''Heart of the City'' is the fourth album by the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

group

Barrabás Barrabás are a Spanish musical group, most successful in the 1970s and 1980s when they were led by drummer and producer Fernando Arbex. The group's musical style was initially Latin rock with jazz and funk influences, and later developed into a ...

, released in 1975. The album charted at #149 on the ''Billboard'' 200 in the USA, and was later re-released on CD in Spain as ''Check Mate''. This album was the first to feature Daniel Louis on

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, after the departure of José María Moll. "Checkmate" / "Family Size" and "Make It Easy" / "Take a Wild Ride" were released as singles. The instrumental "Mellow Blow" was one of the first

12-inch single The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12″) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a 'single' or a few related sound tracks on each surfac ...

s to be released, and the first ever on

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

.Saturday Night Forever: The Story of Disco Alan Jones, Jussi Kantonen - 2011 1907195912 "Barrabas supplied breezy dance-floor fodder via "Wild Safari,” “Woman,” "Hijack” (which Herbie Mann covered for America, garnering the most successful single of his career), and from their album Heart of the City, "Family Size,” “Checkmate,” .."

Track listing

#"Checkmate" (

Fernando Arbex José Fernando Arbex Miró (28 May 1941 – 5 July 2003) was an influential Spanish musician and songwriter from Madrid, who enjoyed success both with his own groups and also with other artists. While still in his teens, he was the drummer in Los ...

) – 4:28 #"Take a Wild Ride" (E. Morales, M. Morales, Ernesto Duarte, Daniel Louis) – 4:00 #"Along the Shore" (Duarte, José Luís Tejada) – 6:06 #"Make It Easy" (E. Morales, M. Morales) – 3:54 #"Family Size" (Arbex) – 3:21 #"Mellow Blow" (E. Morales) – 4:12 #"Thank You Love" (E. Morales, M. Morales) – 4:45 #"Four Season Woman" (Arbex) – 3:57

Personnel

*José Luís Tejada –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

*Enrique "Ricky" Morales –

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

and acoustic guitars, backing vocals *Miguel Morales –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular recu ...

and acoustic guitars, backing vocals * Ernesto "Tito" Duarte –

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

, bass guitar *Juan Vidal –

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, backing vocals *Daniel Louis –

, percussion *"The Waters" (Maxine, Julia & Patti) – backing vocals *Produced by

*Recorded at Blue Rock Studios, New York

Release information

*Spain –

Ariola Ariola (also known as Ariola Records, Ariola-Eurodisc and BMG Ariola) is a German record label. In the late 1980s, it was a subsidiary label of the Bertelsmann Music Group, which in turn has become a part of the international media conglomerat ...

Eurodisc *Germany – Ariola 89 267 XOT *USA & Canada –

Atco Atco or ATCO may refer to: Businesses * ATCO, a Canadian diversified company involved in manufacturing, utilities, energy and technologies ** ATCO Electric, a subsidiary of the above company * Atco (British mower company), a mower manufacturing com ...

SD 36-118 *Italy –

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

W50165 *Disconforme DISC 1993CD (2001 CD) – (as ''Check Mate'') *

Wounded Bird Wounded Bird Records is an American compact disc only re-issue record label that was founded in 1998 in Guilderland, New York. They re-release lesser known albums from popular and lesser known artists, including Paul Butterfield, Cactus, Herbie ...

WOBR6118 (2008 CD)

References

* 1975 albums Barrabás albums {{1970s-album-stub