Subway Joe
Joe Bataan Lyrics
(oh is this the right car?
Boss street is coming up next.
113rd!!)
Well I took the subway downtown one day just to find me some Chinese food, and as I sat down and looked up- what did I see- there was this little girl, sure lookin good.
She said "
Mr.
wont ya get up and let me sit down, can't ya see I've been workin all day.
My back is achin and my feet are beat and I'm afraid I'm gonna need yo seat".
I said "
Listen little sister yo sure are fine but why'nt you stop tryin to eat up ma mind"...
Listen to yo Daddy, dont mess with me" eh eh
(well I wasnt goin to 112th street)...
Well the train started movin swiftly down the track as I was findin the grooves that she made on ma back.
and as I reached down to pick up my hat from the floor, I started looking at my brand new suit she had tore I said "
Listen wont you get up and let me sit down, I'm gettin tired of foolin around.
My back is achin and my back feels whaked and I'm afraid I'm gonna hafta take ma seat back".
She said "
Listen little boy you sure look tough but I'm afraid I'm gonna hafta call your bluff and then she struck me on the head, left me on ma knees, she said "
Listen to yo Daddy, dont mess with me" eh eh eh
Subway hey hey hey Subway hey hey hey Subway hey hey hey
Contributed by Carson V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
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No recording artist has more impeccable street credentials than Joe Bataan, the originator of the New York Latin Soul style that paralleled Latin boogaloo and anticipated disco. His musical experience began with street corner doo-wop in the 1950s, and came to include one of the first rap records to hit the charts, 1979's "Rap-O, Clap-O". In between these milestones, he recorded classic albums like St. Latin's Day Massacre, a perennial favorite in the salsa market Read Full BioNo recording artist has more impeccable street credentials than Joe Bataan, the originator of the New York Latin Soul style that paralleled Latin boogaloo and anticipated disco. His musical experience began with street corner doo-wop in the 1950s, and came to include one of the first rap records to hit the charts, 1979's "Rap-O, Clap-O". In between these milestones, he recorded classic albums like St. Latin's Day Massacre, a perennial favorite in the salsa market, Salsoul, which gave the record label its name and helped spark the national explosion of urban dance music, and Afrofilipino, which included one of the very earliest New York disco hits, an instrumental version of Gil Scott Heron's "The Bottle".
Born Peter Nitollano, of African-American/Filipino parents, Joe Bataan grew up in Spanish Harlem, where he ran with Puerto Rican gangs and absorbed R&B, Afro-Cuban and Afro-Rican musical influences. His music career followed a pair of stints in Coxsackie State Prison. Self taught on the piano, he organized his first band in 1965 and scored his first recording success in 1967 with "Gypsy Woman" on Fania Records, . The tune was a hit with the New York Latin market despite the English lyrics sung by Joe, and exemplified the nascent Latin Soul sound. In early anticipation of the disco formula, "Gypsy Woman" created dance energy by alternating what was fundamentally a pop-soul tune with a break featuring double timed hand claps, . Joe would take this tendency even further on his influential Salsoul, which fused funk and latin influences in slick yet soulful orchestrations. Salsoul remains influential as a rare groove cult item, but pointed to the future at the time of its release. The LP embodied the artist's highly deliberate and culturally aware musical concept. Bataan theorized the '70s next big thing as a hybrid: an Afro Cuban rhythm section playing Brazilian influenced patterns over orchestral funk. In many ways, his vision was on the money, though most of the money would go to others, and mainstream stardom would elude him. He did, however, get in on the ground floor of the new trend as an early hit maker. His biggest commercial move was a Salsoul production released under the Epic umbrella, and promoted to the new disco market as Afrofilipino, which included 1975's "The Bottle", a much anthologized classic that drives an R&B horn arrangment with a relentless piano montuno.
Always in touch with the street, Joe Bataan picked up on rap very early in the game. His minor rap hit, "Rap-O, Clap-O" was a bit more successful in Europe than in the States, and is remembered as rap's debut in the European market. Nevertheless, his legacy remains his gritty and realistic Latin soul lyrics, his self identification as an "Ordinary Guy", and his highly personal and prophetic merger of Latin and soul influences.
Born Peter Nitollano, of African-American/Filipino parents, Joe Bataan grew up in Spanish Harlem, where he ran with Puerto Rican gangs and absorbed R&B, Afro-Cuban and Afro-Rican musical influences. His music career followed a pair of stints in Coxsackie State Prison. Self taught on the piano, he organized his first band in 1965 and scored his first recording success in 1967 with "Gypsy Woman" on Fania Records, . The tune was a hit with the New York Latin market despite the English lyrics sung by Joe, and exemplified the nascent Latin Soul sound. In early anticipation of the disco formula, "Gypsy Woman" created dance energy by alternating what was fundamentally a pop-soul tune with a break featuring double timed hand claps, . Joe would take this tendency even further on his influential Salsoul, which fused funk and latin influences in slick yet soulful orchestrations. Salsoul remains influential as a rare groove cult item, but pointed to the future at the time of its release. The LP embodied the artist's highly deliberate and culturally aware musical concept. Bataan theorized the '70s next big thing as a hybrid: an Afro Cuban rhythm section playing Brazilian influenced patterns over orchestral funk. In many ways, his vision was on the money, though most of the money would go to others, and mainstream stardom would elude him. He did, however, get in on the ground floor of the new trend as an early hit maker. His biggest commercial move was a Salsoul production released under the Epic umbrella, and promoted to the new disco market as Afrofilipino, which included 1975's "The Bottle", a much anthologized classic that drives an R&B horn arrangment with a relentless piano montuno.
Always in touch with the street, Joe Bataan picked up on rap very early in the game. His minor rap hit, "Rap-O, Clap-O" was a bit more successful in Europe than in the States, and is remembered as rap's debut in the European market. Nevertheless, his legacy remains his gritty and realistic Latin soul lyrics, his self identification as an "Ordinary Guy", and his highly personal and prophetic merger of Latin and soul influences.
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Victor Montanez
Played with Joe for 5 years. Epic band
alex hohendahl
de verdad vitor? real deal
Gringo Currambero
@sergio Ramos that's right brotha!
sergio Ramos
vacano brother es muy querido en colombia
RhythmAndSoul59
I've never heard this one before and I think my head just exploded. Cuban exile or not this song is awesome!!!!!!!!! Thanks for posting!
roberto jaramillo
esta cancion sirvió para inspirar la versión definitiva de Sympathy for The Devil, de The Rolling Stones, nos Stones con Brian Jones colgado de sustancias psicotrópicas y Jagger golpeando un 'djembé' sin encontrar el sitio. Finalmente descubrieron el modo de rematar la faena y aparecieron un tumbao y un coro ('uuh, uuh') que ya estaban presentes en la composición de Bataan.
F. Javier
He IS NOT, and NEVER WAS, a CUBAN EXILE. He was born in Spanish Harlem to a FILIPINO father and an AFRICAN-AMERICAN mother.
Sasho Radoulov
Were people actually saying that?
A. Alberts
Nearly all of the NYC Salsa/Bugalu inventors were actually Puerto Rican. Not all, but Most. But if you look at Wiki, again, they call it Cuban
A. Alberts
He's as Cuban as Ray Barretto -- NOT AT ALL LOL. People think if they're great and Latino must be Cuban