La Palabra was the man who invented ‘Romantic Salsa’ or ‘Bedroom Salsa’ 45 years ago.
Before Ray de la Paz, Marc Anthony, Rey Ruiz and his own disciple Luis Enrique, this Cuban who now lives in Cali, Colombia played with Stevie Wonder in Los Angeles before becoming the true genius and creator of the genre that captivates the world to this day.
La Palabra states that Romantic Salsa was born in 1980 in Los Angeles. At that time he carried many dreams in his heart and soul. He had been living in the United States for about 15 years, coming from Detroit where he had studied piano and from NYC where he was part of a mid-60s Salsa group that had alternated with Bobby Cruz, Jhonny Pacheco and Eddie Palmieri.
He was Cuban but he was a great admirer of Motown and artists like Smokey Robinson, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Ben E. King and James Brown, whom he had discovered in his youth at the Apollo Theater. Now, in California, he was waiting to work in a group that was being produced by Stevie Wonder, who auditioned him, liked him and immediately included him in the project.
At that time he called himself Fito Foster and it was in Hollywood when in his free time he began to visit Latin music sites where he met the Versalles Orquesta, of which he became a pianist. He was 31 years old at the time. It was a key moment in his career and a crucial moment for the birth of Salsa Romántica.
The Word was excited in Los Angeles. He came from Detroit, which was cold, whereas Hollywood was a paradise with its climate, everything was new, its atmosphere, its millionaires and especially its garage sales that he visited with fun on the weekends. That didn’t exist in the north.
With the Versalles Orchestra he recorded “Todo se derrumbó” at the beginning of the 80s and it was crazy. La Palabra is convinced that it was the spark that started the flame of the global Romantic Salsa phenomenon.
After “Todo se derrumbó” he recorded “Lady” and it was crazy. La Versalles played in a club called Candilejas on Sunset Boulevard that was always full, and very close to there was the Whiskey a Go-Go, a bar where the greats of Rock like Motley Crue performed. Los Angeles had everything.
In Candilejas, La Palabra, who continued with his concept of turning ballads into Salsa, was contacted one night by an admit who told him that she would love to record a Salsa Romantica album with him. La Palabra did not pay much attention to the proposal, he knew that in Salsa there was not much money to be made. In addition, he was working with the great Stevie Wonder.
Finally, La Palabra left the Versalles Orquesta. It was a bad choice. The woman who had insisted that he record the Salsa Romantica album one night did not see him in Candilejas and then contacted Louie Ramirez and Ray de la Paz to make the project of an LP of ballads transformed into Salsa that La Palabra had not paid attention to a reality. It was an incredible success for Ramirez and De la Paz thanks to an already established idea of La Palabra.
Seeing the extraordinary success of Louie Ramirez and Ray De la Paz, La Palabra had a second chance in the genre he had invented, but not registered. The manager of the Versalles Orchestra then convinced him to go to Miami since things with Stevie Wonder had cooled down. In Miami “Lady” was a hit, so without hesitation he grabbed his bags and left Los Angeles for Florida, taking with him a budding musician who was his disciple, a young boy who later became famous: Luis Enrique.
In Miami things did not turn out as he had thought. Racism was a nightmare. La Palabra was banned from many clubs and things got worse. Luis Enrique signed with CBS (now Sony Music) hiding his contract with La Palabra and achieved a huge success with “No Te Quites la Ropa.” Luis Enrique never acknowledged or thanked La Palabra and the friendship fell apart. There were lawsuits, but La Palabra was betrayed by his lawyer who had secretly sold himself to CBS.
Frustrated, La Palabra stopped performing. Miami was a city full of cocaine, gangsters and violence where the queen was Graciela, the Colombian drug trafficker who had taught Pablo Escobar about the world of crime. La Palabra, desperate to support his family and unwilling to play despite being an idol on Calle 8, decided to look for another job. He was too sad and resentful to concentrate on his music.
However, he had a musical proposal with the hope of resuming his career elsewhere and left for New York where he met Louie Ramirez and Ray De la Paz who were excited to see him. Both knew that La Palabra was the man who had invented Salsa Romántica in Los Angeles, a phenomenon from which they were becoming rich. He left New New York for Miami happy for the recognition of Ramirez and De La Paz, but without a dollar in his pocket. La Palabra never asked them for financial help. Once in Miami they proposed a strange and unfortunate business deal to him. He took a plane to Georgia and was arrested. He was arrested for drug possession.
In prison, La Palabra studied law, helped many inmates and finally was released. Those years in prison were decisive in his life but once free he achieved his greatest success, which is a universal hit, “El Tun Tun de tu Corazon.”
La Palabra is today a Salsa legend. He lives in Cali, Colombia, tours the United States, Canada and Europe and is recording a new album that will be released this year.
His book is an incredible best seller, “Mi Nombre es la palabra”, a biography that puts into perspective all the significant events of his life and his artistic career. La Palabra does not hold anything back and tells of extremely challenging circumstances.
Without giving in to despair, La Palabra made a remarkable transformation while he was in prison. He is a man who believes that in every adversity there is a seed of equivalent benefit. It is a moving story, a tale that captivates from beginning to end and a denunciation of racial discrimination that in many moments defeated him, but did not defeat him.
