Jelly Jazz | The best of Ray Camacho & The Teardrops

The Best of
Ray Camacho & The Teardrops
Chicano Salsa, funk, Cumbia & Soul 1968-71
Compiled by Pete Isaac (Jelly Jazz)
Freestyle Records.

Buy now on CD

Freestyle Records is immensely proud to announce the release of The Best Of Ray Camacho & The Teardrops: Chicano Salsa, Funk, Cumbia & Soul 1968 to 1971.

Compiled by DJ Pete Isaac from legendary UK club night Jelly Jazz, after Pete discovered and fell under the spell of Ray´s music on original vinyl during a trip to New York in the late 90´s. Pete then tracked down the man himself in California and so begun the long process of bringing Ray´s music to the attention a new generation of dancers, DJ´s and collectors.

Trumpeter Ray Camacho first formed his band in 1960, and like many jobbing Chicano musicians spent nearly a decade paying his dues by playing thousands of concerts (including gigs under enemy fire in Vietnam for the USO organisation) before finding legitimate success as a recording artist and recording well over 30 albums for a variety of labels including Discos Falcon, CBS and California Records.

The music itself is diverse as it is timeless, ranging from straight ahead salsa, latin rock, traditional cumbia, soul and latin funk but all featuring the unstoppable dance floor force that has made Ray´s sounds indispensable for previous hip releases such as Ubiquity Records ´Bay Area Funk´ compilation.

Ray Camacho is as individual a character as his music, we are pretty certain that there has never been an artist on Freestyle previously who is married to a former beauty queen (Miss Tuscon), and has played for US presidents like Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon or who has supported artists such as Santana, Tower of Power, Dick Clark, Chicago and even The Carpenters!

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'this unprecedented Camacho collection will no doubt thrill the hard jazz heads, collectors and disc jocks, but make no mistake: the main target for this Latin Funk bombshell is the dancefloor. Brooklyn tested and approved by yours truly and a roomful of rumberos!'
Monk One (Wax Poetics Magazine) USA

'it's a killer!'
Dean Rudland (BGP)

'excellently compiled and thoroughly enjoyable, thanks pete!'
Quantic (Tru Thoughts) Colombia

'great compilation from Pete 'Jelly Jazz'... jazz heads, funk freaks and latin lovers are going to find something satisfying here'
Played on Triple J Radio Australia, Russ Dewbury (Jazz Rooms Sydney) Australia

'an excellent latin funk bomb!'
John Armstrong (Viva Latino! BBC Radio 2) UK

'Top notch latin funk, plus the bonus of a killer version of Brass Construction's "Moving On".
A dance floor destroyer!!'
Dom Servini (Wah Wah 45s) UK

'the Ray Camacho compilation is absolutamente fantastico! These amazing chicano funk'n'boogaloo sabroso tunes fix perfectly in my dj sets. Sonido super campeon'
DJ Makala (Lovemonk Records) Spain

Check out sample from the whole LP...

'Si Si Puede'

'Let's Boogie'

'Chevere'

'Saigon Taxi'

'It's Time For Me To Love You'

'She's So Good To Me'

'Tough Talk'

'Tus Modos'

'Cumbia Rica'

'Cumbia Para Ustedes'

'Cumbia Del Sol'

'Dulce Y Amarga'

'Caballo Negro'

'Mama Guela'

'Tomas Al Timbal'

'Wade In The Water'

...And the 45rpm singles!

Let's Boogie 45

'Let's Boogie'

Ray Camacho 45

'Si Si Puede' Lack Of Afro Remix