Galt MacDermot is easily one of my favorite soul-jazz pianists/organists of all time. After discovering "Duffer" on a breaks compilation about a decade back, I decided to snatch up whatever I could find. Fortunately, a good portion of his late 60s/early 70s albums and soundtracks had been repressed: "Woman Is Sweeter", "Shapes Of Rhythm", "Cotton Comes To Harlem", etc. Also, Galt released the amazing "Up From The Basement" compilations in early 2000, and both volumes were entirely composed of unreleased tracks, including an alternate version of "Duffer"!
Unfortunately, I had a difficult time tracking down his 1971 masterpiece "The Nucleus". The Chicago-based record store "Dusty Groove Records" was purchasing 'em from Galt's dead stock at a rate of ten per order, and I was always late on the draw. What made it worse is that Dusty Groove wouldn't let you reserve a copy in advance! I'd search ebay and see it going for upwards of $100 (most likely from sellers who purchased numerous copies from Dusty Groove). Eventually, I got fed up with the BS and decided to contact Galt himself. I was able to snatch up three copies of "The Nucleus" at $25 a piece, as well as two copies of his classic "Hair Cuts" LP from 1969 (instrumental renditions). I also purchased a gang of others, including "Ghetto Suite", "Isabel's A Jezebel", "Two Gentlemen Of Verona", "The Karl Marx Play", etc. Suffice to say, I was a very happy man.
Galt's late 60s/early 70s catalog remains largely untapped in terms of sampling potential. Here's a good portion of what's been utilized up to this point (although my cut-off period for all things hip hop related is right around 2001/2002, so you'll have to excuse me for not being familiar with artists that have sampled Galt in recent years).
Galt MacDermot - Samples
1. Galt MacDermot - Golden Apples Part II
2. K-Def - Galt Is Loose (Instrumental)
3. Jay Dee - Mash (Instrumental)
4. Galt MacDermot - Cathedral
5. MF Doom - Pennyroyal (Instrumental)
6. Galt MacDermot - Bedroom
7. Beatnuts - Uncivilized (Instrumental)
8. Galt MacDermot - Stockyard
9. Quasimoto - Return Of The Loop Digga
10. Galt MacDermot - Harlem Medley Pt. I
11. Quasimoto - Discipline 99
12. Galt MacDermot - Coffee Cold
13. J-Live - The Truth
14. Gangstarr - Werdz From The Ghetto Child (Instrumental)
15. Galt MacDermot - Space
16. Busta Rhymes - Woo-Hah (Instrumental
17. Busta Rhymes - Woo-Hah (Worldwide Remix Instrumental)
18. MF Doom - Cinquefoil (Instrumental)
19. Galt MacDermot - Ripped Open By Metal Explosions
20. Artifacts - C'Mon Wit Da Git Down
21. Galt MacDermot - Duffer
22. Galt MacDermot - If Our Love Is Real
http://www.mediafire.com/?kzn1zmemvom
Preview:
Galt MacDermot - Golden Apples Part II
Galt MacDermot - Cathedral
Galt MacDermot - Bedroom
Galt MacDermot - Stockyard
Galt MacDermot - Harlem Medley Pt. I
Galt MacDermot - Coffee Cold
Galt MacDermot - Space
Galt MacDermot - Ripped Open By Metal Explosions
Galt MacDermot - Duffer (Bonus Track)
Galt MacDermot - If Our Love Is Real (Bonus Track)
As a bonus, here is the amazing "Hair Cuts" LP that I purchased from Galt himself back in 2001. I remastered it with click repair.
Galt MacDermot - Hair Cuts (1969)
1. Aquarius
2. Sodomy
3. Donna-Hashish
4. Easy To Be Hard
5. Where Do I Go
6. Don't Put It Down
7. Hare Krishna
8. Good Morning Starshine
9. Let The Sunshine In
http://www.mediafire.com/?fmctmryysxm
Obviously, hit up google for out-of-print Galt records like "The Nucleus", etc. Also, make sure to purchase everything that has been repressed over the past decade. If you're a fan, then you owe it to the man. Hell, I've probably contributed at least $300 to his cause!
--Roy Johnson
