Salsa music rivalries and battles: Part II

Latin Beat Magazine, Sept, 2003 by Max Salazar

Cuban bands landed gigs in New York clubs with frequency. Pérez Prado, La Sonora Matancera and the west coast groups of René Touzet, Cal Tjader and Eddie Cano also came to New York. The number of bands far exceeded the number of ballrooms available for work. The viciousness of a few people in the Latin music world became apparent when Machito and a few New York-born Puerto Rican musicians were not permitted to perform in Puerto Rico for extended engagements. One bandleader adopted a rhythm that brought national attention to himself and it resulted in steady work for many. A few others followed him in order to work at the prominent clubs and receive top dollar.

Toward the end of 1959, the veteran pianist Charlie Palmieri surprised Latin New York with his refreshing new sound. Palmieri's success with his charanga--typical Cuban band comprised of flute(s), piano, violins, vocals and rhythm section--brought about a change in sound and improvisations in dancing patterns when a strenuous dance, the pachanga, was created months later at the Bronx's Triton Club. Palmieri's charanga (the second in New York) sizzled at the same venue where Cuban Gilberto Valdés' first New York charanga fizzled seven years before: the Bronx's Tropicana Club. Johnny Pacheco, a rail, slim man of Dominican descent, attracted much attention as Palmieri's flutist. Pacheco's melodious flute riffs on Chun Ko, a tune from Palmieri's first UA (United Artists) album, was the beginning of a successful and prosperous career performing the new sound. This flute-and-violins group was on fire ... its name began to appear on posters for two and three dances on the same evening that Palmieri and Pacheco booked in different parts of town. In an annoyed tone of voice, dancers let Palmieri know that they felt robbed, that the high price of entrance fees entitled them to dance to his band for the entire evening. In September, when Palmieri decided he alone would book his band, Pacheco left to form his charanga.

Pacheco y Su Charanga, Vol. 1 (Alegre) was a smashing success in 1960. h sold thousands and enabled Pacheco to wear the crown of King of Latin Music for a while. Reportedly, Pacheco's charanga was featured at the Triton Club, when the pachanga dance steps were invented, before they were refined at the Bronx's Caravana Club. A new popular rhythm, a number of good bands, quite a few popular bandleaders and few places to work that paid top dollar, were the basic characteristics of the scenario at the time the throat-cutting wars began in 1962. The issue of top billing surfaced. Tito Puente, who had been enjoying top billing over every bandleader since 1958 by virtue of his monstrous smash LP Dance Mania, Vol. I was urged by the Palladium's proprietor and the musicians union (Local #802) to share the top line with Tito Rodríguez.

Rodríguez, who at the time was enjoying three smash hits back to back, approached Mr. Hyman of the Palladium with the idea of equal billing. He showed Hyman hit chart polls from magazines published in Puerto Rico and a few South American countries. The polls showed that Rodríguez's recordings of Vuela La Paloma, Cuando, Cuando and Cara De Payaso, were number one on the charts at one time or another. At the same time, Puente's recording of Caramelos was getting much airplay, along with the same tune recorded by Celia Cruz with Johnny Pacheco. Puente's Baila Pachanga, Negra Bonbón and Ahi-Vah were selling his 1961 GNP (Gene Norman Presents) LP TP In Hollywood. His Tokyo de Noche, La Pasé Gozando and Oye Como Vá were moving his 1962 Tico LP El Rey Bravo out of record racks. Puente believed he had hits, that he had continually had hits year after year and refused to share the top line. Rodríguez placed the heated issue before the musician's union and that is when the union ordered the bandleaders to share the top line. Puente quit as a member of the union. For a few weeks the Palladium marquee read: "Tito Puente--Tito Rodríguez" on the same line.