In a 1969 interview, he also mentioned soul music in general, and Ray Charles in particular, as influences on his singing.Īt 17 he quit school to play in clubs. He later had classical lessons with Harold Morris, who had been a student of Segovia. Andrés Segovia and Wes Montgomery were among his favorites. He would play his guitar by himself in his room for up to 14 hours a day, and would listen to 1950s rock'n'roll, records of classical guitarists, and jazz players. He started his musical life playing the accordion until his father gave him his first guitar in a brown paper bag. When he was 5, his family moved to Spanish Harlem, New York City, and at 9 he played the Teatro Puerto Rico in The Bronx. Left permanently blind at birth as a result of congenital glaucoma, he was first exposed to music at age 3 he would play on a tin cracker can while accompanying his uncle, who played the cuatro. José Montserrate Feliciano García (born September 10, 1945), better known simply as José Feliciano, is a Puerto Rican (American) virtuoso guitarist, singer and composer known for many international hits, including his rendition of the Doors' 'Light My Fire' and the best-selling Christmas single 'Feliz Navidad'.įeliciano was born in Lares, Puerto Rico, on September 10, 1945. Top 100 Greatest Hip-hop/Rap Singles Of All Time.
