Riot!

Though he has released dozens of albums by now, and appeared in concert all over the world, the 1968 Riot! album is without a doubt Bataan’s biggest claim to fame. Bataan will tell you that it was a show-stopper wherever it played, and the album goes down as one of the biggest sellers in the history of Fania Records.

The 7 ½-minute lead-in piece is that typical pastiche of many styles and feels, beginning with police sirens and people raising hell for atmosphere, and moving back and forth and constantly blending Latin and Black musical flavors in a thoroughly compatible way. For Your Love, with its trombone-harmonica interplay, is a doo-wop ballad with a Latin touch. The pervasive influence of Eddie Palmieri and his La Perfecta sound is strongly evident in the next two cuts, Muñeca and Pa’ Monte, modeled on the well-known Palmieri tunes of the same titles and even featuring La Perfecta’s Barry Rogers on his inimitable trombone. But Bataan comes into his own as a composer, singer and bandleader on side B of this album, especially in his signature tunes What Good Is a Castle and Ordinary Guy.

It is these sad, slow-tempo Latin soul ballads about everyday life among poor people and those living in working-class neighborhoods that struck a chord among his prime audiences. More than anywhere in Latin music Bataan’s most characteristic hits transport us right into the life struggles and dreams of ordinary, hard-working folk in the ghetto. These songs look reality – however cruel and desolate – right in the face, and burst those illusions that only get in people’s way (“What good is a castle?”). Source: Fania