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

Unsung Heroes – Unclassified Show #1-Uploaded 12/8/07

The East LA Revue.com Internet Jukebox presents the “Unsung Heroes – Unclassified Show #1” and in doing so we express our most genuine appreciation to the men and women who provide medical care and assistance to our wounded veterans. We especially wish to acknowledge the medical staff at the Balboa Naval Medical Facilities, the VA Hospitals, and the Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. The success of these facilities is due to the excellent teamwork and a keen sense of urgency.

Enjoy the music and dedications with songs by The Toys, Shorty Long, Tony Allen & the Champs, Kathy Young, The Salas Brothers with the Jaguars, Hank Jacobs, The Sashays, James Brown and the Famous Flames, The Markays, Jimmy Ruffin, Claudine Clark, Jose Feliciano, Band of Gypsies, and Credence Clearwater Revival. Enjoy.

Time 43m 41s