101 Reel-To-Reel Tapes 23: Barrabas ~ Power

 

Barrabás ~ Power

album cover photo by Martin J. Luis

concept & design by Richard Field, 

L. Martin & Fernando Arbex

photo of album cover by Styrous®

In addition to my vinyl collection I'm selling, I have hundreds of reel-to-reel, pre-recorded tapes I'm selling. This is an entry about one of them that was for sale on eBay (see link below for others). I have the vinyl LP version as well. Interested? Contact me by email, please, not by a comment.

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Barrabas was a group from Madrid, Spain. It's music is a fusion of Latin-style rock, funk, r&b, blues, and even a prog feel in parts.

The song, Casanova, has an interesting pizzaccato bass guitar. A very fast beat drives the song on with a great organ riding the crest of it. The lyrics are not earth-shaking but the music makes up for it.

Children is a mellow sort of samba with a nice dance beat, kind of jazzy with a great flute during the instrumental break.

Keep On Moving is a syncopated, jazzy kind of train-movin'-on-down-the-track beat that is perfect for dancing.

Mr. Money is a bouncey, afro-feeling in the vein of Osibisa; a really nice dance song that got me up 'n dancin' on the dance floor.

The Horse is a moderately slow, jazz instrumental that is like a sorbet between courses song with great flutes.

Time To Love is a mellow cha-cha love song with a nice flute that makes for quality romantic close up dancing. Breaks out into a faster beat midway through the song.

My favorite song from the album is Boogie Rock which is in the vein of good 'ol rock 'n roll that puts me in mind of Canned Heat's, On the Road Again. A terrific dance tune with a fantastic harmonica.

Well, while I'm on the subject of On the Road Again, a French electro-disco group, the Rockets, did a terrific cover of the song which was released in April, 1978, on Derby, an early Italian disco label. I have a version released on Tom 'n Jerry Records, an early electro-disco label from New York, run by Tom Moulton, who was important in the the rise of disco (he was the originator of the remix, the breakdown section or "Disco Break", and the 12-inch single vinyl format), and his younger brother Jerry. The parent label was Salsoul Records.

Near the bottom of this post there are links to the songs mentioned on YouTube so you can hear them for yourself, if you'd like.

There was a rare Israeli pressing with a different cover on the RCA Victor label, LSP-10487 (3G3VPS 2019/2020). 

Barrabás ~ Power

LP album cover

Israeli pressing

photographer unknown

Barrabás ~ Power

album back cover photo by Martin J. Luis

photo of album cover back by Styrous®

Barrabás ~ Power

reel-to-reel tape

photo by Styrous®

Barrabás ~ Power

reel-to-reel label detail

detail photo by Styrous®

 Tracklist:

Side 1:

1. Mr. Money - 3:23    
2. Boogie Rock - 3:06    
3. Keep On Moving - 3:13    
4. The Horse - 4:45    

Side 2:

1. Casanova - 3:36    
2. You Know - 3:30    
3. Children - 4:02    
4. Time To Love - 4:07    

Personnel:


José Luís Tejada – lead vocals
Enrique "Ricky" Morales – lead guitar, vocals
Miguel Morales – guitar, bass guitar, vocals
Ernesto "Tito" Duarte – saxophone, flute, percussion
Juan Vidal – keyboards, vocals
José María Moll – drums

Produced by Fernando Arbex
Recorded at RCA Victor Studios, Madrid


Music links:

Mr. Money on YouTube
Casanova on YouTube
Children on YouTube
The Horse on YouTube

Keep On Moving on YouTube 

Time To Love on YouTube
Boogie Rock on YouTube
Canned Heat, On the Road Again on YouTube
Rockets, On the Road Again on YouTube


reel-to-reel listings on eBay

more reel-to-reel tapes on the Styrous® Viewfinder:
                                             reel-to-reel tape archive

All in all, this is a great album with some good dance songs that I've enjoyed very much. Thanks, Guys, well done.



Styrous® ~ Thursday, November 14, 2013

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