Los Canarios

Soul rock and progressive rock group

Los Canarios
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Island
Gran Canaria
Career
Active between 1965 and 1972; Ciclos was released in 1974

In brief

Emerging in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria from Los Ídolos, Los Canarios brought Canarian beat, soul and progressive rock into the Spanish and international circuit of the late 1960s.

Related figures

  • Eduardo "Teddy" Bautista

Works and repertoire

  • Three-Two-One-Ah!
  • Peppermint Frappé
  • Get On Your Knees
  • Libérate
  • Ciclos

Group history

The group grew out of Los Ídolos, a Gran Canaria band formed by Eduardo "Teddy" Bautista, Germán Pérez, Rafael Izquierdo and José "Tato" Luzardo. In 1965, after meeting Dudley Cooper in Seville, they toured the United States as The Canaries. After returning, they played European dates and, under the name Los Canarios, recorded in London with Alain Milhaud before expanding the line-up with a brass section. The soul period and the 1967-1968 singles led into a progressive direction; the group disbanded in 1972, and Teddy Bautista released Ciclos in 1974 with other musicians.

Why it matters

Their importance lies in connecting a young island scene with international languages at a time when Spanish rock was still finding modern forms. The reach of Get On Your Knees, the British chart presence of Three-Two-One-Ah! and the symphonic ambition of Ciclos place Los Canarios among the Canarian groups that changed the scale of popular music made in the islands.

Style and repertoire

The repertory moved from the beat sound of Los Ídolos to soul with brass and vocal arrangements, and then to progressive rock. The addition of trumpet, saxophone and trombone gave the group an unusual sound in Spain at the time. Ciclos took that evolution towards symphonic rock, rereading Vivaldi’s Four Seasons as a conceptual work.

Transmission and legacy

Their legacy circulates mainly through reissues, music-history programmes, tributes to Teddy Bautista and the presence of their songs and albums in specialist catalogues. For the Canary Islands, the group’s history shows that the sound modernity of the 1960s also emerged from the archipelago’s ports, venues and musical networks.

Key milestones

  1. The Canaries

    After a performance in Seville, the band travels to the United States and adopts the name The Canaries.

  2. Grabaciones en Londres

    Three-Two-One-Ah! appears in the BBC charts for several weeks.

  3. Etapa soul

    Peppermint Frappé and Get On Your Knees consolidate their public reach.

  4. Disolución y Ciclos

    The band disbands in 1972; Ciclos appears in 1974 as a progressive project led by Teddy Bautista.

Sources and links

CanariosCanariWiki - Gobierno de Canarias ↗TVC rinde homenaje a Teddy BautistaRadio Televisión Canaria ↗Los Canarios: pop canario internacional de los años sesentaRTVE ↗
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