This release presents the complete original Mongo Santamaría LP Watermelon Man! (Battle BS-96120), the 12-inch album that came after the enormous success of the single containing the title tune backed with “Don’t Bother Me No More”. Ramón “Mongo” Santamaría Rodríguez (“Mongo” is Cuban slang for Ramón) was born on April 7, 1917 in Havana, Cuba. (He died on February 1, 2003 in Miami, Florida). He is best known for being the composer of the jazz standard “Afro Blue”, recorded by John Coltrane among others. In 1950 he moved to New York where he became an integral figure in the fusion of Afro- Cuban rhythms with R&B and soul, paving the way for the boogaloo era of the late 1960s. Santamaría was one of a handful of Cuban congueros (‘conga players’) who came to the United States in the 1940s and ‘50s.

THE COMPLETE LP + 1 Bonus Track. 180-GRAM VIRGIN VINYL - LIMITED EDITION