Archive for the 'Sampled' Category

Everything Good To You (Ain’t Always Good For You)
B.T. Express
Do It (’Til Your Satisfied), 1974

I’ve been meaning to do a post about bootleg vinyl breaks compilations for a while…and this isn’t really the post I was writing in my mind but that’s ok (as I can’t really remember it). I feel like I have to say that what write is inevitably going to be colored by DJ Premier’s tirade on breaks records on Gang Starr’s Moment of Truth album (text below).

That aside, I have to give respect, well, at least acknowledge that a lot of my early record shopping was fueled by the names and tracks found on those compilations. That said, the producers of these compilations take some serious liberties when preparing the tracks for release. This B.T. Express song is a great example. It appears on Strictly Breaks Vol. 5 which come out in 1998. Its listed, like the rest, with a subtitle that says who sampled it, in this case, “Used by DMX for ‘Get At Me Dog’” (it was also sampled on “Get The Bozack” by EPMD 9 years earlier). The Strictly Breaks folks knew that DJs would want to play it right before or after the DMX song which was getting a lot of attention at the time so they went ahead and decided it was ok to slow the song down from 117 beats per minute to…104 (i.e. a lot, making it much closer to tempo of the DMX song - 97) and repeat the first bar four times (creating a clumsy 11-bar intro).

To expect more integrity from a compilation who’s “copyright” line says “Warning: Unauthorized duplications of this joint will end you up with cement shoes at a river near you!!!” is perhaps foolish. But that it doesn’t say “Re-Edit” or “*Remix by Louis Flores” like the Ultimate Breaks and Beats series seems irresponsible. I guess the lesson is that if you are going to get your samples the “lazy” way then you are getting something on par with the amount of effort you are putting out but something about it still bothers me. I guess its that the state of affairs is only getting more sloppy in the internet age of “crate digging.” I haven’t been djing that long but I felt like a senior citizen when a young DJ recently asked me “where do you get all those samples? because they’re really hard to find at good quality [read: download at good quality], trust me I looked…do you [pause] dig?” with a tone that implied he expected me to laugh, say ‘hell no” and tell him the right place to look online.

…and one other thing, what’s the deal with you break record cats that’s putting out all the original records that we sample from, and snitchin’ by putting us on the back of it saying that we used stuff - you know how that go - stop doing that - ya’ll are violatin’, straight up and down! word up man, i’m sick on this sh-t; ya’ll motherf-ck-rs really don’t know what this hip hop’s all about; so while you keep on fakin’ the funk, we gonna keep on walking through the darkness, carrying our torches…

>> right-click –> here for 192 kbps version [4.2 MB] and here for the 320 kbps version [7.0 MB] of “Everything Good To You (Ain’t Always Good For You)”.

We Almost Lost Detroit
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson
Bridges, 1977

I haven’t been record shopping much recently but after taking the reMitch to The Thing and picking up 10 records, I uncoincidentally found myself walking into Good Records on East 3rd street, saturday after East Village Radio. This was the first record I found - a record I’ve wanted for about 7 years. I think the records are trying to tell me something (”don’t stop digging!”).

This is another one of those tracks that’s been sampled, then re-visited and re-sampled. The floaty keyboard intro was first sampled by the French duo Air on “Modular Mix” (you didn’t see that one coming did you, Dale?). I am pretty sure that was off the radar of J. Rawls who smartly chopped up the pieces of guitar between the lines of the first verse for Black Star’s “Brown Skin Lady” in 1999, which was definitely on Kanye West’s radar when he sampled the keyboard fills between the lines of the second verse for Common’s “The People.” I wonder if he was consciously trying to one-up J. Rawls, especially as he used the same technique. Who’s next? There’s still the horns at the end that are up for grabs.

From the album sleeve:

Wikipedia makes it really easy to know who Karen Silkwood was. He actually performed this song at a concert called “No Nukes” at Madison Square Garden in 1979.

>> songs are available for two weeks (192 kbps) [7.4 MB]
>> songs are available for two weeks (320 kbps) [12.2 MB]

Black Patch
5th Dimension
Individually & Collectively, 1972

I’ve had my eye out for this song since reading the (incorrect) sample credits for “Trying People” on De La Soul’s AOI: Bionix album. They were only off by a letter (they listed it as “Black Path”) but apparently that was enough to thwart my lukewarm research efforts for um…6-7 years? (yeah, yeah, so I only checked once). Luckily, my girl Geraldine in the Bay put me up on it via her excellent radio show The Need To Calm (set your iCal/Outook to remind you to tune in Fridays at Noon EST/9:00am PST - this wasn’t the only song that made me beg for a tracklist).

I’ve historically been pretty dismissive of the 5th Dimension; it always seemed that their music was a little too light and potentially geared to a white audience. I still think that’s true but I’m coming around on them between this song and “Dimension 5ive”.

“Trying People” by De La Soul is pinnacle of you might call De La Soul’s “grown a$$ man” period (both Art Official Intelligence albums). This sample was perfect for themes rarely heard in hip hop such as:

Got fans around the world
But my girl’s not one one of ‘em
And my relationship’s a big question
Cause my career is a clear hindrance to her progression
Said she needs a man and our kids need a father
I’m not at all ready to hear her say don’t bother
And break and this i know i can’t take but uh
C. Smith said to hold on…my brother Luck (?) said to hold on…

If you know the De La song already, it will be a little surreal to hear the rest of “Black Patch.” The intro provides the expected ethereal-ness but then the song immediately launches into a much more traditional, almost big-band thing. The weirdest moment is when the “people are you ready?” part from the intro comes back in over the horns at 1:59.

Bonus Question: can anyone tell me - what is Black Patch? (”Woman child on the sad street - flashin’ in black patch”…??)

Recommendation: set the start time of “Trying People” to 0:28 and the end time to 4:25 (how to do that is here).

>> songs are available for two weeks (192 kbps) [6.4 MB]
>> songs are available for two weeks (320 kbps) [10.3 MB]

Kid Charlemagne
Steely Dan
The Royal Scam, 1976

I watched the Grammys this year after skipping them since whatever year the head of RIAA ended the show saying something to the effect of “please stop downloading music - you don’t want the music to stop, do you?” That was a real “wow” moment for me. I always knew the record executives wanted to save their a$$es and their nice apartments/houses but that was the first time that I considered that they actually believed that music would “stop” if they went out of business.

So few artists ever get a dime from major record companies (literally less than 10%) that it’s preposterous to think that all artists would say, “if I’m not going to get royalty checks then I’m going to just stop making music.” Most artists that don’t have multiple platinum albums make all of their money off of touring and merchandise as it is. No doubt that having an album out on a major label is great press and would help with those things but it’s definitely not required. No big surprise: record companies are now desperately attempting to make touring and merchandise part of their contracts.

What does all this have to do with this MP3? Not much other than it’s a song that was sampled on Kanye West’s grammy-award winning “Graduation” album. Kanye used this on “Champion” which is one of the songs that I liked from that album. I’m sitting here trying write something about how hearing the sample makes the Kanye track disappointing but I can’t front, I still like how he used it (even though he says things as stupid as, “I shop so much I could speak Italian.”)

>> songs are available for two weeks (192 kbps) [6.2 MB]
>> songs are available for two weeks (320 kbps) [10.3 MB]

What Am I Waiting For
The O’Jays
Survival, 1975

“O’Jays power ballads” would definitely make my list of the good things in life. I wouldn’t actually call them “power ballads” (because of the 80’s rock connotation) but they definitely have more zest than what I think of as a “ballad.”

Wait…first things first, being from outside of Cleveland I need to point out that the O’Jays are from outside of Cleveland (Canton) and not Philadelphia as a lot of people think. Their best work (far and away) was with Gamble & Huff for Philadelphia International Records (P.I.R.) but just like Ohio license plates claim “birthplace of aviation” (the Orville Wright was born in Dayton), we also claim The O’Jays. The started out recording for King Records out of Cincinnati in 1961 and renamed themselves after Cleveland radio DJ Eddie O’Jay in 1963 after he gave them early support. Just wanted to give you the heads up so you don’t get your feelings hurt if you are ever talking about the O’Jays to any black person over 40 from Cleveland (and many younger). Eddie-Levert-pride is not a game.

They went on to record for Apollo, Imperial, Bell and Neptune before 1971. Neptune Records is where they met Gamble & Huff (G&H worked with Neptune pre-P.I.R.) and then they signed the O’Jays to P.I.R., which they created after Neptune folded.

In compiling the list below (my favorite O’Jays ballads) I realized that Bunny Sigler had his hand in most of the songs which I didn’t realize.

Back Stabbers
Listen To The Clock On The Wall (written by Gamble & Huff)
Who Am I (co-written and co-produced by Bunny Sigler)

Ship Ahoy
You Got Your Hooks In Me (written by Bunny Sigler)
Don’t Call Me Brother (written by Gamble & Sigler)

Message In The Music
I Swear, I Love No One But You (written & produced by Bunny Sigler)

So Full of Love
Help Somebody Please (written & produced by Eddie Levert and others)

If you like “What Am I Waiting For” be sure to check for those songs too. Most of this stuff is out on CD.

This song was sampled (poorly) by Nashiem Myrick on Jay-Z’s “You Must Love Me” on In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 and with a little more subtlety by the somewhat recently deceased Disco D on 50 Cent’s “Ski Mask Way.”

>> songs are available for two weeks (192 kbps) [5.5 MB]
>> songs are available for two weeks (320 kbps) [9.1 MB]

Little Ghetto Boy
Donny Hathaway
Live, 1972

This is #1 on my list of albums I can’t believe haven’t been reissued on CD in the US. I’m sure someone can come up with something to trump this but this one is particularly noteworthy as the album is outstanding and everything else that he’s done (except for a live album from 1980) have already been reissued - including, as of this year the soundtrack to Come Back Charleston Blue, which is a Blaxploitation movie soundtrack that he did with Quincy Jones as music supervisor. I only heard it briefly once at someone’s house but from what I remember it’s mostly instrumental and not that moving, or at least not typical D.H. soul. It is however the first place that “Little Ghetto Boy” first appeared so we have it to thank for that.

I remember when I bought this album 6 or 7 years ago; talking to people about it then, it seemed like it must only be a matter of time before Atlantic would put it out on CD. That “matter of time” was longer than I thought (and getting longer every day) but the good news is that the import is now available on amazon for “only” $16, which actually isn’t that bad. Dusty Groove also has a reissue of the LP for the standard $9 price. Dusty Groove has the CD (out of stock) listed as a UK import at $19.

Side A of this album was recorded live at the Troubadour in Hollywood and Side B (including this song) was recorded live at the Bitter End in NYC which is on Bleecker near Laguardia. I was going to say that despite The Bitter End’s good musical reputation over the years, that it seemed sad Donny would be playing such a tiny place after putting out Everything Is Everything but…I just read that Curtis Mayfield classic Live album was recorded there the year before so…what do I know? (not much apparently…)

I will say that whoever wrote the Bitter End website is given to a certain level of hyperbole, claiming the owner has “play[ed] host to every important entertainer in the last thirty or more years.” I’m still waiting on that “Prince Live at the Bitter End” album to come out…

The darker intro to the song has served as good source material for Dr. Dre and The RZA (and others, I’m sure) but don’t sleep on the redemptive ending!

>> songs are available for two weeks [6.2 MB]
>> songs are available for two weeks [10.3 MB]

I’ll Stay
Funkadelic
Standing On The Verge of Getting It On, 1974

And the prize for best album title ever goes to…(drum roll)…Standing On The Verge of Getting It On! My entry point for lesser known Funkadelic music was the Music For Your Mother Compilation (which I recommend if you don’t already have a somewhat in depth knowledge of their music) which I picked up at the recommendation of Bryan Adams. I remember being a little shocked at how out-there and original song titles like “If You Don’t Like The Effects, Don’t Produce the Cause,” “Biological Speculation” and “Jimmy’s Got A Little Bit of Bitch in Him” were. The range of the music was equally as surprising and varied, from gospel to soul-folk to electric-psychedelic craziness.

This song didn’t make the compilation, but my brother was nice enough to put me onto it and then give me the record on semi-permanent loan. Aside from being a masterpiece of hypnotic night-timey-ness, this song also belongs to the annals of samples because it’s the bulk of De La Soul’s “Millie Pulled A Pistol On Santa.” Millie’s “If you will suck my soul, I will lick your funky emotions” intro is also from Funkadelic’s “Mommy, What’s A Funkadelic?”

>> songs are available for two weeks (192 kbps) [10.1 MB]
>> songs are available for two weeks (320 kbps) [16.8 MB]

Kool Is Back (full 8:14 version)
Funk, Inc.
Funk, Inc., 1971

Most of my musical come-ups from my Europe trip were digital (like the 5 hours DJ Scribe and I spent ripping CDs from the Program Manager of Estonia’s National Public Radio Youth station - thanks Heidy & Bert!) but this one was analog.

This song is somewhat widely known through it’s being sampled many times on everything from the opening drums to “Owner of a Lonely Heart” to Sting and Puffy’s (misguided?) 1997 collaboration “Roxanne ‘97″ and it’s inclusion on the Ultimate Breaks and Beats compilations. But this is definitely better than just a sample novelty (my weakness for organ notwithstanding).

“Kool Is Back” has also been music-blogged but I’m pretty sure that I’ve still never heard the full 8:14 version until just now. I’m not naming any names but I’m pretty sure someone tried to pass off the 3:07 minute Ultimate Breaks and Beats version (that fades out in the beginning of the sax solo of all places) as the album version on their blog. That’s not cool man!

Dusty Groove has a reissue LP for a seemingly unheard of $19.99. The average price of a reissue is usually $8.99; it says it’s from the UK…well, at least it makes me feel better about paying 75 swedish kroner (~$11.50) for what appears to be an original German pressing.

>> songs are available for two weeks (192 kbps) [11.3 MB]
>> songs are available for two weeks (320 kbps) [18.9 MB]

Summer In The City
Quincy Jones
You’ve Got It Bad Girl, 1973

Summer In The City
Oscar Brown, Jr.
Oscar Brown, Jr. Goes To Washington, 1965

One of my main motivations for posting this Quincy Jones song was to ask if anyone knew who sampled the section from :53-1:02 but of course, I figured it out in the course of writing the post - and I’m really patting myself on the back because it wasn’t on my semi-trusty resource the-breaks.com. This is one of those songs that plays like a dream sequence for me - one of those dreams where I walk down a New York City street and turn a corner and I’m in Cleveland but it doesn’t seem strange. The Pharcyde sampled the intro on “She Keeps Passin’ Me By” which was immediately recognizable even in this much mellower format, then the song moves off into unfamiliar territory but just as I start to forget about the first sample, the section (:53-1:02) that Massive Attack sampled on “Exchange” comes in like an old friend who’s name I can’t remember. It goes as fast as it came and we continue until 1:55 where the Roots borrowed a bit for the chorus of “Clones.” That one took a minute to place as well because I don’t think of the Roots as a sampling group even though I’m pretty sure they’ve used samples on every album. Then Valerie Simpson’s vocals come in somewhat unexpectedly at 2:27 although, I guess they are right on time, as she starts in the middle of the second verse of the original (Lovin’ Spoonful) lyrics. I know that other people have also sampled this song but these three were definitely the most recognizable for me.

This Oscar Brown, Jr. song was a song that I was thinking about posting for a while but put off because I didn’t have much to say about it. I still don’t, other than it’s great and it’s not a cover of the Lovin’ Spoonful, it actually came out a year before.

>> songs are available for two weeks [5.5 MB]
>> songs are available for two weeks [4.8 MB]

King Heroin
James Brown
There It Is, 1972

This is another James Brown nugget that I forgot about until I heard D’Nell’s 1st Magic album recently (”Different Day” samples it). This is “James Brown does anti-drug spoken word” and it is hilarious. The whole song is about a, um…”vivid” dream that he had. The dream is far enough out there that you might have cause to wonder the dream was “influenced” itself.

Obviously the delivery is half the humor but I’ll list a few choice lyrics so you can get an idea.

Ladies and Gentleman…Fellow Americans…Lady Americans…this James Brown.
I want to talk to you about one of most deadly killers in the country today.
I had a dream the other night and I was sitting in my living room
Just doze off to sleep so I start to dreaming.
I dream I walked in a place and I saw a real strange weird object standing up talking to the people and I found it was heroin, that deadly drug that go in your vein, he said:
I came to this country without a passport
Ever since then I’ve been hunted and sought
My little white grains are nothing but waste, soft and deadly and bitter to taste
But I’m a world of power and all know it’s true
Use me once and you’ll know it too
I can make a mere school boy forget his books
I can make a world famous beauty neglect her looks
I can make a good man forsake his wife
Send a greedy man to prison, for the rest of his life
I can make a man forsake his country and flag
Make a girl sell her body for a $5 bag

I’m financed in china, ran in japan
I’m respected in turkey and I’m legal in Sian (spelling?)
I take my addicts and make them steal, borrow, beg
Then they search for a vein in their arm or their leg
So be you Italian, Jewish, Black or Mex
I can make the virile of men forget their sex

Can anyone else think of songs that sample this? I heard another one this week but forgot it already.

>> songs are available for two weeks [5.5 MB]