Cannibal & the Headhunters

They were discovered by Rampart Records label owner and founder Eddie Davis.[3] They were among the 1960s Mexican-American musicians and singers who pioneered the "East Side Sound" of Los Angeles, a musical phenomenon that attracted international attention.[4] Cannibal and the HeadHunters Inducted in to the California Music Hall of Fame and founder Frankie "Cannibal" Garcia on 9/23/2023 such an honor for the group after many decades of continuous shows and concerts, never wavering always pushing forward and having fun along the way more then ever. They are so dedicated to their music and performances still here after all these years.

Francisco Mario (Frankie Cannibal) Garcia founded the group in 1965;[3] the other group members were Bobby and Joe "Yo Yo" Jaramillo and Richard Lopez who were in the group for 18 months. In 1983, Frankie (Cannibal) Garcia retired from the music business and turned Cannibal and the Headhunters over to Robert Zapata, who had been in the group since 1969 and is still performing today. Barely out of high school, they came from Ramona Gardens and Estrada Courts Housing Projects of East Los Angeles, inspired by the African American doo-wop groups in their neighborhoods. Garcia attended Andrew Jackson High School. He frequently sang spontaneously while walking around campus. This group toured, recorded, and performed together for 18 months, when Frankie "Cannibal" Garcia hired two new background singers, Eddie Serrano and George Ochoa, as the new Headhunters.

Their version of "Land of a Thousand Dances" was a remake of the original Chris Kenner tune,[3] arranged and produced by Max Uballez with Frankie Garcia, and engineered by Bruce Morgan. The record reached No. 30 in the Billboard Hot 100 [chart in early 1965,[3] and No. 42 in Canada.[5] Wilson Pickett recorded the song into a national hit in 1967, also using the "na, na, na, na" lyric.

On May 7, 1965, Cannibal and the Headhunters performed in a concert for WVOK with the Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys, the Righteous Brothers, and Marty Robbins in Birmingham, Alabama at Legion Field. Three months later, Paul McCartney requested that Garcia and his group join the Beatles tour, from August 15 through August 31, 1965, at Shea Stadium New York and at the Hollywood Bowl California.

Frankie Garcia died in 1996, aged 49. Joe Jaramillo died of cirrhosis of the liver in 2000, and Lopez died of lung cancer on July 30, 2010, aged 65.[6]