Before they ever stepped into a recording booth, the Ghetto Brothers had already achieved some local fame for their role in brokering a truce among themselves and other Bronx gangs in 1971. While he was trying to clean up his neighborhood, Benny “Benjy” Melendez and his brother Victor formed a musical group also called the Ghetto Brothers that combined their love of the Beatles and their own Puerto Rican musical heritage. The group recorded their only album, Power-Fuerza, in one afternoon in Manhattan, and the album has since become a collector’s item because it’s really really good and really really rare. According to a 2002 interview, the Ghetto Brothers were known to don berets to emulate Che Guevera and some of their lefty leanings can be heard on the song Viva Puerto Rico Libre. Power-Fuerza was re-issued by Truth and Soul in 2012 and from what I can see the re-issue comes with extensive liner notes about the group and its history. Getting the re-issue on Discogs is your best bet if you want to pick one up, as the originals sell for about a thousand bucks when they do come up for sale. Check out this video Truth and Soul produced for the re-issue if you want to see some cool archival photos and videos of the Ghetto Brothers in action: