William Bell - Relax (1977)

[gaggletalgeese]

hey youtube: relax, baby

[LadyDi66xx]

Don't know anything about sampling, but I do know good music when I hear it. the 70's were a great era. From rock to soul to funk to disco, artists were "creating" new sounds. A very good period in time.

[ArtiztikAA]

Ironic.... this song is called relax.... but nothing but tension... within some comments here......

[dessorto]

No one out there doing this sound anymore...All the song writing talent has gone

[TheOPTIMYSTICALbeats]

music is about haveing fun feeling something getting caught up in emotions etc if i take a sample chop it up and have fun with it make a beat put it out for others to listen to and enjoy also( i dont sell anything i make ) i think thats the pure joy of sampling and what the music was intended for for me to have fun then i just put my spin on it for others to have fun a beautiful cycle i think lol im probaly not owrding that to right but yall get what i mean

[TheOPTIMYSTICALbeats]

sampling gives alot of beat makers a whole new appreciation for music i was brought up on alot of this music but never really appreciated it until i started making music now il sample alot of this soul etc but il always pay for good records and just listen to them not even sample them. music is meant to be enjoyed but if there where samplers etc back then cats would be doing it its just part of music an has been for a long time peeps need to get off the high horse but i respect there opnions..

[Apsu72]

Sampling is just recycled funk. However way you choose to take it.

[2maxxjazz]

Ti all the comments thus far ....Relax guys and enjoy the music before you wake up dead and only wish youcould hear wonderful songs !! soul/funk /jazz .

[yiquanwarrior]

The late 70's and early eighties were the last years of modernism where originality was prized in music and art. It was also the zenith of soul and funk where they still used real orchestration and valued virtuosity in playing and singing. When production went from analogue to digital (83-84) it co-incided with societal shift to the post modern era where originality has been replaced by playful appropriation and repitition.That's why music and fashion always have to borrow from the past now.

[edjarhead]

A wise man once said:

We sample beats you sue and try to fight us

Man, you'd still be at home with arthritis

If we didn't revive and bring back alive

Old beats that we appreciated....you wouldn't survive

You'd be another memory to us

Ashes to ashes and dust to dust

[PlusMusicMan]

@edjarhead What? I'd call that parasitic! Get permission from copyright owners to use stuff if you sample through lack of *real* talent. Sampling is sonic essentially mugging. What favour? Steal a man's music, get sued then claim you did him a favour. Did anyone think, "Great music, I'll put money in his pocket as thanks." No! Abusing someone's copyright is like giving him a slap in their face and when they calls the cops, you bawl, "It's unfair!" If you don't own it, pay for it or leave it!

[earcrates]

omg! that break!

[jgk381]

Its like the rappers are getting more recognition for songs they had nothing to do with making, than the ppl who actually made them. Thats fucked up

[jgk381]

Its not that samplin is bad, I'm just tired of reading more about who sampled these songs than about the ppl who ACTUALLY MADE the songs.



[diuga1]

@jgk381 I couldn´t agree with you more, JGK.

[TheUncleBungle]

NO IDEA IS ORIGINAL !!! there is no doubt in my mind, that music like this was influenced & even took ideas & riffs & basslines & drum paterns from somewhere else, hip hop sampling actually pays these musicians & artists respect by sampling, rather than saying "i'm gonna take this bassline, change a single note & claim it as my own original work", unlike alot of artists back in the day & again, if it wasn't for hip hop sampling, alot of us wouldn't even know about certain music...

[Eazedroppin]

Doobie dude same exact for me man

[67aFrOsoUL]

2 ignoranti

[danw1374]

Melody sounds like breezin by george benson in parts

[pablocortini1]

Jumping in late here. But Hip Hop samples turned me on to rare soul. Underground Hip Hop picked up the baton of soul and funk artists. The samples have made and still wake up people to the original artists. End of. Thanks for posting this wonderful tune

[mafioso810]

r kelly

[DominicGudgeon]

Fuck me are people still arguin about samplin?

Accept it - music changes, develops & uses new technology. It's not ignorance or philistinism. Anyone who says that a sampler or synth is not a 'real' instrument has obviously never used one. They're complicated as shit & require a deep understding of electronics & music production.

Sure, u CAN make a tune without knowing what you're doing, just as u can play a Beatles tune after a week of pickin up a guitar. Doesn't mean it's any less musical.

[PlusMusicMan]

@DominicGudgeon To sample supporters...Ever notice that music sounds so same'ish nowadays, apart from the different synth sounds? It's because hip hoppers *especially* copy instead of learning to actually play an instrument - live on stage. I have samplers for instrument *sounds & voices* but would never sample someone else's musical phrases. Binary and bar codes = 2 elements, DNA = 4 elements but music = 12 notes. I feel proud creating & would feel a cheat to sample other people's stuff.

[madalpeters]

@PlusMusicMan. i think the fact that you think "music = 12 notes" indicates you have an alarmingly western-centric view of music. are you familiar with microtonalism, such as in some music from the Indian subcontinent? not to mention, does it make sense to talk about "notes" when referring to sounds outside of the human aural range, which are a crucial element in some kinds of music? instead it seems music is just sound; i suggest it doesnt really matter how its made. peace&love al

[madalpeters]

@PlusMusicMan also, what is your take on hyper/intertextuality as a legitimate and important dimension of artistic expression in the postmodern era? think about T S Elliot's "the waste land" and how the numerous quotations he incorporates are inherent to the very end product itself. i think the world has agreed that he was creating and not cheating by sampling other peoples stuff. knowledge understanding respect. al

[kevman77]

Hey . Fringe.

[reg0587]

hey whats up buddy.i was wondering if you have any vinyl records your willing to sell. im looking for anything from the mid 60's to the late 70's. any funk, soul, R&B or even all those genres mixed up. let me know please. i appreciate it man. thanks

[strangersound]

Nice groove. :)

[nialldcrowley]

Having a heated discussion about music, and strongly disagreeing, is fine but when people can only answer with abuse and bigotry then I can't see the point - they clearly know they can't win the argument.

Nice William Bell track, not heard it before. Thanks for posting.

[treadley]

nicely put, nialldcrowley. diversity is what makes people from being bland and boring...nothing to take too personal. being open to new ideas and things is how one grows, in my opinion.

[NugLoc]

i think digable planets sampled this in where im from ?

[urbanvibecanada]

Archie Bell and The Drells " Tighten Up "

jumped right out at me !

[HrhFish]

I am a classically trained muso and work with samplers. They are another colour to the pallet. The first generation soul and funk guys did not have computers but they plagiarized ideas. Even the likes of Duke Ellington nicked riffs and phrases from somewhere to influence his style. I sample stuff and use it as a starting point to jam ideas to. I then twist it to my own. thing and drop the samples. Its musical interpretation. Sample isn't a dirty word guys technology should be embraced.

[psyrkle]

@HrhFish Hey - I agree with you, but I don't so much see it so much as plagiarizing as much as using a template - which is practically natural if one is not familiar with or accustomed to a process... Like walking. Who has intellectual property rights on the pimp-walk? LOL - Once again I'm sayin' that I agree with your point but would call it using a guideline or template, or creative reference point - tomayto tomahto, right?

[svendiamond]

@HrhFish you are smart and awesome

[TheFreshPeddler]

@HrhFish - thank you, im sick of people thinking sampling takes no skill. it can be done in a fashion that takes little skill but can also be very difficult. sampling goes back way before samplers when people used tape recorders

[PlusMusicMan]

@HrhFish Classical players learn to *read* music and stiffly play it note for note instead of thinking it and playing it on the spot. That is why old school soul, r & b or funk music sounds so real. If Duke Ellington or Junior Walker, heard something clever they'd practice then improvise in real time. Maceo Parker and George Benson etc can afford the best samplers money can buy but you won't hear them sampling anyone. Study jazz & soul instead of sampling. It's just the easiest way out. Yeuk!

[bat5mello]

@HrhFish PREACH!!!! Sampling CAN be a form of flattery, a bridge in generation gaps, as well as way to get money to older artist that got shafted in there deals. Rick James was against sampling, until he got that first MC HAMMER CHECK!

[jacquelinelacan]

@HrhFish Also just the fact that some riff is used alreadty on some record doesnt mean that the record would be "natural enviroment" of the riff and therefore it could not be used again - sampled or just played on an instrument. The whole idea is ludicrous. :D

[drwhatson]

Do young people only ever listen to music with a view to "sampling" it? What's wrong with leaving the original song alone and enjoying it as it is? - or do you REALLY think you are so more talented than the original singers and musicians here that you can somehow "make a better job of it"?

From what I've heard of much contemporary R&B and rap music, you AIN'T and you CAN'T !

[DoobieKeebler]

It's not about ruining YOUR memories, it's about taking something the musician grew up with and repackaging it in a way that the younger generation can have an opportunity to appreciate it. By listening to Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Biggie, Too Short, ODB, and Dilated Peoples, I learned about music by George Clinton, The Isley Brothers, Bootsy Collins, Rick James, and William Bell.

If it wasn't for sampling, I may never have listened to this new music.

[drwhatson]

"If it wasn't for sampling, I may never have listened to this new music..."

Then whose fault is that? If I and my friends thousands of miles from the source could "discover" old 60s and 70s recordings without the aid of "sampling" and "repackaging", why can't contemporary youth? What exactly was stopping anyone listening to the original artists out of sheer curiosity?

Do we need some two-bit rapper to "sample" his music before young people experience Duke Ellington?

[DoobieKeebler]

Your point of view cannot stand because it's based in ignorance. If we do not push the boundaries of music, it can not evolve. The music you talk about was born from experimenting with a pre-established form of music.

You may not like the use of sampling in rap, or maybe even rap as a genre, but sampling will never stop, so it's foolish to even get frustrated about. If you don't like it, all you have to do is turn it off.

[drwhatson]

It's the young people who are almost totally ignorant of THIS music, not the other way 'round. "Pushing the boundaries of music" is one thing, but previous music genres didn't "progress" by shamelessly stealing existing sections from previous recordings as happens with "sampling". That's a strange form of evolution indeed - more like that of a parasite if you ask me...

[marqualius]

your a very ignorant misinformed person sampling is a art form i can take a sample chop it and you would never where it came from unless i told you sampling does not take away from music that is already great it only makes it better with that said sampling helped to bring james browns career back to life in the late 80,s thanks to queens bridge producer dj marley marl so dont say you dont like sampling just say you dont like rap music

[drwhatson]

"you would never where it came from unless I told you.." ??!! - So that's your "art" is it? The art of deception?

I may well be ignorant of some things, but I know good Soul music when I hear it... and it rarely comes from today's artists. So I'm a "very ignorant and misinformed person" - well I know what I hear, and I'm hearing way too much CRAP from second-rate plagiarists and no-talent chancers who never had an original idea in their lives. William Bell was and is an original.

[marqualius]

WOW!!! You still dont understand it,s not about where the music came from its how it sounds right now today and how can we make it relevant to the next generation cause you and i both know with todays music the only way they are going to be exposed to it is thru samples you might say well too bad for them then but with out the next generation to appreciate the music then it dies what good is that i was lucky enuff to grow up with my aunt who put me on soul music and left me about 2000+ records

[CAallday209]

suck dick drwhatson

[drwhatson]

How typically eloquent of the "sample everything, create nothing original" generation!

[CAallday209]

no one cares what you think homo.

the music isnt for you. be a fucking grown up and shutup about it.

theres a ton of soul in sample based hip hop. (the good shit, not all that commercialized hip hop)

[drwhatson]

Oooh! I'm a "homo" now! How very ADULT of you! (you ludicrous pipsqueak)

And there's NO Soul in hip-hop. Only hip-hop.

[CAallday209]

haha. "pipsqueak'.

you waving your fist while you type?

[drwhatson]

No. I thought "pipsqueak" quite appropriate to your mind set, rather than descend to your own crude and semi-literate levels of expression.

[CAallday209]

dont try lie about it by babbling. you know damn well you're waving your fist.

you prob wave your fist at everybody you see listening to hip hop.

haha. "pipsqueak"

[drwhatson]

Further proof of your "pipsqueak" status...

Actually I don't give a damn what music folk listen to, only what great Soul tracks they destroy with their pathetic sampling fetish.

[CAallday209]

if you dont give a damn, then how come you wasted your time explaining your bullshit opinion to me and everybody else on this board?

haha. dont put "pipsqueak" in quotes. thats your word. i put it in quotes because im quoting your lame ass.

[svendiamond]

@DoobieKeebler WORD FINALLY A COMMENT LIKE THIS AT THE TOP

[ifindkoannom]

@DoobieKeebler big up for this one!

[tandbiscuits]

i am sure that william bell was working on the music before his prime as a foundation... for example the breakbeat in the start of this track.... thers no point as musicians .. denying wats already been done. Weather your recreating a drum pattern... or chopping up and re arranging the actual recording. Ive tried your way.. jsut listening... And ive tried samplin too .. somthin u havent.. So i have a view from both sides... Youtube search " BOON DOC MPC"... watch one of his vids... then shut up

[drwhatson]

What makes you think I haven't "tried sampling" know-all? As a matter of fact I HAVE played around sampling music - but not for wider publication or profit, and I have no desire to hear either YOU or other pathetics ripping-off original musical talent, or dream of doing so myself. As for William Bell "working on the breakbeat", that's just typical of hip-hop's self-absorbed nonsense speak.

I'm pretty sure that William Bell was far more interested in doing what he did best, ie. SINGING.

[Drumstixbobo]

u done?? cuz thats not the point at all... the point is to make sumthing completely different than the original song. and since when do you have to choose...its not like once its sampled the original is lost...in fact it exposes that music to more people and a new generation...sooo calm down lol

[nwahsybsnad]

pete rock used this for a cut called the goodlife

[bellaalma]

This bass line is sweet!

[badgerdogcatmouse]

this is begging to be sampled

[stillphil]

cut up by a DJ yes, sampled no.

[berlynn2]

heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy now better than breakfast lets dance yall.

[discotrader]

waw very classy , very high culture waw

[LonesomeSuzie]

Great post !

Thanks my friend...

[thyzira]

i agree my neighbor super

[brasmeta01]

woowow!!!

great song!!!!

nice post!