Feb 282010

Anatomy of a Sample VI- Steppin’ To the A.M.

Posted By Kevin 5 Responses »

3rd Bass: Steppin’ to the A.M.
From: The Cactus Album [Def Jam, 1989]

Banbarra: Shack Up
From: Shack Up single [Atco, 1976]

James Brown: Stoned to the Bone
From: The Payback [Polydor, 1974]

Gary Wright: Can’t Find the Judge
From: The Dreamweaver [Warner Bros, 1975]

Pink Floyd: Time
From: The Dark Side of the Moon [EMI, 1973]

Kool and the Gang: Mother Earth
From: Spirit of the Boogie [De-Lite, 1975]

Spoonie Gee: Spoonin’ Rap
From: Single [Sugar Hill, 1980]

Beastie Boys: Time to Get Ill
From: Licensed to Ill [Def Jam, 1986]

I know that I promised you all that another Anatomy of a Sample post was right around the corner about two months ago, but good things always come to those who wait.  Today’s Anatomy of a Sample focuses on the standout track from one of the best rap albums to come out of the Def Jam stable in the late 80’s.  The act, song and album in question are 3rd Bass with “Steppin’ to the A.M.” from The Cactus Album.  With the Bomb Squad’s versatile samples and exemplary production alone,  this record was destined to be one for the ages.  But these two Mc’s had the skills to pay the bills and then some, with a witty repartee and hard-hitting rhymes that would go on to influence the next generation of independent hip-hop.

However, due to a lackluster second effort called Derilects of Dialect, the group would fade into obscurity, only to reappear on the scene as solo artists in the coming years.  Even though they never achieved the same level of recognition that other white hip-hop acts such as the Beastie Boys, and House of Pain were given on a regular basis, The Cactus Album would prove to stand the test of time.   In fact, as I reached for my cassette tape of The Cactus Album the other day,  a sense of nostalgia rushed over me that took me right back to the day that I first heard this album.

Today, I will be analyzing the samples that were used to create the slamming track “Steppin’ To the A.M” on the pioneering first record from 3rd Bass.  This one gets started immediately with a horn stab taken from the two second mark of James Brown’s “Stone to the Bone”. This sample has been slowed down and the tone has been changed to disguise it’s origin, but it appears several times in the track.  There is a sample of woman’s voice at the one second mark that says “At the sound of the tone the time will be 12 a.m.”.  I was at a loss when trying to locate the sample for this one, but I’m thinking that it could be a person who provided a voiceover for the track, instead of an actual sample.  At the six second mark, a melange of bells and chimes are taken from the twenty second mark of Pink Floyd’s “Time”.

Then, at the ten second mark, the first sign of a drum beat and bassline enter the picture as the ten second mark of Banbarra’s “Shack Up” is sampled to great effect.  It appears that this has been slowed down considerably, as the pace of the original track is much more uptempo than the beat on “Steppin’ to the A.M.”  It took repeated listens to figure this one out, as the Bomb Squad  have expertly crafted this sample to mask its identity.  Coming in at the same time as the Banbarra sample are the high hats from the opening bars of Slick Rick’s “Lick the Balls”.

Next, as MC Serch begins to deliver his first verse on the track, the twenty second mark of Gary Wright’s “Can’t Find the Judge is sampled to add more complexity to the bassline.  After the first verse, the horns from the five second mark of Kool and the Gang’s “Mother Earth” are sampled at the fifty-seven second point of the track.  This horn sample will also appear at the 2:02 and 2:58 point of the track. Directly after the horn sample is a montage of samples taken from Hip hop tracks that feature the word “time”.   First, is the Beastie Boys “What’s the time” mantra taken from “Time to Get Ill”. Then, it samples the lines “Time to Get Stupid” from Public Enemy’s Raise the Roof, followed by the lines “Kickin’ till the A.M.  from Big Daddy Kane’s “Raw”.  One of the samples that is not present in the first group of “time” samples is the :07 mark of Spoonie Gee’s “Two for the time” lyric taken from Spoonin’ Rap.  This makes it’s first appearance at the 2:06 part of the track, and then later appears at the 4:26 mark of the track.  There is a spacey synthesizer sample that plays in the background of these montages, but I can’t for the life of me figure out what it is.

At the 3:17 point of the song, the high hats from the Slick Rick sample are the only thing left in the mix.  But after a few more seconds, the bassline from “Can’t Find the Judge” enters, and it is much easier to identify it with everything else absent from the mix. The song closes out with numerous horn stabs from the “Stoned to the Bone” sample juxtaposed with the time-themed samples from Beastie Boys, Big Daddy Kane, Public Enemy and Spoonie Gee.

I hope you have enjoyed this edition of Anatomy of a Sample, and I look forward to bringing you more of these in the future.

Please send me any requests for hip-hop songs that you would like to see featured on Anatomy of a Sample, and I will do my best to make it happen.

Posted by Kevin at 2:42 am Tagged with: , ,
Jun 102008

Funk From All Over the World

Posted By Kevin 9 Responses »

Gal Costa: Cultura E Civilização
From: Gal Costa (Cinema Olympia) [Philips, 1969]

Stone Alliance: Vaya Mulatto
From: S/T [P.M. Records, 1976]

Ballin’ Jack: Found a Child
From: S/T [Columbia, 1970]

Ersen: Temek
From: S/T [Finders Kepers, 2008]

Billy Joel & the Hassles: Four O’Clock In the Morning
From: 1968 Sessions [EMI Music, 1974]

Lokonon Andre’ & Les Volcans- Mi Kple Dogbekpo
V/A- African Scream Contest: [Analog Africa, 2008]

I apologize to everyone for neglecting Ear Fuzz lately, but I have been dealing with health issues recently that have kept my creative interests at bay. Thanks to Junior and the rest of the Ear Fuzz crew for doing such a great job of maintaining the site during the past two months. I plan on posting more frequently once my health improves. This is a little taster of funky tracks from all over the world that I’ve been digging lately.

First up is a psychedelic track from Gal Costa entitled “Cultura E Civilização” that takes Brazil’s Tropicalia movement and turns it on its ear. This track takes every recording technique employed by the pioneering producers of 60’s psychedelic records and puts it into a blender. Gal’s off-kilter but sexy vocals are juxtaposed with a dizzying array of blazing fuzz guitar, funky wah-wah, reverb-heavy effects and a rhythm section that is tight and loose at the same time.

I hadn’t heard this next track until last week when I was listening to music with one of my friends. He told me that he heard this song called “Vaya Mulatto” by Stone Alliance, and thought that it would be right up my alley. Well, he happened to be dead on with his prediction. From the opening strains of the song, an insistently funky bassline is ignited by what sounds like an army of congo drummers. About a third of the way through the song, the bright emotive sounds of the saxophone push the song to the next level before it changes shape yet again. Two pounding drum kicks signal the drastic tempo change that is about to take place. What happens next can only be described as one of the funkiest breakneck tempos ever to be employed within the context of free jazz. It sounds like the drummer and bass player are trying to emulate what it would sound like if James Brown’s rhythm section played with John Coltrane. Killer grooves here!

Ballin’ Jack were a one-hit-wonder funk-rock group that formed in 1969 whose founding members went on to play in War and Santana. “Found A Child” is a relatively obscure slice of hip-hop lore featuring funky latin beats and soulful harmonies. I want to see if you guys can guess which part was sampled on this one, and which artist sampled it. If you listened to hip-hop in the late 80’s, you will get this right away. Those who don’t have the same frame of reference may need some help.

One of the things that made me interested in Ersen was a quote on the outside of the record from Madlib’s older brother, Oh No, “Yo Ersen music is ridiculous dope!!!! I’d love to flip this!!!!!” I wouldn’t be surprised if Oh No and many other fledgling hip-hop producers do “flip” the sounds of Ersen on their next joint. Most of the tracks on this compilation on Finders Keepers records are chock full of drum breaks that crate diggers seek out in dusty basements.

Ersen is the musical mastermind behind bands such as Mogollar, Kardaslar and Dadaslar who developed the style known as Arabesk or Andalou pop. This style of music succesfully fused prog, psychedelic rock, folk and traditional turkish music to appeal to listeners from all over the world. “Temek” comes crashing through the gates with an amazing drum break that gives way to an infectious violin melody that leads into Ersen’s first verse. The song then proceeds at a slapdash pace with vocals interweaved with sprightly violin and drum exercises.

Who would have thought that Billy Joel had a song like this in him? “Four O’Clock In the Morning” is a late-night bluesy shuffle of a song featuring a funky guitar rhythm, cascading piano lines and horns that fade out into the black of night. This song is a far cry from Joel’s insipid 80’s output, but let’s add him to the list of artists such as Steve Winwood and Bob Seger who hit their creative peak in the late 60’s. Can you guess which Native Tongues hiphop group sampled this song on their 1994 album?

Last but not least, I am featuring the first track from the astoundingly great album on Analog Africa entitled African Scream Contest. This is the latest slab of underground, psychedelic afro-beat that was recorded in Western Africa during the 70’s. “Mi Kple Dogbekpo” is an intoxicating, groove-heavy floorburner that will definitely make you sweat. It encapsulates the most exciting and creative moments from a Fela Kuti song in an easily digestible four minute song. This one is for those of you who dig Fela’s funky afro-beat workouts, but who seem to lose interest after the five minute mark of his epic jams.

Hopefully you enjoy these tracks as much as I have enjoyed writing about them.
Posted by Kevin at 1:06 am Tagged with: , , , , ,
Nov 292007

Anatomy of a Sample Part 2- Shake Your Rump

Posted By Kevin 17 Responses »


Beastie Boys: Shake Your Rump

From: Paul’s Boutique [Capitol Records, 1989]

Alphonse Mouzon: Funky Snakefoot
From: Funky Snakefoot [Blue Note, 1974]

Harvey Scales: Dancing Room Only
From: Hotfoot: A Funque Dizco Opera [Casablanca, 1979]

Ronnie Laws: Tell Me Something Good
From: Pressure Sensitive [Blue Note 1975]

Paul Humphrey: Super Mellow
From: The Drum Session [Inner City, 1979]

Alan Moorhouse: Soul Skimmer
From: The Big Beat Vol.2 [KPM, 1970]

Rose Royce: 6 O’Clock DJ, Born to Love You and Yo Yo
From: Car Wash soundtrack [RCA, 1976]

Funky 4+1: That’s the Joint
From: That’s the Joint- 12 ” single [Sugar Hill, 1980]

James Brown featuring Afrika Bambaataa- Unity Part 6
From: Unity-single [Tommy Boy, 1984]

Afrika Bambaataa and the Jazzy Five- Jazzy Sensation
From: Jazzy Sensation- 12 “single [Tommy Boy, 1981]

The Sugarhill Gang- 8th Wonder
From: 8th Wonder [Sugar Hill, 1981]

I posted the first installment of the Anatomy of a Sample series in August, so you can read about that here. Today I am exploring the samples that the Dust Brother’s used on Beastie Boys “Shake Your Rump” from Pauls Boutique. When Paul’s Boutique was first released it was slept on by most of the hip-hop heads because it was nothing like Licensed to Ill. The Dust Brothers were true visionaries in the sampling game circa 1989, but they were undoubtedly influenced by the chaotic sample-heavy production of the Bomb Squad on Public Enemy’s landmark recording It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. I’m not 100% sure about this, but it’s rumored that Paul’s Boutique contains more samples than any other hip-hop record in history. “Shake Your Rump” contains thirteen samples alone, so I can only imagine that the entire record is tipping the scales at over one-hundred samples.

The Dust Brothers artfully juxtaposed rare jazz drum breaks with old-school hip-hop and funky soul to craft the sample masterpiece “Shake Your Rump”. I will now take you on a journey through the various samples from “Shake Your Rump”. Fasten your seatbelts cause it’s going to be a bumpy ride!
During the opening seconds of “Shake Your Rump” the listener is assaulted with a spastic drum break taken from the first couple seconds of Alphonse Mouzon’s fantastic funk-inflected jazz tune called “Funky Snakefoot”. This immediately segues into another drum break taken from the five second mark of Harvey Scales disco classic “Dancing Room Only”. However, It seems that they removed the instruments in the foreground and slowed down the beat for the sample. After this, a chicken-scratch guitar taken from the opening seconds of Ronnie Laws cover of” Tell Me Something Good” is sped up to match the upbeat tempo of the track. Then, at about the twenty-six second mark, the conga drum beat from the opening seconds of Paul Humphrey’s jazzy “Super Mellow” is used to spice up the track. Next, the first couple seconds of Alan Moorhouse’s rippin’ drum beat from “Soul Skimmer” is sampled at the 37 second mark of the track. Finally, the Funky 4 Plus 1’s “That’s the Joint” is sampled at the 39 second point of the track and it segues right into mutated scratching over a deep bassline that is taken from Rose Royce’s instrumental track “6 O’Clock DJ”.

This goes on for about 15 seconds and then the bassline from the beginning of Rose Royce’s funk-tastic “Yo-Yo” slightly slows down the tempo before the “Funky Snakefoot” chicken scratch guitar makes another appearance. Then, the drum breaks from the beginning of the track are reincorporated into the mix and at the 1:33 mark, a vocal sample is taken from the 1:40 mark of James Brown and Afrika Bambaataa’ Unity Part 6 (This is the part where Bambaata says “Shake Your Rump-Ah”). Next, at the 2:07 mark the Dust Brothers fuse the opening bars of Rose Royce’s “Born to Love You” with background ambience and electronic handclaps taken from the 5:04 point of Afrika Bambaataa’s “Jazzy Sensation”. After this, a short vocal sample is taken from the 1:53 point of Sugarhill Gang’s “8th Wonder” where they proclain “Hoo Hah Got Them All in Check”. Finally, the Dust Brothers close out the track deftly by reintroducing Afrika Bambaataa’s “Jazzy Sensation” sample and integrating it with the drum beats from Paul Humphrey’s “Super Mellow”. There are probably a couple samples that I have missed, so let me know if you spot them. This concludes the anatomy of a sample for Beastie Boys “Shake Your Rump”. I hope you have enjoyed the ride.
Posted by Kevin at 11:35 pm Tagged with: , , , ,