Breakbeat Tuesday – Special Guest Skratch Bastid

This is a quick and incomplete update as I’ve been running around and had one of the busiest weekends in a while. But, I try not to neglect the scheduled Breakbeat Tuesday cause I know a lot of folks check for it on a regular basis. Well, this week we’re starting the first ever guest appearance of Breakbeat Tuesday – something that a lot of people have asked about doing and I have a lineup of writers in the cue. With no further hesitation, it is my honour, as an honourary Canadian, to present the first extra special guest – Skratch Bastid. The Bastid is a good homie, and for my money, one of the best DJs in the word, no question.

When he got with me to collaborate on a 4 turntable project in his Toronto home I jumped at the chance. Working on a whole bunch of of tightly scripted routines we’re fin to take the 2X4 game to the next level for the one night only appearance, this Friday at The Drake in T-Dot. That also is going to be my birthday so you know it’s going to be fun for me no matter what. So when he said he wanted to contribute a BBT in conjunction with the Friday show we’re doing together, it made perfect sense. So here you are, the first ever guest, Breakbeat Tuesday, as told to you by the one and only… Skratch Bastid:

These are 3 songs that I think have perfect breakbeats. My favorite types of breakbeats are ones that leave a lot of options for a DJ to cut doubles of them. Beats that become a song themselves inside of their original composition. I think that’s what makes the concept of breaking and sampling so interesting: a certain part of the record can spawn whole new songs or ideas when rearranged. Long breaks that have simple yet interesting changes provide a lot of choices for DJs that want to create something new out of an existing song. Of course, it’s always a trip to hear bugged out moments of greatness on unsuspecting records, but there’s more value in a break that you can enjoy for more than 5 seconds. Songs that are actually dope in their entirety and that a listener can enjoy from front to back, but which a DJ can rearrange the best parts of to make their own on-the-fly edit of the song.

Most of the songs on the Ultimate Breaks & Beats series fall into that category, and one of my favorites off of those records is “Funky Music Is The Thing” by The Dynamic Corvettes (Abet, 1975). Released on 7″ in 2 parts, it’s a Sly & The Family Stone-ish ode to good music, punctuated by horns, vocal harmonies, and a heavy beat. The b-side opens up into a big 30 second break half way through the side, drums pounding, fuzz guitar wailing, and the greatest cowbell player known to man doing their thing. Heavy. A lot of fun to loop. Steinski, Twin Hype & JVC Force all had fun with it, but from a production tip you gotta love how the king Mantronix freaked it and recreated it on Just-Ice’s “Cold Getting Dumb”. Here’s an extended mp3 of Parts 1 & 2 pieced together.

Dynamic Corvettes “Funk Music Is The Thing Pts. 1 & 2” (Abet, 1975)

A similar break is Booker T & The MGs’ “Grab Bag”, off their album “Universal Language”. The band behind the bulk of Stax’s early success. Without question one of the best rhythm sections ever. This album kind of sucks, though. When I first started buying records, I skipped through this album quickly and passed over this track entirely. Not long ago, my homie Birdapres sat me down to listen to this track and I was shocked to hear this. Pretty much the saving grace of the album. This is a really dope beat to break. The guitar/bass melody lead-in into the drums lends itself to different patterns. You can hear it in the chorus of Big Daddy Kane’s “Set It Off.”

Booker T & The MG’s “Grab Bag” (Asylum, 1977)

The last record contains one of those breaks that is satirically long. Compared to your average song, you could say that the above two breaks pretty lengthy. It’s a lot to ask the band to shut up for more than a few bars to let the drums go for dolo. It’s gotta stay interesting somehow. But by the time the disco era hit, it would seem that fans/dancers were a little more accustom to hearing beats and grooves on their own and in a more drawn out arrangement. What happens in the last 4:30 of The New York Community Choir’s “Express Yourself” 12″ takes the length of a ‘break’ to a whole ‘nother level. The bass and singing fade out and the drums ride out solo into one of the tightest ‘straight-ahead’ disco breaks I’ve ever heard. It speaks for itself, and takes it’s time while doing so. Listen.

Enjoy! Try them out. Get busy. Shouts out to Cosmo for setting off the nerdery and for the guest spot. I’m out. -Skratch Bastid

The New York Community Choir “Express Yourself” (RCA, 1977)

Thanks, Bastid for doing that for the site and thanks to everyone who took the time to read that. One of the things about the whole BBT thing on this site is emphasizing the personal connection and significance of these records, so it’s nice and refreshing to get someone else’s perspective. And don’t forget that me and Skratch Bastid will be performing our 2X4 set at The Drake this coming Friday, which is also my birthday, so even if you have to steal a car to get there, you better be in the house.

Breakbeat Tuesday – No Time To Burn

So this Breakbeat Tuesday thing has really taken off and I’m pleased to announce that the column is soon going to be syndicated on a bunch of other sites. Also, be on the lookout for several guest entries for BBT starting very soon with some of your favorite DJs, producers, artists and just all around “folk.” But let’s get started with this week’s entry.

Now I’ve mentioned this before but my man ESPO aka Steve Powers was really instrumental on putting me on to a lot of records back in the day. I would lamp over his house in West Philly and he basically sat me down in front of the turntable and would be like “Okay, now you LISTEN to this Funkadelic record and LEARN IT.” So I am forever beholden to this dude for putting my head on at the right place and right time. For the few people out there who don’t know who dude is , get your shit together. And while you’re at it, stop messing around and buy his book. So anyway, this is a record that he put me up on, from Black Heat’s “No Time To Burn” album.

I’m going to start with Phillip Guilbeau, who was a trumpeter and session player that was most known for recording with legends such as Count Basie, David “Fathead” Newman, Hank Crawford and Ray Charles (he was soloist on the landmark 1961 album “Genius + Soul =  Jazz.”). Guilbeau recorded a ton of music during the 60s and by the time the early 70s had rolled around, Guilbea became involved in the latest evolution of sound, funk music. He was living in Washington DC and was the trumpet player for the group The Young Senators. The Young Senators were the top-rated R&B group in the area after the release of their hit, the Guilbeau penned “The Jungle” after which they were asked to tour as the backing group of Eddie Kendricks. Kendricks was so enamored of their sound that he recorded his seminal album “My People… Hold On” with the Young Senators as the band who played all the music, including what is widely considered the first ever Disco song, “Girl You Need A Change Of Mind.”

Gilbeau was still very active in the DC community which was a hotbed of talent that included Chuck Brown’s Soul Searchers, and another group that Gilbeau discovered, Black Heat. Black Heat was in the community and, had ties with The Young Senators. Gilbeau took Black Heat to Joel Dorn at Atlantic Records, whom he had known from his days as session player for Ray Charles and Hank Crawford. The funk outfit was signed and, with Dorn on production, Atlantic (which was always a very forward thinking imprint in general) was ushered into the future with a brand new sound. Black Heat recorded 3 albums before they disbanded, but not before leaving their mark.

Espo pulled this record out and put it in my hands in what was probably 1990 or 1991 and told me “Do not tell anyone what this record is or share it with anyone.” I looked at it with the wild dudes on the cover with all the flames and the words “No Time To Burn” across the front and I swore I was looking at the baddest shit I had ever seen. When he placed the vinyl on the turntable and “You Should’ve Listened” came on with it’s heavy funk and overall ATTITUDE (that’s a common theme with me I think) I was beyond excited. But then when right past 2 minutes the song revs up and launches into one of the baddest breaks I had ever heard it was game over. Just furious drumming, with percussion where you can definitely see the DC sound, and the very beginnings of what would eventually become Go-Go music. Espo looked at me and was like “I told you, so so keep this under wraps.” That was probably the beginning of a long stretch of time where I blacked out my labels and was very secretive about my records. Well the pendulum swings again and here we are, with me sharing this with the world. Not that this is a Secret Squirrel break at this point or anything, but I think you know what I mean. Anyway, I hope you don’t mind Steve. I figure the Statute Of Limitations for Funk Breaks expires around the 20 year mark. But thanks, my dude. This one is a killer.

Black Heat “You Should’ve Listened” (Atlantic, 1974)

Happy Birthday Curtis Mayfield

Happy Birthday Curtis Mayfield. There was only one and there will NEVER be another. The master storyteller and, if James Brown is the Godfather of Soul, then Curtis is the Grand Uncle, and the true Conscience Of Funk. Tonight in New York I will be spinning at SubMercer – 147 1/2 Mercer St. – playing all sorts of Curtis tunage. This is including but not limited to early stuff, covers, productions, tributes, samples and more… Come through!

Curtis Mayfield “Give Me Your Love (Love Song)” (Curtom, 1972)

Barbara Mason “Give Me Your Love” (Buddah, 1972)

The Sisters Love “Give Me Your Love (Danny Krivit Edit)” (Strut, 2003)

Breakbeat Tuesday – Can You Understand it

Mega-props to everyone that came out to Deity in Brooklyn on Friday night to see me and Rich tear it down. The word “epic” is really overused these days so I’m not going to even go there. But when you have an absolutely rammed dancefloor all night, and a dancefloor that is packed at 4:15 when the lights are up and people are refusing to leave, that says something for sure. Stay tuned here for an announcement about this in the coming days. Also tonight at 9PM EST I will be spinning a live set from my very own crib, broadcast live via Ustream on the Memory Lane show. Definitely tune in and check me out, all vinyl raps and breaks, and pictures of me wearing my house shoes.

I took last week off cause I mad all sorts of stuff to handle so I’m gonna make this week’s entry extra thick and extra quick. You know, the thing with the internet and music consumption is that information and material is so widely and quickly disseminated that it (in my opinion) lessens the significance of actually discovering something yourself. Chris Weingarten spoke about that in the video that I featured last month. I’m not saying that it’s a bad thing because it’s wonderful that people have that access to things that they might not have had 5, 10, 20 years ago. But the context I think gets a little skewed, along the lines of what I’ve always held to be the canon or hierarchy in this whole funk thing. Because of the internet you got kids running around talking about the Salt 45 but can’t tell you a damn thing about James Brown. And that’s a shame to me because if you don’t have a solid foundation you won’t stand for long. So where there’s a lot of people who won’t want to deal with anything that isn’t rare, I say I would rather have the great than the rare. And the fact of the matter is that if something what that popular it probably means it was that much better. So with this mind set I want to get cracking on talking about one of my all-time favorite bands, The New Birth.

I discovered The New Birth when I bought the “Birth Day” album at Funk-O-Mart back in 1991 or 1992. The above Bobby Womack cover song, “I Can Understand It” was the first song of the album. That was all I needed to hear to fall in love with this group, and it was very soon that I started to incorporate a lot of the funk that I had been amassing, including New Birth, into my DJ sets. The group was the originally known as The Nite-Liters, an instrumental outfit from Kentucky, consisting of several members – most notable which is Harvey Fuqua.

Fuqua was first a member of the Doo-Wop group The Moonlighters and went on to become one of the main songwriters and producers within the Motown machine, including being responsible for the pairing of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. Fuqua eventually went on to discover the legendary Sylvester, producing for him his seminal “Over And Over” among others. But he always had his side project, Nite-Liters, which after some absorption and restructuring became The New-Birth.

The New Birth had a pretty successful career as a band and for my money they were one of the tightest ensembles of that day and age – standing up alongside giants like Kool & The Gang and Earth, Wind & Fire. Lots of people dismiss them as being a “tepid funk” outfit but honestly I think the people who think that are soulless monsters. I fully suggest going out and buying some New Birth music, starting with “Birth Day,” “Blind Baby” or “It’s Been A Long Time.” 70s funk and soul music at it’s finest. Here are a few examples of the New Birth sound, complete with the obligatory break beats. Enjoy!

The New Birth “Got To Get A Knutt” (RCA, 1972)

The New Birth “I Wash My Hands Of The Whole Damn Deal” (RCA, 1974)

The New Birth “Coming From All Ends” (RCA, 1974)