Source Material: The Electric Prunes 'Release of an Oath'

Following the Electric Prunes' third album, 'Mass in F Minor', which featured mostly studio musicians filling in for the band members, the band released 'Release of an Oath' in 1968, again recorded by studio musicians with the Prunes only submitting vocals. This album may only have been a footnote in history, a cash-in recording for a band that had all but broken up, if it weren't for the songwriting and production prowess of one David Axelrod. 'Release of an Oath' is less of an Electric Prunes album than it is a David Axelrod album. With it's open drums, jazz influence, and funky basslines; the album became a sought after treasure for beat diggers the world over. Thankfully, within the last decade, the album has been easier to find due to re-releases (and now, MP3s). This post will cover the producers and artists who have sampled the Axelrod produced fourth album by the Electric Prunes.

One of the album's stand out tracks is 'Holy are You', which is a favorite of beat heads and psych rock listeners alike. The track was sampled by Joe Fatal for Fat Joe and Raekwon's team up 'Respect Mine' on his 1995 album 'Jealous One's Envy'. Five years later, the same track was sampled by Madlib on his Quasimoto album 'The Unseen' for the cut 'Return of the Loop Digga'. The album's funkiest cut is the bouncy bass-heavy 'General Confessional', which has become the most sampled cut on this release. In 1997, the Beatnuts sampled 'General Confessional' for 'N----z Know' on 'Stone Crazy' while DJ Scratch sampled the cut for Rampage and Busta Rhymes' single 'Flipmode iz da Squad'. In 2000, Madlib sampled this track as well for his song 'B.S.' from the Quasimoto single 'Basic Instinct' while the RZA sampled the song for 'The Monument' which finds Busta Rhymes cameoing again on the beat alongside the Wu-Tang Clan. 'The Adoration' from 'Release of an Oath' was also plundered by the Beatnuts for the song 'World's Famous' from their 1993 release 'The Intoxicated Demons'.

At the end of 'Release of an Oath', the Electric Prunes were almost done. The band, by name only and featuring none of the original members, released a fifth album that made no waves. Axelrod, however, was just at the beginning of his solo career. 1968 saw the release of his debut solo album, 'Song of Innocence', which led to a decade of beat digger coveted albums.

The Lowdown:
The Electric Prunes 'Holy Are You', 'General Confessional', and 'The Adoration'
from 'Release of an Oath' (1968) (MP3/CD)
Fat Joe 'Respect Mine'
from 'Jealous One's Envy' (1995) (MP3 not available/CD)
Quasimoto 'Return of the Loop Digga'
from 'The Unseen' (2000) (MP3/CD)
The Beatnuts 'N----z Know'
from 'Stone Crazy' (1997) (MP3 not available/CD)
Rampage 'Flipmode iz da Squad'
from 'Scouts Honor By Way of Blood' (1997) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Quasimoto 'B.S.'
from 'Basic Instinct' (2000) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Wu-Tang Clan 'The Monument'
from 'The W' (2000) (MP3 not available/CD)
The Beatnuts 'World's Famous'
from 'The Intoxicated Demons' (1993) (MP3 not available/CD)

Bonus Cut:
The Verve's Richard Ashcroft, a fan of Axelrod's work with the Electric Prunes, recorded an excellent live version of 'Holy Are You' with Axelrod conducting a symphony.

Related Posts:
Producer Profile: David Axelrod (Part 2, 1968-1969)
Rewind: Quasimoto 'The Unseen' (Part 1)
Rewind: Quasimoto 'The Unseen' (Part 2)
Rewind: Quasimoto 'The Unseen' (Part 3)

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'.

Producer Profile: J Dilla (Part 4, 2000)

Welcome to part 4 of this blog's look at J Dilla's production career.

2000 saw a string of high profile beats appearing on albums by mainstream artists with, as always, difficult and unusual sample sources. His beat for Busta Rhymes' 'Show Me What You Got' from the album 'Anarchy' featured a sample from the indie band Stereolab's 'Come and Play in the Milky Night' released just a year earlier (check back for the next post in our look at J Dilla for another link between Dilla and Stereolab). Dilla also landed a beat on De La Soul's arguably misguided album 'Art Official Intelligence'. The Dilla produced 'Thru Ya City' samples the Lovin' Spoonful's classic rock hit 'Summer in the City'.

J Dilla also worked extensively with the Soulquarians in 2000. The year saw the release of the Soulquarians produced album 'Like Water for Chocolate' by Common and the hit single 'The Light' that samples Bobby Caldwell's 'Open Your Eyes'. An even bigger hit for the Soulquarians and for Dilla was Erykah Badu's giant hit 'Didn't Cha Know' from her album 'Mama's Gun'. The song samples the relatively unknown act Tarika Blue and the song 'Dreamflower' from their self-titled 1977 album.

Check back for part 5 of our look at Dilla's career including production work for his own emerging career.

The Lowdown:
Busta Rhymes 'Show Me What You Got'
from 'Anarchy' (2000) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edit:'Show Me What You Got'
Stereolab 'Come and Play in the Milky Night'
from 'Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night' (1999) (MP3/CD)
De La Soul 'Thru Ya City'
from 'Art Official Intelligence' (2000) (MP3 not available/CD)
The Lovin' Spoonful 'Summer in the City'
from 'Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful' (1966) (MP3/CD)
Common 'The Light'
from 'Like Water for Chocolate' (2000) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edit: 'The Light'
Bobby Caldwell 'Open Your Eyes'
from 'Cat in the Hat' (1982) (MP3/CD not available)
Erykah Badu 'Didn't Cha Know'
from 'Mama's Gun' (2000) (MP3/CD)
Tarika Blue 'Dreamflower'
from 'Tarika Blue' (1977) (MP3 not available/CD not available)