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Skull Snaps

 
Album Review: Skull Snaps

  • Artist: Skull Snaps
  • Rating: StarStarStar
  • Release Date: 1974
  • Genre: Rhythm & Blues

Review

Original vinyl copies of Skull Snaps' one and only LP continue to exchange hands on the rare groove market for three figures. There are two reasons for this: one, it's rare, and two, the drum breaks from the album have been feasted upon for samples so frequently that samples of the samples have likely been sampled. It's not that the album is spectacular -- it's merely a decent early-'70s funk record from some accomplished musicians who don't exactly leave a trademark of their own throughout its nine songs. This soul-drenched funk album is most notable for the drums of "It's a New Day." It's the album's strongest cut, and the opening drum pattern is as ubiquitous they come -- you can hear it get put to re-use in well over two dozen popular rap songs. Anyone who likes hard funk will find much to like -- the vocals are gruff, the rhythms are tough yet nimble (the drums are crisp and smacking throughout), and the subject matter takes on everything from pimps to romance to everyday relationships. Charly reissued the album on CD in 1995. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track TitleComposersPerformersTime
My Hang up Is You Skull Snaps (4:04)
Having You Around Skull Snaps (4:29)
Didn't I Do It to You Skull Snaps (3:18)
All of a Sudden Skull Snaps (3:25)
It's a New Day Skull Snaps (3:05)
I'm Your Pimp Skull Snaps (4:06)
I Turn My Back on Love Skull Snaps (2:46)
Trepasssin' Dutch Robinson Skull Snaps (4:04)
I'm Falling out of Love Skull Snaps (2:45)

Credits

George Kerr (Producer), Skull Snaps (Main Performer)
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Artist: Skull Snaps
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  • Genres: Rhythm & Blues
  • Representative Albums: "Skull Snaps," "It's a New Day Redux"
  • Representative Songs: "It's a New Day," "I'm Falling out of Love," "Didn't I Do It to You"

Biography

Skull Snaps were a mysterious funk group that lasted long enough to record and release a self-titled 1973 album before apparently disbanding. Since its small-time release on the GSF label, Skull Snaps has become one of the more legendary rare funk records, having been sampled countless times on rap records. Gang Starr's "Take It Personal," Camp Lo's "Cooley High," Ol' Dirty Bastard's "Hippa to da Hoppa," Lords of the Underground's "Funky Child," and Diamond D's "Sally Got a One Track Mind" represent just a handful of the tracks that have put the drums from "It's a New Day" to use. Charly later issued the album on CD in the '90s, to the amazement of those who had paid triple figures for the original LP. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide
Wikipedia: Skull Snaps
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Skull Snaps
Studio album by Skull Snaps
Released 1974, 1995 2005
Recorded 1973
Genre R&B / Soul
Funk
Deep funk
Rare groove
Length 32:12
Label GSF, Charly Records Aztec Music, Ten12 Records,
Producer George Kerr
Professional reviews
Skull Snaps chronology
'Skull Snaps'
(1973)
Snapped
(2005)

Skull Snaps was a funk group that released one eponymous album on the small GSF label in 1973 before disappearing.[1] They were in fact the group originally known as The Diplomats who had released numerous singles between 1963 and 1970 with some success.

The Skull Snaps' album contains drum breaks that have been sampled numerous times on various rap and hip-hop records: The familiar opening drum pattern of It's A New Day can be heard in songs by well-known acts such as Ol' Dirty Bastard, Das EFX, Eric B. & Rakim, Digable Planets, DJ Shadow, Rob Dougan, and The Prodigy.

Ten12 Records re-united all the original members of the Skull Snaps (Erv Littleton Waters, Sam O. Culley, and George Bragg) in 2005 in tandem with the band's first official release, Snapped / I'm Your Pimp, since their 1975 single. Under the direction of Skull Snaps frontman Erv Waters, Ten12 Records plans to release the entire Skull Snaps catalog on CD and DVD,[2] with recordings from the original album plus five bonus tracks: 'Al's Razor Blade', 'Ain't That Lovin' You', 'On Top Of It', 'Soul Makossa', & 'She's The One'.

Skull Snaps meet the Audible Doctor Snapped (aside), I'm Your Pimp (bside) (2005 ten12 records-12-inch release)

  1. "Snapped" – 5:05
  2. "I'm Your Pimp (original take)" – 4:07

References

External links


 
 
Learn More
Express Yourself: Charly's Funky Grooves, Vol. 1 (1999 Album by Various Artists)
Chilled/Funk (2002 Album by Various Artists)
Superfly Soul (2003 Album by Various Artists)

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Copyrights:

Album Review. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Artist. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Skull Snaps" Read more

 

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