Welcome Richard Bean & Sapo, Singer and Writer of “Suavecito” hit Song from Malo to the Redwood Cafe Stage!
Richard Bean first got involved with music by playing Sax in Junior High School. He went on to form and perform with various bands such as; The Dynamics (with Carlos Santana) at Mission High School in San Francisco, Wizardz (with former Malo guitarist Abel Zarate), Jet (with Jorge Santana, brother of latin rock legend, Carlos Santana), The Righteous Ones, Casanova (with Mike Judge bassist and creator of Beavis and Butthead. However, it wasn’t until 1968 wit a top-40 band called, The Malibu’s that included both Richard Bean and Arcelio Garcia on vocals, that one of his most creative periods would occur. As the Latin-Rock scene blossomed in the San Francisco Bay Area, the popularity of groups like Santana gave way to a new sound that would sweep the country. Producer David Rubinson decided he was going to create a super latin group and began to incorporate musicians from various groups in the are that would form the legendary Chicano super-group, Malo. Formed in 1971, with Jorge Santana and Abel Zarate on guitars, Pablo Tellez on bass, pianist Richard Kemode, Jazz trumpeters Luis Gasca and Roy Murray, singers Richard Bean and Arcelio Garfcia, and other stalker players, the band was complete.
After a few short months, Malo began to develop a new horn-orientated latin funk sound that was explosive and exciting. Developing a repertoire of original material, it was, at the time, a new concept that fused Jazz, Latin, R & B, and Rock. “We played well together, “ reveals Richard Bean. “We jammed, and songs started happening from the riffs we created.
Released in 1972 on Warner Bros. record, Suavecito has gone on to become one of latin-rock’s most requested classical love songs.
Richard Bean, lead singer, and
co-composer of the million seller, wrote the lyrics and the melody. Bean explains, “I wrote the words in algebra class for a girl I fell in love with and took it to rehearsal.” The rest is history, as the song swept the world.
But before Richard Bean could reap the glory of success, he left Malo for unspecified reasons. He knew Suavecito would become a big hit when he heard it on the radio as he was driving down Mission Street in San Francisco. Realizing his potential, he wanted to create something that reflected his musical ideas and concepts. Richard and his brother, Joe Bean decided to from a band and began to audition players. The group would be called, Sapo and were signed to Arista in 1974.
Visit the band at: www.facebook.com/SAPOLatinRockBand
Resident DJ mixes up his special brew of dance music for the occasion.
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