Santa Esmeralda
's debut dropped on
Phillips Records
in 1977, then on
Casablanca Records
for worldwide distribution;
Hot Records
reissued it on CD in 1994. Although the disc had originally been titled
Santa Esmeralda Featuring Leroy Gomez
,
Casablanca
renamed it to capitalize on the hit single
"Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood."
The old
Animals
classic covered an entire side of the original vinyl album;
"Esmeralda Suite"
was simply a reworking of the hit.
Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
contains three other tracks: the dull
ballad
"You're My Everything"
; an elongated remake of
"Gloria"
that's borderline
disco
; and the refreshing
"Black Pot,"
a soulful number that uses Spanish guitars,
flamenco
percussion, and lead guitars to good effect. There are no bonus tracks, so you're getting the original album intact. ~ Andrew Hamilton