Oakland's Vinyl Vault - Head Hunters

Get funky, reader.  This week the randomizer spit out the jazz funk classic, Head Hunters by Herbie Hancock.

Release date: October 13, 1973
Singles: Chameleon

I have to start out by just saying it: I love pretty much everything about this album.  I love the cover art.  I love the fact that there are only four tracks, each one completely different than the others.  I even love saying, "Herbie Hancock Head Hunters."  Must be the alliteration.

Since there are only four tracks, I might as well just go through them in order.  First up, "Chameleon."  If you've heard the single version (which I doubt since it is only available on 45), then you know half the story.  Actually, not even close to half, because the single is heavily edited.  And by "heavily edited," I mean the single is a shade under 3 minutes, and the album version is almost 16 minutes long.  When listening to the album version, it's easy to forget halfway through that you're still listening to the first song on the album, and then the main riff comes back around and you remember.  It's awesome.

Finishing off side one is "Watermelon Man," which I kind of consider to be the core of the album.  It screams "Head Hunters."  It's a fun tune, and is probably one of my favorite tracks on any of the albums I own.  Flipping the disc over gets you to "Sly," a tune dedicated to Sly Stone, of Sly & the Family Stone fame.  Like its namesake, "Sly" is extra funky.  It's another tune that you can sort of lose yourself in in the middle, and then be brought home when the opening riff suddenly reappears near the end of the song.  The album closes with "Vein Melter," which is a fantastic name for a song.  It closes the album on a nice slow, steady groove.

Rating: 10 shrunken heads - A classic album for a reason.  If the words jazz or funk even remotely interest you, then you should pick up this album.  If they don't, then maybe listen to it first.

Now here's "Sly," in all its glory.  Enjoy!



Pat is crazy.