By Les Rivera

The crowd was enormous. One could clearly feel the excitement in the air. Some females had a star stricken aura around them, as if “electrocuted” by their star about to go on stage.

A couple of guys try to sneak into the front of the line. Within a microsecond they are treated to a hefty dose of New York style bluntness by the waiting crowd. The cheaters quickly disappear out of the line (and wisely so). If you wanted in you’d better sacrifice with a long wait. The word was out, that Willie Colon was also going to be present that night, to support Hector.

The year was around 1975 in New York City. In just one hour, Hector Lavoe, the greatest singer I’d ever heard, was going to perform live in front of my very own eyes! Trying to recall, I believe this performance was another fine promoter legend Izzy Sanabria production. Sanabria provided the salsa world with some of the greatest events of the era!

Decades later, and minus my 1970’s era “big” hair and disco style clothing with platform shoes, I am located in Los Angeles, discussing what I consider to be “the greatest male salsa singer of all time”. With me is Liz Rivera. Liz was born and raised in the Bronx. Her 1960’s-‘70’s Bronx Nuyorican upbringing represents about as authentic of a New York Puerto Rican salsa authority as can be.

To Liz, Hector Lavoe wasn’t just her favorite singer. Her artist hero Hector Lavoe represents the greatest of Puerto Rican music… ever! Liz says “Hector Lavoe has left us, but he left us La Voz” (La Voz, meaning his voice). Her mind goes back to memories of a young Hector Lavoe and the bus trips (called “giras”) she used to take to upstate New York to see him perform live. She adds “that was shortly after Hector got together with Willie Colon”.

Liz also saw Lavoe repeatedly perform in her beloved South Bronx, at the popular Club 310 ½. “We could all relate so well to Hector. He popularized our native music, he sang about the toughness of the streets, the Nueva York barrio, and he sang about Puerto Rico” Liz says. When asking her which Lavoe song is her all-time favorite, her eyes light up enthusiastically… “Mi Gente!” she says… “apuntalo”! (period!), followed by her pleasant giggles.

Hector “El Cantante” “La Voz” Perez Lavoe was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, on September 30, 1946. As a child he developed a fascination to the Jibaro singers he listened to on the radio every day. Influenced by Jibaros, such as Chuito El De Bayamon and Daniel Santos he simply loved to sing along, imitating his early influences. Later on, singers such as Ismael Rivera and Ismael Quintana helped influence what was to shape Hector Lavoe into the megastar he was to become.

Coming from a family of musicians his father steered him towards a musical education. At the Juan Morell Campos School of Music Hector began learning to play the saxophone. The interest in the saxophone soon faded. His interest was singing, and he did not feel he‘d ever master the saxophone well. To the dismay of his father Lavoe dropped out of school at the age of 14, pursuing odd singing jobs for low pay around Puerto Rico.

The vision of stardom as a singer for a poor and troubled kid from Puerto Rico drove Hector to move to New York City. He felt he wasn’t going anywhere in Puerto Rico. Three years after dropping out of school, Lavoe arrived in New York on May 3, 1963, at the tender age of 17.

His father’s strong objections to his son going to New York made Lavoe obsessed with proving to his father that he would succeed there. Prior to leaving Puerto Rico, his father had threatened to disown his son if he left for what in his father’s mind was the very same crime ridden city where Hector’s brother had died from a drug overdose.

Upon his arrival in New York Hector was being cared for by his sister in the Bronx. His first job got him going in the direction he wanted. At $20 for three gigs, the word of mouth about this new singing talent began spreading.

Hector Lavoe and Willie Colon first met in 1967. Prior to that Hector had jobs with Orquesta New York and Kakao and his All-Stars, and with Johnny Pacheco. Fania Records’ Johnny Pacheco got Hector Lavoe and Willie Colon together in his first album “El Malo”. After the recording was complete, Willie Colon simply instructed Hector to show up for a gig he had at the El Tropicoro Club. The record was published, and “El Malo” became a big success! This, in turn, brought Hector Lavoe and Willie Colon to instant fame!

This marked the beginning of their well-known years of working together, bringing millions of worldwide fans to their feet.

Hector Lavoe suffered many unfortunate tragedies in his life. El Cantante’s complex personality was certainly influenced by these turbulent events of his life, beginning with the loss of his mother as a young child. Losing his brother to a drug overdose, having his Queens home destroyed by fire, experiencing the brutal murder of his mother-in-law, losing his 17 year old son in an accidental shooting only compounded to his list of devastations. Later on, Hector barely survived his jumping from a hotel window in Puerto Rico. Permanent pain and damage from that incident caused him added suffering in his later years.

Being obsessed with making his father proud of his accomplishments in New York added further pressure on Hector’s already turbulent life. After becoming famous Lavoe developed a serious drug problem. According to himself, Hector admitted he did not know how to deal with the success. The success simply came too overwhelmingly fast for him. The very success which fulfilled his artist dreams also marked the beginning of his tragic downfall as a human being. The drug problem led Lavoe to show up late, and not show up at all for his performances.

The drug abuse led Willie Colon to fire Hector Lavoe. However, Willie Colon immediately did everything he could to help Lavoe overcome his close friend’s problems. Colon’s efforts, however, were to little or no avail.

Hector Lavoe and Willie Colon split up in 1973. Colon wanted to explore his further potential as an artist. The events around their split led Hector to his further development into solo stardom. Lavoe’s first solo album was “La Voz” (“The Voice”), which success added another nickname to his already “El Cantante” (“The Singer”) nickname. With his own band and tours with the Fania All-Stars he soon achieved that world fame he’d always wanted. The top of his career had finally been reached! He was now loved by millions of fans around the globe.

Hector Lavoe was very fond of his frequently expressed term “Yo soy un Jibarito” (“I am a humble Puerto Rican peasant”), never losing sight of his simple upbringing. His singing included everything from salsa to merengue to baladas to native Puerto Rican Jibaro tunes.

The keys to his reaching superstardom as an artist were his crystal-clear voice, the greatest of lyrics improvisations, his witty and lovable personality, his handsome fan appeal, and his unstoppable Top Gun aggressive motivation to succeed. Often he told people that identity was the most important thing for him. He was on a mission to prove something not only to himself, but equally much, to his father! Hector Lavoe’s supreme talents were not an act. What we saw all came from his natural artistic genius. Hector was simply thriving by being his natural self on stage!

Reflecting on Liz’s favorite song “Mi Gente” I can’t help thinking of the song I heard that night back in 1975 or so, when I saw Hector Lavoe live for the first time. That night he performed the song that has always been the Hector Lavoe song closest to my own heart:

Canto a Borinquen
Borinquen te quiero porque en ti nací y en ti fue que vi, el resplandor primero. Yo te soy sincero una enardecida serás bendecida aunque en ti moriré pero yo te cantaré
desde la otra vida pero yo te cantaré Borinquen desde la otra vida.

Tierra hospitalaria esa es Borinquen. Tierra de mi Edén oye mis plegaria. Tierra necesaria ¡oh! garza dormida, mi canción se inspira no te ha de olvidar y yo te voy a cantar desde la otra vida, y yo te voy a cantar Borinquen desde la otra vida.

Al morirme un día yo no he de olvidarte y yo voy a cantarte toda mi alegría.
En mis agonías Borinquen querida, mi alma aturdida no te olvidará y yo te voy a cantar desde la otra vida, y te voy a cantar Borinquen desde la otra vida.

Hoy a dedicarte recuerdo te exijo, Borinquen soy tu hijo y no voy a olvidarte
por eso al dejarte mi alma entristecida no será perdida tierra tropical pero yo te he de cantar desde la otra vida, yo te he de cantar Puerto Rico desde la otra vida.

Lavoe died on June 29, 1993, in New York City. Great fortune made during his career had been wasted away. The cause of his death is still a mystery today. His funeral possession brought hundreds of thousands of people into the streets of New York City.

Hector Lavoe had told his fans not to cry for him after his death. The crowd literally took his words at heart. His funeral route was filled with people singing, drumming, dancing, applauding, and playing his recordings on boom boxes. A packed gravesite had fans present to give Hector their tribute and last respect, just they way he wanted to have it done. His ageless music, however, lives on for eternity. Liz Rivera’s reflections could not be more accurate: “Hector Lavoe has left us, but he left us La Voz”!