Barrabas

In the early 1970s Fernando Arbex, previously the driving force behind Los Brincos, assembled the Spanish ensemble Barrabas. The original six-piece lineup featured Tito Duarte, Miguel Morales, Ricky Morales, Ignacio Egana, and Joao Vidal alongside Arbex. Occasional personnel shifts marked the group’s history, the most notable being the addition of vocalist Jose Luis Tejada. Operating out of Madrid, the band drew equally from funk and psychedelic rock while clearly echoing Santana’s approach. Over the years Barrabas experimented with jazz-funk and disco textures, sending several singles onto dance floors across multiple countries. Their debut release, the 1972 album Wild Safari, yielded the hit single “Woman,” which stood as their most successful recording. Following the self-titled 1977 album the original configuration disbanded. Arbex revived the name in the early 1980s with a modestly altered roster that issued two further albums before the project ended permanently. Two collections issued under the Barrabas name, Grandes Exitos and Vive, contain no performances by any original members and are therefore inauthentic.