Galaxy Sound Co Footin' It / Harlem Buck

Footin’ It by George Benson b/w The Harlem Buck Strut by Les McCann | Galaxy Sound Co. — Gsc45-037 | Master grade edit kings & beat makers Black Cash & Theo AKA Thelonious Beats have a vast catalogue of essential sounds & much of it comes on their Galaxy Sound Co home label. We are now up to number 37, &, like its predecessors, is crate-essential heaters. Their latest donut is a remastered & limited 7" pressing of two glorious jazz-funk nuggets that any DJ worth their weight in vinyl will want in their crates.

Side A’s “Footin’ It” by #GeorgeBenson is a serious treat for me. It is taken from Benson’s 5th studio LP from 1968, “The Shape Of Things To Come”. It was his first album for A&M Records & his first album to be produced by Creed Taylor, who would remain his producer until 1976. The track features #jazz legends Stan Webb on flute & Herbie Hancock on piano. While I knew the track from my dad’s record collection, I lovingly am taken back to DJ Neil Armstrong who’s highly-coveted mixtape/CDR “2Original” mashed it & extended the break with Diamond D & The Psychotic Neurotics’ “Freestyle (Yo, That’s That Shit)” who sampled the track in 1992. Still grooves me to this day.

Side B’s “The Harlem Buck Strut” is taken from pianist Les McCann’s 1973 #jazzfunk LP “Layers”. The LP was a groundbreaking jazz-synth record that was unlike any other McCann had made. Aside from a 3-man percussion section & electric bassist Jimmy Rowser, the LP & track are entirely electronic, one of the first jazz albums with such an emphasis. The track is truly forward-looking & ahead of its time, & clearly why it resonated with so many artists as a source to sample. Heads will recall it being lifted for Pete Rock & C.L. (“The Main Ingredient” 1994) & Funkdoobiest (“Rock On” 1994). But the best, for me, was Massive Attack’s “Teardrop” & “Bullet Boy”.