Los Canarios – Free Yourself
Los Canarios – Magna
Los Canarios – She Brought The Blues (Into My Life)
Picked up this one up on my birthday in a very solid record shop in Madrid called Discos Melocoton. Tons of psych, rock and lots of Spanish music, even had Pedro Almodovar’s 12” “Suck It To Me” disco record (which I shamefully did NOT pick up, so sorry…). Best I’ve been able to figure out, Los Canarios started out as a rock/soul/jazz outfit, similar to Blood, Sweat & Tears in the US, then radically changed direction to more of a classical/prog thang in the 70s.
This record is a 80s reissue of their debut from 1970. Really great sound throughout, nice punchy drums, though there are very few clean breaks. You can definitely tell that this band had their ear to the West for funky fare, especially since (similar to another Spanish group Barrabas) virtually all of their songs are in English.
The title track, “Free Yourself,” is the best on the record, a great track with a pretty cool sentiment behind it and cooler sounds. I also dig on “Magna,” “Words to the Lord” & “She Brought the Blues (Into My Life).” One of many records where the drums are so snappy, so tight, you just wish there was an instrumental version of the whole record tucked away somewhere…
Here’s a live much longer perhaps even cooler version of the best song “Free Yourself / Liberate” on what I’m guessing was Spanish TV in the late 1960s. Gotta love a group that multi-tasks like this, everyone pulls double duty, on guitars, then horns, then percussion, que bueno…
Cheers,
Michael