Eugene McDaniels "Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse" 1971****

Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse is one of those cult albums that get labelled as "legendary" although few people have actually heard them. In contrast to some mainstream hits of its time and despite (or because of?) being unavailable for decades, the album's fame is constantly growing. Rappers from Eric B & Rakim to the Beastie Boys have raided it for samples and mentioning it has become a sure mark of hipness. Even so, it's not every day you find a copy at the racks of a record store. So when I recently found a reasonably priced Japanese import at an electronics chain store, I put it in my basket. I was aware of the album's reputation but what really convinced me was the cover: A naked-torsoed screaming black man superimposed on the picture of two sword wielding samurai? And that title? Is this for real or just something Quentin Tarantino came up with between "Kill Bill" and "Django"? It had to be the work of either a genius or a madman... After listening to it, my verdict is: Genius all the way...and a bit of a madman, as well. When he made this album McDaniels had already penned many hits, including the socially conscious "Compared to What" and Roberta Flack's Grammy winner "Feel Like Makin' Love". But he certainly wasn't aiming for the hit parade when he made Headless Heroes..., an amalgam of jazz, soul and psychedelia inspired by the Apocalypse as well as the evils of Nixon's America. "The Lord Is Back" seems like a hopeful way to open his album until Eugene adds "The Lord is mad/ His disposition's mean/ He's travelin' the road to mass destruction". No rejoicing yet, then... Funky piece, though, so at least it's an Armageddon you can dance to. "Jagger the Dagger" is a slow doped-sounding soul jazz song about you-know-who and "Lovin' Man" another funk dynamite. "Headless Heroes" combines the Apocalyptic theme with social commentary: "Jews and the Arabs/Semitic pawns in the master game/The player who controls the board/Sees them all as the same/Basically cannon fodder...Nobody knows who the enemy is/Cause he never goes in hiding/He's slitting our throats/Right in front of our eyes/While we pull the casket he's riding/Better get it together/And see what's happening/To you and you and you". The Beastie Boys sampled it in their Ill Communication album. "Susan Jane" is a short Dylanesque folk song about a negro-loving hippy chick and "Freedom Death Dance" radical jazz. In the satirical "Supermarket Blues" a black man is beaten senseless by a mob of white middle-class folk for trying to return a can of spoiled food to the supermarket (a comment on consumerism as well as racism?). It reminded me of Gil Scott-Heron, probably the closest comparison to Eugene McDaniel I can think of. Great drum breaks too, by Weather Report's Alphonse Mouzon! "The Parasite (For Buffy)" is an outspoken 10-minute condemnation of the white settler's treatment of the Native American population, fittingly ending the album with screams of agony in a cacophony of instrumental noise. Not an album for the faint hearted certainly, but one I can wholeheartedly recommend to any adventurous soul/jazz fan...

**** for The Lord is Back, Lovin' Man, Supermarket Blues, The Parasite (For Buffy)

*** for Jagger the Dagger, Headless Heroes, Susan Jane, Freedom Death Dance