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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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