At the height of Beatlemania, as the group embarked on their second US tour, Paul McCartney requested an unlikely support act. “We want the ‘na-na boys’,” he told manager Brian Epstein. So in August 1965, prior to The Beatles’ appearance, on to the stage of the Hollywood Bowl sprang Cannibal & the Headhunters, four toughened teenagers from the East LA projects. Among the songs they played was “Land of 1000 Dances” with its infectious “Na-nana-na-naa” hook.
Cannibal & the Headhunters were a Chicano group formed in 1965 by the joining of Frankie “Cannibal” Garcia with Bobby and the Classics. Guided by Rampart Records’ Eddie Davis, the quartet had a boyish charm and sang sweet harmonies inspired by Black doo-wop groups. Yet they shot to fame due to a slip-up.
Their live shows included a cover of a 1962 track by Chris Kenner: “Land of 1000 Dances”. During one performance, lead singer Garcia stumbled over the lyrics to Kenner’s song, got lost, and filled in the blank with an ad-libbed tune: “Na-nana-na-naa.” A delighted Billy Cardenas, the group’s co-manager, insisted they use it as an improvised intro for a single. The “na-na boys” were born. On their 1965 single release of “Land of 1000 Dances”, the Headhunters infused the song with soul, with Garcia citing the drum beat in Stevie Wonder’s 1963 hit “Fingertips” as inspiration.
The track propelled them to stardom. A month later they were playing the primetime TV variety show Hullabaloo along with Dionne Warwick, and in May they performed at a sold-out stadium on a bill with The Beach Boys and The Rolling Stones. Then came their slot on The Beatles’ tour.
The original track by Chris Kenner had little impact on release. Written by Kenner (who’d had a hit with “I Like it Like That” in 1961), it begins more like a spiritual than a dance anthem, with an a cappella intimation of a biblical promised land: “Children, go where I send you . . . to that land/Land of a thousand dances.” (Though this intro gave the song its title, it was cut from the radio release of the single.) Then comes a rip-rolling run-through of the day’s most popular dance moves: the pony, the twist, the mashed potato, the alligator . . .
Among the first acts to cover Kenner’s song were The Miracles, in typical Motown style, in 1963, with Bill “Smokey” Robinson crooning over its “oh yeah”s. After the release of The Headhunters’ version, acts began to latch on to the “na-na” chant, among them LA rock’n’rollers Thee Midniters. Dubbed the “Mexican Beatles” for their matching suits and boots, they covered the track, complete with “na-na” hook, in 1965.
When soul legend Wilson Pickett covered “Land of 1000 Dances” in 1966, he set the standard for hundreds of versions to come. Recorded in one take, Pickett’s cover has infectious energy. The song’s impatient thrill is typified by Pickett’s addition of a count-in: his howled “One, two, three” — shouted due to frustration with a long studio set-up — jumps to a blaring open chord. Pickett’s remake reached number six in the pop charts.