The Singer, Hector Lavoe

By Antonio Mejias

While Hector Lavoe was alive, he was honored with celebrity status as the Singer of Singers, "El Cantante de Los Cantantes." In spite of the tragic elements of his life, many echoed the sentiment that he had achieved legendary fame in his own time. After his death Jose Perez was inspired to write his father’s biography with co-author Antonio Mejias in English and then in Spanish. Then in an effort to romanticize his story, an off Broadway musical play was written and opened in New York as, "Quien Mato a Hector Lavoe?" Although the play was very entertaining, their version was fictional, using Hector's lyrics as the base of their story. Then last year a dark version of Hector’s story came to the big screen as "El Cantante," with the renowned actress Jennifer Lopez and Mark Anthony. This movie only established the fact that no matter how fictional or disfunctional his story is presented, Hector's legendary status is unquestionable. Now with new movie "The Untold Story of Hector Lavoe," a more humane Hector Lavoe is presented on the big screen. This movie stars the accomplished actor/vocalist Raul Carbonnell Jr. and co-stars La India. The difference in this story is how it embraces two important figures of Hector Lavoe’s life Carmen Castro and Jose Perez, Hector's first and only surviving son.

Spanish
El libro “The Singer” y la película de Hector Lavoe nos va llevando a través de diferentes etapas de la vida de Héctor Pérez, un niño talentoso con dones innatos para componer y sentir la música típica de su país, Puerto Rico. Nacido en Ponce, transcurre su niñez iniciándose en estudios de la misma e incursionando en sus primeras apariciones en público, mostrando su calidad y sentir.
En Nueva York, diferentes experiencias de trabajo le hacen sentir más que nunca la necesidad de renunciar a todo, con tal de poder mostrar su música. Tiene la fortuna de ser escuchado por figuras de relieve en el ambiente musical latinoamericano, quienes no dudan en reclutarlo inmediatamente, porque intuyen en él, las dotes de un gran artista.
Bautizado como Héctor Lavoe, sus sueños juveniles se hacen realidad y solo le queda demostrar por fin su música. Sin lugar a dudas, quien tenga la capacidad y la oportunidad, obtendrá el triunfo y Héctor es un ejemplo espectacular, ya que desde su primera aparición comenzó a romper records de ventas y a ser querido por el público quien decide hacerlo su ídolo. Su gran carisma que inspira en su público no el ídolo estereotipado común, sino una persona sencilla, de pueblo, uno como él, pero que triunfo gracias a sus talentos. Le llevan al estrellato con cada uno de sus temas, lo que le hace recibir el honor de ser llamado "El Rey de la Salsa" y el más codiciado aún el de "El Cantante de los Cantantes."
Por lo cambios sociales de la época, las drogas eran lo usual y la panacea de quienes como él tienen problemas, que los títulos y el dinero no solucionan. Así cae en el uso de ellas, unido a una vida desenfrenada en todos los sentidos. Lo fabuloso de su historia, es que a pesar de su vida tan poco común y llena de escándalos, su público jamás lo abandonó ya que siempre lo tuvo como uno de los suyos, con faltas, pero muy real para cada uno de ellos. Su carisma siempre lo sostuvo en el favor popular, que lo siguió siempre y lo quiso hasta el final.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Antonio Mejias
• Release date: Jan 23, 2011
• ISBN: 9781458054050

Antonio Mejias

Once I complete my new book, I plan to get on Facebook, CreateSpace, Amazon.com and any other website that will expose my work. In 1992, I published the Refrigeration License Examination manual, which has become a standard learning tool for Operating Engineers in the industry. In 1997, I self-published a biography called "The Hector Lavoe Story," a tragic story of Latin America's favorite singer. Then in 1999, I translated my book in Spanish and self-published it as "La Historia Del Cantante, Hector Lavoe." Following these works, I started working with the late Joe Cuba, and completed his biography by 2001. Currently "The Life and Times of the Lengendary Joe Cuba" is completed and available on Smashword.com under biography. These biographies represent an era of music literature that is currently lost between today's Rap and Reggaeton music. My work is fresh, funny and nostalgic.

Book preview

The Singer Hector Lavoe

1946-1993

By Jose Perez and Antonio Mejias

Smashwords Edition Copyright 2011 © By Antonio Mejias

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

All rights reserved. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Original Copyright ©1997 as The Hector Lavoe Story: by Jose A. Perez and Antonio I. Mejias Revised Edition 2011

All rights reserved and secured under International and Pan American Copyright Conventions. Printed in the United States. Spanish Translation to be printed for international circulation. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a data base or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the authors, Jose Perez and Antonio Mejias.

ISBN: 0-966-1557-1-8

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number : 97-92741

If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. Cover-less books are reported to the publisher as unsold and destroyed. In this case, the authors and the publisher have not received any payment for this stripped book.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Introduction

HECTOR’S EARLY YEARS: THE 1960’s

LAVOE’S PRIME YEARS OF THE 1970’s

THE RISE AND FALL OF THE 1980’s

THE STRUGGLE OF THE 1990’s

DEATH OF THE CANTANTE

EPILOGUE

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Grateful acknowledgement is extended to Jose Perez for his assistance and guidance in the compilation of this project. It was inspiring to see this story come to life, through the eyes of Hector Lavoe’s only surviving son. Most of the research and photographs were processed through his patience and direction. Mrs. Carmen Ramirez, Jose Perez’ mother, is also acknowledged for providing the initial story from which this project was undertaken.

My deepest thanks and appreciation is given to Gilberto Colon Jr. for providing us with illustrated stories of Hector Lavoe; and to Clara Colon for originally providing us with the Gustavo Seclen M. photographs, and to Gustavo Seclen M. El Chiclayano for his authorization to use the 1979 Caracas television photographs. Extended thanks is bestowed to the following artists who created the beautiful paintings and drawings for the first release: Antonio Chico Garcia, Telo, A. Kurihan, Ning Ni, Haihua Zhou, Wei Chen, Giyin and Jovan.

Likewise, I would like to pay homage to the following musicians and friends who gave up their time to reminisce on the life and times of Hector Lavoe. Their narrative versions of Hector’s life made this an unforgettable story: PETE EL CONDE RODRIGUEZ, YOMO TORO, ISIDRO INFANTE, JOE CUBA, EDDIE MONTALVO, PAPO PEPIN, JOSE MANGUAL JR., GILBERTO COLON JR., VAN LESTER, CARLOS EL GRANDE, BOBBY RODRIGUEZ, JOE GAINES, JOSE RAUL SANTIAGO, MIGUEL AMADEO, GEORGE ORTIZ, AND AURORA CASTRO.

Finally, we dedicate this book to the Latin American musicians and singers who provide entertainment to the public.

ARTIST: GIYIN

INTRODUCTION

This biography is a personal story of the life and times of Hector Lavoe. As his only surviving son, it was both a pleasure and a hardship to study my father. Researching my father’s history was a pleasure because it enabled me to learn about my own roots, while exploring stories and incidents of one of the most exciting figures in Latin music. Writing about my father was a hardship because my father’s immediate family and some of his associates have denied the fact that I am Hector’s biological son. By denying my legal right, they prevented me from obtaining documents, records, and photographs of my father. While others have profited from my father’s death, the ordeal has been an emotional and physical strain on me.

The goal of this biography is to present all of the facts known to me. To gather the information for this story, Mr. Mejias and I developed a script of personal questions. With a personalized script, we video-taped all our interviews. Once the video-tapes were analyzed and studied, we compiled the data in chronological order. Every effort was made to accurately translate the story from Spanish to English.

Most of the stories, concerts, and trips cited in this book were obtained from friends and associates, who did offer their time, to reminisce on my father’s memory. Since most of the events in my father’s life were unknown to me, I had to rely on the validity and credibility of the individuals who did give us interviews. For simplicity sake, I will be referring to my father as, Hector. Since I was not able to obtain a detailed record of his early childhood, I summarized what I had heard about his early years. The beginning of this story actually starts with his arrival in New York. From there I embark on a journey through the highlights of his musical career.

The Hector Lavoe Story is unique and significantly different because of his gift to communicate through his music. As an artist, Hector Lavoe was able to express himself like no other vocalist in his class. As an icon and music legend, my father’s story became the inspiration of a fictional off Broadway play called, Quien Mato a Hector Lavoe and a Hollywood motion picture titledEl Cantante, featuring the renowned Mark Anthony and Jennifer Lopez. Due to public demand, a new motion picture has been released titled The Untold Story of Hector Lavoe, featuring Raul Carbonnell and La India. Without a doubt, Lavoe was the dominant cultural figure in the Latin-American music industry, during the late 60s, 70s, 80s and up to the present. Today musicians and performers find it hard to compare Hector Lavoe, with current vocalists in the Latin music industry. He was an artist with natural talent and charisma. The industry has many accomplished vocalists, but most will agree Hector was the best. On stage, he had a personality millions of fans adored. Sometimes before a performance, he would amusingly compliment or insult his public. Hector could tell his audience anything, and get away with it. His fans were always enthusiastic toward him, due to his humor and charismatic performances. Even before he sang a note, Hector had his audience eating from the palm of his hand, while they cheered for more.

By listening to Hector sing, you knew he was in touch with his culture. He had the ability to sing tropical songs of the plena, guaguanco, or a merengue, while impersonating past and present singers. Although he was considered a salsero and associated with the commercial term Salsa, his vocal compositions were a combination of tropical music. He once told Carlos El Grande that a successful salsero, must perfect and master the rhythms of Latin music. What Carlos admired most about Hector’s music was the clear pronunciation and delivery. He said, You could hear him characterize a guaguanco, guaracha, son montuno, or danzo, from its category, ethnic background, and style. Even his bolero interpretations had a distinctive sound quality. He was a pioneer in developing a culture of improvisations, to be treasured and preserved for future generations.

Hector traveled all over the world, and wherever he performed, millions of fans loved him. Although he was known to be late at his engagements, and crowned by Johnny Pacheco as El Rey de la Puntualidad, his fans were always tolerant to his late appearances. They faithfully and perpetually waited for their favorite singing star. Standing ovations were always given to him upon his entrance. Likewise, when other known salseros performed in a concert before Hector Lavoe, he would steal the show with his presence. Key factors to his untimely death were: substance abuse, along with tragic accidents, acquired physical illness, and psychological difficulties. As an adult, I try not to blame anyone in particular for the tragic elements in my father’s life, because I firmly believe, a person is responsible for his own actions. I sincerely hope my readers will not judge Hector Lavoe’s mistakes and predicaments, but learn from their examples.

ARTIST: A. KURIHAN

HECTOR’S EARLY YEARS: THE 1960s

Before Hector Lavoe became a star, he was known as HECTOR JUAN PEREZ. He was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico on September 30, 1946. His parents were Francisca Martinez de Perez and Luis Perez. During his childhood he was inspired by Chuito El De Bayamon, Odilio Gonzalez, and Daniel Santos. They were three of the most respected country vocalists of Puerto Rico. Of the three, his favorite was Daniel Santos. The young Hector Perez loved