Bachata Roja - Acoustic Bachata From the Cabaret Era

The style of music known as Bachata is interesting because from everything I've read it seems that it was considered incredibly low class music until the late 1990's and 2000's.  It seems to be a central criticism of the music way more than other styles that were treated similarly like Cumbia or Rocksteady.  Bachata caught my attention for the first time through mainstream Latin radio stations in Houston that play the modern electric guitar version because I was impressed by the chorused out guitar sound and the incredibly skillful bongo work.  Also the vocalists tend to be extremely emotive.

The original name of the genre was amargue which translates to bitterness, or bitter music   Many bachata converts of the '90s and 2000s have had little, if any, exposure to old-school bachata, and this excellent compilation takes a look at what bachata sounded like before that commercialization occurred. Bachata Roja: Acoustic Bachata from the Cabaret Era opens with Rafael Encarnación's doo wop-flavored "Muero Contigo" from 1962 and closes with Juan Bautista's 1990 hit "Asesina," which uses an electric guitar (old-school bachata was totally acoustic) and has one foot in classic bachata and the other in modern bachata. Many of the tracks are from the '60s and '70s, and those who associate bachata with the commercial hits of Aventura or Monchy & Alexandra will be surprised to hear how much rawer bachata sounded in the hands of old-school bachateros like Felix Quintana, Augusto Santos, Julio Angel, and the late Marino Pérez (who sadly, drank himself to death). Bachata Roja is enthusiastically recommended to anyone who wants to hear what bachata sound like before it became so commercialized.

http://www.mediafire.com/?zhya0ue12r8s2ib