Acid

Released in the cataclysmic year of 1968, Acid not only reaffirmed Ray Barretto’s dominance in the field of Latin music; it showed that Latin music could express social harmony and creative freedom as powerfully as anything in rock or jazz. While the music resounds with traditional Puerto Rican rhythms, it reaches across boundaries to inject new energy into the old ways. Though it's classified as Latin, this is soul music all the way. The propulsion of “El Nuevo Barretto” would make Sly Stone envious, while the hard-hitting sweat-fest “Mercy Mercy Baby” proves that Barretto put no less into his performances than James Brown himself. “Espiritu Libre” is a swirling exorcism that takes its place alongside epics that John Coltrane and Jimi Hendrix released during the same era. But ultimately, this album is defined by its immortal title track. Its opening bass riff—played by Bobby “Big Daddy” Rodriguez—is one the heaviest instrumental figures ever recorded. In its way, “Acid” is as fundamental and ferocious as anything Black Sabbath could have devised.