Raphael Ravenscroft, Heavy D, and Beanie Sigel's "Feel It In The Air"
A celebration of sampling, altered meaning, and artists who are no longer with us.
Below is a photo of the late musician Raphael Ravenscroft.
Ravenscroft is best known for the unforgettable saxophone riff on Gerry Rafferty's hit song "Baker Street," a riff he later admitted was out of tune. He also played sax on Marvin Gaye’s “Heavy Love Affair” and contributed to records by America, Kim Carnes, Pink Floyd, Mike Oldfield, and many other celebrated artists.
Ravenscroft released his debut album Her Father Didn't Like Me Anyway on Portrait in 1979. He took on the arrangement and co-production of the project while frequent Gerry Rafferty collaborator Hugh Murphy handled the remaining co-production duties. Based on what’s listed on Discogs, the album had no singles and hasn’t been in print for quite a long time.
The song “Whole Lotta Something Goin' On” is one of the project’s highlights. It starts off with a somber, reflective saxophone before moving into Ravenscroft’s emotional vocals. As he sings the opening line “I can feel it in the air” his voice pitches up significantly and breaks on the word “air.” The beautiful instrumentation coupled with this perfect bit of dissonance makes the segment prime for sampling.
Enter late actor, MC, producer, and vocalist Heavy D. Hev’s production discography dates back to the 1980s and boasts impressive solo and co-production credits with Tony Dofat, Marley Marl, Pete Rock, Erick Sermon, The Trackmasters, and others.
With a broad and wide-ranging career that includes many film credits and recurring roles in shows like Bones, Boston Public, and The Tracy Morgan Show, the turn of the century seemed to mark a renewed interest in producing as he contributed to high-profile projects by Babyface, Carl Thomas, and Jay-Z.
But it was his contribution to Beanie Sigel’s 2005 release The B. Coming that demonstrated a truly unique sample-spotting ability. Nobody in the history of recorded music had ever flipped a Raphael Ravenscroft song until Heavy D flawlessly turned the opening of “Whole Lotta Something Goin' On” into Sigel’s “Feel It In The Air.”
Ravenscroft’s lyrics may be open to interpretation, but Heavy D somehow recontextualized them to provide the perfect canvas for Sigel’s ruminations about his paranoia and deep distrust of both friends and enemies.
When modern listeners think of Heavy D, they’re sometimes unaware of his impressive production credentials. The Beanie Sigel collaboration seems to be especially surprising for some. To highlight the depth and breadth of his work as a producer I decided to compile a Heavy D production thread for those of you who use Twitter. There’s also a 28-track YouTube playlist to complement the thread.
Sadly, both Heavy D and Raphael Ravenscroft passed away well before their time at age 44 and 60 respectively. Though they’re no longer with us, their legacy lives on through their music.
If you enjoyed this article and want to support Micro-Chop you can subscribe to the newsletter and YouTube channel. You can also buy me a coffee.
Love this damn song
Gino: it's always a welcome treat when I get your mailer in my inbox... they don't come too often- rare enough that I actually forget it's out there... and each of your excurs'd-on-excursions brings me a bit more knowledge and insight as it pertains to Sampling, that alchemical artform of audiomancers...or perhaps largest example of ongoing piracy either historically orin our age of unenlightenment; the ultimate expression of the artistic ideal in a world that increasingly seems to reward celebrity more than creativity.
When I left Amherst to start college in Boston in 2000 Music Industry was my stated major. Since the "music industry" as it had existed since the advent of recording still existed at that point, it's maybe easier to understand why somebody would actively work to align themselves with such an outmoded business model. By my second semester of Freshmen year, Napster was in every dorm room. I remember that our Music Industry levels I & II teacher came in after winter break saying something to the effect of "Well, since this class is still listed in the course catalog, we'll continue reading for now. But I have a feeling that most of you will be interested in something else by the end of the year.." We neither understood his anxiety then, nor as it became clear what everyone was so worked about did we believe it could possibly have such a profound impact on an industry that was literally the picture of opulence at the time; Boys on back streets n'Syncing up with any old Britney, Christina or Jessica as Shiny-Suited weirdos in well-lit sound stages rapped over hooks proclaiming Money Ain't a Thing only to turn around and tell us that With Mo' Money, Mo' Problems were sure to follow. People will tell you that Sampling started to go away at that time, since congress had already put legislation in place the thought might turn back the tide of urban landscape voices flooding out from the untold and ignored projects and ghettos in every city of every state in this country (no matter what people tell you about 'those problems being confined to some specific and likely far-off corner from where you might be). But Sampling hasn't stopped and really never will. Hopefully what will eventually stop is the ridiculous backlash. In almost every conceivable artform on this planet since cave paintings artists have been inspired by the ones who went before them, and engaged in the most sincere form of flattery: imitation. It's never before seemed to cause so much anger and outcry as it has since African American artists who would become Hip Hop's First Generation began to use Sampling as an end-around for performance and recording in places where there was barely money for food, much less musical instruments. Anyone groaning as they read right now, perhaps wondering why EVERYthing has to be such a battle... has probably never really had to go to war just to validate their own existence on this planet.
Nowadays I still play the Saxophone, but my own infatuation with drum machines and samplers has come to dominate most of my conscious hours and thoughts so it's possible I'm just caught in a feedback loop of my own design, but I see Sampling everywhere I look these days and I don't just mean in music.
What have you done today that you couldn't have accomplished without standing on the shoulders of the ones who did it before you?
Just sayin' ; ) Keep Spinning my Dude!
-bob moriarty