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The history of gang life, in New York City and elsewhere, isn't a new tale. Looking back to the earliest days of the island's [Anglo] founding - glorified Hollywood-style in "Gangs of New York" through popular fables like "The Warriors" - the Cliff's Notes say: banding together in social groups has always been a necessity linked to urban living and survival in America.
In the tumultuous 1960s, gang life in New York's five boroughs took a different course, with young Latinos and African-Americans gaining power and respect (or at least reverence born out of fear) through these social unions. But, as any sociologist worth their salt will tell you, gangs are not usually formed to tear down society. They are, at their essence, born from a need for individual survival and as quasi-familial environments.
As the '60s drew to a close in New York, many gang leaders in the Bronx saw the writing on the wall - self-destructive and selfish actions within ranks exacerbated by aggressive police infiltration and harassment would clearly bring about the implosion of even the most powerful clans if they did not start using power in different ways. While some struggled to keep up, other capos were already there - enter Benjamin "Yellow Benjy" Melendez of the Ghetto Brothers.
The South Bronx's Ghetto Brothers, originally literally formed from the Melendez family unit (Benjy, Robert and Victor) - who came to New York in the 1950s from Puerto Rico - were always a bit different. They had their share of incidents with violence and crime, but Benjy also pushed his crew into uplift-the-community territory.
As noted by respected author and journalist Jeff "Chairman" Mao in the reissue's extensive liner notes, "By mid-1971, Benjy's social conscience and interest in Puerto Rican nationalism dovetailed with the rise of young urban activist groups like the Black Panthers, the Young Lords, and the Puerto Rican Socialist Party. Catching the revolutionary spirit in the air, the Ghetto Brothers eradicated junkies and pushers from their neighborhood, cleaned parks and garbage-strewn empty lots, and participated in clothing drives and breakfast programs."
As the Ghetto Brothers gathered daily in their clubhouse on East 162nd Street in the early '70s, they brought another aspect to their legacy: musicianship. Influenced as much by the Beatles - Benjy, Robert and Victor were in a neighborhood tribute group in the mid-'60s called Los Junior Beatles - and Doo Wop harmonies as by Santana and Tito Puente, they quickly cooked up a potent, NYC-flavored musical stew. It was a melting pot of styles gobbled up by a growing fanbase, who heard them on the street or, on occasion, traveled across gang lines to check the scene.
After jamming and building up enough tunes, the GBs garnered the attention of local record store and record label owner Ismael Maisonave (Mary Lou Records / Salsa Records). After agreeing to his invitation to put their music on tape, the group rehearsed furiously and gathered material. In the summer of 1972, they were ready.
The album's eight tracks were recorded in one day at Manhattan's Fine Tone Studios on 42nd Street, produced and engineered by Latin studio maven Bobby Marin. Seven of the eight are originals written by Benjy and/or Victor Melendez. Arrangements were written on the spot. The result: a beautiful, absolutely innocent audio snapshot by three brothers, their friends and a powerful gang of musical energy.
Jeff Mao gives this overview of the album in the liners: "Recorded 'on a warm day' in a single studio session, and released - to the best of the surviving band members' recollections - in 1972, it's the lone official album from a legendary South Bronx street gang-turned-activist-community-organization. Given this information, one might expect the GB band's oeuvre to be that of socially-conscious protest songs. But Power-Fuerza isn't nearly so easily categorized. Stylistically, it's a confluence of both driving and gentle sounds and sensibilities. It's the product of teenaged Puerto Rican New Yorkers weaned on '60s pop-song romance and lovely Beatles harmonies experimenting with traditional Latin and heavy Latin-rock rhythms, proudly declaring their nationalist allegiance while creating their own distinctly Nuyorican inner city blues. At its root it's a celebration of life - an inspired, emotionally unguarded cache of tracks cut by the band as though turning the tide of devastation of their crumbling South Bronx surroundings could be achieved through the exuberance of their performances."
The record, released on Maisonave's Salsa label in 1972, was a local hit, but to the disappointment of the group it never caught fire with listeners nationwide, thanks to lackluster promotion. A mint LP to this day fetches well into triple-digits on Ebay and the album is so hard-to-find that most group members do not even own their own copy.
The original unit featured on Power - Fuerza stopped performing together in the mid-'70s, as different members banded into musical outfits including Nebulus and Street the Beat. But an energized incarnation of the Ghetto Brothers remains a steady-gigging unit to this day: a four-decade legacy still standing - and sounding - strong. And still a family affair: the current lineup features Benjy and Robert Melendez (brother Victor passed away in 1995) as well as Benjy's son Joshua on bass and Robert's son Hiram on drums.
As guitarist Robert Melendez says in the liner notes, regarding their dual lives on the streets and on-stage: "Once we started playing music, [people] didn't see the colors. They were just there to feel the vibe. To hear what you were saying... your voice and your guitar. It was only when you stopped the music that everything came back."
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