“Hitchcock Railway” – the A-side of a 1968 RCA single by José Feliciano released here and abroad – made the Top 100 here in the US (#77) and Top 40 in Australia (#20):
Musical Personnel
José Feliciano – vocals & guitar
Ray Brown – string bass
Jim Gordon – drums
Jim Horn – flute improvisations & recorder
Mike Melvoin – organ & horn arrangements
Milt Holland – percussion (elsewhere on album)
Arranged by Al Capps
Produced by Rick Jarrard
“Hitchcock Railway” kicks off side two of 1968’s, Souled, an album that hit #24 on the pop album chart, as well as #4 R&B, and #5 on Canada’s albums chart. and #6 in Australia. “Hitchcock Railway” would also be covered by Joe Cocker for his 1969 debut album.
Record World‘s ‘Latin American’ beat reports in the September 28, 1968 issue —
RCA Records is rushing into release a new single, “Hitchcock Railway” by José Feliciano, in the midst of a wave of success both as a record artist and as an in-person performer. Feliciano is riding high on the popular, rhythm and blues, country and western, and jazz charts with both his album Feliciano! and single, ‘Light My Fire‘.
On Sept. 26 through Oct. 13 he will be headlining at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas and soon after begins taping the first Bob Hope-Bing Crosby “road” television special. Feliciano’s activities will also take him into the motion picture field, when he sings on the new Quincy Jones soundtrack for the Columbia film, McKenna’s Gold. This year Feliciano will be featured on his own Spanish language television program which will be syndicated to Latin-American stations throughout the United States.
Feliciano’s success with his Latin American recordings for RCA in the United States is an established pattern and he is currently on the Latin-American best-selling charts with his single “La Copa Rota.”
Feliciano, blind since birth, was born in Puerto Rico but was brought to New York City when he was very young. “Hitchcock Railway” was recorded in RCA’s Coast studios and produced by Rick Jarrard, RCA’s Pop A&R West Coast Producer.
As with Porter Wagoner, RCA would go on to release multiple albums per year by José Feliciano during the peak of his popularity.
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Staggering Output: An RCA Thing
Year # of albums
1965 1
1966 2
1967 3
1968 3
1969 4
1970 2
1971 4
1972 3
1973 2
1974 2
1975 1
