Rewind: Massive Attack 'Protection'

Any band would be hard-pressed to follow up an acclaimed debut album, much less one that started a new genre in England, but Massive Attack did just that in style in 1994 when they released their sophomore album 'Protection'. This blog post will look at the sample sources of Massive Attack's second album.

The sped up guitar pangs that lead the album's single 'Protection' along are sampled from one of the coldest 7 minutes in funk history: James Brown's 'Payback' from his 1973 album of the same title. On 'Weather Storm', Massive Attack sample the jazz-fusion group Peices of a Dream's 'It's Time for Love' from their 1983 album 'Imagine This'. Horace Andy accompanies Massive Attack on 'Spying Glass' which utilizes a sample from Joe Gibbs and the Professional's famous dub cut 'Chapter 3'. JB gets sampled again on the album, this time Massive Attack use his 1972 cut 'Never Can Say Goodbye' from 'There It Is' on the track 'Better Things'. The title of the single 'Sly' alludes to its sample source: Sly Stone of course with 'Africa Talks to You (The Asphalt Jungle)' from Sly and the Family Stone's 1971 album 'There's a Riot Goin' On'. Finally, on the hidden live track 'Light My Fire', a cover of the Doors, Massive Attack sample another cover of the same song: Young-Holt Unlimited's cover of 'Light My Fire' from thier album 'Just a Melody'.

The Lowdown:
Massive Attack 'Protection', 'Weather Storm', 'Spying Glass', 'Better Things', 'Sly', and 'Light My Fire'
from 'Protection' (1994) (MP3/CD)
James Brown 'Payback'
from 'Payback' (1973) (MP3/CD)
Pieces of a Dream 'It's Time for Love'
from 'Imagine This' (1983) (MP3/CD)
Joe Gibbs and the Professionals 'Chapter 3'
from 'African Dub All-Mighty Chapter 3' (1978) (MP3 not available/CD)
James Brown 'Never Can Say Goodbye'
from 'There it Is' (1972) (MP3/CD not available)
Sly and the Family Stone 'Africa Talks to You (The Asphalt Jungle)'
from 'There's a Riot Goin' On' (1971) (MP3/CD)
Young-Holt Unlimited 'Light My Fire'
from 'Just a Melody' (1969) (MP3 not available/CD not available)

Pull Up: Drum Song Riddim

It's been over a month since our last Pull Up installment (it's hard to think irie with the weather as cold as it is, this doesn't apply to Jamaica of course) so let's dig some more reggae and dancehall. I'm still feeling the Darker Shade of Black riddim, as can be easily noted by looking at the tracklist of my latest mix (blatant plug), so I am going to cover another riddim based on a Jackie Mittoo tune: the Drum Song riddim.

'Drum Song' was originally released on the 1968 album 'Evening Time' by Jackie Mittoo and the Soul Vendors (early copies of the single list the artist as just the Soul Vendors). An early version of the song appeared in 1969 with Derrick Morgan's 'Seven Letters'.

By the late 70s and early 80s, dub was in fashion and the Drum Song riddim was among the many that were getting notice from dub producers. The riddim is the basis for Joe Gibbs and the Professionals' track 'Power Pack' from their 1978 dub album 'African Dub - All Mighty Chapter Four' and it was also used three years later by Scientist for 'Drum Song Dub' on his absolutely essential dub album 'Scientific Dub', one of a string of excellent recordings from Scientist. In the 90s, Drum Song was used by Gregory Isaacs on his track 'Kill them with Music' and it appeared on Dawn Penn's 1994 comeback (cash-in?) album 'No, No, No' on the track 'Samfi Boy'.

The Lowdown:
Jackie Mittoo and the Soul Vendors 'Drum Song'
from 'Evening Time' (1968) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Derrick Morgan 'Seven Letters'
from 'Seven Letters' 7" (1969) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Joe Gibbs and the Professionals 'Power Pack'
from 'African Dub - All Mighty Chapter Four' (1978) (MP3/CD)
Scientist 'Drum Song Dub'
from 'Scientific Dub' (1981) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Gregory Isaacs 'Kill them with Music'
from 'Pardon Me' (1991) (MP3/CD not available)
Dawn Penn 'Samfi Boy'
from 'No, No, No' (1994) (MP3/CD not available)

Related Post:
Pull Up: Darker Shade of Black Riddim