Dinosaurdays - Barrabas

Biography
their history goes back to the early seventies when they were formed by members from various Spanish/Portugueses peaking countries such as Cuba, Spain, Manilla and Portugal. Formed and based in Spain, the initial members were drummer/vocalist Fernando Arbex, Ricky Morales on guitar and vocals, his brother Miguel on acoustic guitar, bass and vocals, Ernesto Duarte on sax, percussion, flute and drums, keyboard player Juan Vidal and Jose Egana on bass and vocals. Their first album, simply titled "Barrabas", was released on RCA in 1972, and it highlighted the band's Afro-Moorish influences, but with exciting rock undertones. Their vocal harmonies were astounding too, as was the overall quality of musicianship. They became superstars in Spain, and this slowly spread to many other countries in Europe as well as in the US. They went on to release about ten albums before splitting in the mid 80's.

Biography by Andy Kellman
Barrabas was a Spanish group formed in the early '70s by former Los Brincos leader Fernando Arbex. At its formation, Barrabas was a six-piece including Tito Duarte, Miguel Morales, Ricky Morales, Ignacio Egana, and Joao Vidal. (Members changed occasionally; the most significant change occurred when vocalist Jose Luis Tejada was added to the lineup.) The Madrid-based group was equally influenced by funk and psychedelic rock, and they certainly took a cue from Santana. Throughout their career, they flirted with jazz-funk and disco; a handful of singles become club favorites in several countries. Their first album, 1972's Wild Safari, spawned "Woman," their biggest hit. After a self-titled 1977 album, the group disbanded. Arbex resurrected the group in the early '80s with a slightly revamped lineup; that group released another pair of albums before finally dissolving for good. Beware: two "compilations" released under the name Barrabas — Grandes Exitos and Vive — feature no original members of the group and are fraudulent.