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This will mark this blog's first Halloween and I plan to celebrate it with a Halloween themed post each year (if it, in fact, runs longer than a year). What better way to celebrate Halloween than with the Geto Boys and their Halloween themed biggest hit?
'We Can't Be Stopped' was the album that put the Geto Boys on the map (though, remarkably, three of their later four albums charted better than 'Stopped') and as much as it's full of shocking imagery, it's also full of outstanding beats. The title track 'We Can't Be Stopped' samples the mid 70s Average White Band cut 'Love Your Life'. The album cut 'Homie Don't Play That' uses a number of classic West Coast cuts including Funkadelic's '(Not Just) Knee Deep', Zapp's 'More Bounce to the Ounce', Ronnie Hudson's 'West Coast Poplock', George Clinton's party starter 'Atomic Dog', and 'Pumpin' It Up' by the P-Funk All Stars. That list of sampled material itself is a peak hour house party soundtrack.The Geto Boys' biggest single and the focus of this post is, of course, 'Mind Playing Tricks On Me', a #1 rap single in 1991 and an often referenced hip-hop milestone. The song's bassline is cut from Isaac Hayes' 'Tough Guys' album track 'Hung Up on My Baby'. The song also samples Graham Central Station's popular break 'The Jam'. There are many quotable moments on 'Playing Tricks', but I think it is safe to say that no one in the past or the future will be able to rhyme 'sword' and 'paranoid' together as well as here. Finally, November 4th approaches and it's necessary to say 'F--- a War'. The Geto Boys' deep album cut 'F--- a War' clips Sound Experience's 'Devil with the Bust', a huge drum break for you producers out there (I'm actually amazed Amazon has this one).
The success of the Geto Boys would continue despite a slight line-up change and solo projects from Bushwick Bill and Scarface.The Lowdown:
Geto Boys 'We Can't Be Stopped', 'Homie Don't Play That', 'Mind Playing Tricks on Me', and 'F--- a War'
from 'We Can't Be Stopped' (1991) (MP3 not available/CD)
Average White Band 'Love Your Life'
from 'Soul Searching' (1976) (MP3/CD)
Funkadelic '(Not Just) Knee Deep'
from 'Uncle Jam Wants You' (1979) (MP3 not available/CD)
Zapp 'More Bounce to the Ounce'
from 'Zapp' (1979) (MP3/CD)
Ronnie Hudson 'West Coast Poplock'
from 'West Coast Poplock'(1982) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
George Clinton 'Atomic Dog'
from 'Computer Games' (1982) (MP3 not available/CD)
P-Funk All Stars 'Pumpin' it Up'
from 'Urban Dancefloor Guerillas' (1983) (MP3/CD not available)
Isaac Hayes 'Hung Up on My Baby'
from 'Tough Guys' (1974) (MP3/CD)
Graham Central Station 'The Jam'
from 'Ain't No Bout-a-Doubt It' (1975) (MP3/CD)
Sound Experience 'Devil with the Bust'
from 'Don't Fight the Feeling' (1974) (MP3/CD not available)
Welcome to October's Five On It - the most essential breaks of the past month in one place.
It should be no surprise that James Brown is the most tagged artist name on this blog and with beats like 'Hot (I Need to Be Loved Loved Loved Loved)' from our first post about Above the Law's 'Livin' Like Hustlers', you can be sure that we'll keep covering the godfather of soul. On the second part of our look at 'Livin' Like Hustlers', we covered Isaac Hayes' album track 'Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic' from his classic 'Hot Buttered Soul'. Along with 'Walk on By', 'Hot Buttered Soul' is an essential album for both music lovers and producers looking for beats.Nina Simone's 'Sinnerman' was featured on this blog's second Kanye West Producer Profile post along with two bonus reggae covers. Check out our review of Das EFX's 'Dead Serious' for our mention of the Emotions' break on 'Blind Alley'. The same post contains the first mention of ESG's essential breakbeat track 'UFO'. Check below for some bonus ESG treats.The Lowdown:
James Brown 'Hot (I Need to Be Loved Loved Loved Loved)'
from 'Hot!' (1976) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Isaac Hayes 'Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic'
from 'Hot Buttered Soul' (1968) (MP3/CD)
Nina Simone 'Sinnerman'
from 'Pastel Blues' (1965) (MP3/CD)
The Emotions 'Blind Alley'
from 'Untouched' (1971) (MP3/CD)
ESG 'UFO'
from 'ESG' (1981) (MP3 not available/CD not available)BONUS CUTS:
Emerald, Sapphire, and Gold - shortened to ESG - was made of three Bronx sisters from the Scroggins family with an additional guitarist and bassist (later replaced by even more Scroggins family members). Their United States debut was 1981's self titled 6-track EP, but their first recordings were for the UK's Factory Records. Martin Hannett (best known for his work with Joy Division, New Order, and the Happy Mondays) produced three tracks for ESG's debut single 'You're No Good' which features 'UFO', 'You're No Good', and the amazing dance track 'Moody'. All three tracks made up the A-side of the US release of 'ESG' with three new tracks on the B-side.
Following his commercial breakthrough by having a beat placed on Jay-Z's 'The Black Album', 9th Wonder followed with a single for Destiny's Child's final album 'Destiny Fulfilled'. 'Girl' nearly broke the top 20 in the United States and did better overseas. 9th Wonder samples the Dramatics' album track 'Ocean of Thoughts and Dreams' from their late 70s album 'Shake it Well'.
During the same year, Murs and 9th Wonder joint venture 'Murs 3:16: The 9th Edition' was released on Definitive Jux. We'll cover the album in depth in a future post, but for this post we'll cover the A and B side of the lead single 'Bad Man!'. 'Bad Man!''s reggae steez is plucked from the Mighty Diamond's 1986 track 'Illiteracy' from their album 'Reggae Street'. The B-side track '3:16' samples Black Heat's 'Street of Tears' from their self titled album from 1972.
2005 saw the release of Little Brother's ill-fated big label debut with the album 'The Minstrel Show' on Atlantic Records. An example of the excellent production on the album is the track 'Hiding Places' which samples Bobby Womack's 'Jealous Love'. Though praised on its release, it sold poorly and led to rifts within Little Brother. Their following album would contain only one track produced by 9th Wonder and by 2007 would split with Little Brother entirely.The Lowdown:
Destiny's Child 'Girl'
from 'Destiny Fulfilled' (2004) (MP3/CD)
The Dramatics 'Ocean of Thoughts and Dreams'
from 'Shake It Well' (1977) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Murs 'Bad Man!' and '3:16'
from 'Murs 3:16: The 9th Edition' (2004) (MP3/CD)
The Mighty Diamonds 'Illiteracy'
from 'Reggae Street' (1986) (MP3/CD)
Black Heat 'Street of Tears'
from 'Black Heat' (1972) (MP3/CD not available)
Little Brother 'Hiding Place'
from 'The Minstrel Show' (2005) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edit:'Hiding Place'
Bobby Womack 'Jealous Love'
from 'I Don't Know What the World is Coming To' (1975) (MP3/CD)
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After forming in the early 90s, the Lootpack's first big break with their production and guest verse contribution to the Alkaholik's '21 & Over' album cut 'Turn tha Party Out' in 1993. Six years later, the Lootpack (made up of Madlib, Wildchild, and DJ Romes), released their first (and to date, only) album titled 'Soundpieces: Da Antidote'. This two part arc will cover the sample sources for this early Madlib production credit.
The album's single 'Whenimondamic' samples B.T. Express' 'Do it ('Til Your Satisfied)' album track 'If It Don't Turn You On (You Outta Leave It Alone)'. The album track 'Crate Diggin'', as the name implies, digs a little deeper for Vanilla Fudge's cover of the Beatles' 'Eleanor Rigby' and David Axelrod's 'Merlin's Prophecy' from his 1968 debut album 'Song of Innocence'. On 'Frenz Vs Endz', Madlib samples Miles Davis' classic album 'Bitches Brew' by plucking bits from 'Miles Tuns the Voodoo Down'.
Check back for the second part of our look at 'Soundpieces: Da Antidote'.The Lowdown:
Lootpack 'Whenimondamic', 'Crate Diggin'', and 'Frenz vs Endz'
from 'Soundpieces: Da Antidote' (1999) (MP3/CD not available)
B.T. Express 'If It Don't Turn You On (You Outta Leave It Alone)'
from 'Do it ('Til Your Satisfied)' (1974) (MP3/CD)
Vanilla Fudge 'Eleanor Rigby'
from 'Vanilla Fudge' (1966) (MP3/CD)
David Axelrod 'Merlin's Prophecy'
from 'Song of Innocence' (1968) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Miles Davis 'Miles Tuns the Voodoo Down'
from 'Bitches Brew' (1969) (MP3/CD)
Welcome to part 2 of our look at David Axelrod's production profile, focusing on his production on his own early albums and the artists that sampled them decades later.After Axelrod's success as a producer for others, he was encouraged to produce his own instrumental albums. In 1968, he released his first album 'Song of Innocence', an concept album that was loosely based on the writings of 18th century artist William Blake. The album would also contain some of the most sought-after beats by crate diggers worldwide. 'Holy Thursday' was one of the many samples used by Madlib on the Quasimoto track 'Return of the Loop Digga', but most recently it emerged (to my astonishment) as the backing to Lil Wayne's 'Dr. Carter' from the hugely popular 'Tha Carter III'. Swizz Beatz delivered Weezy with an unusually simple looped up 'Holy Thursday' bassline - it's a step out of the norm for both the artist and the producer. 'The Mental Traveller' from 'Song of Innocence' was used by Ras Kass on 'Soul on Ice' from his 1996 debut album also titled 'Soul on Ice'.Axelrod followed 'Song of Innocence' with another Blake themed album, the instrumental 'Songs of Experience'. Axelrod's 'The Human Abstract' would be sampled heavily for DJ Shadow's moody single 'Midnight in a Perfect World' from his outstanding debut album 'Endtroducing...' (Shadow would sample Axelrod again during his stint with U.N.K.L.E.). Kool G Rap would sample the 'Songs of Experience' track 'A Divine Image' on his track 'Take 'em to War' from his first solo album '4, 5, 6'. 'A Divine Image' was sampled again three years later by DJ Muggs on Cypress Hill's '16 Men Till There's No Men Left'.Axelrod would only release one more album through Capitol, 1970's 'Earth Rot', before splitting with the label. Through the 70s, he recorded several more albums for RCA, Decca, Polydor, and MCA.The Lowdown:
David Axelrod 'Holy Thursday' and 'The Mental Traveler'
from 'Song of Innocence' (1968) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Quasimoto 'Return of the Loop Digga'
from 'The Unseen' (2000) (MP3/CD)
Lil Wayne 'Dr. Carter'
from 'Tha Carter III' (2008) (MP3/CD)
Ras Kass 'Soul on Ice'
from 'Soul on Ice' (1996) (MP3/CD not available)
David Axelrod 'The Human Abstract' and 'A Divine Image'
from 'Songs of Experience' (1969) (MP3 not available/Import CD)
DJ Shadow 'Midnight in a Perfect World'
from 'Endtroducing...' (1996) (MP3 not available/CD)
Kool G Rap 'Take 'em to War'
from '4, 5, 6' (1995) (MP3/CD)
Cypress Hill '16 Men 'Til There's No Men Left'
from 'Cypress Hill IV' (1998) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edit: '16 Men 'Til There's No Men Left'
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This edition of this blog's Street Sounds section will cover the works of Tony Butler, otherwise known as Pretty Tony or Freestyle. Butler's sound was highly influential for Miami in the early 80s and would be an ancestor of works from 2 Live Crew, the bass explosion including artists like Dynamix II, and future acts that use Miami's signature electro sound. How many artists can say they have a genre named after them? Freestyle (not to be confused with New York Freestyle) still ignites dancefloors.
Butler's breakthrough was his production for the 1983 regional club hit 'When I Hear Music' by Debbie Deb, which has 20 years later become a club staple. Butler recorded singles under hi Pretty Tony alias, like the hit 'Jam the Box' that shines with its NYC electro sounds. One of Butler's most notable club hits as Freestyle (previously Freestyle Express) was the 1985 single 'Don't Stop the Rock', which has been sampled numerous times by dance music producers.
Check back for more singles produced by Pretty Tony in part 2 of our look at his work.The Lowdown:
Debbie Deb 'When I Hear Music'
from 'When I Hear Music' (1983) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Pretty Tony 'Jam the Box'
from 'Jam the Box' (1984) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Freestyle 'Don't Stop the Rock'
from 'Don't Stop the Rock' (1985) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
BONUS CUTS:
You have to love internet singles. Here are the instrumentals for all of the songs mentioned above: 'When I Hear Music' (Instrumental), 'Jam the Box' (Instrumental), and 'Don't Stop the Rock' (Instrumental).
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)
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Kanye West's commercial breakthrough as a producer came in 2001 when he contributed a number of tracks and charting singles to Jay-Z's 'The Blueprint', often cited a sea change in Jay-Z's career thanks, in part, to the sound of West and Just Blaze. 'The Blueprint' will be covered in depth in a future post of this blog, so I will only cover one of Kanye's beats: the excellent 'Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)' which samples generously from Bobby Bland's 'Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City' from his 1973 album 'Dreamer'. Although he produced stellar singles for Jay-Z, his stock was set to rise even more in 2002.
Talib Kweli's 'Get By' was inescapable in 2002, thanks to Kanye's swift edit of Nina Simone's 'Sinnerman' from her album 'Pastel Blues'. The single, laced with then newcomer / future Kanye collaborator John Legend's background vocals, was a new high water mark for both West and Kweli and the track is arguably Talib Kweli's career defining moment to date. 2002 also saw the release of some of his production work for Scarface for his 2002 album 'The Fix'. Kanye samples 'Sunrise' by the Originals for Scarface's single 'Guess Who's Back' with guest appearances from Jay-Z and Beanie Sigel. In 2002, Nas' 'The Lost Tapes' album saw release, which included one of Kanye West's ghost productions for Deric 'D-Dot' Angelettie. 'Poppa Was a Playa' from 'The Lost Tapes' contains a sample of 'The Newness is Gone' by Eddie Kendricks from his album 'Goin' Up in Smoke'.
Check back for the next look at Kanye's production output and also be on the lookout for future posts covering his albums.The Lowdown:
Jay-Z 'Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)'
from 'The Blueprint' (2001) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edit:'Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)'
Bobby Bland 'Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City'
from 'Dreamer' (1973) (MP3/Import CD)
Talib Kweli 'Get By'
from 'Quality' (2002) (MP3 not available/CD)
Nina Simone 'Sinnerman'
from 'Pastel Blues' (1965) (MP3/CD)
Scarface 'Guess Who's Back'
from 'The Fix' (2002) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edit:'Guess Who's Back'
The Originals 'Sunrise'
from 'Down to Love Town' (1977) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Nas 'Poppa Was a Playa'
from 'The Lost Tapes' (2002) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edit:'Poppa Was a Playa'
Eddie Kendricks 'The Newness is Gone'
from 'Goin' Up in Smoke' (1976) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
BONUS CUTS:
Nina Simone's 'Sinnerman' was a popular track to cover by reggae artists (like many soul singles from the United States). Peter Tosh delivers a classic cover with the slightly rewritten 'Downpressor Man' while Tosh's one time collaborators Bob Marley and the Wailers delivered their own 'Sinner Man'.
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One of Dr. Dre's best post-'Straight Outta Compton' / pre-'The Chronic' production works is the debut album by future Death Row labelmates Above the Law. 1990's 'Livin' Like Hustlers' is the lone album produced by Dre; despite their link to Death Row, Dr. Dre would not return to the boards for their future albums. This two post arc will cover the samples used in one of the West Coast's most overlooked albums.
'Untouchable' is underpinned by the familiar James Brown 'Funky Drummer' break, but also uses samples from Young Holt Unlimited's cover of 'Light My Fire' by the Doors and Quincy Jones' 'Ironside' (most known for its recent use in 'Kill Bill'). The title track to 'Livin' like Hustlers' also samples further from Quincy Jones' 'Smackwater Jack' album, knicking bits of 'Hikky Burr'. It also features another JB sample, the track 'Hot (I Need to Be Loved Loved Loved Loved)' from his 1976 album 'Hot!'.
Above the Law's 'Menace to Society' goes to town with its use of B.T. Express samples, sourcing no less than three tracks from the Express' 1974 hit LP 'Do It ('Til You're Satisfied)'. Dre uses 'This House is Smokin'', 'Once You Get It', and 'Do You Like It' for the backing of 'Menace'.
Check back for part 2 of our look at 'Livin' Like Hustlers'.The Lowdown:
Above the Law 'Untouchable', 'Livin' Like Hustlers', and 'Menace to Society'
from 'Livin' Like Hustlers' (1989) (MP3/CD)
James Brown 'Funky Drummer'
Young Holt Unlimited 'Light My Fire'
from 'Just a Melody' (1969) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Quincy Jones 'Ironside' and 'Hikky Burr'
from 'Smackwater Jack' (1970) (MP3/Import CD)
James Brown 'Hot (I Need to Be Loved Loved Loved Loved)'
from 'Hot!' (1976) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
B.T. Express 'This House is Smokin'', 'Once You Get It', and 'Do You Like It'
from 'Do It ('Til You're Satisfied)' (1974) (MP3/CD)
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'California Soul' by Marlena Shaw is a former Five On It essential break pick (from August 2008) and this post will expand on why exactly this break is so necessary. Marlena Shaw was signed by Chess Records at the age of 24, leading to two albums before her move to jazz powerhouse Blue Note (where she was the first female artist signing). 'California Soul' is from her 1969 album 'Spice of Life' and the track has received a recent revival from use in a jeans advertisement. Like many other instances, advertisers were a little behind - 'California Soul' has been a hip-hop staple for some time.
One of the first instances of the opening break being sampled is for Gang Starr's 'Check the Technique' from the Primo produced 'Step in the Areana'. Two years later DJ Food (formerly the members of Coldcut, but taken over by Patrick Carpenter in 1993) sampled 'California Soul' on 'Dark Lady' from the fourth entry into the 'Jazz Brakes' series. In 2000, Madlib bit the beat for the title track from Quasimoto's 'The Unseen'.The Lowdown:
Marlena Shaw 'California Soul'
from 'The Spice of Life' (1969) (MP3/CD)
Gang Starr 'Check the Technique'
from 'Step in the Arena' (1991) (MP3/CD)
DJ Food 'Dark Lady'
from 'Jazz Brakes, Vol. 4' (1993) (MP3 not available/CD)
Quasimoto 'The Unseen'
from 'The Unseen' (2000) (MP3/CD)BONUS CUTS:
Marlena Shaw's 'California Soul' was not the original and is perhaps not even the most widely known version. Ashford and Simpson wrote 'California Soul' for the Fifth Dimension in 1968. Additionally, one year after the Marlena Shaw cover, 'California Soul' was covered once again by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell (this time produced by the writers Ashford and Simpson). The song was the final single from Gaye and Terrell and was released after Terrell's tragic death at the age of 24.
