hypersongs

Head Hunters

Four tracks, 41 minutes, a jazz-funk landmark.
Herbie Hancock, 1973

Hancock plays Fender Rhodes, Hohner Clavinet D6, ARP Odyssey and ARP Pro Soloist, Bennie Maupin tenor, soprano, saxello, bass clarinet and alto flute, Paul Jackson bass guitar and marimbula, Harvey Mason drums and Bill Summers percussion, including a beer bottle on "Watermelon Man"; Maupin was the only holdover from the Mwandishi sextet. Fred Catero, Jeremy Zatkin, Dane Butcher and John Vieira engineered. Hancock played all the synthesizer parts and used no guitar; "Watermelon Man" reworks his 1962 hit. Edited versions of "Chameleon" and "Vein Melter" were issued as a 45, and a 1974 quad mix has an extra keyboard melody at the start of "Sly". AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave five stars, calling it a pivotal point in Hancock's career, and Pitchfork gave 10 of 10; Rolling Stone ranked it 254th in 2020. Release dates are October 26 per Wikipedia and October 13 per MusicBrainz.

Track listing

  1. Chameleon15:41
  2. Watermelon Man6:29
  3. Sly10:15
  4. Vein Melter9:09

More from Herbie Hancock

Takin' Off (1962), My Point Of View (1963), Empyrean Isles (1964), Inventions And Dimensions (1964), Blow-Up (The Original Sound Track Album) (1966), Speak Like A Child (1968), Fat Albert Rotunda (1969), Jammin' With Herbie Hancock (1970), The Prisoner (1970), Mwandishi (1971), Sextant (1973), Death Wish (Original Soundtrack Recording) (1974), Man-Child (1975), Flood (1975), Secrets (1976), V.S.O.P. (1977), Sunlight (1978), Feets Don't Fail Me Now (1979), A Night With Herbie Hancock (1980), Monster (1980), Hancock Alley (1980), Mr. Hands (1980), Magic Windows (1981), Lite Me Up (1982), Quartet (1982), Perfect Machine (1988), The Quintet (1989), Dis Is Da Drum (1994), The New Standard (1996), Gershwin's World (1998), Future 2 Future (2001), Possibilities (2005), River: The Joni Letters (2007)

Sources

  1. Head Hunters, Wikipedia
  2. Vein Melter: Herbie Hancock's Head Hunters at 50, Rock and Roll Globe