Soon the world of popular music cocked an ear. Perez Prado started climbing like
the ripping trumpets in his orchestra, and he's been soaring ever since.

Originally he played with the Orquesta Casino de la Playa in Havana, and later
scored his initial success as leader of his own band in Mexico City in 1948. What
followed was international acclaim, virtually fanatical popularity in Latin America,
and finally the jackpot in the U. S. His Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White was his
first million-seller, and it remains a pop classic today. The million-selling Patricia was
America's favorite through the summer of 1958. In between, there has been a
steady stream of big records, each crisp and crackling with what has come to be
identified as Prado's style... and many bearing the shouted "Ugh!", which has
become his trademark.

In this collection, "The Latin Goes American"... with no sacrifice of the essentials
that have made him one of the greats of popular music. Such American standards
as Paper Doll, Isle of Capri, Manhattan and Carolina in the Morning are still American,
but in their trappings here the sympathies are decidedly Latin. Mostly, the beat here
is not quite the mambo (Prado, by the way, was crowned King of the Mambo -
inevitably - at the height of that dance's popularity), and neither is it the cha-cha.
Here the rhythm is definitely Latin American, but with a touch of what today's hip set
would term "the right beat."

And there's another added attraction - the electric organ. For this album, both the
Conn and Hammond organs were used. Conn can be heard on Ida, Sweet As Apple
Cider; Hammond on Heigh-Ho, Yes Sir, That's My Baby and Taking a Chance on
Love; and both are heard on Carolina in the Morning, You're Driving Me Crazy!,
Paper Doll and If You Knew Susie.

In addition to the organ, the instrumentation also includes Prado's piano, bass,
percussion, two drummers, one trombonist, four reeds and five superb trumpets. The
master's hand has not lost its touch. The stunning brass cascades that make the
hackles rise are here, along with that concise, but pulsing, Latin beat that throbs
with almost hypnotic intensity.