Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Hello Goodbye]

Every year around this time I post a video of José Feliciano performing Feliz Navidad.  This year I wanted to expound a bit on this remarkable musician, singer and composer.

José Monserrate Feliciano García was born blind as a result of congenital glaucoma.  He showed an early interest in music and at the age of seven, he taught himself to play the accordian.  At age nine, his father bought him a guitar and he would spend up to fourteen hours a day learning to play and mastering the instrument.  He would listen to rock and roll, jazz and classical guitar records and became adept in those genres of guitar music.  As a teenager, he studied classical guitar with Harold Morris, a staff music teacher at The Light House School for the Blind in New York City.  Morris, himself, had once been a student of Andres Segovia.

Though blind, José Feliciano's other senses were heightened enabling him to master the guitar.  We all know his signature records like Light My Fire and Feliz Navidad but here are a couple of performances that are often overlooked...

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSTQ2-3ZWW0" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSTQ2-3ZWW0</a>

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uk3n-UQ9KSY" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uk3n-UQ9KSY</a>

José Feliciano composed a symphony called Mozarteen Influence which he performed in 1987 in DDR East Germany with The Berlin Symphony Radio Orchestra...

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4fu9IFtNaM" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4fu9IFtNaM</a>

...José Feliciano had the entire symphony clearly pictured in his mind.  The orchestra members stood up at the end of the performance to pay respect to this special individual.

[Hello Goodbye]

We're all introspective this time of year.  We make New Year resolutions which we hope to keep.  And many of us seek Divine guidance and blessing.  José Feliciano would often say "I count my blessings..."

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvwbBkGasQg" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvwbBkGasQg</a>

2:24

...this is a good time to count ours.

[Normandie]

That's interesting, Barry; thank you for sharing that information; I've never known much about José Feliciano. It's always nice to learn something new. This will make me appreciate his music that much more.

[Hello Goodbye]

And José Feliciano is a Beatles fan...

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-BRtYasZ0s" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-BRtYasZ0s</a>

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCY9AWkufHk" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCY9AWkufHk</a>

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLEJtturuc0" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLEJtturuc0</a>

[Hello Goodbye]

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1H9Yh9TFbY" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1H9Yh9TFbY</a>

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXfIbseFV-s" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXfIbseFV-s</a>