Tico Records - 75 yrs Anniversary release

Subject: Tico Records - 75 yrs Anniversary release
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Oct 23 - 12:30 PM

I heard a story on National Public Radio (NPR) about the 75th year anniversary of Tico Records, that produced Latin soul music. So far the story hasn't been posted as a transcription, just the audio version.

"Hit the Bongo: The Latin Soul of Tico Records" broadcast on October 27, 2023 on Morning Edition

For 75 years, Tico Records has produced Latin soul music of the highest order. A new compilation — Hit the Bongo! — celebrates Tico's anniversary.
The company recognized the melding of Afro-American and Afro-Caribbean music in New York at the time.

I've searched Mudcat and find one particular post that gives a history of a lot of record companies set up as "minority lables." The poster was Guest,282RA and his/her subject Review: Bubblegum music. It starts with this:

If we're going to trace the history of bubblegum music, let's do it right and start with the source. The source is not a band or set of bands. The source is a record company. To give a little history, the late 40s saw a rise in "minority labels" i.e. small labels that put out "race music" which included both black and "hillbilly" styles, which had become popular after WW2. Most of these labels were tiny, subsisting on a single band and, not infrequently, a single song. Minority music entrepreneurs had to be sharp and savvy for their label to survive the fierce competition. Many were ruthless and disreputable and a good A&R man or label owner had to learn the ropes and learn them quick.

Those that did became the movers and shakers of the rocknroll era. Aside from Sam Phillips at Sun, there was Lew Chudd of Imperial Records who gave us Fats Domino, Art Rupe of Specialty Records who gave us Little Richard and Sam Cooke, Leonard and Phil Chess who gave us Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters, the Bihari Bros. of Modern Records who gave us B.B. King. Not to mention Jerry Wexler, Max Silverman and Herb Abramson who helped Ahmet Ertegun found Atlantic Records. Another of these entrepreneurs was George Goldner.

Goldner started his first label, Tico, in 1948. It was strictly for Latin music (which he loved). Branching into blues and R&B, Goldner founded Rama Records in 1953. He signed the Crows who recorded a hit called "Gee," an early rocknroll number. With the money from that record, Goldner then founded Gee Records and signed Frankie Lyman & the Teenagers. By 1955, Goldner sold 50% interest in all three labels to Joe Kolsky in partnership with Morris Levy. In 1957, Goldner and Kolsky founded Roulette Records with Morris Levy as president. Goldner then sold his shares to his partners later that year and went off to found other labels. One of them, End Records, signed Little Anthony & the Imperials. Eventually, Goldner would sell these labels to Morris Levy as well. In 1965, he co-founded Red Bird Records along Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller. One of the acts to sign on Red Bird were the Dixie Cups whose two excellent 1966 hits, "Chapel of Love" and "Iko Iko" were early examples of what would become bubblegum.

The rest of that thread follows the OP's intended topic of hashing out the origins of bubble gum, but that introduction was helpful for the examination of several categories of music.

The story talks about how La Lupe sang "Fever," first made popular by Peggy Lee, and how Tito Puente, a "Juliard trained arranger" worked on a version of the Hair song "Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In" for Celia Cruz.

I found a site I'm not familiar with called Craft Recordings that offers digital downloads of the album at that link (Released Sept. 15, 2023). I've grabbed the track list an album information from there. I also find it as a 2-LP vinyl album and streaming or mp3 from Amazon.

From Craft Recordings:

Deliverable via email in your choice of MP3, hi-res WAV or hi-res FLAC.

The first Latin soul collection featuring a mix of chart-topping hits and deeper cuts from the crown jewel of the mambo era Tico Records, celebrating the iconic imprint’s 75th Anniversary.

ALBUM FEATURES:

New in-depth liner notes by DJ Dean Rudland


TRACK LIST:

1. RAY BARRETTO Y SU CHARANGA MODERNA – El Watusi


2. WILLIE BOBO – Bobo! Do That Thing


3. WLLIE BOBO – Be’s That Way


4. THE JOE CUBA SEXTET – El Pito (I’ll Never Go Back to Georgia)


5. THE JOE CUBA SEXTET – Bang! Bang!


6. CANDIDO – Madrid


7. RAY BARRETTO – Babalu


8. EDDIE PALMIERI and CAL TJADER – Come An’ Get It (Boogaloo)


9. TITO PUENTE Y SU ORQUESTRA – Fat Mama


10. THE JOE CUBA SEXTET – Oh Yeah!


11. THE JOE CUBA SEXTET – Sock It To Me


12. TITO PUENTE/LA LUPE – Steak-O-Lean


13. TITO PUENTE’S ORCHESTRA – TP’s Shing-A-Ling


14. THE JOE CUBA SEXTET – Hey Joe, Hey Joe (Hey Girl, Hey Girl)


15. THE JOE CUBA SEXTET – Psychedelic Baby


16. EDDIE PALMIERI & HIS ORCHESTRA – The African Twist


17. LA LUPE – Fever


18. THE MODERN SOUND OF AL ESCOBAR – Tighten Up


19. THE MODERN SOUND OF AL ESCOBAR – The Horse


20. CELIA CRUZ/TITO PUENTE – Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In


21. GILBERTO SEXTET – Yes I Will (Part 1)


22. TITO PUENTE & HIS ORCHESTRA – Hit the Bongo


23. TITO PUENTE & HIS ORCHESTRA – Oye Como Va


24. JIMMY SABATER – Times Are Changin’


25. THE JOE CUBA SEXTET – Do You Feel It?


26. JOE PANAMA and COMPANY – My People

Subject: Afro-American meets Afro-Caribbean music
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Oct 23 - 10:24 PM

Sending this back to the top. There wasn't space on the subject line to emphasize the merging of African-American and African-Caribbean music in New York City.