Jose Feliciano calls himself "the original crossover artist." Not only did he inject Latin pop music into the American mainstream in the 1960s, he has created a name for himself in the realm of classical music as well.
"There was a time in my life I wanted to be like Andres Segovia and play that kind of music for a living," the guitar player/singer said during a telephone interview from a Hilton hotel room in Miami Beach, where he had a concert date. "But I saw too many starving artists trying to do that."
The solution: Do it all.
Feliciano had several pop hits in the 1960s, with "California Dreamin'," "Rain," "Que Sera" and, most famously, "Feliz Navidad." But he has also indulged in classical music with "Malaguena," "Concierto de Aranjuez" and "Mozartean Influence," his own composition.
"I'm an everything guitar player," he said. "I can play anything."
Feliciano will demonstrate that in three pops concerts with the Utah Symphony this weekend.
"It's not a pops concert in the sense that it's all pop music," he said. "I want people to know that I actually play symphonic music, with the symphony."
One of 11 boys, Feliciano was born blind in Puerto Rico in 1945 and moved to New York City five years later. The youngster taught himself the concertina and then the guitar and eventually recorded some Latin albums, making himself known primarily in South and Central America.
Then, in 1968, Feliciano broke into the American mainstream with his version of The Doors' "Light My Fire."
That hit made Feliciano's name known, but of perhaps even more impact was something else: his rendition of the national anthem at the fifth game of the 1968 World Series between the Detroit Tigers and St. Louis Cardinals.
Veteran Detroit play-by-play announcer Ernie Harwell heard the young musician had an interesting version of the anthem and invited him to sing. Feliciano took an early morning flight from Las Vegas, where he was appearing at Caesar's Palace with Frank Sinatra. Later that day, he somewhat nervously walked into left field with an acoustic guitar and his guide dog, Trudy.
What followed was the first stylized version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" to be performed publicly.
It was positively tame by today's standards, but it nonetheless caused a furor. War veterans threw their shoes at the television. The switchboard at Tiger Stadium lit up with calls of protest. Some called for Feliciano to be deported (a difficult task, since Puerto Ricans are American citizens).
"I really didn't mean to cause that situation," he said. "But I still stand by it. It was something I wanted to do."
(Less than a year later, Jimi Hendrix played a wild, barely recognizable version of the national anthem at Woodstock that made conservatives long for the good old days when nice kids like Feliciano were performing it.)
Now 54, Feliciano has bounced around a lot in the course of his long career, experiencing times of fame and fortune as well as less successful periods. But he's still going. Last November he performed with Ricky Martin and Carlos Santana on a CBS special, and he recently filmed a concert at Carnegie Hall that will air on PBS. He also has another CD in the works.
"My career has been bittersweet," he said. "It's been a tough road. But I've been very lucky. Things are going well for me."
The Salt Lake concerts, the last of this season's Utah Symphony pops series, are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. in Abravanel Hall. Tickets, $19-$36, can be purchased by calling 355-ARTS at the ArtTix outlets at Abravanel Hall or the Capitol Theatre, or online at www.arttix.org. An Ogden concert will be held at the Val A. Browning Center on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.; call 399-9214 for tickets.
You can reach Alan Edwards by e-mail at alan@desnews.com