never incited the youth to rob banks, to traffic in drugs [or] to murder people. As exponents of urban salsa, their sociocultural discourse was strengthened by their observations of life in the neighborhoods and communities with the greatest concentration of Latins in New York. Their lyrics tackle, sometimes with humor, the stories of the purse-snatchers or thieves who…do not escape justice.”
Praised by Allmusic for its “Exuberance, humor, [and] innovation,” Guisando—and the pair behind the record—certainly resonated with fans in New York and beyond. In the years that followed, Colón and Lavoe skyrocketed to fame, releasing a string of best-selling titles, including Cosa Nuestra (1969), La Gran Fuga (The Big Break) (1970), Lo Mato (1973), and the classic holiday albums Asalto Navideño Vols. 1 & 2 (1971 and 1973, respectively) with Yomo Toro. While they would each embark on solo projects in the mid-’70s, Colón served as producer for many of Lavoe’s most successful releases.
Lavoe, who passed away in 1993 at the age of 46, is still remembered as one of salsa music’s greatest vocalists. Posthumously, he was inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame, among other honors, while his life inspired an off-Broadway play, a tribute album, and two feature films, including the Marc Anthony/Jennifer Lopez-led El Cantante (2006). Colón, meanwhile, continues to stay active in the industry, and in 2004, he received the coveted Latin GRAMMY® Lifetime Achievement Award.
Click here to pre-order Guisando: Doing a Job.
Click here to find the exclusive bundle including the “Candela Orange” color vinyl with a T-shirt.
Vinyl Tracklist:
Side A
1. Guisando
2. No Me Den Candela
3. El Titán
4. Oiga Señor
Side B
1. I Wish I Had a Watermelon
2. Te Están Buscando
3. Se Baila Mejor
*Digital tracklist mirrors Vinyl
About Fania:
Highly influential, both musically and culturally, Fania Records spread the sound of salsa music from the clubs of New York City to the rest of the world and became a revered global brand in the process. Fania’s master recording catalog is the definitive home for genres such as Latin big band, Afro-Cuban jazz, boogaloo, salsa and Latin R&B and includes artistic giants such as Celia Cruz, Willie Colón, Héctor Lavoe and Rubén Blades. With the creation of the international supergroup known as the Fania All-Stars, the label’s signature musical style became known as the “Fania Sound.” Fania’s rich master catalog also includes the Pete Rodriguez’s boogaloo classic “I Like It Like That” which was sampled by Cardi B in her #1 hit “I Like It.” Additionally, three Fania Recordings, Celia & Johnny by Celia Cruz and Johnny Pacheco, Azucar Pa’ Ti by Eddie Palmieri and Live at Yankee Stadium by the Fania All-Stars, appear in the National Recording Registry, a list of sound recordings that “are culturally, historically or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States.” For more info, visit Fania.com and follow on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.
About Craft Latino:
Craft Latino is home to one of the largest and most prestigious collections of Latin music master recordings and compositions in the world. Its rich and storied repertoire includes legendary artists such as Antonio Aguilar, Joan Sebastian, Pepe Aguilar, Celia Cruz, Héctor Lavoe, Willie Colón, Ray Barretto, La Lupe, Ruben Blades and the Fania All Stars, to name just a few. Renowned imprints with catalogs issued under the Craft banner include Musart, Fania, TH,
Craft Latino is the Latin repertoire arm of Craft Recordings. The catalog label team for Concord. For more info, visit CraftRecordings.com.
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