FDB Goes Loop Diggin' - Holy Thursday Sample

David Axelrod - Holy Thursday
taken from Songs Of Innocence (Capital, 1968)
FDB Holy Thursday Compilation

As if I didn't spend enough time on the internet already, the work done by people such as Scholar over at Souled On, Jaz at Cold Rock Da Spot! and more recently by my man Eric at When They Reminisce... as well as many others have inspired me to enter a new realm of hip hop appreciation: the identification of samples and their incorporation into rap songs. It's not that this is an interest that has only recently surfaced as it has always fascinated me, but with six months of blogging under my belt and a multitude of newfound resources to pursue such activities it just seems more accessible to me than ever before. Of course, even in my early days of my discovery of hip hop music I was aware that artists used segments of other people's records for their own compositions, but it is only within the last few years that I have begun to genuinely appreciate the skill required in sourcing and utilising these hidden gems and the world of music that it has now opened my eyes to. Ah, the joys of the internet...

David Axelrod was one of the first musicians that I came across where I truly understood the concept of the sample, largely because of his 'contributions' to Shadow's debut LP which is arguably one of the greatest diggin' records of all time. 'Endtroducing...' was one of the first albums where I felt compelled to understand how the music had been constructed, and because of the substantial amount of press it received it didn't prove long before Axelrod's name surfaced in some interview or feature that I must have read somewhere. Subsequently I have come to realise that he has been a major source of inspiration for a wide range of hip hop artists including Dre, Diamond D, The Beatnuts and Pete Rock amongst a whole host of others. Off the back of this discovery I picked up both of Axelrod's Blake inspired works entitled 'Songs Of Innocence' and 'Songs Of Experience' back in my student days. I enjoy both of these albums but I'm not going to pretend that I know an awful lot about their musical heritage or Axelrod's work in broader terms, so hit the links at the bottom of this post for a more educated overview.

'Holy Thursday' is one of his most often used compositions, a haunting and beautifully cinematic piece that stands alone as a wonderful piece of music even without the intrigue generated for a hip hop audience by its employment in the songs found on this compilation. As expected, each artist who has used his work has managed to do so in a slightly different fashion ranging from a simple two bar loop to much more subtle touches. Indeed, there are so many elements from this song that have been used by the various producers on this compilation that it would be a lengthy task to detail them all in full here, but suffice to say that one or more of all of the following elements have been used at some stage including the strings, drum beat, piano, bass, xylophones and horns. Some are instantly identifiable whereas others require a little more concentration to spot, namely the use of the bass on Mix Master Mike's 'Black Level Clearance' joint and Madlib's jacking of the drums for one section of 'Return Of The Loop Digga'. Here's the tracklist:

1. David Axelrod - Holy Thursday
2. Apache - Tonto
3. Artifacts - 'C'Mon Wit Da Git Down (Remix)
4. Red Hot Lover Tone - Bust Tha Maneuva
5. Fat Joe - Bronx Keeps Creating It
6. Quasimoto - Return Of The Loop Digga
7. The Beatnuts - Hit Me With That
8. Mix Master Mike - Black Level Clearance
9. INI - Think Twice
10. UNKLE - Rabbit In Your Headlights feat. Thom Yorke
11. Mr Complex - C.O.R.E. Mix
12. Black Sheep - Without A Doubt (Lawnge Remix)

[Props to Rap 4 Real for the Lawnge remix]

Although I could have already named a couple of joints that have used 'Holy Thursday' myself I am entirely indebted to my new favourite online resource The Breaks, a website dedicated to samples and their uses (hope this wasn't meant to be a trade secret Eric...). It's only Black Sheep's 'Without A Doubt' that has me truly stumped as I can't hear any remnants of Axelrod's composition here, but I'm going to trust the information garnered at said website and wait for somebody to point me in the right direction: prove how much of a geek you are and leave a comment (the right direction turns out to be the Lawnge remix found on the original 12'': thanks for the help). Perhaps with a sense of pathetic pride my only addition is the Mr Complex track that has managed to escape the heads at The Breaks, so I can happily lay claim to being more than a little bit of a nerd myself, but I'm guessing you had probably cottoned on to that fact for yourselves by now anyway. Who knows, world domination may not be far away... geeks of the world unite!

Links to check out:
David Axelrod @ Wikipedia
The David Axelrod Information Society
David Axelrod's Official Website