Columbia · in the Kissa Kissa racks
Head Hunters
| Recorded | Sep 1973 |
|---|---|
| Label | Columbia |
| Released | 1973 |
| Personnel | 5 credited players |
| Discogs | master 19493 |
The record
Hancock traded the Mwandishi sextet's cosmic drift for Paul Jackson's low-slung bass and Bill Summers' polyrhythmic percussion, landing on funk that jazz radio and dance floors could both claim. "Chameleon" and a reworked "Watermelon Man" made the Fender Rhodes and clavinet as vital to fusion's toolkit as any horn.
Session personnel
- Bill Summers — performer [the herbie hancock group], congas, shekere, balafon, agogô, cabasa, whistle [hindewho], tambourine, slit drum [log drum], surdo, bells [gankoqui], percussion [beer bottle]
- Harvey Mason — performer [the herbie hancock group], drums [yamaha]
- Paul Jackson — performer [the herbie hancock group], marimbula, electric bass
- Bennie Maupin — performer [the herbie hancock group], soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, saxello, bass clarinet, alto flute
- Herbie Hancock — performer [the herbie hancock group], synthesizer [arp odyssey, arp soloist], electric piano [fender rhodes], clavinet [hohner d 6], pipe [pipes]
Contemporary reception
No period review located yet. The vintage-press pipeline searches DownBeat, Cash Box, and Billboard for this session.
Pressings
Everything original-era here is 1973, and it is a wide field: US Columbia KC 32731, listed in Pitman, Santa Maria and Terre Haute plant variants, alongside UK CBS S 65928 and the Japanese CBS/Sony SOPL 238 that carries our earliest-on-file flag. A 1974 quadraphonic CQ 32731 is also listed if that is your thing. Analogue Productions has worked the title hard -- APJ 084 (2015, 2021) and the 45rpm APJ 084-45 (2017, 2020).
Showing the first pressing, audiophile reissues and copies carrying a collector marker, out of 178 pressings on file.
| 1973 | Columbia · KC 32731 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo, Pitman Pressing earliest on file |
|---|---|
| 2015 | Analogue Productions · APJ 084 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Limited Edition, Reissue, Remastered, 200 Gram Analogue Productions |
| 2016 | Analogue Productions · CAPJ 084 SA — SACD, Hybrid, Multichannel, Stereo, Quadraphonic, Album, Reissue Analogue Productions |
| 2017 | Analogue Productions · APJ 084-45 — Vinyl, 12", 45 RPM, Album, Limited Edition, Reissue, Stereo, 200g, Gatefold Analogue Productions · gatefold |
| 2021 | Analogue Productions · APJ 084 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Limited Edition, Reissue, Repress, Stereo, 180 Gram Analogue Productions |
| 1973 | Columbia — STEREO |
| 1973 | CBS/Sony · SOPL 238 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo |
| 1973 | CBS · S 65928 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo |
| 1973 | Columbia · KC 32731 — Vinyl, LP, Album |
| 1973 | CBS · SBP 474173 — Vinyl, LP, Album |
| 1973 | Date · DAS 2192 — Vinyl, LP, Album |
| 1973 | Columbia · CA 32731 — 8-Track Cartridge, Album |
| 1973 | CBS · SBP-234442 — Vinyl, LP, Album |
| 1973 | Columbia · KC 32731 — Vinyl, LP, Album |
Follow the players
Harvey Mason also plays on