TCCDM Pulls One Out..."Head Hunters" - Herbie Hancock (1973)

"Head Hunters" - Herbie Hancock (1973)

     I'm not up too much on my jazz, but I do pick up some things here and there.  Herbie Hancock's "Head Hunters" is one of those albums I've had on my radar.  It's some early representations of jazz fusion and certainly one of the most successful.  At one time it was the largest-selling jazz album of all time.  One of the things that make the square so tasty is the seamless blend of funk that mixes into the jazz.  No big thing nowadays, I suppose, but back in 1973 the idea was almost blasphemous.  "Head Hunters" is jazz-whipped and funky. It grooves and trips and jazzes off in all the right places.  There are jazz improv breaks throughout the songs, for sure, so Herbie doesn't bite the hand that feeds him.  But he does gnaw on them a little bit.  Jazz purists might have been taken aback, but as for the rest......give me some more candy!

I'm glad I waited until actually spinning the album myself, before having a listen.  The vinyl really brings it out.  I was able to find a nice original copy from one of my favorite sellers about town, Garageman G, and the spin did not disappoint.  The cover is about VG+ and the vinyl plays Excellent.  My copy is a Terre Haute / Santa Maria metalwork pressing and you can tell from the "SX T" etched in the runouts.  I probably paid half what it goes for and it's one of the five or ten squares I've spun the most this year.  

"Head Hunters" - Herbie Hancock (back)

Favorites include:
"Chameleon"
"Watermelon Man" 

I was first introduced to Herbie Hancock via MTV's heavy-rotation of "Rock It" released in 1983.  Later, I found a vinyl copy of the 1966 "Blow Up" soundtrack that featured The Yardbirds AND was scored by Hancock.  It was only then I learned he was part of the Miles Davis Quartet.  His cred was just spilling out all over the place.  By this time, "Head Hunters" was Herbie Hancock's 12th studio album and was later ranked #498 in the book version of Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.  

"Head Hunters" - Herbie Hancock
(Columbia label)

Cat #
KC 32731
SIDE 1  DEADWAX
0  P AL 32731-1A  SXT  A9
SIDE 2  DEADWAX
0  P BL 32731-1A  1  SXT  E3

"Chameleon" - Herbie Hancock / "Head Hunters" (1973)

TRACKS:
A1  "Chameleon" 15:41
A2  "Watermelon Man" 6:29
B1  "Sly" 10:18
B2  "Vein Melter" 9:10

PERSONNEL:
Herbie Hancock - Fender Rhodes electric piano, Clavinet, ARP Odyssey, synthesizers, composer
Bennie Maupin - tenor sax, soprano sax, saxello, bass clarinet, alto flute
Paul Jackson - bass guitar, marímbula
Harvey Mason - drums, arrangement (A2)
Bill Summers - beer bottle (A2), agogô, balafon, cabasa, congas, gankogui, log drum, shekere, surdo, tambourine, 

Good stuff.

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