"We have killed the very earth beneath our feet…yet we still kill each other and speak of the future." – the left rev mcd

 

HEADLESS HEROES OF THE APOCALYPSE

"Vocalist/songwriter Eugene McDaniels was a genius and visionary who was way ahead of his time." — ALPHONSE MOUZON DRUMMER Weather Report, 11th House, Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse

 

  1. The Lord Is Back (3:18)

  2. Jagger The Dagger (6:00)

  3. Lovin’ Man (4:45)

  4. Headless Heroes (3:30)

  5. Susan Jane (2:08)

  6. Freedom Death Dance (4:16)

  7. Supermarket Blues (4:07)

  8. The Parasite (For Buffy) (9:36)

Atlantic Records, 1971

  • McD. – vocals

  • Richie Resnikoff – guitar

  • Harry Whitaker – piano

  • Gary King – electric bass

  • Miroslav Vitous – acoustic bass

  • Alphonse Mouzon – drums

  • Carla Cargill – backing vocals

  • Produced by Joel Dorn

“A lot of his message songs were so hard hitting that even John [Legend] thought it was a bit too much. Every song of this record has ended up in samples by Pete Rock, ATCQ, Beastie Boys…the VP of the USA in the Nixon admin called and had him blacklisted…When the United States government and VP has you blacklisted then you must have said something really, really strong.”
— QUESTLOVE Pitchfork.com

 

QUESTLOVE TALKS HEADLESS HEROES OF THE APOCALYPSE

At the 4:15 mark in this 2008 interview with Nardwuar, Questlove talks about Eugene and why Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse was such an important album to him.

"The reason why this record is so dope is because pretty much, with the exception of one song, everything is absolute sample material beyond your wildest dreams…like the funkiest stuff."

 —QUESTLOVE

 

Aloe Blacc Talks Eugene McDaniels: On The Record

Rhapsody gave Aloe Blacc 45 seconds to talk about his all-time favorite album, Eugene McDaniels' 1971 psychedelic soul jazz cult classic Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse.. "Not many other artists have been able to accomplish anything as wonderful as this," says Blacc.
http://us.napster.com//blog/post/otr-aloe-blacc-talks-eugene-mcdaniels?from=rhapsody

 

Aloe Blacc & The Roots

live recording of Headless Heroes

 

"Headless Heroes"

Nobody knows who the enemy is
Cause he never goes in hiding
He's slitting our throats
Right in front of our eyes,
While we pull the casket he's riding
Better get it together,
Better get it together,
And see what's happening
To you and you and you

 

Headless Heroes Samples

BEASTIE BOYS

The lyrics "Get it together...See what's happening." from the song “Headless Heroes” were sampled in 1994 by the Beastie Boys in their song "Get it Together" ft. Q-Tip. 

 

 

 

PETE ROCK & C.L. SMOOTH

“Headless Heroes” was later sampled in 1998 by Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth in the song "Soul Brother #1" from their sophomore LP Soul Survivor.

 

 

"The Parasite

(for Buffy)"

"We knew when we recorded this gem that it was going to be mind-blowing, trend setting and revolutionary! Eugene was a visionary genius!! I'm so proud to have been a part of creating this historical music!!!”
— Drummer ALPHONSE MOUZON. November 27, 2016 on Eugene’s Facebook page

 

“JAGGER THE DAGGER”

 

Jagger doing the devil dance

Just a victim of circumstance

Jagger wheeling the rolling stone

He and the devil know he’s all alone

 

Jagger the Dagger Samples

A TRIBE CALLED QUEST

“Jagger the Dagger" was most famously sampled as in interlude between songs on A Tribe Called Quest's debut LP People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm. In all it was sampled in 5 tracks on this album; "Bonita Applebum," "After Hours," "Push it Along," "Rhythm (Devoted to the Art of Moving Butts," and "Ham N’ Eggs

 

 

DE LA SOUL

De La Soul used "Jagger the Dagger" for "Just Havin' a Ball" on their 2006 compilation of unreleased material entitled The Impossible: Mission TV Series: Pt. 1 released by Red Lion Entertainment.

 

GRAVEDIGGAZ

“Jagger the Dagger" was also used on the Gravediggaz song, "Nowhere to Run To", on their debut LP 6 Feet Deep. 

 

“SUPERMARKET BLUES”

 

I GOT THE SUPERMARKET BLUES
AND IT'S REALLY MUCH MORE
THAN I CAN EVER USE, YEAH (YEAH)
I GOT THE SUPERMARKET BLUES
IF I COULD CHOOSE
IT'S REALLY THEM I'D LIKE TO LOSE
 

 

Supermarket Blues Samples

JUNGLE BROTHERS

"Supermarket Blues" was first sampled in 1983 by Jungle Brothers in the song "I'm In Love With Indica" (at 0:16 and throughout) from their 3rd LP J Beez Wit The Remedy. 

 

 
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MADLIB AKA QUASIMOTO

"Supermarket Blues" was later sampled in 2006 by Madlib under his emcee alias Quasimoto on the song "Return of The Loop Digga" (at 3:23) from the LP The Unseen.