Knowledge Breaks - Eugene McDaniels

The second monthly episode of the Knowledge Breaks series is dedicated to the great Eugene McDaniels aka the Left Rev McD. McDaniels took a turn in the late 1960s from singing more straight-ahead jazz and soul singing to much more politically-themed works, both song by himself as well as written for others, such as the song "Compared to What" made famous by Les McCann and Eddie Harris. I think many beat-heads and record fiends know about McDaniels' epic "Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse" album for the samples and its rarity, but the songs on the album scared the U.S. power structure so much that McDaniels was essentially blacklisted by his own record label. This didn't stop him however from setting up his own publishing company, which allowed him to survive on the royalties from his song writing, which includes the classic "Feel Like Making Love." There wasn't a tremendous amount of interview or vocal snippets available but I found a few great ones that I recommend listening to in full below. Since many of the breaks on "Headless Heroes" are well-known, I tried to mix in a few of his other works as well as covers and more obscure songs. His music and words are HIGHLY recommended and I hope everyone checks out his songs if you haven't before. Clips on this mix are from some great videos linked on my Soundcloud page. Please share!