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[**]

Jose: A successful artist

who came out
of there with nothing.

I said, "Boy, Jose,

man, you've come a long way.

[crowd booing]

- It was the time of McCarthy,
wasn't it?

If you did something
against the grain
of American "culture,"

you were an outcast.

I had to fight
to get him signed
because they said,

"We don't want
this Puerto Rican kid
who can't see.

What are we
going to do with him?"

- So it was
a different time in America.

There was a lot of ignorance.
This Puerto Rican Latino

has messed
with our national anthem.

He's thinking,
"250 million people hate me."

- So he played it more negro,

more Black.

Back then, people who were
not ready, they're probably
still not ready now.

[hectic crowd]

- In the sixties,

being commercial,
particularly on something
as traditional

as "The Star-Spangled Banner,"

was really
kind of a kiss of death.

- Had Jose come out
and just done your
typical anthem,

he wouldn't have created
something and opened
the door for artists

that then did
the anthem in their way.

- He did something
that was very Jose Feliciano.

He was honest.
It was never lack of respect.

I don't think anyone loves this
country more than him.

[**]

Jose: I never thought I would
cause that much of a ruckus.

AWARD FOR MUSICAL EXCELLENCE

I wasn't out to defame

the country that has given me

the opportunity
to be successful.

[**]

[**]

- When he took
that song, "Light My Fire,"

as big as it was by The Doors,

he was able to introduce it
to 500 million people

that didn't know The Doors.

- I think that's what sets
an artist apart from a singer.

So many people that can sing

and in the stratosphere
and do all these amazing
technical things,

but you won't remember
their voice the next day.

There's very few people that do
that, and he's one of them.

[**]

[**]

[crowd cheering]

[**]

- The main reason
why Jose has gone global

is because of one thing
and one thing alone.

His heart.

He has the gift
of being multidimensional.

- But Jose sang
in both languages

and equally as genuinely.

Every interview that I've done,
when they ask me
about influences,

Jose is at the top there
because he was
one of the first to do it.

- He brought a sound
that was totally different
because he brought the blues

and the jazz and the Latino.

- I thought of him as a unique,
brilliantly talented,

I have to say, freak.

[**]

- His music

is beyond borders.

I've seen Jose
move a crowd in Portugal,

AWARD FOR MUSICAL EXCELLENCE

and I've seen him
move a crowd in Australia

and London,
Canada and Buenos Aires.

I have a great musician
friend of mine who always says,

"They're all legends
until you work with them."

Well, guess what?

I've worked with Jose Feliciano,
and he's a true legend.

- The real true legacy that Jose
is leaving to the world

is that you can accomplish
anything you want,

no matter how adverse
the situations and conditions
that you are in,

if you have a desire
and the discipline

and just do it.

- I wish there were a word

that was more appropriate
than a legend,

but he is a legend
and so much more

around the world.

JOSE FELICIANO SQUARE

[crowd cheering]
[**]

[helicopter whirring]

[**]

* He's five foot-two,
and he's six feet-four *

* He fights with missiles
and with spears *

* He's all of thirty-one,
and he's only seventeen *

* He's been a soldier
for a thousand years *

* He's a Catholic, a Hindu,
an atheist, a Jain *

* A Buddhist and a Baptist
and a Jew *

[fanfare]

Broadcaster: New York,
the sightseers' paradise.

Manhattan alone
has a little bit of everything.

New York has every nationality

because millions of immigrants
who came to this country
stayed right here.

In Washington Square,
at the lower end
of Fifth Avenue,

in Greenwich Village,

folk dancers and folk singers

express their freedom...
...freedom and joy in living.

Man: You may call me a rebel.

But I'm an American rebel,

and you'll have to listen.
To hear me out.

- There was conflict

on both sides of the line.

[**]

You never trusted
anyone over 30.

The hippies didn't know
what they were doing.

The Vietnam War was raging on.

People were burning
their draft cards.

Burning the flag.
That was, "Oh!" You know.

- And people at the time,
you know, you've got to realize

the ambiance
that was happening at the time.

It was a lot more restricted
in people expressing themselves.

You're coming out of the 1950s

where even kids
didn't have their own music.

That's why rock 'n roll exploded
because up until that time,

they listened
to the music of their parents.

They didn't have anything
that was their own.

[**]

Jose: Every kid wanted
to be like Frank Sinatra

until an Elvis came along,
and we all thought

we were little Elvises.

We all tried to move our hips.

Only my hips said to me,

"You've got to learn
to do something better."

I like Bob Dylan.

And one of my favorite albums
changed my life

and that was
Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.

And I started
to listen to rock and roll

as it was being born.

To the blues, the doo-wop sound.

But my favorite vocal group

of all time
has been The Four Seasons.

Those Four Seasons
taught me about music.

You know, get the dream
started. Get it going.

If you want
to sound like somebody, do it.

I wanted to be a Latin musician

with American stylings.

It's funny, all of that music
ever said to me was,

"I am poor, just like you."

And I could relate.

[**]

- Lares is a town
founded in 1827.

It's a small town.

Nowadays, we have developed
and it's bigger.

LARES ICE-CREAM PARLOR

[chattering]

- At the time, it was my mother

and her relatives,
my grandmother,

who I remember with fondness.

I enjoyed
memories in Puerto Rico

like eating fresh bread,

having freshly made cheese.

I remember things
from Puerto Rico
that were of the farm.

And instead
of making septic tanks

like they do now in homes,

we had what we called a latrine.

We had to even
make our own latrine.

It was really surviving.

Puerto Rico was so, so poor.

When you're a little kid
like that, in a sense,

you don't know what end is up.

But the memories
I have are happy

because they were
always filled with music.

[**]

REVOLUTION SQUARE

JOSE FELICIANO SQUARE

- My name is Jimmy Feliciano,
age 54.

I'm Jose's youngest brother.

He likes to make tricks to me.

He puts his eyeglasses
in my glass of water.

And tell me: "Here, Jimmy,
here's a glass of water".

And when I see the eyes,
I just scream, I get crazy.

He's always doing
things like that.

He used to come a lot more
when my mother was alive.

But we still get in touch.

And when he comes around
to a concert,

or he comes to something else
in Puerto Rico,

we get in contact
and we get together.

[**]

[**]

[**]

- My parents wouldn't let me go
in the street,

and I thought, there must be

a real danger here,
so I'm not going in the street.

I wasn't just blind.
I was a blind kid
that had sense.

And my feet
were the eyes that guided me.

That's why now, as a grown up,

I don't trip
on cables on stage.

I find it... how stupid
that these people

don't pay attention
to their body.

Their body is going
to tell you to be careful.

So I grew up as a blind person
who didn't bump into walls.

And if I did,
I yelled at myself. I said,

"You should have been
paying attention."

I was trying to really adapt

into the sighted world because
as a blind person, you have to.

]

[**]

- My name is Hector Feliciano,

Jose Feliciano's brother.
My age is... going on 60.

They're very proud of Jose.

As Jose grew
and became more famous,

he also let them know

he was Puerto Rican,
he's from Lares,

he's a teacher,
he's an inspirer.

He has given
an education to the world

in the line of music

because he has a love
and passion for what he does.

IN HONOR OF JOSE FELICIANO

THE BLIND MAN OF LARES

-Welcome to your hometown.
-Thanks. Are you the mayor now?

-Yes, sir. How are you?
-I'm fine, thank God.

I was born with many illnesses
and He never abandoned me.

- He gave you more blessings
than illnesses.

- Exactly.

That's why I never blamed God
for being blind.

On the contrary,
I get up in the morning
and the first thing I do

is thank God for giving me
one more day.

I can't believe
all of this heroes-type welcome.

This little town
thinks I'm a hero to them.

Frankly,
I'm a little embarrassed by it,

but that's just me
and my idiosyncrasies.

To think that when I came

out of here at five years old,

later in my life, I would create

such havoc, you know.
And I'm thrilled.

[**]

Well, I remember
flying from Puerto Rico

into New York in 1950,

which was a time
when the Puerto Rican migration

into the States was happening.

America had opportunities

that Puerto Rico didn't have.

[traffic noises]

My father got us into a cab

that we were taking
into the East side.

We smelled something rotten.

Nature was rotten.

We lived high up

and we had no elevators.

So we had to use
our legs to get up those stairs.

The steam
wouldn't give you enough heat

in the winter.

It was awful.

But I thought of that
when I was a young kid.

I thought, "Oh, my goodness,
what am I doing here?

I got to find a way out."

[**]

My aunt Blanca
was very instrumental

in me being able
to go to places

like The Lighthouse
for the Blind

when I was
about five and a half.

They had a music curriculum.

I started on the accordion
when I was seven.

I learned
about string instruments
through my uncle,

Esteban, who played the cuatro.

[ cuatroguitar playing]

The first guitar I ever had

was a friend
of Blanca's and my father's.

He came in one day

and I heard a brown paper bag
and it was a guitar.

[**]

I started learning guitar
at the age of nine.

It was like...

It was like meeting
the woman of your dreams.

I divorced one wife,
but I've never divorced
any guitar.

So with logic like that...

[**]

[**]

Then I started
listening to music

outside the Puerto Rican realm.

I started listening
to not just Tito Rodriguez

and Tito Puente and Celia Cruz.

And, you know,
I love these people,

but I knew there was
another musical world out there.

Dad did not support me playing

music outside the Latin music.

My father bounced
around from job to job,

and it's sad because Dad was
an intelligent man.

My aunt, his sister,
wanted to make sure

he got into college somehow.

Dad, I think in some ways

denied himself

of becoming a brilliant man.

- Coming from
extraordinary poverty,

Pop was a piece of work.

Difficult. He was
probably the greater thorn

in Jose's side

than anybody

ever trying to live up

to some unspoken expectation.

You just feel as a child
what your father,

especially as a young man,
expects.

- My mom, yes, was a doting mom,

but she knew that the only thing

that would make me independent

was her teachings.

And so I listened
and I learned a lot.

My mother was...

...no different than, I guess,

any mother
who doesn't love a child.

- His mom...

had 11 boys.

She had to be tough
to keep them all in line.

Granted, three passed away,

two in Puerto Rico,
even before Jose was born,

and then one
when they were in the city.

Mom tried
to keep it all together.

She had
great difficulty sometimes

accepting in the very beginning

that Jose
was born with such problems.

His mom was beside herself.

"What am I going to do?
What am I going to do?
What am I going to do?"

You know,
came to the point of just
letting him go in the river,

you know,
and just, just, just...

You know. I'm putting it
in the kindest terms.

We all do numbers on our...

On each other.

He says he was unwanted
and that's a terrible thing

for somebody to live through.

Jose: He left one time
for a while

and then he came back.

Dad didn't abandon us in total.

I leaned on Esteban,
I think, a little bit.

I would ask him
when he came around

to please take me

to stay at his house.

It was a time period,
but you know what?

Even today,
you see it in many ways.

It's not easy.

- Jose has told me many times

that he could have spent
his life selling pencils,

but instead he's worked
eight, ten, 12 hours a day

practicing his guitar.

His father mentioned
that he'd never amount
to anything.

And I think, knowing Jose,

that his spirit is so strong

that he put that as a challenge

and he worked
and worked at his craft

and became better and better.

- And so then
the question then becomes,
from a clinical perspective:

how do such individuals overcome

and from where does
their ability to achieve
come from?

It's that whole discourse
of the clinical word
we use as resilience,

the innate strength
that people have

from individual to individual.

Some people have a little
bit more of it,

some people
have a little bit less.

It's not the it factor.
It's not just about charisma.

It's part of our ability
to just have inner core strength

to know who we are

and to rise above
whatever adversity it is,

not because of who we are,

but in spite of who we are.

It appears
that he more than likely had
that innate resiliency factor

when he had so many cards
stacked against who he was.

The reality is,
yeah, there are challenges,

but if we don't
have challenges in life,
there's nothing to overcome.

[**]

about this contest

that was being sponsored
by Cafe Bustelo.

You send in
a letter talking

about the person you want
to appear on that show.

At the age of nine,

I was playing the accordion.

I said, "Ma, they're not going
to answer to you."

And my mother was,

"You wait and see.
You wait and see."

My mother
gets a letter and she goes,

"You going to be on the radio.

You going to be on the radio!"

I said, "Mom, really?
I'm going to be on the radio?

Wow, that's great!"

[**]

[**]

It was WWRL.

It was a Black station.

The people there
liked what I did,

and the prize in the contest

was to play for three days

in a famous theater.

The Latin people
used it for their productions.

It was known
as El Teatro Puerto Rico,

on Brook Avenue in the Bronx.

[crowd cheering]

I mean, the applause was amazing

for... for a little kid like me.

I mean, I...

I don't know why
part of me was joyous,

and another part
was a little embarrassed.

[**]

But it did tell me, you know,

"Kid, if you work at this,

something...
something can happen."

And I was already
learning the guitar,

practicing every day, listening
to people like Ray Charles

for singing.

And I thought,
"Ray Charles was blind.

If he can make it,

why couldn't
Jose Feliciano make it?"

I said to myself, you know,

"If you could follow

what is being played
on the radio,
you're a professional."

[**]

My high school years
were loaded with fears

because I didn't have anyone

qualified in my home

to read the textbooks to me.

And the schools
didn't have them in Braille.

I mean, education for the blind
was really limited.

Try and read Charles Dickens

when you're only
12 years old, it's difficult!

For example, David Copperfield

is a very depressing book.

I don't want to read
about a family that was sick.

I saw that
as a child within my family.

They always had headaches.

They always smelled to Vicks.
[laughs]

In those days, you know,

you couldn't share your language

with your classmates.

They would go,
"English, English!"

I understand
that from their viewpoint,
they didn't speak our language.

But what can you do
when that's the only language
you've learned in your life?

And of course,
when I started learning
the guitar,

it got more complicated

because I would say,
"Ah, Jose, the hell
with the homework,

practice the guitar.

That's what's going
to get you far."

Teachers would say,
"Mr. Feliciano,

if you don't study, you're not
going to be very good in life.

You're not
going to be educated."

I didn't back talk
to my teachers,

but inside I would say,

"Well, that's what you think,
that I'm not going
to amount to much.

I'll show you." And I practiced
the guitar even harder.

In high school,
I'd play in the assemblies

and the kids loved it
when I played the assemblies.

[**]

Girls threw themselves at me.

But as I couldn't see them,
they fell.
I couldn't catch them.

And they threatened
to sue me because they fell. No!

If kids in my school
thought I was good,

then I must be
some good, you know?

- Three high school students,
the staff tells me

they really have
a sound that's all their own.

See, they're going to play
a real old favorite,
"Back Home In Indiana."

The Modern Sound Trio.

[**]

[**]

- The first time I saw him,
I was with my mom

and we were watching
the Ted Mack Hour...
Amateur Hour.

And then with Ed Sullivan.

He went from Ted Mack
to Ed Sullivan.

- The first true thing
that I ever saw Jose do

was "Malagueña."

And I was a little kid, man,

but it just blew me away.

Especially there's a part
where he just, like...

completely drops his hand

and starts
just playing with one hand.

All these incredible parts.

]

[**]

- I learned watching
Jose Feliciano

that he's not only
an impeccable singer,

but a supreme guitar player.

[**]

Jose: When I left home at 18,

nobody in my family
thought that I would be

the first one to leave home.

And so I left home
at a young age,

never dreaming
about what I would be doing.

- He is an extraordinary
young man.

He is a fine singer,

an exceptional guitar player...

He's been blind since birth.

And he's going
to play and sing for you.

"Walk Right In", Jose Feliciano.
"Walk Right In."

[**]

[**]

[**]

[**]

- Everybody!

[**]

[**]

I decided to quit high school.

I wanted to go
where the action was.

And then I moved up

to a bigger echelon.

I went and started playing
Gerde's Folk City.

[**]

- Gerde's Folk City was a magnet

for musicians of every kind,

particularly in the early
rock days and in folk.

And a lot of great people
like Bob Dylan
and Peter, Paul and Mary.

It was like the center
of the Village
for important upcoming artists.

[**]

[**]

- I did very well.
They wouldn't let me
off the stage.

And so the proprietor saw that.

He was a nice
Italian gentleman and said,

"Hey, Jose. Come in here.
I want to talk to you.

Hey, my name is Mike Porco.

You want to play for me or not?"

I said, "Well, Mr. Porco,

how much are you willing
to pay me?"

He said,
"I don't have to pay you.

If you become popular at
Gerde's, maybe then we talk."

And from then on, that man and I

became the greatest of friends.

[**]

- I walked in because I had
been sent to hear another group

and there was this young guy
wearing dark glasses,

but not in any way
did I think he was blind

because everybody in the Village
wore dark glasses,

either they were on drugs
or they were hung over
or whatever.

I felt this was a raw,

amazing talent.

Seventeen years old,
I think, at the time.

At the end of his act,
his then companion

came over to the stage,

took his guitar
and led him off, and
I suddenly realized he's blind.

Discovering
that night that he was blind,

put me into a complete
new state of possibilities.

Not to exploit it,
which I never did
and never wanted to,

but it became a reality
of our relationship, you know.

And I had to fight
to get him signed
because they said,

"We don't want
this Puerto Rican kid
who can't see.

What are we
going to do with him?"
They were really resistant.

And I remember being called in
to by my boss and said,

"Look, you can sign him
on one condition.

You get the cheapest deal
you can."

So I did. I went
to the legal department

and I had them write up
the lowest rate contract
we could get.

And they signed it because it
was Jose's opportunity.

And in fact, there's a story
in the book
that Susan has written,

which I was not witness to.

I never even heard it
until I read it in the book.

That he was called in
by the executives

and told they wanted
to change his name

from a Spanish name,
Jose Feliciano,

to Joe Phillips
or something like that.

And he refused
because he is Puerto Rican

and proud of it,

and his heritage is there
and his life has started there.

And I know I never I never had

any inclination
to change him in any way at all,

except to make him grow
or help him grow.

- And, boy, I...
I jumped out of my skin.

I was so excited. What?

Me being on the same label
as Elvis Presley?

RCA?

And still, when I think of RCA

and I mention it,

I get chills
up and down my spine.

[**]

He had no sophistication
except in his music.

So he was kind
of rough around the edges.

And I'm just the opposite.
I'm a square, you know.

I went to school
and studied engineering

so we made it
a very nice partnership,
you could say.

I was prepared not to be
successful at the beginning

because I had this wild animal

and I had to figure out
what the direction
to take him in

to make him acceptable
to a wider audience.

But I always had in mind

that night
at Gerde's when
the audience went wild over him

because he was so charismatic
in his music
and so good as a musician.

Then I spent time with him,
and we talked
about the kind of things

he wanted to do, and of course,

this is the first album we did.

[crowd cheering]

[**]

[**]

The promotion department
didn't understand Jose at all.

They didn't put any muscle
into it, they didn't get
people to play it.

All I knew is that I wanted
to do another album right away.

And at that point
we did the second album.

It was a little
more focused on "rock,"
I guess you could call it.

In fact, the name of the album
is A Bag Full of Soul.

This is the album.

[**]

He felt like a son to me
all those years

and still a smartass kid

with a ghastly sense of humor.

A brutally ghastly
sense of humor

that I love so much.

You can see
what's going on in my face.

I'm reliving all of it,
and it was wonderful.

[**]

Jose: I was young,

slim and handsome.

At least that's how
I thought of myself.

I knew that since I couldn't
see myself,
I wouldn't be wrong.

I was managed
by my first wife at the time.

I have to say she didn't do
such a bad job in the beginning.

She did well, she meant well.

I met her playing at one of
the cafes in Greenwich Village.

Her sister conned her
into going there to see me.

Her sister goes,
"He's a blind guy,

but what a guitarist he is."

And so she came in to see me.

She introduced herself.

We got along.

[**]

And it's sad.
Nobody liked Hilda.

I don't understand why she had
that kind of vibe with people.

At that time,
I was with the agency ITA

and through Hilda

they got a little tour

going of Argentina

and RCA also sent me down

to do the festival
in Mar del Plata.

I told the executives,

"Let me record

some boleros
that I've known all my life."

We recorded it,

which was called
Una voz, una sombra
y una guitarra.

I got back to the apartment
and then I hear the news.

"Jose, you got
to come back here.

You're hotter than a pistol!"

[**]

I made the girls cry.
They made me cry.

And it was crazy.
It was like the screaming girls

they didn't care
whether they could hear
me or not.

They just were happy
that they saw me.

I'll never get over it, I guess.

I expect the same thing at home.

No.

That concert and that album

were really the springboard

to my career.

- People don't realize he was
the first ever Latin
crossover artist.

He was raised in Manhattan,

in Spanish Harlem,
and went back to Latin America

and made a huge hit in Argentina

with his bolero album.

So he was actually the first
ever Latin crossover artist

that paved the way
for everybody from Gloria

to Santana.

[**]

[**]

[**]

[crowd cheering]

- I think I should tell you
the first time I met Jose,

Jose was 23.

The producers did not want
to really hear
his acoustic guitar.

A meeting was set up
and we were having
a little bit of a conversation

and all of a sudden
I thought I saw something
out of the corner of my eye fall

and I looked down
and started to reach down.

And I saw an eye looking at me.

And I drew back.

And Jose said,
"Did you see my eye?"

And I said,

"Yes, I think it's down here."

And kind of guided
his hand to pick it up

because I'd never picked up
an eye before off the floor.

And that was the beginning
of our relationship,

that he planned that.

And he was putting me
right on the spot.

And that's his sense of humor.

And it's never left him

in all the time
that I've known him.

- Rick came to see me

at the Golden Bear,
where I was playing
in Huntington Beach.

And Rick put an album together

from a lot of the stage material

that I was playing.

That's what really
got that album together.

And Jose and I discussed it
and picked "Light My Fire"

as one of the songs.

I said, "Rick, I don't want
to record 'Light My Fire.'

It was a hit
last year, you know?"

And Rick said, "Well,

I think you should record it.
Your performance is different."

And so when the album
was completely finished,

I would take the album,
put headphones on

and listen to it,
and listen to it,

and listen to it...

[**]

[**]

- But...

when the execs
from RCA heard that album,

the president, vice president
and on down the line

and also Jose's managers,

they hated the album.

They hated
everything they heard,

and they were even
threatening to erase the album.

It was that bad.

And they said, "we wanted you
to do a rock album
with Jose Feliciano."

And my answer
to them was, "I did what I felt
was honest with this artist."

And it came out,
through the grace of God,

it slipped out somehow

with all the RCA bureaucracy,

and suddenly radio stations
started picking up the album

and the single,
and it became a monster hit.

And Jose
was finally recognized
for the true great artist he is.

[crowd cheering]

Jose: When I was nominated
for the Grammysear of 68,

I didn't know if I would win.

But when I was sitting there

and they were opening
the envelope and they said,

"And now,
the winner of the Grammy
for Best New Artist

is... Jose Feliciano!

I almost shit in my pants.

[**]

¡Anda!

- I was 14 years old when I
first heard "Light My Fire"

painting the fence
in the front yard for my folks.

I had the radio on,
you know, middle of summer

and listening,
rocking to the radio

and "Light My Fire,"
I thought it was intriguing.
I thought Jose was Black though,

I had no idea
who he was or what he was.

It wasn't until he did
"The Star-Spangled Banner"

did I see his image,

learned his name,
put the two together and went,

"Oh!

He's very cute.

He's very cute."

- The first time I heard
of Jose,

I believe it was "Light My Fire"

because I was a huge music fan.

He incorporated all this groove,
this Latin groove into it.

Here was a guy
with a name similar to mine,

a Hispanic name,

and huge.

I remember I still had

the first headphones
that ever came out
that were stereo

that I would listen to radio on,

and I was
so excited for the sound.

- When he took that song,
"Light My Fire,"

as big as it was by The Doors,

he was able to introduce it
to 500 million people

that didn't know The Doors.

Jose: And to think that a kid
from the hills of Puerto Rico

would be nominated
on this American stage.

The only thing that took
a little bit out of the joy

was that I couldn't share it
with my mom

or my brothers.

I shared it with them on TV,

but none of them could be
there to really enjoy it

and relish it with me.

- He loves being home
and in the family dimension,

PUERTO RICAN LEAGUE
BROOKLYN

the food, the music,
the laughter, the people.

Jose has said a thousand times,

friends at school
treated him differently.

He's still the same guy.
"I'm still the same Jose."

And oh, well, now look at you.

People look at you differently.

Commentator: Ladies and
gentlemen, please rise and join

in the singing
of our national anthem,

which will be played
by Merle Albee's band

and will be sung
by Jose Feliciano.

Jose: In my mind,
I thought, "Jose,

how are you going
to sing the national anthem?"

I decided to put a little soul

into the anthem.

[Jose sings
"The Star-Spangled Banner"]

- There's this one guy
in particular,

and he's kind of like looking
and straightening his tie.

He could not contain himself.

And then they cut away

and we watch
the flag for the next moments.

And I think
that was the first inclination

that there was
like something amiss.

- I was in school already
at the time

and we would sing
the national anthem the way...

[singing] Oh, say, can you...

Some people were very offended.

Half of the stadium
were throwing cans at him.

There was a lot
of hatred at the time.

It was horrible
the things that he had to hear

when all he was doing
was being creative.

[**]

- Radio play disappeared.

Veterans, they say,
were throwing their shoes

at the TV set
and he's ostracized.

They want to deport him.

- Hello!
Puerto Ricans are Americans,

but a lot of people
don't even realize that.

Whenever you try something new

and try to be yourself,
you'll always get criticized.

If you're an immigrant,
if you come from somewhere else,

that's going to add

to whatever controversy,
whenever you do anything.

[**]

- He loved this country.

It was never lack of respect.

It was something
that I don't think anyone loves
this country more than him.

[**]

- Right then and there

is when people went,

"Oh, improvising
on top of something
like this it's pretty cool.

It changed the course
of pop culture forever.

[**]

- This man
was in the 101st Airborne.

So when you write
your nasty letters and...

- Nasty letters?

- When you mention
the national anthem

and talk about playing it
in an unorthodox way,

you immediately get a guaranteed
percentage of hate mail...

- What did you say?
I don't think it's unorthodox.

-It isn't unorthodox?
- No, no, no.

I thought it was beautiful.

Well, there you go.
[crowd cheers]

- So when I play it,
we don't play lyrics.

We play... We play sex.
Watch this.

[rhythmically snaps his fingers]

Like Marvin Gaye.

[rhythmically snaps
his fingers and hums]

That's why
I don't get in trouble.

This is sex and it's spiritual.

And how can you get in trouble
with sexuality or spirituality?

It's always about
all-inclusiveness.

I don't get in trouble
because I don't sing the words.

I play the melody,
and the melody transcends

what's written on paper
about the national anthem.

[**]

- It wasn't until later in the
evening when I saw it
on the news

and it was like...
just different.

I mean,
it was stunningly different

for that time, for that moment.

And I think they almost likened

Jose's rendition of the anthem

as the burning of the flag.

- It was a hard pill to swallow.
Truthfully.

I'd put the radio on
and all I would hear is

everybody on these programs,
they had criticized me.

I never thought I would cause
that much of a ruckus.

I wasn't out

to defame the country
that has given me

the opportunity
to be successful.

- He lived in it
and it was horrible

and it made it so that he had

to find work outside
of the US somewhat.

[airplane engines roaring]

Jose: When you have a lot of
pounds, people come around all
the time, but when you're broke,

there's nobody
to even pay your bills.

This is entitled "Down and Out."

In 1969,

I played the London Palladium.

Rick and I had a hit

live album.

And there was so much material,
there was enough

for a double album and RCA was
very much against that.

But it's so funny

because the minute
that album was recorded,

the next day, RCA called me

and said,
"Get those tapes back here

because it's already gone gold."

On a double album,
which was unheard of
at that time.

[**]

- Ladies and gentlemen,
Jose Feliciano.

[crowd cheers]

[**]

And after 17 shows,
if I learn a new chord

on every show,
I'll know a total of 21 chords.

Would you teach me...?

And Johnny,
It would be my pleasure,
man, to teach you a few chords.

How about
something like this, son?

[tricky guitar chord]

Yeah, I could learn that.

Jose Feliciano!

[crown cheering]

Jose: I wrot

from my family in Puerto Rico,

but I also wrote it

with the happiness
that Puerto Rico can generate.

Unbeknownst to me,
I was creating a monster.

But the one thing I did do

is that I made it

so that no station

could turn me off on Christmas.

I want to thank
all of you for making

"Feliz Navidad"

the most famous song

all over the world.

Yeah, one more time!

[**]

I love you. Thank you.

And I see it now

and I laugh, you know,

because I'm thinking to myself,
"Listen, you sons of bitches,

you got to play me now."

And I was proud and I am proud.

And it's like

having a pie

that every American artist
or every European artist

wants to have a bite from it.

[**]
[cheers]

- That was beautiful.

Here he is.

Here is
the great Jose Feliciano.

The winner of Sanremo.
How are you doing?

- I'm so happy
with Sanremo success.

- You are?
- Sure.

- What are you going
to play for us?

- They chose this song
to be number two,
but I say it's number one.

- Okay, then.

- There is a song
that has been successful

throughout the world
and it's "Che sarà."

- In 1969, I performed
in Buenos Aires carnival...

[**]

And there, I had
the great opportunity

of meeting Jose Feliciano,

who two or three months later

would become a big world star.

At that moment,

my producer, who had helped me

write the song, told me:

"Imagine if we could get
Feliciano to record this song?"

So we called him.
He was very kind and said:

"Come to the US
and we'll talk about it."

[crowd cheering]

[**]

[**]

Jose: It was a thrill for me

because this was the first time
that a Puerto Rican had come

to that particular festival.

And I translated it into Spanish

and it became
a hit in South America.

[crowd singing]

- "Qué será" was quite
a phenomenon.

It charted
in three different languages,

in three different continents.

It was amazing and it became
a huge worldwide hit.

[**]

- I saw him in concert

and I met Hilda.

She said, "Oh, yes, you're
the president of the fan club."

We were invited back
to the dressing room.

Afterwards, my mom
and my girlfriend, Mary and I,

and we spent
a little time together.

And then my mommy said,

"Well, I guess it's time
for me to take my girls home."

And I remember Jose said,

"Both of them?"

He invited me
to be his girlfriend that week.

There was never a feeling
of "am I doing something
wrong here?" Because it never...

It never felt wrong.

It was a purity of heart

and an innocence
that started with my...

...clueless!
And Jose's, I think, need

to break away from some
of that big mess
that was happening.

You know, the explosion

of his music and the controversy
with "The Star-Spangled Banner."

[**]

- Pop music, soul music,
whatever you call it,
at the time

was very segregated
and the TV themes
and film themes at the time

were kind of reserved
for the composers.

It was really rare
for a pop artist to do
a TV theme.

And so Quincy Jones asks Jose

to do the theme song
to the film McKenna's Gold,

and they end up having
a hit with that song overseas.

And I think Quincy was nominated
for a Grammy for the album.

Then he goes on to do
Chico And The ManTV theme.

Then he goes
on to do appearances,

TV show appearances.

Jose makes it big
as a pop artist

and then ends up doing TV themes
for the remainder
of the seventies.

[**]

- I loved that show
and I can still sing
the theme.

[singing]

I liked it!

[**]

[**]

- That series, right there.
I was very into the series.

Everybody was.
I mean, it was a hit.

Freddie Prince was that guy
that we all wanted to be.

He had the American friend
that owned the garage

and mentored him
and helped him.

There was so many Latinos
trying to make it
in this country,

trying to achieve
their American dream.

[**]

[crowd cheering]

[**]

- I got the call to write
the theme for Chico and the Man

in 73, and I had
to make it so that Chico

had patience with the man.

I wrote
the lyrics all by myself.

And I say that proudly.

Janna, my wife, Hilda,

forced me to give her

credit for the lyric, and she
wrote nothing of that lyric.

- He was just...

a very, very unhappy guy.

Jose was tormented at that time

with what was going on at home.

His relationship
was disintegrating.
It was sad.

I felt really sad for him.

She changed her name
during that time period.

Everything
was happening so fast.

It's not even Hilda anymore.
Now it's Janna.

- A lot of people were confused
by that, but the truth is,
Janna Feliciano

has the same initials
as Jose Feliciano.

And what that allowed her to do

was to sign contracts

and booking engagements,
all those things,
in Jose's name

without Jose
ever having to see them.

Jose's had
that sort of bad luck

with not only his first wife
also being his manager,

but many managers to follow.

The one thing that I would've
wished for Jose's career

was that it could've had
better management

because that would have changed
things throughout his career.

Jose: In some ways, it was sad.

You just can't leave everything
all of a sudden

and not feel bad.

I divorced her and I went
to live with Susan.

Even though I felt sad

about the Janna situation,

I think it was
the right move for me.

Susan treated me differently,

and that's all
I can say about that.

[**]

- And so we married
on our 11th anniversary
of having met.

August 2nd, 1971.
We met.

It was a Monday,
and we married on a Monday,

August 2nd, 1982.

Date 8/2/82.

And we married in our home.

It was lovely.
It was very, very, very nice.

Jose: In 1982,

I hadn't done a Latin album

in 13 years.

I recorded an album
entitled Escenas de Amor,

and that album became a hit.

It had songs

like "Para decir adiós,"
"Volveré alguna vez,"

and it became a big seller.

- He goes on to win
Latin Grammys, so in 82,

he comes out with this album
and there's a song he wins with
called "Me enamoré."

[**]

Thank you.
How are you feeling?

- I saw your show on the Motown
25th anniversary thing.

That was quite a gathering!

- Yes, it was.
I was very fortunate
to get on that show

because there's so many people
that they had
at that gathering,

so many great artists.

- I read once you always
wanted to be on Motown.

Now why would that be?
That's primarily a Black label.

- Well, because I felt that...

I don't know.
I felt that I could do

Black music, and I felt that

since I had that feeling

and that way

of expressing at least
my music, I felt that
that was the label for me.

I couldn't be
on a label where I had to sing,

[sings]
"I know you love me."

[laughs]
- You can do anything!

- When we finally got together

in preparing
for the Motown album,

it was like Christmas
all over again.

Let's Find Each Other Tonight
ended up on the Billboard
Country charts.

It was on a Black label,

by a Puerto Rican singer

and a white producer.

A very interesting combination,
to say the least.

We finished
Romance In The Night.

As a matter of fact,
I just happen to have a copy.

We were very proud
of this album.

And as you can see,

it's that iconic Motown label.

[**]

Jose: It goes like this.

[**]

- You've been to the celebrity
room before with other clients?

- I don't think so.
It's nice.

- Yeah, well.
It depends on the artist.

You know, Jose Feliciano.
You got no complaints.

- The Motown 25 Celebration

when Michael Jackson
premiered

what you would call,
his moonwalk dance.

And if you see
the footage today,

the riser behind him
with the big M,

Jose is sitting
on the other side of that.

And it rotated

as Michael finished his thing.

Jose then appeared

and he did "Lonely Teardrops."

But it wasn't in the special.

He was cut out of the special.

And Jose was devastated.

[**]

- I'd never met Berry Gordy,

but the opportunity arose
and we met.

We shook hands and Berry Gordy
said to me,

"That album that you produced is
better than the one
that I produced,

and I could not let it happen."

And I think I was just stunned
to the point of disbelief

that somebody
would want to kill it

because of ego.

But it hasn't been
the first time it's happened
in the music industry.

I've seen it many times.

- And it saddened me

that if Berry
had really pushed the album,

I could have done as well
as Stevie Wonder on Motown.

And this is not taking anything
away from Stevie's genius.

Stevie is Stevie, and I'm Jose.

But if I would have gotten
the same promotion

that Stevie Wonder
got on Motown,

I think that album
would have made it very well.

[**]

- Then he gets nominated again
in 85, 86, 89 and 90.

He gets nominated four times
and wins three of those.

He wins for "Lelolai,"
for "Cielito lindo,"

and he wins for "¿Por qué
te tengo que olvidar?".

So people kind of forget
that he had this huge
career in the eighties.

[**]

[**]

- I remember a number
of conversations that we had,

and one was about his children
that were not born yet.

Jose's concern was, "what if
my children are born blind?"

"I can just speak for myself",
I said, "but the greatest gift

that you could ever receive
would be to have children."

- I remember
when we were preparing

for the arrival
of our first child

and he was there most
of the appointments
and the sonogram.

The first one...
[imitates sonogram]

He said,
"Sounds like a girl to me."

And he was right.

- When I was little,
he used to read to me.

We had a bunch
of children's books in Braille,

and I remember he'd read
The Little Engine That Could

over and over and over
and over and over.

And he never was like,
"No, I'm done."

He'd always be like, "Okay."
And I'd be like, "Again!"

- When they were little,
they would dance

and Melissa
would help him find his chair
by tapping on the seat.

Mikey and Johnny would hide
from him, but Daddy
would always catch them.

- I never decided to play
the guitar and be like,

"Oh, I want to be just like Dad"
because there's no way in hell
that's going to happen.

[**]

- Okay, Johnny. Go ahead,
Johnny. Play it.

[**]

What a show off!

- He's ridiculous.

I'll look up videos
from when he was younger
and like...

Some of it is like pretty heavy.
It's still like when I watch it

I'll get goose bumps and stuff.
I'm like, "That's my dad."

[**]

- When I first met Jose,

Melissa was three.

It's cool
to watch the kids grow up.

The only thing
he didn't like about being blind

because he was born blind,
he doesn't know what side it is,

but the only thing
he didn't really like about it

was that he always had
to depend on people.

I would set up his room

for him so he could...

...maneuver.

I would set him up.
I would explain to him
the parameters of the room,

put the towel down on the floor
so he wouldn't slip,

get him all set.

- "There is no email
in this form", it says.

- And Jose was fine. On his own.

Independent. He would
call me like the next day.

"Jimmy, I'm all set.
Let's go."

And he would always feel better

because I was empowering him
to be independent.

Who wouldn't want to be?
And why shouldn't he be?

This is a guy who
travels the world blowing
people away with his music.

He should feel good
about himself.

He's is a good dude.

[**]

- Oh!
They didn't leave
the controls here.

I guess I'll have to go
to the other side.
No problem.

I wasn't blind yesterday
Okay.

[grunts]

[voices on the TV]

[**]

- I think,

for my brother and sister and I,

it's always been something
normal having a blind dad.

He's always been able to do
everything a normal dad has.

[**]

We loved watching movies,

The Three Stoogesall the time,

baseball games,
playing music together

that a lot of my friends,
they didn't get to do that
with their family

and have
that kind of connection.

[**]

- Play a solo there, Mike!

[**]

He's got the funk!

He's got the funk!

Got the funk!

- I remember playing
basketball, playing catch.

He would pitch to me
and my brother would be behind
and get the ball

running back to him,
or we would pitch to him

and tell him to swing,
so we all had that very normal

kind of playing outside,
father-son, childhood
kind of thing.

So it's never been

a real notice.

[**]

- There are times
when my wife will probably say,

"Oh, don't put that on."
But I must call it like it is.

I hate being blind itself

because it limits me
physically to what I can do.

I was angry at one time. I was.

And maybe, to a point,

I am today still.

But I just can't go around
all my life being angry.

[**]

- My dad is one of the hardest
working men that I know.

He's never missed his work.

He always
makes time for his fans

and always says hello
and always takes a photo.

It'll be 30 seconds
for us, but a lifetime
memory for somebody else.

- You're ready, right?

- I'm ready.

I have my pants on.

[laughs]

They tell me you play
a whole bunch of instruments.

- Yes, I'm 15 years old

and I play the cuatro,
guitar, accordion, piano.

- I used to be like that
when I was a child.

I used to play the guitar
at that time.

- Very different, but very the
same from any other kind
of family.

Just... my dad
has a whole other life

that he kind
of leaves at the door,

but every time
that we leave our house,

it'll come back.

[**]

[**]

I never felt
like we were backing

a superstar, which we were.

We felt like we were...

all locked in together.

And that was on the road
and off the road.

- Jose's drive to outdo
everybody and anybody was huge.

It might have been where he came
from and what he had to do

to be noticed.

I remember night after night
he would say,

"We're going to go out there
and kick some ass."

He would say that all the time!
I was like, "Wow! Okay."

He was always ready to like,
"Yeah, oh, yeah? Watch this."

- It was always camaraderie.
It was always that brotherhood.

There's no facade of stardom.

He's just a regular cat

who does
what he does and does it well.

- Yeah, you're going to Korea,
you're going to Greece,

you're going to India.
We're in India!

People like, "Jose!"
You know, like we're in India!

I think he just wants
everybody to have a good time.

I think that means a lot to him.
We just wanted

to play some tunes,
eat some food and have a drink,

and that's universal.

And he was very good
at presenting that to people.

Very, very.
He's just one of the best.

He just makes you feel like
you've gone on a journey
somewhere, and it was.

It was a journey!

- It's all these songs
and all these places.

It's funny because Jose knows.

He told me many times
that his guitar

is his passport to the world.

[**]

- Into the 90s, he's nominated
for three more Grammys

and he wins
another Grammy in 2008.

And then you've got
his Lifetime Achievement Award.

Every decade of Jose's life,

you can carve out either

a Grammy nomination
or a Grammy win

over the course of 50, 55 years.

ONE NIGHT ONLY
JOSE FELICIANO

- Bellas Artes is waiting
for you.

What can we expect
on that night?

- You can expect me, singing.

This year I'm turning 73.

- You look good!
- Yes.

- You have an audience
that knows all your songs.

- They will help me, then.

[**]

PUERTO RICO
MAY 12, 2018

[**]

[crowd cheering]

[**]

[**]

[**]

- We wanted to search for a way
in which the Smithsonian

could acknowledge and recognize
his contributions to
American history.

When he first publicly performed

his beautiful version
of "The Star-Spangled Banner,"

it was an incredibly
emotional experience

for Americans
throughout the country.

[**]

[cheering]

- When I was asked to donate

something to this museum,

it wasn't easy to say

goodbye to my girlfriend.

She'd been with me for 51 years.

[**]

[**]

[**]

- Now, next year will be
our 60th Anniversary for Motown.

Would you mind
saying "Happy Anniversary"?

- Sure, sure.

Hi, I'm Jose Feliciano.

Sometimes I call myself
the pale version
of Stevie Wonder.

[laughs]
But I am Jose Feliciano,

and I would like to help Motown

celebrate its 60th Anniversary.

[**]

- The national anthem
was the worst thing,

that's turned
into one of the greatest,

greatest things.
I mean, it's bizarre.

Life is crazy!

[**]

[**]

- We were in Dallas
in 2007.

I get to the hotel
and I'm taking the guitars out,

and these people
walk by the back,

They said, "What are you doing?"
I have a concert
with Jose Feliciano.

"Oh, yeah? Jose Feliciano, huh?

Would you tell him
I was at Tiger Stadium in 1968

and he should come
by such bar at the hotel

and buy me a drink when he does
because he disgraced
the anthem?"

He was really pissed off...

...40 years later!

The flip side of that
is dear friend Ernie Harwell.

Ernie had died
and we were playing

his memorial at the ballpark

and there was
a luncheon with the '68 Tigers,

and they had
a slightly different

opinion of Jose's anthem.

They loved it.

And they were losing
three games to one.

They came back
and won the last three games.

Jose, was their good luck charm.
They love him for it.
And that's nice.

Commentator: Here's William...

Detroit, the new
World Champions!

And look at Williams
picking up Lolich!

It's a happy bunch of Tigers!

They have beaten
the Cardinals 4 to 1,

and they have replaced them
as the Champions of Baseball!

And they made some comeback.
They were trailing
three games to one.

- And now we ask
all of you to remain standing

as we welcome
to the field an iconic figure

from the 1968 World Series.

Booked by Hall of Fame
announcer Ernie Harwell

to perform the national anthem
prior to game five,

his performance stands out
as one of the most
memorable anthems

in the history of sports.

He's now recognized
as helping pave the way
for future performers

to express their patriotism

with their own artistic flair.

Ladies and gentlemen, here
to perform our national anthem.

Please, welcome Jose Feliciano!

[crowd cheers]

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[crowd cheers]

- I love you, Detroit!

[cheering]

God bless America!

- For me, Jose will always be

a person who belongs in
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

He has the gift
of being multidimensional,

like Bob Marley or John Lennon,

totally with clarity like water.
You know, there's tequila,

whiskey, bourbon
and cerveza,you know.

And then there's water,
you know. Jose is water.

I never looked
at Jose like Latino,

or Puerto Rican...

To me, as an artist
he's an artist that transcends

all of those things.

- One of the biggest enigmas

is that Jose Feliciano has not

gotten nominated to the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

But if there's somebody

that's extremely deserving to be

nominated into
the Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame is Mr. Jose Feliciano

because he's paid his dues,
he's earned it.

- But I'd like to do for you
my favorite Beatles' song

because it reminds me
of all the things

that I have been through.

And I want to dedicate
the song to all of you

because you all
have been important in my life.

And so this is "In My Life,"

and I dedicate it to you.

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