Rewind: Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth 'The Main Ingredient' (Part 3)

Welcome to our third and final look at Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth's second and final album 'The Main Ingredient'.

On 'Searching', Pete Rock sampled the Roy Ayers Ubiquity track 'Searching' from 1976's 'Vibrations'. The track 'Check it Out' finds C.L. rhyming on Young-Holt Unlimited's 'Bumpin' on Young Street' from 1972'2 'Oh Girl'. 'In the Flesh' features a sample from 1966's 'Ralph's New Blues' by the Modern Jazz Quartet as well as a sample from Steve Miller Band's 1976 hit 'Fly Like an Eagle' from the album of the same name. The outro of 'In the Flesh' features two very samplable funk joints: Kool and the Gang's 'Duji' from the 1974 album 'Kool Jazz' and Average White Band's breakbeat 'School Boy Crush' from the 1975 album 'Cut the Cake'. Pete Rock returns to Tom Scott's 'The Honeysuckle Breeze' on 'It's on You' by sampling 'Never My Love'. The song also samples Ahmad Jamal's 'The Awakening' from his 1970 album of the same name. On the closing track 'Get on the Mic', Pete Rock samples the Stax single 'Soul Girl' by Jeanne and the Darlings. On the album's final outro, he samples another cut from Ahmad Jamal's 'The Awakening': 'You're My Everything'.

Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth parted ways in 1995, following some commercial success with 'The Main Ingredient''s singles. Pete Rock followed up with a series of well received solo albums while C.L. Smooth appeared sporadically on other albums as cameos before his 2006 debut solo album 'American Me' (featuring one track produced by Pete Rock).

The Lowdown:
Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth 'Searching', 'Check it Out', 'In the Flesh', 'It's on You', and 'Get on the Mic'
from 'The Main Ingredient' (1994) (MP3/CD)
Roy Ayers Ubiquity 'Searching'
from 'Vibrations' (1976) (MP3/CD)
Young-Holt Unlimited 'Bumpin' on Young Street'
from 'Oh Girl' (1972) (MP3/CD)
Modern Jazz Quartet 'Ralph's New Blues'
from 'Blues at Carnegie Hall' (1966) (MP3/CD not available)
Steve Miller Band 'Fly Like an Eagle'
from 'Fly Like an Eagle' (1976) (MP3/CD)
Kool and the Gang 'Duji'
from 'Kool Jazz' (1974) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Average White Band 'School Boy Crush'
from 'Cut the Cake' (1975) (MP3/CD)
Tom Scott 'Never My Love'
from 'The Honeysuckle Breeze' (1968) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Ahmad Jamal 'The Awakening' and 'You are My Everything'
from 'The Awakening' (1970) (MP3/CD)
Jeanne and the Darlings 'Soul Girl'
from 'Soul Girl' 7" (1968) (MP3 not available/CD not available)

Rewind: Nightmares on Wax 'A Word of Science'

This year, independent electronic label Warp Records will be celebrating their 20th anniversary. This may not mean a lot to hip-hop fans, but Warp has released some great downtempo hip-hop albums. One of them is 1991's debut album by Nightmares on Wax titled 'A Word of Science'. This post will cover the sample sources of some of N.O.W.'s classic cuts and may even turn a few hip-hop heads towards Warp's direction.

The opening song to the album is 'Nights Interlude', a fantastic downtempo joint that pounds out live. The song samples 'Summer in the City', the highlight from Quincy Jones' 1973 album 'You Got it Bad Girl'. Look below for more on this track and the songs that have sampled it. On 'Coming Down', Nightmares on Wax samples Bob James' breakbeat extravaganza 'Take Me to the Mardi Gras' from his 1975 album 'Two'. 'A Case of Funk' samples the proto-disco track 'Sing Sing' by Gaz, which has in the last two decades come to be the defining sample in Baltimore Club's brash club beats. For 'Playtime', N.O.W. samples the popular break from Tom Scott and the L.A. Express' 'Sneakin' in the Back' from their eponymous 1974 album. Nightmares on Wax's earliest hit single is the throbbing 'Aftermath', which famously samples vocals from Cuba Gooding's 1983 single 'Happiness is Just Around the Bend'. Finally, on 'Back into Time', Steve Miller Band's 'Fly Like an Eagle' weaves its way in and out of the mix.

Since 1991, Nightmares on Wax has gone onto release five more albums, each with lazy day hip-hop speed instrumentals that are perfect for backyard barbecue soundtracks. Don't sleep on N.O.W. and don't sleep on these samples!

The Lowdown:
Nightmares on Wax 'Nights Interlude', 'Coming Down', 'A Case of Funk', 'Playtime', 'Aftermath', and 'Back into Time'
from 'A Word of Science' (1991) (MP3/CD)
Quincy Jones 'Summer in the City'
from 'You Got it Bad Girl' (1973) (MP3/CD)
Bob James 'Take Me to the Mardi Gras'
from 'Two' (1975) (MP3/CD)
Gaz 'Sing Sing'
from 'Gaz' (1979) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Tom Scott and the L.A. Express 'Sneakin' in the Back'
from 'Tom Scott and the L.A. Express' (1974) (MP3/CD not available)
Cuba Gooding 'Happiness is Just Around the Bend'
from 'Happiness is Just Around the Bend' (1983) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Steve Miller Band 'Fly Like and Eagle'
from 'Fly Like an Eagle' (1974) (MP3/CD)

Bonus Cuts:
Quincy Jones' haunting rendition of 'Summer in the City' is the choice for most funk and hip-hop fans, but classic rock people are more familiar with the original 'Summer in the City' by the Lovin' Spoonful (although, it too was sampled by J Dilla for De La Soul's 'Thru Ya City'). Quincy Jones' track was sampled by Nightmares on Wax in 1991, but has been sampled many more times since: most famously on the J-Swift produced 'Passin' Me By' by the Pharycde, in 1996 on the Roots' 'Clones', and on the 2000 Allstar produced remix of Joe's 'Stutter' with Mystikal.

Five On It: April 2009's Essentials

Welcome to the latest installment of Five On It, where we look at the best breaks of the month. There was a lot to choose from since April was full of great albums, so these five are all sureshots.

Unbelievably, this track has not gained Five On It status, but Isaac Hayes' 'The Look of Love' is both a soul classic and a hip-hop necessity. It was one of the sources from our review of Mary J. Blige's 'My Life', but it is also the basis for many other notable hip-hop tracks. This blog's review of Massive Attack's 'Blue Lines' yielded three of our breaks of the month: 'Sneakin' in the Back' by Tom Scott and the L.A. Express, the Donald Byrd produced 'Rock Creek Park' by the Blackbyrds, and the opening break of 'I'm Glad You're Mine' by Al Green. On our review of DOOM's 'Born Like This', MF Doom sampled Galt MacDermot's 'Princess Gika'. Look below for some more on MacDermot and the artists that have sampled him.

The Lowdown:
Isaac Hayes 'The Look of Love' (Radio Edit)
from '...To Be Continued' (1969) (MP3/CD)
Tom Scott and the L.A. Express 'Sneakin' in the Back'
from 'Tom Scott and the L.A. Express' (1973) (MP3/CD not available)
The Blackbyrds 'Rock Creek Park'
from 'City Life' (1975) (MP3/CD)
Al Green 'I'm Glad You're Mine'
from 'I'm Still in Love with You' (1972) (MP3/CD)
Galt MacDermot 'Princess Gika'
from 'Woman is Sweeter' (1969) (MP3/CD not available)

Bonus Cuts:
Galt MacDermot's 'Woman is Sweeter' is a highly sought after crate digger pick (and available from Amazon in MP3 format - score) and the source for some of hip-hop's finest. Rashad Smith sampled MacDermot's 'Space' for Busta Rhymes' breakout single 'Woo-Hah! Got You All in Check' from 1996. MF Doom also sampled 'Space' for his Metal Fingers track 'Cinquefoil'.

Rewind: Massive Attack 'Blue Lines' (Part 1)

Following success with the Wild Bunch, the members of Massive Attack released one of the then-unnamed genre of trip-hop's defining albums: 1991's 'Blue Lines'. Like its hip-hop predecessors, 'Blue Lines' contains more than its fair share of sampled breaks. This two part look at 'Blue Lines' will cover Massive Attack's sample sources.

The album's opening track and highest charting single is the hypnotic 'Safe from Harm'. The track samples its bassline from Billy Cobham's 1973 song 'Stratus' from the album 'Spectrum' as well as drum fills from Funkadelic's 'Good Ole Music'. The title track 'Blue Lines' samples Tom Scott and L.A. Express' necessary breakbeat 'Sneakin' In the Back' and the Donald Byrd produced b-boy classic 'Rock Creek Park' from the Blackbyrds' 1975 album 'City Life'. Massive Attack do a cover of William DeVaughn's 'Be Thankful for What You Got' on their similarly titled 'Be Thankful for What You've Got'. The group use another classic break on 'Five Man Army': Al Green's slo-mo intro drum fill on 'I'm Glad You're Mine' from his legendary album 'I'm Still in Love with You'.

Check back for part 2 of our look at 'Blue Lines'.

The Lowdown:
Massive Attack 'Safe from Harm', 'Blue Lines', 'Be Thankful for What You've Got', and 'Five Man Army'
from 'Blue Lines' (1991) (MP3/CD)
Billy Cobham 'Stratus'
from 'Spectrum' (1973) (MP3/CD)
Funkadelic 'Good Ole Music'
from 'Funkadelic' (1970) (MP3 not available/CD)
Tom Scott and the L.A. Express 'Sneakin' in the Back'
from 'Tom Scott and the L.A. Express' (1973) (MP3/CD not available)
The Blackbyrds 'Rock Creek Park'
from 'City Life' (1975) (MP3/CD)
William DeVaughn 'Be Thankful for What You Got'
from 'Be Thankful for What You Got' (1974) (MP3 not available/CD)
Al Green 'I'm Glad You're Mine'
from 'I'm Still in Love with You' (1972) (MP3/CD)

Bonus Cuts:
The title track from 'Blue Lines' was sampled on Barry Adamson's 'Something Wicked This Way Comes' released only a few years after Massive Attack's album. The song is notable for its use in David Lynch's film 'Lost Highway'.

Related Posts:
Source Material: Marvin Gaye 'I Want You' (Massive Attack appearance)