Cannibal
& the Headhunters: 1960s Chicano R&B Hit Makers
by Mark Guerrero
The story of Cannibal & the Headhunters is nothing short
of a Cinderella story. Four teenage Chicanos from public
housing projects form a group and within a year have a national
hit record and are touring with the greatest pop group in
history, the Beatles. It all started in 1963 with Robert
“Rabbit” Jaramillo and Richard “Scar”
Lopez singing together at Rabbit’s house in the Ramona
Gardens housing projects. His brother Joe “Yo Yo” Jaramillo was taking out the trash and spontaneously
put on a third harmony. They became Bobby & the
Classics. Meanwhile, Frankie “Cannibal” Garcia,
who had been singing around East L.A. with various groups,
was looking to form his own group. He heard about Scar
and the Jaramillo brothers and went to see them. When
they first sang together, they knew they had something special.
Cannibal, who got his nickname from his older brother Art’s
gang placa (nickname), became the front man because of his
flamboyant personality and showmanship. Their music
of choice was r&b and doo wop and their role models were
black groups such as the Temptations and the Olympics.
After passing an audition with Rampart Records' owner Eddie
Davis, they changed their name to Cannibal & the Headhunters
at Mr. Davis’ suggestion.
The song that became Cannibal &
the Headhunters' ticket to the big time was “Land of
a Thousand Dances.” It was an obscure record by
Chris Kenner, who had previously had a national hit with “I
Like It Like That.” “Land of a Thousand
Dances,” which was written by Fats Domino and Chris
Kenner, was very popular in East L.A. and was performed by
many local bands. The Midniters, perhaps the most popular
Eastside group at the time, beat them to the punch by recording
it first, but it was Cannibal & the Headhunters who hit
the national charts with it. Their recording of the
song is a story in itself. The band that was going to provide
the backing tracks was Cannibal’s former band, the Rhythm
Playboys, but there was a disagreement between Eddie Davis
and the band’s manager, Billy Cardenas. According
to most accounts, Billy left the studio with the band, which
left Eddie with his vocal group and running studio time.
He called up the Blendells, who had scored a hit with “La
La La La La.” It was eleven o’clock at night and
the Blendells were rehearsing for a Dick Clark tour when they
got the call. They packed up and went down to the studio
and in four takes cut the track, which was influenced by the
beat of Stevie Wonder’s “Fingertips.”
“Land of a Thousand Dances” by Cannibal &
the Headhunters reached number 30 on the Billboard charts
in April of 1965.
With a hit record under their belt,
they hit the road with the Motown Revue, where they performed
with Smokey Robinson and the Miracles and the
Four Tops. They performed in "Murray the K"
shows in New York with artists such as the Temptations, Ben
E. King, Marvin Gaye, Wilson Pickett, Tom Jones, Gerry &
the Pacemakers, and Peter & Gordon. They also went
on Dick Clark tours and appeared on national television on
the rock & roll variety show , “Hullabaloo.”
Paul McCartney had apparently seen Cannibal & the Headhunters
on “Hullabaloo” and wanted them on the tour. Brian
Epstein, The Beatles’ manager, called up Eddie Davis
and offered the invitation. The next thing they knew
they were flown to New York and soon found themselves in Shea
Stadium, filled with 55,000 screaming Beatle fans, Mick Jagger,
Marvin Gaye, and other major rock celebrities backstage, and
a personal welcome from the Beatles themselves. They
proceeded to tour with the Beatles for the whole 1965 tour
culminating with the Hollywood Bowl concert. It was special
for them because it was a homecoming. There were many
Chicanos from East L.A. present, including me, to cheer
them on. I was there mainly because I was a great Beatle
fan, but I remember being proud of my fellow Eastside musical
brothers for how well they performed and the excitement they
created with their singing and choreography. This included
their famous “rowboat,” where they sit down one
in front of the other and row forward to the beat. They
were the only artists among the opening acts to get the attention
of the crowd. In fact they did so well that Brian Epstein
kept telling Eddie Davis to tell his group to tone it down.
Later that year, with my band Mark & the Escorts, I had
the privilege of performing on the same bill with Cannibal
& the Headhunters at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles
at what was called the “West Coast Eastside Revue.”
All the top East L.A. groups also performed such as the Premiers,
the Blendells and Thee Midniters. An album of the same
name was later released, which included all the groups that
performed in the show. Prior to Cannibal’s
fame, I remember being on the same bill with the Rhythm Playboys
at St. Alphonsus Auditorium in East L.A. when he was their
lead singer.
Cannibal & the Headhunters went
on to record a few more singles and an album, but did not
hit the charts again. “Scar” had left the
group during the Beatle tour because his girlfriend wanted
him home. The other three continued on and eventually
disbanded in 1967. Cannibal formed a new backup group
with Eddie Serrano and George Ochoa and worked out of New
York City. George Ochoa had been lead singer in my band
called the Men from S.O.U.N.D. in 1966-67, and I had known
Eddie Serrano from his previous band, the Enchantments.
In 1968, I went to New York to visit my brother, Dan, who
was living there. While there, I visited with George
and Eddie at the apartment they were living in. Cannibal
wasn’t there that day, but George and I went all over
the city that night and had a good time. It was pretty
exciting for two 18 year olds from East L.A. to be hanging
out in the Big Apple.
Earlier this year, I was invited
to attend a get together in Pomona, California at the home
of Lawrence Perez, lead guitarist of the Premiers, in honor
of Headhunter Joe “Yo Yo” Jaramillo. In
attendance were all four original Premiers, the three surviving
Headhunters (Cannibal passed away in 1996), Rudy Valona of
the Blendells, Andy Tesso of the Romancers, Chan Romero and
Billy Cardenas, who was manager of all the aforementioned
bands, including Mark & the Escorts. We brought
our instruments and jammed together, ate lunch, and
reminisced. The highlights of the afternoon were when the
Premiers played their hit “Farmer John” and the Headhunters did
a rousing rendition of “Land of a Thousand Dances,” which
included the “rowboat” in Lawrence’s small living room. It
was a pretty cool experience
to say the least.
Cannibal & the Headhunters are
an important part of Chicano rock & roll history.
Even though their time in the spotlight was relatively brief,
they proved they could perform alongside the greatest artists
in popular music and hold their own. Their accomplishments
give hope and inspiration to minorities or anyone whose dreams
seem unattainable due to their less than ideal circumstances.
Recently, “Rabbit” Jaramillo and “Scar”
Lopez have performed as Cannibal & the Headhunters with
a couple of new Headhunters and a great back up band, led
by Andy Tesso. I have a videotape of their 1998
performance at the House of Blues in Hollywood, where they
brought down the house. There is talk of a motion picture
about their incredible story, which I truly hope comes to
fruition. After 35 years, their music is still available.
In 1996, Sony Music Special Products released “Cannibal & the
Headhunters, A Golden Classics Edition.” The CD contains
16 songs, including “Land of a Thousand Dances.” They also
appear as part of compilation albums, such as “The East Side
Sound, 1959-1968” on Dionysus Records. You can purchase
Cannibal & the Headhunters CDs and compitlation CDs that include
recordings by them from the amazon.com link below.
This article
is based on three interviews by Mark Guerrero with original
Headhunter Joe "Yo Yo" Jaramillo, which took place
between November 17, 1999 and February 24, 2000.
Postscript: Joe Jaramillo passed away May 24, 2000 due
to a liver-related illness. He was buried May 27, 2000
at a service attended by family, friends and many of his musical
family. The latter group included his brother Robert
"Rabbit" Jaramillo of Cannibal & the Headhunters,
Lawrence Perez, John Perez and George Delgado of the Premiers,
Max Uballez and Andy Tesso of the Romancers, Rudy Salas of
Tierra, yours truly, and manager of all the aforementioned
musicians in the 1960s, Billy Cardenas. Joe "Yo
Yo" Jaramillo was a man with a great heart and will be
missed.
