Bongo Rock (album)
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Bongo Rock
| type = studio
| artist = Incredible Bongo Band
| cover = Incredible Bongo Band - Bongo Rock.png
| alt =
| released = {{Start date|1973}}
| recorded =
| venue =
| studio = Can Base Studios, Vancouver, Canada
| genre = Funk
| length = {{Duration|m=33|s=17}}
| label = Pride
| producer = {{hlist|Perry Botkin Jr.|Michael Viner}}
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| next_title = The Return of the Incredible Bongo Band
| next_year = 1974
}}
Bongo Rock is the debut studio album by Incredible Bongo Band, released in 1973.{{Cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/incredible-bongo-band-mn0000570108 |title=Incredible Bongo Band |website=AllMusic |first=Steve |last=Huey |date= |access-date=September 10, 2024}} It peaked at number 197 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart. It includes the band's version of the Jerry Lordan-written song "Apache".{{Cite web |url=https://www.stereogum.com/2025842/apache-the-samples/columns/breaks-with-tradition/ |title=Breaks With Tradition: "Apache" |website=Stereogum |first=Nate |last=Patrin |date=December 11, 2018 |access-date=September 10, 2024}}
Background
Michael Viner, who was an executive at MGM Records, started the project Incredible Bongo Band. He was asked to provide music to the soundtrack for the film The Thing with Two Heads; he and Perry Botkin Jr. recorded the songs "Bongo Rock" and "Bongolia". After that, they decided to create the album Bongo Rock.
Critical reception
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/bongo-rock-mw0000448570 |title=Bongo Rock - Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo Band / Incredible Bongo Band |website=AllMusic |first=Jeff |last=Tamarkin |date= |access-date=September 10, 2024}}
| rev2 = Tiny Mix Tapes
| rev2score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.tinymixtapes.com/music-review/incredible-bongo-band-bongo-rock |title=Incredible Bongo Band - Bongo Rock |website=Tiny Mix Tapes |first=Alan |last=Ranta |date= |access-date=September 10, 2024}}
}}
Jeff Tamarkin of AllMusic wrote, "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." He added, "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." Alan Ranta of Tiny Mix Tapes stated that "'Apache' may be the most recognizable, but there is still a rich field of extractable samples to be had for the next generation."
Track listing
{{Track listing
| headline = Bongo Rock track listing
| title1 = Let There Be Drums
| writer1 = {{hlist|Sandy Nelson|Richard Podolor}}
| length1 = 2:41
| title2 = Apache
| writer2 = Jerry Lordan
| length2 = 4:53
| title3 = Bongolia
| writer3 = Perry Botkin Jr.
| length3 = 2:15
| title4 = Last Bongo in Belgium
| writer4 = {{hlist|Perry Botkin Jr.|Michael Viner}}
| length4 = 6:55
| title5 = Dueling Bongos
| writer5 = {{hlist|Perry Botkin Jr.|Michael Viner}}
| length5 = 2:58
| title6 = In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
| writer6 = Doug Ingle
| length6 = 7:43
| title7 = Raunchy '73
| writer7 = {{hlist|Bill Justis|Sid Manker}}
| length7 = 3:24
| title8 = Bongo Rock '73
| writer8 = {{hlist|Preston Epps|Arthur Egnoian}}
| length8 = 2:39
| total_length = 33:17
}}
Charts
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+Chart performance for Bongo Rock ! scope="col"| Chart (1973) ! scope="col"| Peak |
| scope = "row" | US Top LPs & Tape (Billboard){{Cite magazine |title=Top LP's & Tape |magazine=Billboard |date=August 25, 1973 |page=64}}
| 197 |
|---|
| scope = "row" | US Top Soul LPs (Billboard){{Cite magazine |title=Soul LP's |magazine=Billboard |date=September 1, 1973 |page=23}}
| 58 |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Discogs master|78511|Bongo Rock}}