Rewind: Organized Konfusion 'Organized Konfusion' (Part 1)

After a false start as Simply II Positive MCs and a early tracks produced by Paul C, Prince Po and Pharoahe Monch was signed and released their self titled debut album 'Organized Konfusion' in 1991. This two part post will investigate the sample sources of Organized Konfusion's first album.

Organized Konfusion appear alongside O.C. on an early performance on the future classic track 'Fudge Pudge', which samples the James Brown produced 'More Peas' by the J.B.'s and the Skull Snaps deep album cut 'Tresspassin'' from their lone album 'Skull Snaps'. The single 'Walk Into the Sun' features samples from Steely Dan's 'Royal Scam'-era track 'Green Earring', Earth, Wind and Fire's single 'Runnin' from their hit album 'All N All', and the 1978 Crusaders cut 'Merry-Go-Round'. 'Releasing Hypnotical Gases' samples a pair of tracks from S.O.U.L.'s classic album 'What It Is' from 1971: 'Burning Spear' and 'Soul'. The track also samples Weather Report's 'Non-Stop Home' from 'Sweetnighter'. Organized Konfusion's 'Audience Pleasers' samples the live cut 'Lowdown Popcorn' from James Brown's essential 'Sex Machine' album. Finally, the track 'Prisoner of War' features two high-octane samples: Earth, Wind and Fire's 'Power' from their third LP 'Last Days and Time' and Babe Ruth's absolutely essential b-boy break 'The Mexican' from their 1972 album 'First Base'.

Check back for our second look at the sample sources of Organized Konfusion's self titled debut album.

The Lowdown:
Organized Konufsion 'Fudge Pudge', 'Walk Into the Sun', 'Releasing Hypnotical Gases', 'Audience Pleasers', and 'Prisoner of War'
from 'Organized Konufsion' (1991) (MP3 not available/CD)
The J.B.'s 'More Peas'
from 'Doing it to Death' (1973) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Skull Snaps 'Tresspassin''
from 'Skull Snaps' (1973) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Steely Dan 'Green Earring'
from 'Royal Scam' (1975) (MP3/CD)
Earth, Wind and Fire 'Runnin''
from 'All N All' (1977) (MP3/CD)
The Crusaders 'Merry-Go-Round'
from 'Images' (1978) (MP3/CD)
S.O.U.L. 'Burning Spear' and 'Soul'
from 'What Is It' (1971) (MP3 not available/Import CD)
Weather Report 'Non-Stop Home'
from 'Sweetnighter' (1973) (MP3/CD)
James Brown 'Lowdown Popcorn'
from 'Sex Machine' (1970) (MP3/CD)
Earth, Wind and Fire 'Power'
from 'Last Days and Time' (1971) (MP3/CD)
Babe Ruth 'The Mexican'
from 'First Base' (1972) (MP3/Import CD)

Related Post:
Five On It: November 2008's Essentials (Skull Snaps appearance)
Producer Profile: DJ Premier (Part 5, 1997) (O.C. appearance)
Rewind: Kanye West 'Graduation' (Part 1) (Steely Dan appearance)

Producer Profile: DJ Premier (Part 5, 1997)

After a successful string of production credits and Gang Starr albums, DJ Premier was high profile in 1997, but there was still room to achieve more success. 1997 yielded two of Primo's most unstoppable beats, which will be covered in this post looking at his production credits from that year.

One of Jay-Z's most underrated cuts is the DJ Premier produced 'Intro/A Million and One Questions', the intro to his second full length album 'In My Lifetime, Vol. 1'. This banging track samples its share of unusual sources: Dorothy Ashby's 'Cause I Need It', Latimore's 'Let Me Go', and the Main Ingredient's 'Car of Love' (sorry, no download links for any of these tracks). Primo produced the beat for O.C.'s 'My World' by sampling 'Killer's Lullaby' by Love Unlimited Orchestra on Barry White's 1974 soundtrack 'Together Brothers'. On Rakim's solo album, Premier provides the beat to 'New York (Ya Out There)' which samples the excellent James Brown cut 'Down and Out in New York City' from the soundtrack to 'Black Caesar' as well as the huge drum break from Mountain's 'Long Red'. Finally, one of Primo's oddest yet most banging beats wallops behind Notorious B.I.G. on 'Kick in the Door' on his posthumous album 'Life After Death'. The track samples Screamin' Jay Hawkins 1956 hit 'I Put a Spell on You' to great effect.

The Lowdown:
Jay-Z 'Intro/A Million and One Questions'
from 'In My Lifetime, Vol. 1' (1997) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edit: 'Intro/A Million and One Questions'
Dorothy Ashby 'Cause I Need It'
from 'Dorothy's Harp' (1969) (MP3 not available/Import CD)
Latimore 'Let Me Go'
from 'It Ain't Where You Been... It's Where Your Goin'' (1976) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Main Ingredient 'Car of Love'
from 'Music Maximus' (1976) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
O.C. 'My World'
from 'Jewelz' (1997) (MP3 not available/CD)
Love Unlimited Orchestra 'Killer's Lullaby'
from 'Together Brothers' (1974) (MP3/CD not available)
Rakim 'New York (Ya Out There)'
from 'The 18th Letter' (1997) (MP3/CD)
James Brown 'Down and Out in New York City'
from 'Black Caesar' (1973) (MP3/CD)
Mountain 'Long Red'
from 'Mountain Live' (1972) (MP3 not available/CD)
The Notorious B.I.G. 'Kick in the Door'
from 'Life After Death' (1997) (MP3/CD)
Screamin' Jay Hawkins 'I Put a Spell on You'
from 'I Put a Spell on You' (1956) (MP3 not available/CD not available)

Related Posts:
Producer Profile: Dj Premier (Part 1, 1989-1990)
Producer Profile: Dj Premier (Part 2, 1991-1993)
Producer Profile: Dj Premier (Part 3, 1994)
Producer Profile: Dj Premier (Part 4, 1995-1996)
Rewind: The Notorious B.I.G. 'Life After Death' (Part 1)
Rewind: The Notorious B.I.G. 'Life After Death' (Part 2)
Rewind: The Notorious B.I.G. 'Life After Death' (Part 3)

Five On It: November 2008's Essentials

This one is a killer, we covered some serious beats this past month and I've whitled them down to the best of the best for November's edition of Five On It.

We start with a cross-generation party starter: George Clinton's bugged out canine anthem 'Atomic Dog' (which originally appeared on our Halloween post covering 'We Can't Be Stopped' by the Geto Boys). In our second look at Large Professor's production work, we covered Grand Funk Railroad's rock funk break track 'Nothings the Same' from their album 'Closer to Home'. Grand Funk have a bad rep, but they have some serious beats in their back catalog. 'Apache' by the Incredible Bongo Band was covered in an in depth two part post on this blog. 'Apache' is as essential as it gets, you have to get this one if its not part of your DJing arsenal. The J.B.'s 'Pass the Peas' is just one of the J.B.'s breakbeat necessities produced under the Godfather of Soul, James Brown (this break was mentioned on the first part of our look at 'Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde). In the third part of 'Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde', we first mentioned Skull Snaps' huge 'It's a New Day', another absolutely critical beat for producers.

The Lowdown:
George Clinton 'Atomic Dog'
from 'Computer Games' (1982) (MP3 not available/CD)
Grand Funk Railroad 'Nothings the Same'
from 'Closer to Home' (1969) (MP3/CD)
Incredible Bongo Band 'Apache'
from 'Bongo Rock' (1973) (MP3/CD)
The J.B.'s 'Pass the Peas'
from 'Food For Thought' (1972) (MP3 not available/Import CD)
Skull Snaps 'It's a New Day'
from 'Skull Snaps' (1973) (MP3 not available/Import CD)

BONUS CUTS:
Skull Snaps' self-titled, hard to find album is not limited to 'It's a New Day', it's full of quality samples. A young Pharoahe Monch and Prince Po as Organized Konfusion (with a guest spot from O.C.) rap over Skull Snaps' 'Tresspassin'' on 'Fudge Pudge'.