Incredible Bongo Band - Bongo Rock (2006) {Mr. Bongo Recordings} **[RE-UP]**

×

Incredible Bongo Band - Bongo Rock (2006) {Mr. Bongo Recordings} **[RE-UP]**

Close

Do you know the name Michael Viner? You’ll never forget it after you read this review. In a time long ago, after promoting people like Ramsey Lewis and Woody Allen in LA, he took a job as aide to Senator Robert Kennedy. Following Rob’s tragic assassination at the hands of the CIA, Viner left politics to work for Metro Goldwyn Mayer’s record company. There, he signed the Osmonds and Sammy Davis Jr., for whom he produced “Candy Man” and other hits.

MGM also makes movies, so when cult b-movie The Thing With Two Heads needed a couple tracks to score a tacked-on car chase, Viner hopped into the studio with a few jam ideas and Academy Award nominee Perry Botkin Jr. The subsequent “Bongo Rock” / “Bongolia” single surprisingly went on to sell over two million copies in North America and provided the duo with a little incentive. With unlimited studio time at his disposal, Viner formed the only two Incredible Bongo Band albums out of sessions with Traffic drummer Jim Gordon, bongo master King Errisson, Hal Blaine, Ringo Starr, John Lennon, Glenn Campbell, Harry Nilsson, and anyone else who happened to drop by. The albums didn’t come close to repeating the commercial success of the first single, but that’s not where the life of these albums ended.

In the mid to late ‘70s, Kool Herc found and looped the breakdowns of “Bongo Rock” and their cover of The Shadows’ “Apache” for the New York dance scene, making these the base for some of the first hip-hop tracks ever produced. “Apache” has gone on to become one of the most sampled songs in music history as it provided the backbone for hip-hop, breaks, and influenced many other genres (seeing use from Coldcut, Goldie, Jurassic 5, Sugarhill Gang, Massive Attack, and many others along the way). So, yeah, Viner’s got himself quite the legacy.

This Bongo Rock re-release collects both of the legendary deep funk IBB albums with a couple old school remixes, so if you’re looking to own a solid chunk of music history, this is it. These original works have aged gloriously and stand well on their own, even if you have no appreciation for the genres they inadvertently helped create. “Apache” may be the most recognizable, but there is still a rich field of extractable samples to be had for the next generation. There may never be another album this far reaching and significant again.

×

Incredible Bongo Band - Bongo Rock (2006) {Mr. Bongo Recordings} **[RE-UP]**

Close

There's a fun story behind this album, retold in detail in the liner notes. In 1972, Michael Viner was an executive at MGM Records. Asked to put together some music for the soundtrack of an upcoming horror B-movie, The Thing With Two Heads, he called on songwriter Perry Botkin, Jr., and the two of them whipped up a pair of songs called "Bongo Rock" and "Bongolia." By mid-'73, the songs, attributed to the Incredible Bongo Band, began to take off, both in Canada and on the U.S. R&B and pop charts, so Viner and Botkin took the concept to the next obvious level and cut an album, also titled Bongo Rock. Successful enough to scrape into the bottom of the Billboard album chart, the pair put together The Return Of The Incredible Bongo Band in 1974 before fizzling out. There are some other pertinent details worth knowing, for example, that Jim Gordon, of Derek and the Dominoes fame, was one of the key drummers on the project, and that Ringo Starr supposedly stopped in to bang out a few beats. But some of the best stuff happened long after the demise of the IBB, when early hip-hop DJs such as Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash, and then the Sugarhill Gang, Massive Attack and others, discovered the Incredible Bongo Band's recordings and began using samples from them. What started as a tossed-off filler session for a crummy flick took on a life of its own. This CD reissue contains not all, but most of the tracks from the two original albums, plus two remixes, "Apache (Grand Master Flash Remix)" and "Last Bongo In Belgium (Breakers Mix)." Interesting as it is to hear how the bongo-centric beats were toyed with by the hip-hoppers, the original recordings stand up on their own as classically kitschy cheese-rock. Bongos aren't the only sound heard, naturally, and fans of both lounge-rock and that crisp, reverby guitar sound prominent in old spy movies and Ventures records will dig what the IBB was all about. Their version of "Apache," the classic '60s instrumental made famous by the Shadows, is the equal of any other, and while that can't be said of their takes on "Satisfaction," "Raunchy," "Wipeout" or even "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida," these studio musicians–most of whom the creators of the IBB don't recall but which may or may not have included some heavyweights–sure had a good time stepping out on their nights off.

Though you may not recognize the name, the Incredible Bongo Band, created in the early 70’s, was made up of a revolving group of musicians put together by bongo player Michael Viner. This compilation features some amazing tracks from their short history. What’s different about this album from most put out during that time was that all the tracks featured the bongo as the lead instrument with no vocal accompaniment. Though you may think it’s some sort of gimmick album from a time period where organ and moog players came out with albums covering everything from the Beatles to Puff, the Magic Dragon, you may be right, but regardless, they ended up playing a huge part in music history.

The Incredible Bongo Band is one of a small group of artists that was (and still is) synonymous with the creation and evolution of hip-hop. Like Isaac Hayes and James Brown and Parliament/Funkadelic, this band has been sampled more times than most of us can count. While the band’s name may not ring a bell, perhaps the song “Apache” does. Even if that doesn’t, you’ve heard it being played by your favorite DJ or used by any number of music groups. That I can guarantee you.

This band is part of the blueprint of hip-hop. If you don’t believe that, then check out Grandmaster Flash’s remix version of Apache on the album. It’s pretty killer. Then listen to the Beastie Boys for several of the Bongo Band’s breakbeats and any other hip-hop group or DJ that came after them, and you will hear how Michael Viner’s Incredible Bongo Band has influenced generations of musicians.

While some would begin and end with Apache, other standout tracks on Bongo Rock include the heavily sampled “Last Bongo in Belgium,” a cover of the Rolling Stones “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” and one of my personal favorite covers, “In-Gadda-Da-Vida” originally by Iron Butterfly. Though this short-lived band put out a total of three albums from 1972-1974 before calling it quits, this compilation really shows you just how good they were during their time, and you might even recognize a song or two. If you don’t get it from what I just said above, then I’ll make it perfectly clear. THIS ALBUM IS A MUST HEAR.

×

Incredible Bongo Band - Bongo Rock (2006) {Mr. Bongo Recordings} **[RE-UP]**

Close