Ruben Blades’ “Mucho Mejor” Re-released by Fania
“Mucho Mejor” was one of 3 studio albums Ruben Blades recorded to fulfill and exit his contract with Fania records. The 1984 recording was recently re-released in digital format.
Ruben Blades last albums with Fania were “Canciones del Solar de los Aburridos” (1981) and “The Last Fight” (1982), the soundtrack for the movie of the same name, which gave him his 1st acting gig, a skill he would polish in other movies to follow.
It was in “Canciones del Solar de los Aburridos” were Ruben gave notice of his intent to leave the Fania label, when in the song “Madame Kalalu” he sings “como me quito a la ‘um-um’ de encima“. The “um-um‘ was meat as the blank two-syllables for “Fania“, which he would openly say when performing the song live. Of course, at the end of the song, Ruben Blades continues his “tiradera” to Fania when his “Madame Kalalu” character says at the end of the song…
“..yo veo un barco que se esta hundiendo, ah..
..y el capitan es el flaco mulato ese, que no sabe nadar..
..to’el mundo en ese barco esta corriendo pa’ to’ laos..
..si, porque parece que no saben nadar, eh…”
Ruben Blades’ “Mucho Mejor” and Trilogy
So to get rid of Fania, and sign with Elektra Records, he recorded 3 more albums he owned Fania. All three albums sound alike, and probably were all recorded at the same time with the regular Fania studio musicians:
“El Que la Hace la Paga” (again, a title that still shows his disgust with Fania) was the 1st one released in 1983. The song “Cabeza de Hacha” (of Colombian Noel Petro) is about a broken love relationship, which serves very well as a metaphor for his relationship with Fania.
“Mucho Mejor” (with another title of “tiradera” to Fania) released in 1984 was the 2nd album. The song that gave title to the album, has the very same relationship “tiradera” metaphor as “Cabeza de Hacha“. His first “soneo” in the song says “..estoy en la fila, que esta cobrando“. In those days, Fania was notorios for having unpaid and underpaid royalties to artists, which caused many artists to leave the label.
“Doble Filo” was the 3rd and last album of Ruben Blades with Fania, and included the “tiradera” song “No Hay Chance” he had given to Ismael Miranda and Larry Harlow for their reunion album “Con Mi Viejo Amigo” (1976).
If you are a Ruben Blades fan, this is a chance to get these albums which went almost unnoticed as Ruben had already formed his band “Seis del Solar” and had no interest in promoting them.
You can also read my blog where Ruben Blades provides his explanation for releasing the “Mucho Mejor” trilogy of Salsa albums to get rid of Fania HERE.
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What a fantastic note you wrote, Hector Aviles. Loved the insight about the tiraderas against Fania. I found a note Ruben wrote in his blog, now deleted but still in Maestravida.com. it corrects the things you say about the titles. I paste it below. Best regards,
Augusto Wong, Lima
Explico lo de “Mucho Mejor”.
Antes de aceptar el fin contractual de mi relación con Fania, esa compañía me exigió que le entregase tres discos. Alegaban que como yo tenía un contrato como solista con ellos, por haber grabado con Willie Colón había incumplido con mi obligación de entregarles un disco por año, durante el período de vigencia de mi contrato con Fania. Para dar por terminada mi asociación con Fania tenía entonces que entregarles tres discos. Por eso, un año antes de salir, me reuní con varios arreglistas de New York y comisioné tres discos, uno de los cuales terminó siendo titulado arbitrariamente por la Fania, “Mucho Mejor”. En realidad, lo que hice fue regrabar temas míos, que habían sido grabados por otros, o grabar temas originales de otros compositores. Dada la pésima calidad de nuestra relación con Fania, no iba a entregarle a esa compañía temas originales, para no tener más que ver con ella. Aún así, hicieron lo que les dió la gana con lo que entregué.
A pesar de haber utilizado en las tres grabaciones solo vibráfono y sax, la Fania borró esos instrumentos y regrabó todo el material sustituyéndolos por trombones; adicionalmente, destruyeron las secuencias originales de los tres álbumes, cambiaron los títulos que había presentado para cada álbum, eliminaron el crédito que había otorgado a los músicos, compositores y arreglistas de los tres discos, TODO sin mi autorización. Ni me consultaron. En breve; desbarataron mi trabajo, mezclando incluso las canciones, intercambiándolas de un álbum a otro, sin ton ni son, sin entender ni respetar el concepto que animó a cada una de las tres producciones.
Me quedó solo el consuelo de que al final cumplí con mi supuesta obligación contractual y pude por fin salir de la Fania.
Recuerdo la cara de Masucci y de Víctor Gallo cuando entré a sus oficinas y les entregué, de una vez y en compañia de mi abogado, los tres álbumes que demandaban, con el arte, secuencia, créditos, todos listos. Uno de esos discos fue “Mucho Mejor”. Eso fue lo que ocurrió y esa es su génesis.
June 8, 2009 | Foro rubenblades.com Rubén Blades
Thanks Arturo. I actually included most of the quotes you included here in a follow-up blog about the trilogy. But thanks anyways.
Saludos!