Guns, Drums & Emotions (Something Else! on Wtnr Radio.com for 7/7/11)

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As you may know from reading this blog, I love discovering the sources of samples in music.  A popular sample a few years ago comes from our opener, \”Drumbeat\” by Jim Ingram.  It showed up in everything from house tunes to DJ sets.  The source itself reminds me of my youth in the 1970s when Afro-Americans (as we were known then) were proudly claiming and seeking out their African heritage, as evidenced most popularly by Alex Haley\’s book and the popular mini-series based on it, Roots.  Another part of that social movement was \”The Black National Anthem,\” officially titled, \”Lift Every Voice And Sing.\”  This version is by Kim Weston from the film Wattstax (a documentary of a concert commemorating the Watts Riots) and the money from the single was donated to the United Negro College Fund.  Kim had a huge tune in the 60s, a duet with a fellow Motown recording artist Marvin Gaye called \”It Takes Two.\”  Next up, another track with 70s written all over it, \”Kind of Funky\” by Kool & The Gang.  \”Nautilus\” is a jazz-funk standard written by CTI Records legend, Bob James.  The rework by Sexteto Exellencio (another alias of Lance Ferguson of The Bamboos and Cookin\’ On 3 Burners) completely flips the script by doing a salsa version–