Sorry about the metal deluge, now for something completely different. Eugene (Gene) McDaniels was an American songwriter/producer and is now a hermit. He earned a living writing songs for musicians such as Roberta Flack and Gladys Knight, making the Top 40 several times. He put out a number of solo albums in the 60's and 70's, this was his last and best. After it's release in 1971 (so the story goes) Vice President Spiro Agnew contacted Atlantic Records and asked that promotion of the album be stopped and the record taken from the shelves due to it's "radical" black consciousness/black power stance and depictions of marijuana use. Whether that's true or not, Atlantic stopped promoting it and let the album go out of print. Despite this, you've heard bits of this album before, I guarantee it. Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse has been sampled by The Beastie Boys, A Tribe Called Quest, Pete Rock, The People Under The Stairs and just about every other worthwhile hip hop artist. Headless Heroes takes soul, jazz, rock, gospel and funk and wraps it up into one tidy little package. The one exception being "Susan Jane," a folkish track which screams Bob Dylan. A classic, check it out.
Eugene McDaniels on last.fm
Get it here.
Gems: The Lord Is Back, Jagger The Dagger, Lovin' Man, Headless Heroes, Freedom Death Dance.
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