by John Bush
Ray Barretto's Latin/soul crossover record of 1968, Acid includes a few tracks of his ebullient, instrumental salsa, but also plays off the boogaloo craze of the past few years with a few Latin soul numbers. The crossovers &A Deeper Shade of Soul,& &Soul Drummers,& and &Teacher of Love& (all written by Barretto himself) are a lot of fun, but the (relatively) straight-ahead salsa of &El Nuevo Barretto& and the title track easily edge out the competition. It's nowhere near as psychedelic as the title would indicate, but Acid holds up nevertheless as a great of the late-'60s confluence of Latin, funk, and soul.