Rewind: Diamond and the Psychotic Neurotics 'Stunts, Blunts, and Hip Hop' (Part 1)

After the dissolution of his early group called Ultimate Force, Diamond D and the D.I.T.C. crew debuted in 1992 as Diamond and the Psychotic Neurotics with one of underground hip-hop's classic LPs: 'Stunts, Blunts and Hip Hop'. This three part blog post will cover the sample sources (and man, are there a lot of them) for Diamond D's epic.

On the 'Intro' track to 'Stunts, Blunts', Diamond samples folk rocker James Taylor's 1967 album 'James Taylor and the Original Flying Machine''s album cut 'Knockin 'Round the Zoo'. Diamond also produces the cut 'Best Kept Secret', the oldest track on the album, by sampling Booker T. and the M.G.'s 'Green Onions', Three Dog Night's rock cut 'I Can Hear You Calling', Kool and the Gang's breakbeat cut 'N.T.', and Johnny Pate's title track to the 1973 soundtrack of the movie 'Shaft in Africa'. On 'Sally Got a One Track Mind', Diamond D samples 'Sparkling in the Sand' by the Tower of Power and the classic Skull Snaps break 'It's a New Day'. Showbiz (of Show and A.G. fame) and Diamond D produced the cut 'Step to Me' by sampling the Delfonics' soul classic 'Ready or Not (Here I Come)' and 'Fight Back' from Solomon Burkes' cut from the 1972 soundtrack of 'Cool Breeze'. Lakim Shabazz and Diamond produced the Psychotic Neurotics classic 'F--- What You Heard' with samples from 1970's Donny Hathaway self titled album cut 'Magnificent Sanctuary Band' and John Handy's 1977 song 'Alvina' from his album 'Carnival'.

Check back for part 2 of our look at 'Stunts, Blunts and Hip-Hop'.

The Lowdown:
Diamond and the Psychotic Neurotics 'Intro', 'Best Kept Secret', 'Sally Got a One Track Mind', 'Step to Me', and 'F--- What You Heard'
from 'Stunts, Blunts, and Hip Hop' (1992) (MP3/CD)
James Taylor 'Knockin 'Round the Zoo'
from 'James Taylor and the Original Flying Machine' (1967) (MP3 not available/CD)
Booker T. and the M.G.'s 'Green Onions'
from 'Green Onions' (1962) (MP3/CD)
Three Dog Night 'I Can Hear You Calling'
from 'Naturally' (1970) (MP3/CD)
Kool and the Gang 'N.T.'
from 'Live at P.J.'s' (1972) (MP3/CD)
Johnny Pate 'Shaft in Africa (Addis)'
from 'Shaft in Africa' (1973) (MP3/CD not available)
Tower of Power 'Sparkling in the Sand'
from 'East Bay Grease' (1970) (MP3/CD)
Skull Snaps 'It's a New Day'
from 'Skull Snaps' (1973) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
The Delfonics 'Ready or Not (Here I Come)'
from 'The Sound of Sexy Soul' (1968) (MP3/Import CD)
Solomon Burke 'Fight Back'
from 'Cool Breeze' (1972) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Donny Hathaway 'Magnificent Sanctuary Band'
from 'Donny Hathaway' (1970) (MP3 not available/CD)
John Handy 'Alvina'
from 'Carnival' (1977) (MP3 not available/CD not available)