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Avg: 4.5 (221 ratings)
- Date Released: October 13, 1973
- Genre: Jazz
- Label: Columbia/Legacy
- Copyright: (P) 1973 Sony Music Entertainment Inc.
The album that blew jazz up and destroyed it
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We Say...
The best-selling jazz album of all time, the album that blew jazz up and destroyed it, the album that spurred hundreds of imitations, the album that invented jazz-rock fusion...do we need to make it any clearer that when Head Hunters came out in 1973 it was, shall we say, a bit controversial?
Listening to it today, you might wonder what all the fuss was about. It even sounds a bit quaint, given how far keyboard technology (and Hancock's use of it) has evolved since it was recorded. But there's no doubt that a gauntlet was thrown. Opening with "Chameleon," a piece of springy funk anchored by drummer Harvey Mason playing figures obviously based on Jerome "Bigfoot" Braley's work with Funkadelic and Gregg Errico's work with Sly and the Family Stone, and then going on to a complete rethinking of his classic "Watermelon Man," Hancock served notice that Miles Davis wasn't the only master out there re-casting jazz. Reed-man Bennie Maupin, like Hancock a Miles Davis veteran, was able to find a way to make the saxophone speak this new language, and bassist Paul Jackson and percussionist Bill Summers rounded out this tight little group very nicely. Don't blame Hancock for the fusoid excrescences which followed this milestone (even the ones he committed), and hear it for what it is: the sound of the rules being broken by someone who had a new vision. -
They Say...
Head Hunters was a pivotal point in Herbie Hancock's career, bringing him into the vanguard of jazz fusion. Hancock had pushed avant-garde boundaries on his own albums and with Miles Davis, but he had never devoted himself to the groove as he did on Head Hunters. Drawing heavily from Sly Stone, Curtis Mayfield, and James Brown, Hancock developed deeply funky, even gritty, rhythms over which he soloed on electric synthesizers, bringing the instrument to the forefront in jazz. It had all of the sensibilities of jazz, particularly in the way it wound off into long improvisations, but its rhythms were firmly planted in funk, soul, and R&B, giving it a mass appeal that made it the biggest-selling jazz album of all time (a record which was later broken). Jazz purists, of course, decried the experiments at the time, but Head Hunters still sounds fresh and vital decades after its initial release, and its genre-bending proved vastly influential on not only jazz, but funk, soul, and hip-hop.
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| 01. |  |
Chameleon
|
15:41 |
|
| 02. | |
Watermelon Man
|
6:29 |
|
| 03. | |
Sly
|
10:15 |
|
| 04. | |
Vein Melter
|
9:09 |
|
04 Total Tracks, 41:34 Total Length
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Credits
- Bob Belden - Executive Producer // Bob Belden - Reissue Producer // Herbie Hancock - Synthesizer // Herbie Hancock - Synthesizer // Herbie Hancock - Piano // Herbie Hancock - Piano // Herbie Hancock - Keyboards // Herbie Hancock - Keyboards // Herbie Hancock - Piano (Electric) // Herbie Hancock - Piano (Electric) // Herbie Hancock - Pipe // Herbie Hancock - Pipe // Herbie Hancock - Vocals // Herbie Hancock - Vocals // Herbie Hancock - Clavinet // Herbie Hancock - Clavinet // Herbie Hancock - Producer // Herbie Hancock - Producer // Herbie Hancock - ? // Herbie Hancock - ? // Herbie Hancock - Liner Notes // Herbie Hancock - Liner Notes // Herbie Hancock - Arp // Herbie Hancock - Arp // Herbie Hancock - Fender Rhodes // Herbie Hancock - Fender Rhodes // Herbie Hancock - Soloist // Herbie Hancock - Soloist // Herbie Hancock - Original Recording Producer // Herbie Hancock - Original Recording Producer // Herbie Hancock - Arp Odyssey // Herbie Hancock - Arp Odyssey // Bennie Maupin - Flute // Bennie Maupin - Percussion // Bennie Maupin - Clarinet (Bass) // Bennie Maupin - Flute (Alto) // Bennie Maupin - Saxophone // Bennie Maupin - Sax (Soprano) // Bennie Maupin - Sax (Tenor) // Bennie Maupin - Wind // Bennie Maupin - Reeds (Multiple) // Bennie Maupin - Saxello // Bill Summers - Percussion // Bill Summers - Conga // Bill Summers - Drums // Bill Summers - Tambourine // Bill Summers - Multi Instruments // Bill Summers - Balafon // Bill Summers - Bottle // Bill Summers - Surdo // Bill Summers - ? // Bill Summers - Agogo // Bill Summers - Shekere // Bill Summers - Shakere // Bill Summers - Gankogui // Bill Summers - Log Drums // Bill Summers - Cabasa // Bill Summers - Hinedewho // Steven Berkowitz - Director // Steven Berkowitz - Reissue Series // Fred Catero - Engineer // Kevin Gore - Director // Kevin Gore - Reissue Series // Amy Herot - Coordination // Paul Jackson, Jr. - Bass (Electric) // Paul Jackson, Jr. - Marimbula // Paul Jackson - Bass // Paul Jackson - Bass (Electric) // Paul Jackson - Marimba // Paul Jackson - ? // Paul Jackson - Marimbula // Harvey Mason, Sr. - Arranger // Harvey Mason, Sr. - Drums // David Rubinson - Producer // David Rubinson - Original Recording Producer // John Snyder - Producer // John Snyder - ? // John Snyder - Project Producer // Scott Thompson - Liner Notes // Oren Waters - Vocals // Mark Wilder - Digital Mastering // Mark Wilder - Mastering // Jeremy Zatkin - Engineer // Michael Brooks - Coordination // Gary Pacheco - Coordination // Gina Campanaro - Coordination // Gina Campanaro - Package Coordinator // Seth Rothstein - Project Director // Vic Anesini - Engineer // Vic Anesini - ? // Vic Anesini - Digital Remastering // Vic Anesini - Digital Remixing // Paul M. Martin - ? // Paul M. Martin - Art Coordinator // Victor Moscoso - Art Direction // Victor Moscoso - Design // Victor Moscoso - Cover Design // Cozbi Sanchez-Cabrera - Art Direction // Cozbi Sanchez-Cabrera - Reissue Art Director // Scott H. Thompson - Liner Notes // Randall Martin - Design // Randall Martin - Reissue Design // Waldo Bascom - Photography // Rene Arsenault - Production Assistant // Rene Arsenault - Assistant Producer // The Headhunters - Group // Patti Matheny - A&R // Patti Matheny - Artist Coordination // John Naatjes - Tape Vault Research // John Naatjes - Tape Research // Jennifer Ebert - Packaging Manager
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Performers
Paul Jackson played Double Bass // Bennie Maupin // Harvey Mason played Drums // Bill Summers played Percussion // Mike Clarke played Drums -
Other Details
- Instruments:
- Synthesizer //
- Flute //
- Percussion //
- Piano //
- Bass (Electric) //
- Drums //
- Keyboards //
- Piano (Electric) //
- Double Bass
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