Barrabás are a Spanish musical group, most successful in the 1970s and 1980s when they were led by drummer and producer

Fernando Arbex José Fernando Arbex Miró (28 May 1941 – 5 July 2003) was an influential Spanish musician and songwriter from Madrid, who enjoyed success both with his own groups and also with other artists. While still in his teens, he was the drummer in Lo ...

. The group's musical style was initially

Latin rock Latin rock is a term to describe a subgenre blending traditional sounds and elements of Latin American and Hispanic Caribbean folk with rock music. However, it is widely used in the English-language media to refer any kind of rock music featurin ...

with

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

and funk influences, and later developed into a more disco-orientated sound.

History

Arbex formed Barrabás in 1971 when his previous band, Alacrán, split. He and Alacrán's bass guitarist and vocalist Ignacio "Iñaki" Egaña were joined by several other musicians in preparation for the recording of their debut album '' Wild Safari'' released later that year. These were

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

guitarist brothers Ricky and Miguel Morales; Portuguese keyboard player Juan Vidal and Cuban percussionist, saxophone and flute player Ernesto "Tito" Duarte. ''Wild Safari'' spawned the hit singles "Woman" and "Wild Safari" which were successful in various countries across Europe and the Americas, including the USA and Canada. The group also toured throughout Latin America. Arbex removed Egaña from the group after the recording of ''Wild Safari'', and also decided to further reduce his own involvement as a musician, hiring two new members, José Luis Tejada and José María Moll, as vocalist and drummer respectively. Moll had played live with Barrabás from the beginning, with Arbex only playing on ''Wild Safari''. This new line-up recorded two albums, ''

Power Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power Power may ...

'' in 1973 and ''

¡Soltad a Barrabás! ''¡Soltad a Barrabás!'' is the third album by the Spanish group Barrabás, released in 1974. The album was originally released as ''Release Barrabás'' or ''Hi-Jack'' in some other countries, but the modern CD release retains the Spanish title. ...

'' in 1974. The latter album featured the hit single "

Hi-Jack "Hi-Jack" is a 1974 r&b and funk disco based song written by Spanish musician Fernando Arbex and originally recorded by his group Barrabás for their album ''¡Soltad a Barrabás!''. While their version of the song was a huge success in their nati ...

", which reached № 1 in Spain, and was successfully covered by American

musician

Herbie Mann Herbert Jay Solomon (April 16, 1930 – July 1, 2003), known by his stage name Herbie Mann, was an American jazz flute player and important early practitioner of world music. Early in his career, he also played tenor saxophone and clarinet (inc ...

in 1975. Moll then left the band after disagreements with the other members, and was replaced by Daniel Louis. With the popularity of disco in the mid-1970s, Barrabás moved in that direction and produced a number of minor hits. There was another line-up change when Tejada and Ricky Morales left to be replaced by Ernie Garrett on guitar and vocals. Garrett was soon forced to leave the band with heart problems and Barrabás disbanded in 1977. Arbex then moved fully towards writing and producing music for other artists. The group reformed in 1980 with a new line-up. Neither the Morales brothers, Vidal nor Louis were involved, and were replaced by the returning Moll, Costa Rican guitarist "Koky" Maning, bassist "Susy" Gordaliza and keyboard player Armando Pelayo. This line-up recorded two albums before being dropped by their record label,

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westin ...

, and subsequently Tejada, Maning, Gordaliza and Pelayo all left. Miguel Morales and Iñaki Egaña then returned for the recording of the 1983 album ''

Prohibido ''Prohibido'', titled Forbidden in some countries, is a 1983 music album by the Spanish group Barrabás. It was the band's ninth album, and the last for several years before a return to recording in the 1990s. With the return of former members I ...

'' for CBS. Barrabás continued on a smaller scale afterwards under the leadership of Moll, still accompanied by Egaña and Miguel Morales, with Duarte and other musicians helping out both live and in the studio. A number of albums were recorded in the 1990s, consisting of re-recordings of songs from the 1970s and 1980s. Barrabás founder Fernando Arbex died in 2003. Multi-instrumentalist Ernesto "Tito" Duarte died in Spain on 14 July 2003, at age 57. Tejada died on 20 April 2014 at age 69.

Personnel

(1941–2003) –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

(1971–72), production *

Iñaki Egaña Ignacio "Iñaki" Egaña Azpeitia (born 24 October 1948 in Portugalete, Basque Country) is a Spanish musician and songwriter, active since the late 1960s in various rock and blues groups and as a solo artist. He is primarily a bass guitar player ...

(1948–) –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...

, vocals (1971–72, 1983–) * Ernesto "Tito" Duarte (1946–2003) –

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

, flute, drums,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

(1971–77, 1980–2003) * Ricky Morales (1945–) –

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the feature ...

, vocals (1971–77) * Miguel Morales (1949–) –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

, bass guitar, vocals (1971–77, 1983–) * Ernie Garrett (d. 1978) – guitar, vocals (1977) * Juan Vidal (1945–) – keyboards, vocals (1971–77) * José Luis Tejada (1945–2014) – vocals (1972–77, 1980–83) * José María Moll (1946–) – drums (1972–74, 1980–) * Daniel Louis (1946–d.) – drums (1974–77) * Armando Pelayo (1948–) – keyboards (1980–83) * Jorge Eduardo "Koky" Maning – guitar, vocals (1980–83) * Jesús "Susi" Gordaliza – bass guitar, vocals (1980–83)

Album discography

* '' Wild Safari'' – 1971 (AKA ''Barrabás'') * ''

'' – 1973 * ''

'' – 1974 (AKA ''Release Barrabás'' or ''Hi-Jack'') * '' Heart of the City'' – 1975 (AKA ''Check Mate'') * '' Watch Out'' – 1975 (AKA ''Desperately'') * '' Barrabás'' – 1977 (AKA ''Swinger'' or ''Watch-Out'') * '' Piel de Barrabás'' – 1981 * '' Bestial'' – 1982 * ''

'' – 1983 * ''Barrabás Power – Abraxa'' – 1994 * ''Grandes Éxitos'' – 1997 * ''Vive'' – 1999

References

External links

Barrabás at Allmusic Barrabás are a Spanish musical group, most successful in the 1970s and 1980s when they were led by drummer and producer Fernando Arbex. The group's musical style was initially Latin rock with jazz and funk influences, and later developed into a ...

br>Discography at Spanishprogressiverock.blogpsot.comOfficial website
(

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: ** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Barrabas Spanish musical groups Atco Records artists English-language singers from Spain