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In memory of Isaac Avila Special show
Brand
Spanking New!
Eastside Connection
Rampart Records
Re-issued on Barrio Gold Records (Japan)
East LA Revue.com is proud to present this historic
and classic recording originally released in 1979, The
Eastside Connection - Brand Spanking New. Eddie Davis
and his Rampart Records label under the direction of
band leader & Bassist, Hector Gonzalez brings us
a highly potent mix of rhythms with an exciting collection
of tunes performed by some creative and swinging musicians
from the Los Angeles area. This recording documents
the sound of the time and it's funky, it's Disco, it's
grooving, it's original and it is the sound of the Eastside!
Now having been released in Japan by Shin Miyata (Music
Camp Entertainment / Barrio Gold records) this classic
recording is alive and well again with a fresh new packaging
and revitalized digital sound.
The group was the creation of Electric Violinist and
Composer, Harry Scorzo Jr. and Bassist Hector Gonzalez
whose credits extend well beyond the Bass Guitar and
recording studio. It is important to note that he was
the Musical Director for the popular Telemundo Day Time
Variety Show, "Al Dia Con Maria Conchita"
starring Actress and Grammy Nominated singer, Maria
Conchita Alonzo.
Under the musical direction of Hector Gonzalez, the
Telemundo House Orchestra backed up various musical
guests including Salsa Recording Artist Danny and Jerry
Rivera (no relation), Enrique Guzman (the 60's King
of Mexican Rock and Roll), Jose Feliciano, Lalo Guerrero,
Tito Puente, and Maria Conchita Alonzo, whose Grammy
Nominations were for Best Latin Pop.
Maria Conchita Alonzo's first American film was as the
Italian girl in "Moscow on the Hudson" with
Robin Williams. She later appeared in "Colors"
with Robert Duvall and Sean Penn, "The Running
Man" with Arnold Schwarzenegger, and "Predator
2" with Ruben Blades and Danny Glover as well as
many other films.
The Eastside Connection included such notable musicians
and vocalist as: Hector Gonzalez on Bass Guitar
(Lava & The Hot Rocks, Mick Fleetwood and the Blue
Whale Blues Band, and current owner of Rampart Records),
Sal Rodriguez (War, Tom Jones, and Jose Feliciano)
on Drums, Sal Cracchiolo (Poncho Sanchez Band,
Brian Setzer Big Band, Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard,
Cal Tjader, Stanley Turentine, Tito Puente, Mongo Santamaria,
Gary Foster, Arturo Sandoval, Eddie Harris, and Celia
Cruz), Vocalist Bertha Oropeza (The Chico Band,
Zoot Suit Movie & Soundtrack), Vocalist Didi
Scorzo (Los Angeles Salsa Society), Vocalist Miroslava
Gonzalez (Lava and the Hot Rocks, Blues Straight
Up), Vocalist Bert Oropeza (Bertha's Brother),
Vocalist Shane Salcido (Sly, Slick and Wicked), Harry
Scorzo (Los Angeles Salsa Society, Bongo-Logic)
on Electric Violin and Hector's Compadre, Geoff Lee
on Guitar (Ray Charles Orchestra, Cheryl Lynn), Dick
Mitchell on Saxophone (Harry James Big Band) and
Brandon Fields on Saxophone, Keyboards and Flute who
has recorded with such notable groups as Tower of Power,
Earth Wind & Fire, Bobby Caldwell, Nancy Wilson,
Engelbert Humperdink , The Temptations, Ray Charles,
Alejandro Sanz, Harry Connick Jr. and many others. The
Eastside Connection also featured contributions from
friends such as: John Cerecedes ( Spice Band)
Guitar and Vocals, Roland Mendoza (Garcia Brothers
Latin Jazz Band, Bob Desena) on Congas, Dennis Christianson
on Trumpet and Flugelhorn, Geree Logan (now Geree
Gonzalez who has worked as a vocalist with El Chicano,
The Village Callers and the historic 1976 "Si Se
Puede" album with Los Lobos) and West Coast Latin
Jazz Legend and Grammy Award winning conguero, the very
young Poncho Sanchez heard here on Timbales.
This album was ahead of it's time and was a dynamic
representation of the sound that was happening. Just
as the musicians themselves represented a multi-cultural
cross section of Los Angeles, the music itself is a
rich mix of creative originality with a heavy touch
of Eastside soul. Even Bobby Navarette original Saxophonist
for Tierra commented to our host Chico Manqueros that
the Eastside Connection was "A powerful and creative
band with a fun sound, I saw them perform a few times
and they were an incredible band".
The music of the Eastside Connection and their grooving
sound has reached well beyond the barrios of Los Angeles
and has made a "Connection" with fans around
the world. Just check out some of the music collector
sites and you will see that the original LP and Single
releases are commanding some top dollars. Even reaching
into the mainstream music world with the likes of Grand
Master Flash, Slick Rick, and Onyx who have all used
a sample loop of the tune "Frisco Disco" in
their music. In fact, Producer Shin Miyata spared no
expenses in having this historical recording re-mastered
and re-packaged. The results are well documented on
this landmark release. Check out the CD insert packaging
that includes: Photos, Concert posters, Song lyrics
and complete liner notes which were not included on
the original LP release. Also additional bonus tracks
including a very unique rendition of the classic "La
Cucaracha" which was originally released on a 12
inch Super Single by the group in 1976. This special
presentation includes the music of this recording along
with exclusive interviews with Shin Miyata and Hector
Gonzalez recorded here in Los Angeles.
Eastside Connection - Brand Spanking New is available
through Barrio Gold Records / Music Camp Entertainment
(www.m-camp.net), Sounds of Music Record Store - East
Los Angeles, CA, and Amoeba Records - Hollywood, CA.
Please note that we are featuring two additional bonus
tracks that were not included in the Japanese re-issue.
The bonus tracks are "Quizas, Quizas, Quizas"
and "The Birthday Medley". Both of these recordings
were arranged by the legendary Conductor and Musical
Arranger, Arthur Freeman, whose credits also include
Johnny Mathis, Carly Simon, The Whispers, and Bette
Midler.
Hosted by: Chico Manqueros with very special thanks
to Shin Miyata, Hector Gonzalez, Steven & Janie
Chavez.
Please enjoy this timeless music from a truly great
band. 'New Way Funk' with an original grooving East
Side Sound.
Review by:
Erik Chico Manqueros
Hector Gonzalez, owner of Rampart Records
Group reviews the greatest Chicano record albums of
all time, “Land of 1000 Dances” by Cannibal
and the Headhunters. Eddie Davis originally produced
the vinyl album in 1965, on the Rampart Record label.
Recently, Varese Sarabande Records has re-mastered the
album from the original sources found deep in the vaults.
The CD includes the complete original album plus six
bonus tracks. Licensed from Rampart and released in
Europe by Vampi Soul label and in Japan by Barrio Gold
label.
This is the original Cannibal and the
Headhunters singing group and should not be confused
with a local band that had none of its band members
in the recording of the “Land of 1000 Dances”
album or on the 1965 North American tour with the Beatles.
Cannibal and the Headhunters where Frankie “Cannibal”
Garcia, Joe “Yo Yo” Jaramillo, Robert “Rabbit”
Jaramillo, and Richard “Scar” Lopez. The Blendells
Band and the King Curtis Orchestra provided the back-up
music for the album recordings at Stereo Masters in
Hollywood, CA.
Listen
to Cannibal and the Headhunters
The
Legacy of Cannibal and the Headhunters
By Moses Mora
| Web Published 6.19.2007
In the annals of Chicano music
Cannibal & The Headhunters make a very unique
contribution. Unlike their peers coming out East
Los Angeles in the early to mid-1960’s -
bands like The Premiers, Thee Midniters, The Blendells,
The Romancers and a host of others - Cannibal
& The Headhunters were a four member vocal
group.
The original members of the group
were Frankie “Cannibal” Garcia, Joe
“Yo Yo” Jaramillo, Robert “Rabbit”
Jaramillo and Richard “Scar” Lopez.
Their reworking of New Orleans
singer Chris Kenner’s dance ditty, Land of
1000 Dances became the stuff of legend. Cannibal
& The Headhunters added the instantly and
internationally recognizable “Naw, Na Na
Na Na, Naw, Na, Na, Na, Naw, Na, Na, Naw, Na Na,
Naw, Na Na, Na.”
Seems like every subsequent version
of the song includes Cannibal’s addition.
One year after the Headhunters released their
version on Rampart Records, soul singer Wilson
Pickett released his own high-powered version
of the song which emphasized Cannibal’s tribal
chant more than the original words. Recently there
was a television commercial which used only the
chant as its hook.
Things changed quickly for the
group after their 1965 release of the song, two
albums (one on Ramparts Records and one on the
Bell label), some subsequent 45 singles and a
high profile tour with The Beatles. By the late
1960’s the original group had broken up and
Cannibal moved the operation to New York with
2 new Headhunters, George Ochoa and Eddie Serrano.
By the early 1970’s Serrano and Ochoa left
to form a group called Old Time Religion and then
found some fame as the group Yaqui, which also
included members Ron Reyes on guitar, and Art
Sanchez on bass. Cannibal & The Headhunters
were over.
Fast forward to the early 1980’s
and Frankie “Cannibal” Garcia reemerges
with a new group of Headhunters that included
singers Eddie Serrano and David Castaneda and
no original Headhunters. This new group performed
briefly and then Cannibal decided that he no longer
wanted to perform and turned the group over to
Eddie Serrano. By this time in history no original
members were in the group. Frankie “Cannibal”
Garcia died in 1996.
The group carried on, toured
a lot and pretty much became a staple on the oldies/nostalgia
circuit, passing themselves off as Cannibal &
The Headhunters. Then in the late 1990’s
Eddie Serrano was tragically killed in an accident.
The remaining bandmates (which had a tremendous
turnover of musicians come and go) decided to
continue as a performing group.
Around this time, in the late
1990’s considerable interest was generated
via articles, books and websites that was dedicated
to the legacy of the West Coast East Side Sound.
Original artists from East L.A. circa 1964-5 were
sought out and several bands reformed and some
continue to perform to this day.
At the time the original Headhunters,
the Jaramillo brothers, Yo Yo and Rabbit along
with Richard “Scar” Lopez reformed and
started performing again as Cannibal & The
Headhunters. Now there were two groups out there
performing using the same name. Long time fans
and scenesters knew that the Jaramillo brothers
and Scar were the legitimate and original group,
the genuine article and the others were, well,
to put it politely, not.
In May of 2000 original member Joe “Yo Yo”
Jaramillo died. Leaving the other two founding
members Rabbit and Scar to carry on. They recruited
new talent including the multi-talented Greg Esparza
to carry them forward. The year 2000 also saw
the originals record a rhythm and blues chestnut
“Searching For My Baby” with Canned
Heat.
The other group, posing as Cannibal
& The Headhunters, now led by drummer Robert
Zapata also got busy. Under Zapata’s direction
the group made an unconventional turn by putting
Black singers up front and releasing a CD called
New Beginnings.
I’m not getting racial or
bringing out the race card with this comment,
but we were plenty proud that Cannibal & The
Headhunters came from the Chicano community and
we were fans with pride. I mean, would it work
if you paid to see The Four Seasons and some Black
guys came out or if you went to see The Temptations
and some white guys came out? The Italians were
and should be proud of their Four Seasons, the
same with the Black community and The Temptations.
You can’t change history that easy.
After recording and touring New
Beginnings Zapata’s band ditched the Black
singers and recruited Charlie Munoz as lead singer.
In some sense, it really doesn’t matter who
is in this other group, they are not Cannibal
& The Headhunters.
This isn’t one fan’s
opinion, consider this from the Associated Press
and printed in the Los Angeles Times, Saturday,
June 2, 2007 under the headline “States join
in ‘fake’ groups ban.
Nevada has become one of at least
a dozen states to enact laws against fake groups
promoting themselves as famed musicians.
The new law enacted this week
requires performing groups to have at least one
member of the recording group that they claim
connection to, or label the production a “tribute”
or “salute.”
Otherwise, claiming a connection would be considered
a deceptive trade practice.
I interpret this to mean, the
gig is up, it’s time Robert Zapata and his
group to stop pretending to be something they
are not, namely Cannibal & The Headhunters.
I don’t think that this group will be playing
Las Vegas anytime soon.
In today’s’ music scene
tribute bands are in great demand. Zapata and
company need to brave up, be honest and if they
persist on performing live call it a tribute to
Cannibal, Rabbit, Yo Yo and Scar - the true and
original Cannibal & The Headhunters.
Moses Mora
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