Cannibal & The Headhunters ‎"Land Of 1000 Dances" 1965-66(rec) 2005(comp)***

Looking at the cover I have to admit these guys don't look as scary as their name suggests. After reading the liner notes, though, I got where they come from: they never intended to be a horror rock band, it's just that singer Frankie Garcia has been known as "Cannibal" since he was a kid due to biting another kid during a schoolyard fight. People just kept saying things like "-who's playing at the dance tonight?" "-Frankie...you know, the cannibal", so they had to embrace the name. The band consisted of 4 young chicano kids from the East L.A. ghetto, initially singing Doo Wop emulating the neighborhood's black kids. In the mid-60's they turned to R&B, and had the luck to strike gold with their very first recording: a raucous dance number entitled "Land Of 1000 Dances". It was previously recorded by New Orleans R&B singer Chris Kenner, but Cannibal added the infectious "Naa Na Na Na Naa" chorus which elevated the song and made it a hit (albeit not so much for them as for Wilson Pickett, who copied their version and carried the song to the top of the R&B charts). Still, The Headhunters had a Top 30 hit and built a whole career out of it, even playing to huge crowds while supporting The Beatles and Rolling Stones at their U.S. tours. This compilation by the Spanish Vampi-Soul retro label contains their sole LP, which has been re-channeled from mono to stereo, plus most of their singles. It's immediately evident that the LP was hastily put together to take advantage of the single's success: the production is rudimentary, and there's only one original composition: Max Uballez's "Don't Let Her Go" which sounds like nothing so much as a male version of The Shirelles. The rest are covers, often combining upbeat soul with the sound of vocal groups like The Platters. I'd single out the more straight R&B numbers like "Out Of Sight", "Devil In Disguise" and "The Fat Man". On the other end of the spectrum, there are some pop ballads like "My Girl", "Strange World" and "Here Comes Love". Meanwhile the singles (all in mono) present more interest as they are mostly original compositions by Garcia and Uballez: "Nau Ninny Nau" is a shameless copy of "Land Of 1000 Dances", but it's great fun and went on to become a local hit. "I'll Show You How To Love Me" and "Please Baby Please" are a couple of slow doo-wop tunes. "Follow The Music" and "I Need Your Loving" are more upbeat, but they're all eclipsed by the "long version" of "Land Of 1000 Dances" (long= all of 2 minutes and 50 seconds) which contained an intro instead of charging immediately with the "Naa Na Na Naa" chorus. A nice surprise (despite the low quality audio) is a 20-minute hidden track consisting of an energetic live performance, possibly in support of The Beatles. In any case, despite the fact that they didn't have any more hits -or even recorded a second album- the band kept on playing the live circuit with original members gradually getting replaced, and Frankie "the Cannibal" Garcia surrendering his position to Robert Zapata who keeps the band active up to this day. I wouldn't mind catching them live but, unless you're interested in the story of their one hit, this is an occasionally agreeable but only moderately interesting period piece.

***** for Land Of 1000 Dances (both versions)

**** for Devil In Disguise, Out Of Sight, The Fat Man, Nau Ninny Nau

*** for The Boy From New York City, Don't Let Her Go, Searchin', Shotgun, Strange World, Get Your Baby, Follow The Music, I Need Your Loving

** for My Girl, Here Comes Love, I'll Show You How To Love Me, Please Baby Please