Nat King Cole's first foray into singing in Spanish, Cole Espańol, was successful enough to lead to this follow-up, on which a slightly different approach was taken. For Cole Espańol, Capitol Records imported instrumental tracks recorded in Cuba and had Cole sing over them, having learned the lyrics phonetically. A Mis Amigos, however, was recorded in Rio de Janeiro during Cole's South American tour of 1959, with Brazilian musicians in the studio alongside the singer. That, the benefit of experience, and the reception his concerts were receiving may have helped improve his performances. He still didn't have much feeling for Spanish (or, in three instances, Portuguese), but some of the material was more familiar to him, notably "Aquellos Ojos Verdes," better known in the U.S. as the Jimmy Dorsey hit "Green Eyes," and "Fantastico," a specially written number brought in by American songwriters Jack Keller and Noel Sherman.
I consider Nat King Cole part of my family. I am no relative of him, its just that my granpa, 30 years ago, played those wonderful acrilic long plays on his turntable... Capullito de Aleli makes me remember the atmosphere, the texture, even the taste and smell of the grannies' house back then. Time travel to wonderful days at its best!
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 "A Mis Amigos")
