the often sampled “blow your head”, from JAMES BROWN’s band-leader/composer/arranger FRED WESLEY, kicks off our ROOTS REWIND radio show and blog series. each week we highlight recordings essential to the history and development of electronic music and DJ culture. released 40 years ago on FRED WESLEY & THE JBs’ 1974 people records LP “damn right i am somebody”, “blow your head’s” opening synth solo has been sampled, scratched and re-sampled so many times, it is woven into the fabric of hip hop and the many genres spawned from hip hop’s foundations. most notably in PUBLIC ENEMY’s “public enemy #1” from 1987:

then listen to the sampling mutate with DJ ZINC’s drum n bass classic “super sharp shooter”:

reportedly, JAMES BROWN played the solo himself on the relatively new (at the time) mini-moog analogue synthesizer.

listen to “blow your head” in the mix from our latest radio show.

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