Latin rhythms have infiltrated every branch of popular music, but none has had such a wide ranging influence as the rumba. It is this rhythm, combined with the New Orleans second line beat that formed the basis of the Stax and Motown sound and the more complex rhythms of funk in the 1960s. This compilation shows how Latin music first took hold of the blues, adding its irresistible rhythms to jazz and swing during the war years and getting teenagers black and white on to the dance floor. Rumba is everywhere in post-war popular music, from the Clash’s Rock The Casbah, Little Richard’s Slippin’ and Slidin’ to the Beatles’ Ballad Of John And Yoko. Its 3–3–2 rhythm became an integral part of American music and continues to cast its spell over popular music. Rumba or Rhumba? The ‘h’ was added after it was introduced to America as a dance in the 1930s; rumba is the music, rhumba is the dance.
