''Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse'' is an album of American

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became po ...

by artist

Eugene McDaniels Eugene Booker McDaniels (February 12, 1935 – July 29, 2011) was an American singer and songwriter. He had his greatest recording success in the early 1960s, reaching number three on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart with " A Hun ...

, released in 1971.

Overview

The album is dedicated to

Roberta Flack Roberta Cleopatra Flack (born February 10, 1937) is a retired American singer. She topped the Billboard Magazine, ''Billboard'' charts with the No. 1 singles "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", "Killing Me Softly with His Song", "Feel Like M ...

who is credited: "Special thanks to Miss Roberta Flack for not being afraid to help a brother. She, in my opinion, is a lady of quality, grace, humanity and talent of the highest order. I love you, Bert-G." This album dabbles in form between

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

, and even

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

. In addition, it has been a collector's item among rap music and rare groove enthusiasts since the early 90s when several of the songs were sampled by many hip hop producers including

Pete Rock Peter O. Phillips (born June 21, 1970), better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American record producer, DJ and rapping, rapper. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time, and is often mentioned alongs ...

, Q-Tip,

Beastie Boys Beastie Boys were an American rap rock group from New York City, formed in 1978. The group was composed of Mike D, Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (voca ...

and later

Earl Sweatshirt Thebe Neruda Kgositsile (born February 24, 1994), also known by his stage name Earl Sweatshirt, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Kgositsile was originally known by the moniker Sly Tendencies when he began rapping in 2008, ...

Aloe Blacc Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins III (born January 7, 1979), known professionally by his stage name Aloe Blacc (), is an American singer, songwriter and rapper. He is best known for his singles "I Need a Dollar", " The Man", which topped the charts in th ...

performed the album in its entirety at the

Montreux Jazz Festival The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annual ...

2018.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Eugene McDaniels; except where noted. # "The Lord Is Back" (McDaniels, Dwight Singleton) - 3:19 # "Jagger the Dagger" – 6:02 # "Lovin' Man" – 4:47 # "Headless Heroes" – 3:32 # "Susan Jane" – 2:10 # "Freedom Death Dance" – 4:16 # "Supermarket Blues" – 4:08 # "The Parasite (For Buffy)" – 9:36

Personnel

*Harry Whitaker -

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

, musical director * Gary King - electric bass *

Miroslav Vitouš Miroslav Ladislav Vitouš (born 6 December 1947) is a Czech jazz bassist. Biography Born in Prague, Vitouš began the violin at age six, switching to piano after about three years, and then to bass at age fourteen. As a young man in Europe, ...

- acoustic bass * Alphonse Mouzon -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

*Richard Resnicoff -

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

*Carla Cargill - female

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

;Technical *Lew Hahn - recording and remixing engineer *Patrick Roques - art direction and design *Bill Del Conte - photography * Harvey Konigsberg - samurai painting

External links

The Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse
at All About Jazz * The Headless Heroes of the Apocalypseat

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

{{Authority control 1971 albums Gene McDaniels albums Albums produced by Joel Dorn Atlantic Records albums