Cannibal & The Headhunters were an American band originating from East Los Angeles, that was known for being one of the first Mexican-American groups to have a national hit record, "Land of a Thousand Dances", recorded on the Rampart label. They were also the opening act on The Beatles' second American tour, backed up by the King Curtis band.[1]
They were the discovery of Rampart Records label owner and founder Eddie Davis, and were part of a collection of Mexican-American musicians and singers in the 1960s, who pioneered the "East Side Sound" music of Los Angeles, a musical phenomenon of the time that attracted international attention.[2]
The group was founded by Richard "Scar" Lopez and Robert "Rabbit" Jaramillo[3] in 1964; the other group members were Frankie "Cannibal" Garcia and Joe "Yo Yo" Jaramillo. The band was originally called "Bobby and the Classics".[4] Barely out of high school, they came from Ramona Gardens and Estrada Courts Housing Projects of East Los Angeles, and were inspired by the African American doo wop groups in their neighborhoods. This group toured recorded and performed together for only eighteen months, before they broke up due to personal conflicts.
Their version of "Land of a Thousand Dances" was a cover version of the original Chris Kenner tune, arranged and produced by Max Uballez with Garcia, and engineered by Bruce Morgan. The record reached #30 in the Billboard Hot 100 chart in early 1965. The "na, na, na, na..." lyric roll was a mistake performed by Garcia during a performance in which he forgot the lyrics in mid-song and simply improvised. Wilson Pickett recorded the song into a national hit for himself in 1967, also using the "na, na, na, na" lyric.
Garcia died in 1996, aged 49. Joe Jaramillo died in 2000, and Lopez died of lung cancer on July 30, 2010, aged 65.[5]