Dig Deep: Ray Camacho Group – Salsa Chicana – California/Luna (1971?)

Ray Camacho Group – Si Se Puede
Ray Camacho Group – Damelo
Ray Camacho Group – Let’s Boogie

We’re on our way to the Bay Area to celebrate our anniversary, so just a quick post before I’m out for most of the next week. Everything I know about this group I learned from this interview. The Ray Camacho Group recorded a bunch of records in the late 60s and 70s, some are extremely sought after, others are not. This record, which I believe is from 1971, just based off of the sound of it, is one of the more sought after ones.

I first heard this one at Records LA, the owner Scott was listening to “Damelo,” this really hard mid-tempo latin-funk track in Spanish and I was immediately intrigued. He’d just bought a bunch of latin records off of a guy and was processing the new batch of goodies. Just sheer luck that I walked in when I did, because I can’t imagine this one lasting very long on the floor. I asked to preview the rest of the tracks and while most of the record is filled with rancheras that don’t particularly move me, there were three (including “Damelo” mentioned above) seriously dope latin-funk tracks. My favorite of the bunch, “Si Se Puede,” sounds like some kind of lost B-Boy classic and it has been featured on the Bay Area Funk 2 compilation by Luv’n’Haight. The last of the three, “Let’s Boogie,” is the most upbeat of the bunch, light hearted with a bit of goofing about from the band members vocally, but it’s all business in terms of rhythm. “Boogie” has been repressed by a UK label. All three are exceptional slices of latin-funk. Sometimes you literally just walk into great records…

Cheers,

Michael