At this stage, do I really need to justify the use of sampling? I suppose I do. For purists, taking somebody else’s work and reusing it is just artistically lazy at best and criminal at worst. This is even in the face of long-standing traditions of borrowing that has gone on in folk, jazz and blues. I suppose that some people can justify copping a lick, but stop at actually taking a recording of the lick and using that. I guess there’s validity to this stance, but I would argue that there is a value to sampling as opposed to recreating.
After all, visual artists utilize collage and assemblage techniques, taking a scrap of something created by someone else and inserting it into a new work. Something special is evoked by this technique that cannot otherwise be achieved by just replicating another work in some way or by creating something new that is similar to its inspiration.
Anyway, let’s do this thing. “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy” was originally a #39 hit for Brenda Holloway in 1967. Two years later, Blood, Sweat & Tears took their version to #2 on the U.S. charts. Lou Rawls recorded his version for his 1970 album of the same name, produced by the legendary David Axelrod. Rawls’ version of this song mostly works a pop/soul/jazz groove, a lot like the original version by Blood, Sweat & Tears. The key difference is that wonderfully dramatic opening, with just piano and minimal percussion. That same groove keeps coming back as Rawls finishes each chorus and really grounds the whole thing.
Producer Prince Paul and De La Soul certainly recognized the power of that opening piano pattern, because they copped it for the track “I Am I Be” on their 2003 album Buhlōōne Mindstate. That album also includes an instrumental version of the song (“I Be Blowin’”) which provides a showcase for alto saxophonist Maceo Parker, who is joined here by longtime compatriots trombonist Fred Wesley and saxman Pee Wee Ellis. The song actually starts with a different sample, taken from an Eddie Harris track “The Next Band,” from his notorious 1975 album The Reason Why I’m Talking Shit (It’s been called jazz’s version of Having Fun on Stage With Elvis). Maceo comes in and blows solo for a little while. And then the sample from “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy” starts and repeats for the next three minutes and fifty seconds. The results are terrific and are, I would argue, distinct from the original Lou Rawls version.
Lou Rawls – You’ve Made Me So Very Happy — BUY
De La Soul ft. Maceo Parker – I Be Blowin’ — BUY
2 Responses
-
Steve M. Says:
Another fundamentally different but related aspect of sampling not discussed here (until now) is the act of using a sampler as an instrument in its own right. I believe it’s fair to presume that when most folks think of sampling, they automatically jump to the conclusion that the “sample” is a recording of a previously published musical phrase from another artist. Although this might be true, as in the examples quoted in the authors’ blog, the most widely used form of sampling involves using recorded snippets of instrument sounds within a hardware or software based “sampler”, and playing them back in the form of a new instrument. This methodology is used constantly in music today, and bears absolutely no resemblance to an original piece of work. In fact, there is an entire industry built out of selling pre-recorded instrument sounds for use in samplers. A simple example, out of thousands, is Bardstown Audio. This small company takes great care in recording live instruments that a typical consumer couldn’t afford, such as a Bosendorfer grand piano. Thousands of recordings are taken of the instrument at each pitch, with varying velocity levels, and then sold on “sample CDs” to be used by musicians. Once loaded into a compatible sampler, a very realistic copy of a Bosendorfer Grand can be played back using a midi keyboard in a professional studio or home recording environment at a fraction of the cost. This concept extends to almost every instrument imaginable as well as sound effects. Another example is from a company called Redmatica. Redmatica makes a software program called Autosampler that automates the process described above. Using Autosampler, a professional or hobbyist musician can borrow a midi capable synthesizer or other instrument from a friend, automatically sample the sounds from the instrument, and save the files in their computer for later playback in their sequencer/sampler program of choice. I believe that no one can argue that sampling in this way isn’t a legitimate method of music creation. If there are complaints from purists, go through their music collection and start throwing out nearly everything that isn’t recorded live.
-
Steve M. Says:
One more short comment. Sampling in the form I described above has been going on for a very long time. Perhaps the earliest example was in the form of an actual instrument called the Mellotron. The Mellotron was a tape relay based keyboard that used pre-recorded 8 second samples (that had to be purchased separately). A few examples of the Mellotron are; opening flute sounds in “strawberry fields forever” and “stairway to heaven”, violins on “knights in white satin” and “court of the crimson king”, and more recently choir sounds in Radioheads “exit music”