Santa Esmeralda: Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood [Full Album + Bonus] (1977)

The spectacular debut of Santa Esmeralda is one of my absolute favourite LP’s of the disco years. American singer Leroy Gomez teamed up with French producers Nikolas Skorsky & Jean-Manuel de Scarano for a unique pairing of his soulful vocals and a fusion of disco, rock and flamenco, covering Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood, originally sung by Nina Simone in 1964 and covered in a more well-known version the following year by The Animals. The sessions took place in Paris and were arranged by Cerrone’s collaborator Raymond Donnez aka Don Ray. The song took off like wild-fire, reaching #1 in France and Germany, and was also quickly signed to Casablanca Records in the US where the single hit #15 on the pop charts and #4 on the disco charts. Also the single’s B-side You’re My Everything was popular. In Germany the LP also topped the album charts. The idea for the whole project had come from Gomez’ friend Sam Choueka who did not receive any financial compensation from the success and