Sampled Saturdays Vol. 1 - Just A Friend

Time for a little edjamacation my friends. Yes, whether you want it or not I'm starting a new series. 

I present to you:

Sampled Saturdays is my own personal outlet to overcome one of my biggest peeves (I admit, I have shamed many a younger co-worker for a general lack of original/sample knowledge) & also to perpetuate a plethora of knowledge I have yet to gain. Ladies and gets, I present to you THE SAMPLE.

For those of you who don't know what a sample is, which I really doubt is the case with anyone bothering with this blog, here's a handy web definition to straighten some things out for ya:

So let's get on with this funky party! We're kicking things off with one of my favorites that I am oddly not at all ashamed of, and that my friends is Biz Markie's 1989 classic, "Just A Friend."

The original, "(You) Got What I Need" was released by the great Freddie Scott in 1968, written & produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. Scott was a soul singer & a songwriter who worked with some pretty amazing talents including Carole King and made a name for himself with some great covers of songs by Van Morrison & Bob Dylan.

The beat behind Biz Markie's hit comes from Lee Dorsey's ever-present "Get Out of My Life, Woman"(think Mayer Hawthorne's "Just Ain't Workin' Out" or Cypress Hill's "Hits From The Bong"), which continues to be used in hip hop and r&b tracks to this day.

Well, that wasn't so hard was it, was it. Thanks for taking the time to check out my first, and definitely not last, Sampled Saturday.

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If you want to see what the tune behind all the bs on the radio these days is or just learn a few things about the r&b/hip hop tunes & beats you fancy, head over to one of my favorite guilty pleasures on the interweb: WhoSampled.com.