Unlimited Streaming
Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps
Start my trial period and start listening to this albumEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
SubscribeEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
Digital Download
Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.
There's a fun story behind this album, retold in detail in the liner notes. In 1972, Michael Viner was an executive at MGM Records. Asked to put together some music for the soundtrack of an upcoming B-movie horror film, The Thing with Two Heads, he called on songwriter Perry Botkin, Jr., and the two of them whipped up a pair of songs called "Bongo Rock" and "Bongolia." By the middle of 1973, the songs, attributed to the Incredible Bongo Band, began to take off, both in Canada and on the U.S. R&B and pop charts, so Viner and Botkin took the concept to the next obvious level and cut an album, also titled Bongo Rock. Successful enough to scrape into the bottom of the Billboard album chart, the pair put together The Return of the Incredible Bongo Band in 1974 before fizzling out. There are some other pertinent details worth knowing, for example, that Jim Gordon, of Derek & the Dominos fame, was one of the key drummers on the project, and that Ringo Starr supposedly stopped in to bang out a few beats. But some of the best stuff happened long after the demise of the IBB, when early hip-hop DJs such as Kool DJ Herc and Grandmaster Flash, and then the Sugarhill Gang, Massive Attack and others, discovered the Incredible Bongo Band's recordings and began using samples from them. What started as a tossed-off filler session for a crummy flick took on a life of its own. This CD reissue contains not all, but most of the tracks from the two original albums, plus two remixes, "Apache (Grand Master Flash Remix)" and "Last Bongo in Belgium (Breakers Mix)." Interesting as it is to hear how the bongo-centric beats were toyed with by the hip-hoppers, the original recordings stand up on their own as classically kitschy cheese-rock. Bongos aren't the only sound heard, naturally, and fans of both lounge-rock and that crisp, reverby guitar sound prominent in old spy movies and Ventures records will dig what the IBB were all about. Their version of "Apache," the classic '60s instrumental made famous by the Shadows, is the equal of any other, and while that can't be said of their takes on "Satisfaction," "Raunchy," "Wipeout" or even "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida," these studio musicians -- most of whom the creators of the IBB don't recall but which may or may not have included some heavyweights -- sure had a good time stepping out on their nights off.
© Jeff Tamarkin /TiVo
You are currently listening to samples.
Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.
Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.
From £10.83/month
Lordan, Composer, Lyricist - Incredible Bongo Band, MainArtist
2006 Phoenix Books, Inc. 2006 Mr Bongo Worldwide LTD
Nelson, Composer, Lyricist - Incredible Bongo Band, MainArtist - Podolor, Composer, Lyricist
2006 Phoenix Books, Inc. 2006 Mr Bongo Worldwide LTD
Botkin, Composer, Lyricist - Incredible Bongo Band, MainArtist
2006 Phoenix Books, Inc. 2006 Mr Bongo Worldwide LTD
Botkin, Composer, Lyricist - Incredible Bongo Band, MainArtist - Viner, Composer, Lyricist
2006 Phoenix Books, Inc. 2006 Mr Bongo Worldwide LTD
Botkin, Composer, Lyricist - Incredible Bongo Band, MainArtist
2006 Phoenix Books, Inc. 2006 Mr Bongo Worldwide LTD
Ingle, Composer, Lyricist - Incredible Bongo Band, MainArtist
2006 Phoenix Books, Inc. 2006 Mr Bongo Worldwide LTD
Manker, Composer, Lyricist - Incredible Bongo Band, MainArtist - Justis, Composer, Lyricist
2006 Phoenix Books, Inc. 2006 Mr Bongo Worldwide LTD
Incredible Bongo Band, MainArtist - Egnoian, Composer, Lyricist - Epps, Composer, Lyricist
2006 Phoenix Books, Inc. 2006 Mr Bongo Worldwide LTD
Johnson, Composer, Lyricist - Incredible Bongo Band, MainArtist - Viner, Composer, Lyricist
2006 Phoenix Books, Inc. 2006 Mr Bongo Worldwide LTD
Prima, Composer, Lyricist - Incredible Bongo Band, MainArtist
2006 Phoenix Books, Inc. 2006 Mr Bongo Worldwide LTD
Jagger, Composer, Lyricist - Richard, Composer, Lyricist - Incredible Bongo Band, MainArtist
2006 Phoenix Books, Inc. 2006 Mr Bongo Worldwide LTD
Fuller, Composer, Lyricist - Connolly, Composer, Lyricist - Berryhill, Composer, Lyricist - Incredible Bongo Band, MainArtist - Wilson, Composer, Lyricist
2006 Phoenix Books, Inc. 2006 Mr Bongo Worldwide LTD
Incredible Bongo Band, MainArtist - Viner, Composer, Lyricist
2006 Phoenix Books, Inc. 2006 Mr Bongo Worldwide LTD
CARMAN, Composer, Lyricist - Spickard, Composer, Lyricist - Incredible Bongo Band, MainArtist
2006 Phoenix Books, Inc. 2006 Mr Bongo Worldwide LTD
Farrell, Composer, Lyricist - Incredible Bongo Band, MainArtist
2006 Phoenix Books, Inc. 2006 Mr Bongo Worldwide LTD
Incredible Bongo Band, MainArtist - Viner, Composer, Lyricist
2006 Phoenix Books, Inc. 2006 Mr Bongo Worldwide LTD
Incredible Bongo Band, MainArtist - Viner, Composer, Lyricist
2006 Phoenix Books, Inc. 2006 Mr Bongo Worldwide LTD
Lordan, Composer, Lyricist - Grandmaster Flash, Remixer - Incredible Bongo Band, MainArtist
2006 Phoenix Books, Inc. 2006 Mr Bongo Worldwide LTD
Lordan, Composer, Lyricist - Incredible Bongo Band, MainArtist
2006 Phoenix Books, Inc. 2006 Mr Bongo Worldwide LTD
Album review
There's a fun story behind this album, retold in detail in the liner notes. In 1972, Michael Viner was an executive at MGM Records. Asked to put together some music for the soundtrack of an upcoming B-movie horror film, The Thing with Two Heads, he called on songwriter Perry Botkin, Jr., and the two of them whipped up a pair of songs called "Bongo Rock" and "Bongolia." By the middle of 1973, the songs, attributed to the Incredible Bongo Band, began to take off, both in Canada and on the U.S. R&B and pop charts, so Viner and Botkin took the concept to the next obvious level and cut an album, also titled Bongo Rock. Successful enough to scrape into the bottom of the Billboard album chart, the pair put together The Return of the Incredible Bongo Band in 1974 before fizzling out. There are some other pertinent details worth knowing, for example, that Jim Gordon, of Derek & the Dominos fame, was one of the key drummers on the project, and that Ringo Starr supposedly stopped in to bang out a few beats. But some of the best stuff happened long after the demise of the IBB, when early hip-hop DJs such as Kool DJ Herc and Grandmaster Flash, and then the Sugarhill Gang, Massive Attack and others, discovered the Incredible Bongo Band's recordings and began using samples from them. What started as a tossed-off filler session for a crummy flick took on a life of its own. This CD reissue contains not all, but most of the tracks from the two original albums, plus two remixes, "Apache (Grand Master Flash Remix)" and "Last Bongo in Belgium (Breakers Mix)." Interesting as it is to hear how the bongo-centric beats were toyed with by the hip-hoppers, the original recordings stand up on their own as classically kitschy cheese-rock. Bongos aren't the only sound heard, naturally, and fans of both lounge-rock and that crisp, reverby guitar sound prominent in old spy movies and Ventures records will dig what the IBB were all about. Their version of "Apache," the classic '60s instrumental made famous by the Shadows, is the equal of any other, and while that can't be said of their takes on "Satisfaction," "Raunchy," "Wipeout" or even "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida," these studio musicians -- most of whom the creators of the IBB don't recall but which may or may not have included some heavyweights -- sure had a good time stepping out on their nights off.
© Jeff Tamarkin /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 19 track(s)
- Total length: 01:17:57
- Main artists: Incredible Bongo Band
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Mr Bongo
- Genre: Soul/Funk/R&B R&B
2006 Phoenix Books, Inc. 2006 Mr Bongo Worldwide LTD
Distinctions:
Improve album informationWhy buy on Qobuz...
-
Stream or download your music
Buy an album or an individual track. Or listen to our entire catalogue with our high-quality unlimited streaming subscriptions.
-
Zero DRM
The downloaded files belong to you, without any usage limit. You can download them as many times as you like.
-
Choose the format best suited for you
Download your purchases in a wide variety of formats (FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF...) depending on your needs.
-
Listen to your purchases on our apps
Download the Qobuz apps for smartphones, tablets and computers, and listen to your purchases wherever you go.