R.I.P. But Never-Ever Forgotten! Thee Architect Of Salsa Music & Fania Records Cofounder Johnny Pacheco Passes On To The Next Realm…
“Johnny Pacheco, the legendary bandleader who cofounded Fania Records in the
1960s and became one of the leading architects of the music that would come
to be known as salsa, has died. He was 85 years old.INYIM WeeklyGet the good stuff.Fresh music, bold entertainment, and men’s fashion—one tight email a week.
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.The Dominican-born, New York-raised Pacheco, who lived in New Jersey, died
at Holy Name Medical Center, according to published reports. Sources say he
had been hospitalized for complications stemming from pneumonia.Pacheco, a Juilliard-trained multi-instrumentalist who’d found success
recording with his band, Pacheco y Su Charanga, sparked a musical revolution
when, in 1964, he met Jerry Masucci and together, they founded Fania
Records. The two started the label with $5,000, selling albums in Spanish
Harlem from the trunks of their cars.Fania soon became known as the Latin Motown, home to superstars like Celia
Cruz, Cheo Feliciano and Héctor Lavoe, and the breeding ground for seminal
artists in the genre of music that would come to be known as “salsa,” a
collision of traditional Cuban song and pan-Latin rhythms with American jazz
and funk.Fania’s musical scope was breathtaking. Its roster included Willie Colón,
Ruben Blades, Larry Harlow, Hector Lavoe, Ray Barretto and Bobby Valentín
among many, many others. The Fania sound would rule the ‘70s in New York
City, where the Fania All Stars headlined Yankee Stadium in 1973.When the label closed production in the early 1980s, it boasted over 1,000
albums, 3,000 compositions (under Fania publishing) and approximately 10,000
master tracks, many written or recorded by Pacheco.A congenial man known for his sense of humor, his limitless enthusiasm and
an abundance of talent, Pacheco was a generous artist who happily endorsed a
generation of artists –his more than 10 albums alongside Celia Cruz are
legendary—and was fearless in his willingness to experiment with all genres
of music.“Maestro of maestros and my good friend,” wrote Marc Anthony via Instagram
following the news of Pacheco’s death. “You were there for me from Day 1,
and I am forever grateful for your support, for the opportunity to be in
your presence and for your amazing legacy.”In concert, Pacheco was a dynamo, clad in bell bottoms and tight shirts –
often rhinestone-studded – that would be soaked in sweat by the end of night
after his tireless movement as bandleader and owner of his stage.“What I most remember about Pacheco is his enthusiasm, his happiness,” says
José Alberto “El Canario,” who collaborated numerous times with Pacheco and
Cruz. His last show alongside Pacheco was five years ago in the Dominican
Republic, when Pacheco turned 80, and many of Fania’s alumni showed up to
sing “Happy Birthday” to him. “He always said that when he died, his
tombstone would read: ‘Here lies Johnny Pacheco, against his will,’” El
Canario told Billboard.Born Juan Azarías Pacheco Knipping in the Dominican Republic, Pacheco and
his family moved to New York when he was 11 years old. A precocious talent,
he studied percussion at Juilliard and was already successful with his group
when he met Masucci, a former New York City cop who had fallen in love with
Cuban music while stationed at Guantanamo Bay during the Korean War.When Pacheco’s first marriage fell apart, he turned to Masucci, who had
studied business and law, to handle the divorce. Together, they had an
idea: a Latin music label. Each of them invested $2,500 and their album,
from Pacheco, included an old Cuban song by Reinaldo Bolanos, “Fanía
Funché.”“Between [Jerry and I] we couldn’t come up with a lot of money,” Pacheco
told Billboard in 2014, when Fania turned 50. “So I said, ‘Let’s do the
recording and see if we sell it.’ The Fania name came from a Cuban song
called “Fanía Funché” on that album. The word Fania was catchy. It sounded
good. Fania Records.”Fania took off. The money made from record sales, Pacheco and Masucci
reinvested in the label. Their first signing was a Jewish pianist, Larry
Harlow. Acts like flutist Bobby Valentín and a teenager trombonist and
arranger named Willie Colón followed.It was Pacheco who suggested to Colón that he change the singer in his band
and hire a young Hector Lavoe. “It was a great combination,” Colón told
Billboard. “It was total New York. I barely spoke Spanish. And Hector spoke
zero English. Hector had a repertoire of all that [Puerto Rican] stuff. He
was also a very funny guy. I would write songs that were almost like
parodies, satires. It was really something fresh from what was going on. We
were doing what rappers are doing now.”Everything Fania did seemed to be groundbreaking, and often, historic. In
1968, Pacheco had the idea for a superband of the label’s top talent: the
Fania All Stars. Live albums and a concert documentary, Our Latin Thing,
followed. In August 23, 1973, Musucci rented Yankee Stadium for $280,00 and
the Fania All Stars performed for nearly 50,000 people. More than 40 years
would pass before another Latin act, Romeo Santos, would play to that size
of a crowd at Yankee Stadium.The boom years continued with a concert for over 100,000 people in Zaire
1974, helmed by Cuban superstar Celia Cruz, as well as history-making albums
by Ruben Blades and Colón.Masucci passed away at 63 in 1997, and the Fania catalog was sold in 2005 to
Emusica Entertainment Group. In 2018, the label was bought by Concord
Records.Pacheco’s legacy, however, was never diminished. In 2004, he received the
ASCAP Silver Pen Award and in 2005, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award
from the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences. Pacheco
is survived by his wife, María Elena Pacheco, In addition to this wife, Mr.
Pacheco’s survivors include two daughters, Norma and Joanne; and two sons,
Elis and Phillip.” -Billboard.com
