Fifty years ago, a teen group from East Los Angeles accomplished something they never dreamed of: opening for the greatest pop band in history The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl.
Commemorating the 50th anniversary of that great moment in Chicano/Latino rock history, Robert Jaramillo, the only surviving member of the original Cannibal and the Headhunters, will receive a proclamation at City Hall at 10 a.m. on Nov. 18.
Cannibal and the Headhunters joined the Fab Four’s second national tour. On the tour, they performed their fresh hit “Land of a Thousand Dances” with their famous “rowboat,” sitting down one in front of the other and rowing forward to the beat.
Originally a quartet, Cannibal and the Headhunters became a trio by the time they opened for The Beatles at Hollywood Bowl in 1965. Posthumous proclamations will also be issued to the other two late members who sang at that L.A. iconic amphitheater: Frankie "Cannibal" Garcia and Joe "Yo-Yo" Jaramillo. Relatives of these members are expected to attend and receive the proclamations on Nov. 18.
Cannibal and the Headhunters and their achievements inspired the new musical Eastside Heartbeats, a fictionalized story of four teens from East Los Angeles who dream of becoming rock stars. The play will open Jan. 15th at Casa 0101 Theater in Boyle Heights.
Also, Cannibal and the Headhunters and other acts from the Eastside and other Mexican-American communities in Southern California figure prominently in the exhibit “Roots of the Eastside Sound 1955-1955,” currently showing at Casa 0101 Theater's Jean Deleage Art Gallery.
