''Jala Jala y Boogaloo'' is an album released by the

salsa music Salsa music is a style of Latin American music. Because most of the basic musical components predate the labeling of salsa, there have been many controversies regarding its origin. Most songs considered as salsa are primarily based on son montun ...

duet Richie Ray & Bobby Cruz. Released in 1967, the album is influenced not only by Latin rhythms such as the Puerto Rican Jala Jala, but also by

beat music Beat music, British beat, or Merseybeat is a British popular music genre that developed, particularly in and around Liverpool, in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The genre melded influences from American rock and roll, rhythm and blues, skiffle ...

. Backed by the lead single "Richie's Jala Jala", the album was an international success, being popular in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

and other countries. The album's success led to the release of the follow-up '' Jala Jala Boogaloo Volume II'' with a similar cover and sound.

Background

With their previous albums, Richie Ray & Bobby Cruz had established themselves as prominent artists in the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

music scene of the 1960s. Following the success of hit singles such as "El Mulato," the duet received a contract with the Tico and Alegre record companies presided by Moris Levy. Moris Pelsman, Levy's partner, designated the famous Pancho Cristal to produce and supervise the duet's new recordings. After releasing ''Se Soltó'' early on that same year, Richie Ray & Bobby Cruz went into the studio with Pancho Cristal and engineers Fred Weinberg and Rodrigo Zavala to record what would be the group's most successful album to that time.

Music

Musically, the album is a synthesis of the musical trends that were popular in 1967. The

Boogaloo Boogaloo or bugalú (also: shing-a-ling, Latin boogaloo, Latin R&B) is a genre of Latin music and dance which was popular in the United States in the 1960s. Boogaloo originated in New York City mainly among teenage African Americans and Latinos ...

craze was at its highest and the Jala-Jala rhythm had begun to be known outside its native

. Also,

Rock Music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...

was at its highest with artists such as

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

at the top of the charts. All these ended up influencing the composition and recording of the ''Jala Jala y Boogaloo'' album. "Richie's Jala Jala" is a Jala-Jala song in which Richie's Piano riff is an imitation of the cowbell's sound. The song is notable for the protagonic role of the trumpets, played by Pedro Chaparro y Doc Cheatham, which gave the jala-jala genre a new sound. "Baby Don't You Cry" is a boogaloo number, with a heavy influence from Afro-American

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became po ...

. The use of English-language lyrics and soul-influenced singing is evidence of the North American influence on the song. "Colombia's Boogaloo", the first of many songs the group will dedicate to the

n nation, is a mix of Cuban Son montuno with boogaloo. "Gentle Rain" is a cover of a

bossa nova Bossa nova () is a style of samba developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is mainly characterized by a "different beat" that altered the harmonies with the introduction of unconventional chords and an innovativ ...

song by

Luiz Bonfá Luiz Floriano Bonfá (17 October 1922 – 12 January 2001) was a Brazilian guitarist and composer. He was best known for the music he composed for the film ''Black Orpheus''. Biography Luiz Floriano Bonfá was born on October 17, 1922, in Ri ...

, translated to Spanish by Pancho Cristal and transformed into a

bolero Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It has ...

. "3 and 1 Mozambique" is an example of Mozambique Rhythm, and the hit single Bomba Camará is a salsa song. Lyrically the album shows both influences from

Caribbean folklore Many elements of Caribbean folklore (the orally transmitted beliefs, myths, tales, and practices of a group of people) are African in origin, given that slaves brought from Africa's West (or Gold) Coast made up a large majority of those brought to ...

as well as from North American culture. For instance, "Stop, Look and Listen" lyrics deal with

pacifism Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

, a common theme in the

Counterculture of the 1960s The counterculture of the 1960s was an anti-establishment cultural phenomenon that developed throughout much of the Western world in the 1960s and has been ongoing to the present day. The aggregate movement gained momentum as the civil rights mo ...

; In contrast, "Cabo E" references the deity

Changó Shango (Yoruba language: Ṣàngó, also known as Changó or Xangô in Latin America; and as Jakuta or Badé) is an Orisha, a deity in Yoruba religion. Genealogically speaking, Shango is a royal ancestor of the Yoruba as he was the third Alaafin ...

as well as other gods of the

Santería Santería (), also known as Regla de Ocha, Regla Lucumí, or Lucumí, is an African diaspora religions, African diasporic religion that developed in Cuba during the late 19th century. It arose through a process of syncretism between the tradit ...

, a syncretic religion of the

Afro-Caribbean Afro-Caribbean people or African Caribbean are Caribbean people who trace their full or partial ancestry to Sub-Saharan Africa. The majority of the modern African-Caribbeans descend from Africans taken as slaves to colonial Caribbean via the ...

culture.

Track listing

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jala Jala Y Boogaloo 1967 albums Richie Ray & Bobby Cruz albums 1960s Spanish-language albums