“What’s that song that De La Soul sampled?”
That, thanks for asking, was Make This Young Lady Mine by The Mad Lads, whose striking guitar riff was sampled by De La Soul for Eye Know. At least one other DJ of this parish might prefer Steely Dan’s Peg, which was also sampled for Eye Know, but The Mad Lads’ 1968 Stax single is solid gold soul.
There’s no youtube stream of this song, but it’s on Impressed! 24 groups inspired by the legendary Curtis Mayfield and The Impressions, one of the very best Kent CD compilations. I’d urge anyone interested in classic soul to buy it.
Strictly speaking, The Mad Lads’ work up until about 1966 owed more to Mayfield’s legacy of group soul harmonisation than Make This Young Lady Mine does, and I expect Booker T, the song’s co-writer, might see the blend of gospel and pop-funk as very clearly stamped with his hallmark, but no matter; this is one of the unheralded greats of soul’s classic age.
Not sure if do I prefer Peg to this...? It's a tough call. Now I'm going to have to pick up that comp! cheers, Steve
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