“Bongo Rock” by The Incredible Bongo Band - album review
features in: Album Chart of 1973 ● Album Chart of the Decade: 1970s ● 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die  |
The story goes that Michael Viner, head of the short-lived MGM subsidiary label Pride, was commissioned to produce chase music for MGM's 1972 b-movie “The Thing With Two Heads”. An unknown number of session men were duly engaged in the making of “Bongo Rock” (a cover of Preston Epps Top 40 hit of 1959) and “Bongolia” (an original), which were released as a 45. So well received was the unusual sound - upbeat, meaty, beaty and funky with bongo drums, conga drums, rock drums and brass - that a full LP was hurriedly recorded to capitalize on the single's success. The novelty soon wears thin, but the covers of “Let There Be Drums”, “Apache” and “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” are good to fair.
The Jukebox Rebel
07–Feb–2016
| Tracklist |
| A1 | [02:38]  The Incredible Bongo Band - Let There Be Drums (Richie Podolor, Sandy Nelson) Pop |
| A2 | [04:54]  The Incredible Bongo Band - Apache (Jerry Lordan) Pop |
| A3 | [02:14]  The Incredible Bongo Band - Bongolia (Perry Botkin Jr. ) Pop |
| A4 | [06:55]  The Incredible Bongo Band - Last Bongo In Belgium (Michael Viner, Perry Botkin Jr.) Cerebral Pop |
| B1 | [02:56]  The Incredible Bongo Band - Dueling Bongos (Michael Viner, Perry Botkin Jr.) Africana |
| B2 | [07:42]  The Incredible Bongo Band - In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (Doug Ingle) Cerebral Pop |
| B3 | [03:23]  The Incredible Bongo Band - Raunchy ’73 (Bill Justis, Sid Manker) Pop |
| B4 | [02:35]  The Incredible Bongo Band - Bongo Rock ’73 (Art Labou, Preston Epps) Pop |
