Eugene McDaniels: Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse [ENDLESS HAPPINESS]

Why you'll love it

This LP brings McDaniels' boldest record back to the racks. Pete Rock, Q-Tip and the Beastie Boys have all sampled it, and producer Joel Dorn surrounds him with jazz heavyweights.

About the album

Eugene McDaniels had a pop career behind him as Gene McDaniels, with early 60s hits like A Hundred Pounds of Clay, before he turned to writing and to something altogether stranger. His second album for Atlantic is a fierce, freewheeling record that the Boston Phoenix placed in a funky backwater where soul, rock, R&B and the protest song all meet.

Harry Whitaker is musical director and pianist, Gary King plays electric bass, Miroslav Vitouš acoustic bass and Alphonse Mouzon drums, with Richard Resnicoff on guitar and Carla Cargill's vocals matching McDaniels beautifully, as the Hawaii Tribune-Herald put it. "Jagger the Dagger" stretches past six minutes, "Lovin' Man" and "Supermarket Blues" groove hard, "Susan Jane" is a brief, gentle breather, and "The Parasite (For Buffy)" runs well over nine.

McDaniels dedicated the album to Roberta Flack for not being afraid to help a brother, and original copies became expensive collector's items as hip hop producers dug through its grooves. The samurai painting on the sleeve is by Harvey Konigsberg, in case anyone at your next dinner party asks, which they will.

Also at Kops: more Eugene McDaniels on vinyl · browse 70s Soul On Up

Tracklist

Listen

On Endless Happiness (cat# HE71018), a reissue of the 1971 album.