Five On It: June 2008's Essentials

The new Five on It section is a recap of the month's most essential beats for everyone too lazy to sift through a month worth of posts (RE: haters) to find the cream of the crop. Each month, I'll also throw some bonus cuts in there as well. "Six On It" or "Seven On It" really doesn't have the same ring, sorry about the misnomer.

June's five begins with Aretha Franklin's 'Save Me' from Rewind: Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth 'The Creator' (post #1 on this blog). 'Save Me''s driving beat may be an unconventional drum source for hip-hop producers, but it can be deadly on songs in the 120-130 bpm range. Also, slightly fast for conventional hip-hop tracks is 'Superfly' by Curtis from Source Material: Curtis Mayfield 'Superfly', blog post #2. One of my personal favorite rock breaks of all time is the STOMPING organ and drum intro on Graham Nash's 'Chicago' from Producer Profile: Kanye West (Part 1). Never have war protest songs hit so hard (sorry 'Ohio' by Neil Young - I see you).

It may be used to death, but every few years someone flips Bob James' 'Nautilus' (from Rewind: Ghostface Killah 'Ironman') in a new way that makes you forget every Bob James sampling track before it. A note to producers about sample clearance: Bob James will notoriously get his money. He has gone after smaller producers and artists that have sampled his work. Sampler beware. Finally, Zapp's 'More Bounce to the Ounce' was mentioned on post #7's Rewind: Ice Cube 'Jackin' For Beats'. It may not be the most prevalent sample in this Bomb Squad sample massacre, but it's one of the longest living floor fillers and an ongoing sample source for producers.

The Lowdown:
Aretha Franklin 'Save Me'
from 'I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You' (1967) (MP3/CD)
Curtis Mayfield 'Superfly'
from 'Superfly' (1972) (MP3/CD)
Graham Nash 'Chicago'
from 'Songs for Beginners' (1970) (MP3/CD unavailable)
Bob James 'Nautilus'
from 'One' (1974) (MP3/CD)
Zapp 'More Bounce to the Ounce'
from 'Zapp' (1979) (MP3/CD)

BONUS CUT:
Aretha's stormer from 'I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love you', 'Save Me', was covered two years later for an equally storming (and samplable) version by Nina Simone. Simone's version of 'Save Me' is one of the funkiest tracks in her catalog, and those who know her songs, this is saying a lot. Check it out.