Ralfi Pagan was an attractive anomaly inside Latin music powerhouse Fania Data’ late ’60s/early ’70s roster. Blessed with a beautiful, ethereal falsetto tenor, Pagan was extra musically aligned with the delicate soul balladry of his apparent function mannequin Smokey Robinson than the salsa dura erupting out of East Harlem and his native Bronx. His early recordings mirrored as a lot, transferring tentatively between English and Spanish-sung soul slowies and dance numbers. However along with his 1971 hit cowl of Bread’s “Make It With You,” he discovered his area of interest – emphasizing the track’s forlorn romantic longing, somewhat than seduction, and ecstatically vamping in Spanish on the outro to seal the deal.
The track was a crossover smash, and the rest of Pagan’s profession at Fania would see the label try and repeat its success – even re-releasing “Make It With You’s” accompanying album, With Love, sans its Latin tracks and subbing in older soul numbers. 1973’s Ralfi awkwardly moved him in direction of singer-songwriter territory. However 1975’s I Can See will get the musical calculus almost excellent. As its title and dramatic cowl design counsel, it’s a centered effort (simply eight songs) that returns Pagan to his chief power, the heartbreaking soul ballad.
Hearken to Ralfi Pagan’s I Can See now.
It additionally reunites Pagan with producer Marty Sheller, whose preparations made With Love’s soul tracks such standouts. From the primary notes of the opening Smokey Robinson cowl, backed by a who’s-who of high studio gamers, every thing feels excellent. Drummer Bernard “Pretty” Purdie and bassist Jerry Jemmott (each veterans of Aretha Franklin’s touring group) lock right into a sultry groove accented by Nicky Marrero’s bongos and Frank Malabe’s congas. Louie Ramirez’s vibraphone strains shimmer, and guitarist Joe Beck’s wah-wah provides simply the fitting contact of blue mild basement friction. For his half, Pagan’s breathy, reverb-bathed efficiency is a examine in beautiful vulnerability that may do Smokey proud. All through I Can See, he’s additional buoyed by luxurious backup harmonies from veteran producer/songwriters J.R. Bailey (of his personal cult basic soul LP Simply Me and You fame), Kenneth Williams, and Mel Kent.
It’s an excellent template that yields uniformly chic outcomes on “Just For a Little While” (as in “I never knew that when you said ‘I love you’ it was…”), the Bailey/Williams/Kent-penned “Loneliest Loneliness,” and an excellent cowl of Cholly Rivera’s late ’60s single “I Could Never Hurt You Girl.” The latter contains a transient call-and-response adlib between Pagan and Bailey that speaks to the eye to element herein. Even two down-tempo funk-infused tracks, “La Vida” and “Rat Race,” work properly; Beck’s guitar builds sonic continuity whereas Pagan turns his consideration from issues of the guts to broader philosophical and societal considerations.
Regardless of its apparent musical deserves, I Can See stalled commercially and could be Pagan’s remaining LP for Fania. He would proceed to file for different labels and relocate to Los Angeles, the place his Latin soul sound was beloved by Chicano audiences. However tragically, his life and profession ended far too quickly. Whereas touring Colombia in 1978, he was murdered underneath circumstances which have lengthy been the topic of hypothesis and rumor. Understanding this, one can’t assist however expertise I Can See as one thing much more profound: haunting.
Hearken to Ralfi Pagan’s I Can See now.
