The Breaks: Lee Dorsey 'Get Out of My Life Woman' (Part 1)

Last month, Lee Dorsey's essential open drum intro for 'Get Out of My Life Woman' was inducted to our Five On It collection of necessary breaks for hip-hop producers and DJs. I would've liked to expand on why this drum break is so necessary, but it could not have been done in just one part of one post. In total, I have four posts slated to explain 'Get Out of My Life Woman' - the first two dropping this month will look at songs who sampled the Lee Dorsey version and two posts next month will explore the songs that sampled covers of Lee Dorsey's original. Beat scientists will know there are a lot of excellent covers to talk about. Let's get into it!

'Get Out of My Life Woman' may be most famously sampled in 1989 by Biz Markie for his gigantic crossover hit and enduring single 'Just a Friend' from his album 'The Biz Never Sleeps'. Produced by the Biz and Cool V, 'Just a Friend' is a multi-generational party standard. A year later, DJ Slip and the Unknown DJ sampled the 'Get Out of My Life Woman' break for Compton's Most Wanted's 'This is Compton' from 'It's a Compton Thang!' which predates Dr. Dre's Compton-centric 'The Chronic' by one year. In 1991, Prince Paul and De La Soul sampled the drums on 'Fanatic of the B Word' from their sophomore album 'De La Soul is Dead'. In 1992, Common's debut album 'Can I Borrow a Dollar?' contained the Immenslope produced single 'Breaker 1/9' while the title track to Lord Finesse's 'Return of the Funky Man' had Showbiz (of Show and AG fame), both sampling Lee Dorsey. In 1993, both 'Hits from the Bong' by Cypress Hill, produced by DJ Muggs, and the short interlude 'Zearocks' from the Leaders of the New School's 'T.I.M.E.' album also used samples of 'Get Out of My Life Woman'.

Check back for the second part of our look at songs sampling one of Lee Dorsey's finest moments.

The Lowdown:
Lee Dorsey 'Get Out of My Life Woman'
from 'The New Lee Dorsey' (1966) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Biz Markie 'Just a Friend'
from 'The Biz Never Sleeps' (1989) (MP3 not available/Import CD)
Compton's Most Wanted 'This is Compton'
from 'It's a Compton Thang!' (1990) (MP3/CD not available)
De La Soul 'Fanatic of the B Word'
from 'De La Soul is Dead' (1991) (MP3 not available/CD)
Common 'Breaker 1/9'
from 'Can I Borrow a Dollar?' (1992) (MP3/CD)
Lord Finesse 'Return of the Funky Man'
from 'Return of the Funky Man' (1992) (MP3/CD not available)
Cypress Hill 'Hits from the Bong'
from 'Black Sunday' (1993) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edits: 'Hits from the Bong'
Leaders of the New School 'Zearocks'
from 'T.I.M.E.' (1993) (MP3/CD)

Related Posts:
Five On It: July 2009's Essentials ('Get Out My Life Woman' on Five On It)
Rewind: Cypress Hill 'Black Sunday' (Part 1)
Rewind: Cypress Hill 'Black Sunday' (Part 2)

Rewind: Diamond and the Psychotic Neurotics 'Stunts, Blunts, and Hip Hop' (Part 3)

Welcome to our third and final look at Diamond and the Psychotic Neurotics' 1992 album 'Stunts, Blunts and Hip Hop'.

Diamond D samples a couple hits for 'Confused', cutting up King Floyd's excellent single 'Groove Me' and the 80s joint 'Intimate Connection' by Kleeer (which sounds a lot like "internet connection" - you'll hear it). On the posse cut 'Pass Dat S---', which includes some early raps by Fat Joe, Diamond samples the Ohio Players song 'Pride and Vanity' from 1973's 'Pleasure' and Rare Earth's Motown rock joint 'Keep Me Out of the Storm'. Q-Tip joins Diamond D on 'K.I.S.S. (Keep it Simple Stupid)', which samples fusion rock group Weather Report (who yield a lot of samplable cuts, take note)'s 'American Tango' from their 1974 album 'Mysterious Traveller'. On the title track for 'Stunts, Blunts, and Hip Hop', Diamond and the Psychotic Neurotics use a sample of Billy Cobham and George Duke Band's 'Almustafa the Beloved' from the 1976 album 'Live on tour in Europe'. Finally, on 'Feel the Vibe', Showbiz and Diamond D sample Lee Dorsey's huge break 'Get Out My Life Woman', Brother Jack McDuff's 'Hold it for a Minute', and Earth, Wind and Fire's 1970 song 'Bad Tune' from their self titled debut album.

'Stunts, Blunts and Hip-Hop' yielded three singles and peaked just outside of the Billboard R&B / Hip Hop top 40. Big L and Fat Joe, who both contributed to the album, would achieve greater acclaim due to the album's underground success. Though Diamond D would produce for a slew of acts following this album, including Fat Joe, he would not record a follow up solo outing until 1997's 'Hatred, Passions and Infidelity'.

The Lowdown:
Diamond and the Psychotic Neurotics 'Confused', 'Pass Dat S---', 'K.I.S.S. (Keep it Simple Stupid)', 'Stunts, Blunts, and Hip Hop', and 'Feel the Vibe'
from 'Stunts, Blunts, and Hip Hop' (1992) (MP3/CD)
King Floyd 'Groove Me'
from 'King Floyd' (1973) (MP3 not available/CD)
Kleeer 'Intimate Connection'
from 'Intimate Connection' (1984) (MP3/CD not available)
The Ohio Players 'Pride and Vanity'
from 'Pleasure' (1972) (MP3/CD)
Rare Earth 'Keep Me Out of the Storm'
from 'Back to Earth' (1975) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Weather Report 'American Tango'
from 'Mysterious Traveller' (1974) (MP3/CD)
Billy Cobham and George Duke Band 'Almustafa the Beloved'
from 'Live on tour in Europe' (1976) (MP3/CD)
Lee Dorsey 'Get Out My Life Woman'
from 'The New Dorsey' (1966) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Brother Jack McDuff 'Hold it for a Minute'
from 'Getting Our Thing Together' (1968) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Earth, Wind and Fire 'Bad Tune'
from 'Earth, Wind and Fire' (1970) (MP3/CD)

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)