All-analog reissue of Crime Pays, an anthology of Willie Colón’s most influential songs from his first 4 albums.

The ironically titled Crime Pays was a comment on the success of Colón’s carefully cultivated bad guy image that he sustained until the mid-1970s. The album contains nine key cuts from his first four albums.

His 1967 debut album El Malo (The Bad Guy) is represented by his first hit, the mambo jazz instrumental “Jazzy” and the title track, a bomba-guaguancó composed by Colón. “Jazzy” was co-penned by Colón and his African American pianist Dwight Brewster and bassist James Taylor.