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- Artist: Tito Puente
- Rating:
- Release Date: August 16, 2005
- Type: Compilation (best of)
- Genre: Latin
Review
An essential collection for most artists would consist of 12 or perhaps even 20 songs. For the man described as "El Rey," however, a man who recorded over 100 LPs during a career that touched seven decades, the parameters need to be widened significantly. And so comes this two-disc, 40-track collection from RCA/Legacy, focusing on Puente's prime of the mid-'50s but dipping into 1949 material to survey the beginning of his career and also selecting a lone track from the '60s -- "Oye Como Va," his most familiar performance (thanks, in part, to Santana's hit cover). Aside from the breathtaking pair of Complete RCA Recordings boxes, The Essential Tito Puente is the best place to acquire a raft of Puente's best and most famous recordings -- "Ran Kan Kan," "Picadillo," "Cao Cao Mani Picao," "Pa' los Rumberos," "Hong Kong Mambo" (actually an alternate take), "Dance Mania," and "Ti Mon Bo." ~ John Bush, All Music GuideTracks
CD 1
| Track Title | Composers | Performers | Time |
| Ran Kan Kan (Lyrics) | Tito Puente | (2:59) | |
| Swinging the Mambo | Tito Puente | (3:15) | |
| Four Beat Cha Cha, Pt. 1 | Tito Puente | (2:29) | |
| Cuando Te Vea (Lyrics) | Tito Puente | (4:16) | |
| Tito Guajira | Tito Puente | (2:39) | |
| Mambo Gozón | Tito Puente | (2:47) | |
| Night Hawk | Tito Puente | (2:32) | |
| Witch Doctor's Nightmare | Tito Puente | (2:38) | |
| Abaniquito | Tito Puente | (2:49) | |
| Picadillo | Tito Puente | (2:44) | |
| Mambo Beat | Tito Puente | (4:11) | |
| Cao Cao Mani Picao | Tito Puente | (3:01) | |
| Birdland After Dark | Tito Puente | (4:38) | |
| Obatalá Yeza | Tito Puente | (3:22) | |
| Chanchullo | Tito Puente | (2:32) | |
| Pa' los Rumberos | Tito Puente | (3:24) | |
| Hong Kong Mambo [Alternate Take] | Tito Puente | (3:49) | |
| What Is This Thing Called Love? | Tito Puente | (3:24) | |
| Complicación | Tito Puente | (3:22) | |
| Tito Timbero | Tito Puente | (3:01) |
CD 2
| Track Title | Composers | Performers | Time |
| Oye Como Va | Tito Puente | Tito Puente | (4:31) |
| Cuál Es la Idea | Tito Puente | (3:21) | |
| El Cayuco | Tito Puente | (2:37) | |
| Son de la Loma | Miguel Matamoros | Tito Puente | (2:07) |
| 3-D Mambo | Tito Puente | (2:25) | |
| Cuban Nightmare | Tito Puente | (3:04) | |
| Oye Mi Guaguancó (Listen to the Guaguancó) | Tito Puente | (3:35) | |
| Take the "A" Train | Billy Strayhorn | Tito Puente | (2:07) |
| Elegua Chango | Tito Puente | (5:14) | |
| Si Te Contara | Tito Puente | (2:52) | |
| Cha-Con-Cha | Tito Puente | (3:04) | |
| Dance Mania | Tito Puente | (3:14) | |
| Sácala | Tito Puente | (2:23) | |
| Ti Mon Bo | Tito Puente | (6:33) | |
| Yambeque | Tito Puente | (3:46) | |
| Lotus Land | Tito Puente | (4:54) | |
| Malibu Beat | Tito Puente | (2:30) | |
| Al Gozar Timbero | Tito Puente | (3:05) | |
| Havana After Dark | Tito Puente | (2:52) | |
| Mambo Buda | Tito Puente | (2:51) |
