Source Material: James Brown 'Hell' (Part 1)

Welcome to our first installment of James Brown week. As the godfather of soul and the undisputed champion of mentions on this blog (this post will be his 30th mention in 146 posts, meaning he is mentioned in more than 1 in 5 posts), I thought we should celebrate his birthday, May 3rd, annually with James Brown week which will look at some of his lesser known breaks and releases. Today is the first look at a two part arc covering James Brown's 1974 double album 'Hell' and the producers who sampled it.

One of 'Hell''s standout tracks is the break laden 'Coldblooded' which is a prime slice of JB mid-70s funk. In 1990, DJ Premier sampled 'Coldblooded' for Lord Finesse and DJ Mike Smooth's 'Baby, You Nasty' from the album 'Funky Technician'. Easy Mo Bee used the same break in 1994 for the Notorious B.I.G.'s classic album cut 'Gimme the Loot' from his debut album 'Ready to Die'.

Another heavily sampled track from 'Hell' is James Brown's 'My Thang'. The song was sampled by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince for 1988's 'Brand New Funk' and a year later for Heavy D and the Boyz' cut 'We Got Our Own Thang' produced by Teddy Riley. In 1992, EPMD used the sample for their cut 'Gold Digger' and in 1993, it was sampled again by K-Def for the Lord of the Underground's single 'Funky Child' from the album 'Here Come the Lords'. Premier sampled 'My Thang' in 1996 for Jeru the Damaja's 'The Frustrated N----' and in 1997, J Dilla (as Jay Dee) sampled the song for Slum Village's 'I Don't Know' from their debut album 'Fan-Tas-Tic Vol. 1'.

Check back to this blog for more 'Hell' breaks.

The Lowdown:
James Brown 'Coldblooded' and 'My Thang'
from 'Hell' (1974) (MP3/CD)
Lord Finesse and DJ Mike Smooth 'Baby, You Nasty'
from 'Funky Technician' (1990) (MP3/CD)
The Notorious B.I.G. 'Gimme the Loot'
from 'Ready To Die' (1994) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edit: 'Gimme the Loot'
DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince 'Brand New Funk'
from 'He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper' (1988) (MP3 not available/CD)
Heavy D and the Boyz 'We Got Our Own Thang'
from 'Big Tyme' (1989) (MP3/CD)
EPMD 'Gold Digger'
from 'Business As Usual' (1992) (MP3/CD)
The Lords of the Underground 'Funky Child'
from 'Here Come the Lords' (1993) (MP3/CD)
Jeru the Damaja 'The Frustrated N----'
from 'Wrath of the Math' (1996) (MP3/CD)
Slum Village 'I Don't Know'
from 'Fan-Tas-Tic Vol. 1' (1997) (MP3/CD not available)

Bonus Cut:
'Brand New Funk' by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince got a makeover in 2007 by DJ Jazzy Jeff for 'Brand New Funk 2k7'.

Related Posts:
Source Material: James Brown 'Black Casear' (Part 1)
Source Material: James Brown 'Black Casear' (Part 2)
Producer Profile: DJ Premier (Part 3, 1994)

Rewind: Das EFX 'Dead Serious'

Formed in 1988 and found by EPMD at a talent show, Das EFX's platinum selling debut 'Dead Serious' became part of the soundtrack of 1992 with a series of charting singles with some popular sample sources. This entry into the Crate Creator blog will look at Das EFX's debut album in depth.

Lead single B-Side 'Jussummen' takes its refrain (and a few samples) from Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh's classic 1985 b-side 'La-Di-Da-Di' from their 'The Show' 12". 'Jussummen' also samples the Emotions' open break necessity 'Blind Alley' produced by David Porter for Stax. Das EFX's biggest single was their debut track 'They Want EFX', which samples James Brown's 'Black Caesar' soundtrack album cut 'Blind Men Can See It' as well as the heavy title track from his 1973 album 'The Payback'. Also sampled on 'They Want EFX' is Malcolm McLarens cash-in turned classic 'Buffalo Gals' from the highly suspect 'Duck Rock' album. The album track 'Dum Dums' takes its name from its source material: 'The Happy Song (Dun-Dum)' by Otis Redding. Finally, Das EFX's 'East Coast' samples East Coast phenoms ESG who emulated extra-terrestrial phenomena on 'UFO'. The track also samples Isaac Hayes' 'Ike's Mood I / You've Lost that Lovin' Feelin'' from '...To Be Continued' (worth the price of the album on its own) and the beat from James Brown's 'Funky President (People It's Bad)' from his 1975 album 'Reality'.

The reality of Das EFX's career was their signature rhyming style would be their downfall. After hitting big with the 'Check Yo Self' remix with Ice Cube, many other emcees bit their 'iggity' rhyme style, prompting Das EFX to drop it and more or less drop off themselves. Although they've released four albums since their debut, none have been able to copy the success of 'Dead Serious'.

The Lowdown:
Das EFX 'Jussummen', 'They Want EFX', 'Dum Dums', and 'East Coast'
from 'Dead Serious' (1992) (MP3 not available/CD)
Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh 'La-Di-Da-Di'
from 'The Show' (1985) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
The Emotions 'Blind Alley'
from 'Untouched' (1971) (MP3/CD)
James Brown 'Blind Man Can See It'
from 'Black Caesar' (1973) (MP3/CD)
James Brown 'The Payback'
from 'The Payback' (1973) (MP3/CD)
Malcolm McLaren 'Buffalo Gals'
from 'Duck Rock' (1983) (MP3/CD not available)
Otis Redding 'The Happy Song (Dun-Dum)'
from 'The Immortal Otis Redding' (1968) (MP3/CD)
ESG 'UFO'
from 'ESG' (1981) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Isaac Hayes 'Ike's Mood I / You've Lost that Lovin' Feelin''
from '...To Be Continued' (1969) (MP3/CD)
James Brown 'Funky President (People It's Bad)'
from 'Reality' (1975) (MP3 not available/CD not available)