Malo Biography & Awards | Billboard.com

Billboard requires a JavaScript enabled browser to get the full experience

Artist Info

Formed

1971 San Francisco, CA

Disbanded

1974

Members

Abel Zarate, Jorge Santana, Steve Sherard, Ron Murray, Forrest Buchtel, Luis Gasca, Richard Spremich, Ronald Smith, Raul Rekow, Leo Rosales, Ron Demasi, Tony Smith, Tom Poole, Francisco Aguabella, Richard Bean, Hadley Caliman, Arcello Garcia, Victor Pantoja, Mike Heathman, Michael Fugate, Pablo Tellez, Roy Murray, Richard Kermode

Biography

When Latin funk and Latin rock had its brief moment in the sun during the '70s, a number of groups emerged. Most were imitation Santanas, but at least Malo could boast that it had a real Santana in the lineup. Carlos Santana's brother Jorge headed Malo, and he possessed a little of his brother's vocal sound. Unfortunately, he didn't have enough to keep Malo going more than a few years. Their debut LP for Warner Bros. reached number 14 on the pop charts, but it was all downhill from there. The single "Suavecito" peaked at number 18 pop. They got very little attention from R&B or funk fans. ~ Ron Wynn, All Music Guide