Kurtis Blow (CD - 1980)

Personnel: Kurtis Blow (rap vocals); Adam White, David Reeves (spoken vocals); Denzil Miller (guitar, piano, Clavinet); J.B. Moore (guitar, Fender Rhodes); Eddie Martinez, Dean Swenson, John Tropea (guitar); Onaje Allan Gumbs (Hammond B-3 organ, keyboards); Robert Kondor (synthesizer, programming); Craig Short, Tommy Wouk, Richard Pascal (bass); Jimmy Bralower (drums, tom toms); Jamie Delgado (congas, timbales); William Waring, Larry Smith, Wayne Garfield, Rocky Ford (background vocals).

All tracks have been digitally remastered from the original master tapes using 20-bit technology.

Personnel: Kurtis Blow (rap vocals); David Reeves, Adam White (spoken vocals); Denzil Miller (guitar, piano, Clavinet, keyboards); Dean Swenson, Dean Swenson (guitar); Robert Kondor (synthesizer, programming); Craig Short, Richard Pascal, Tommy Wouk (bass guitar); Jimmy Bralower (drums, tom tom, unknown instrument); Jamie Delgado (congas, timbales); William Waring, Wayne Garfield, Wayne Garfield, William Waring, Rocky Ford (background vocals); J.B. Moore (guitar, Fender Rhodes piano); Eddie Martinez, John Tropea (guitar); Onaje Allan Gumbs (keyboards); Larry Smith (background vocals).

Recording information: Greene Street Recording Studios.

Introduction by: Adam White.

Unknown Contributor Roles: Kurtis Blow; Roger Trilling; Kevin Pinnock; Gayle Stewart; Sheila Spencer; Vincent Davis ; Esther Wooten; Jerome Mack; Sudana Bobatoon; Sandy Williams ; Patricia Johnston.

Arrangers: J.B. Moore; Larry Smith .

With his defiant, starkly pronounced vocal flow and tersely insightful lyrics, Kurtis Blow could almost be called rap's first breakout solo artist. From its initial exhortation to "clap your hands everybody," its implicit call to chant the chorus, and its simple yet undeniably inviting guitar riff and conga drum madness, along with Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" Blow's landmark single "The Breaks" helped introduce this rapidly growing underground style to a larger nation of souls who wanted to dance the night away.

However Kurtis Blow wasn't just 'The Breaks"; KURTIS BLOW, the eponymous album fashioned around the hit, contains track after track of early hip-hop splendor. The introduction "Rappin' Blow (Part 2)" is the perfect showcase for his deceptively simple and engaging rhyming style. Despite Blow's general association with party songs, heady notions aren't ignored, such as "Hard Times," a smoothed-out inspirational jam about overcoming obstacles. Keep an eye out also for "All I Want in This World," where he actually croons rather ably on perhaps the original rapper's love ode. minimize