Fania Records

Frustrated by the meager amount of money he was receiving for his recordings, Pacheco started Fania in 1964 and sold records to music stores out of the trunk of his car.[2] To help finance the business, he partnered with Brooklyn-born lawyer and promoter Jerry Masucci, and in 1964 they founded the Fania label to produce, promote and market the music of Latinos in New York.[2] The label started out as a small venture, but gained popularity after the success of its first official record, Pacheco's "Cañonazo", leading to the expansion of its talent base.[3] Among Fania's signature stars are: Willie Colon, Celia Cruz, Eric Gale, Larry Harlow, Ray Barretto, Ralfi Pagan, Luis "Perico" Ortiz, Bobby Valentín, Rubén Blades, Héctor Lavoe, Cheo Feliciano, Adalberto Santiago, Ismael Miranda and many others.[4]

In 1968, Pacheco created a supergroup known as the Fania All-Stars that brought together the elite of Salsa musicians and singers for joint performances and recording. The Fania All-Stars were Fania's best selling band, outlasting the label itself.[5] They made their debut at the Red Garter club located in New York's Greenwich Village, but it was their 1971 performance at the Cheetah, a club in Midtown Manhattan, which became legendary.[2] Larry Harlow was chosen by Jerry Masucci to produce the band's records while Pacheco acted as director on stage. The Fania All-Stars were filmed for the documentary Our Latin Thing released a year later.[6]

In 1973, Fania All-Stars performed at Yankee Stadium to a stadium with 45,000 attendees. Pacheco directed the band to an excited crowd who cheered on each Fania All-Star member. [2]

As of 2007 all that is left is "Larry Harlow and the Latin Legends of Fania". In 2003, the 1975 Fania release Live at Yankee Stadium was included in the second set of 50 recordings preserved in the United States National Recording Registry.[7] Masucci, who’d bought out Pacheco’s share of the company around 1967, became the sole owner of Fania Records and the numerous other labels and umbrella labels in South America that he acquired and created.[8] Masucci died in 1997, and for the next eight years Fania and all of its assets were tied up in probate court while various parties battled over its ownership. [8]

In September 2005, Fania's assets were sold to V2 Records and Miami-based label Emusica, and by early 2006, the new owners began to reissue material from Fania's backlog catalog (some of which has never appeared on CD before) with enhanced sound and liner notes.[9] In an effort to create additional content, Código Records, a subsidiary of the Emusica label, allowed DJs and producers to remix original material.[10]

As of July 27, 2018, Fania is owned by Concord, which acquired the label from Codigo Entertainment. Fania's catalogue included 19,000 master recordings and 8,000 compositions.[11]

• Fania Records – official site
• Fania Records discography at Discogs
• Fania Records at SoundCloud