This is a samplin' sport! (A Tribe Called Quest/Fugees)

Ok, here we go again. This round features a very distinctive sample, “Memory Band”, (Robert Rudolph, Charles Stepney), (Chess/1967) from a fairly obscure group, Rotary Connection. If it doesn’t ring a bell, it will at about :17. If you knew this one (and you’re not a DJ or producer), get at me! I’ve got plans for you…..

Now, there’s also the jazz influenced, Roy Ayers produced “Daylight” (William Allen, Roy Ayers, Edwin Birdsong), Ramp;”>(Roy Ayers Music Productions), that contains elements that serve as the bass line for the A Tribe Called Quest classic, “Bonita Applebum” (People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm/Jive/1990) and also the Fugees, “Killin’ Me Softly”.

From their AMG bio:

Rotary Connection’s psychedelic chamber soul continues to sound ambitious and progressive decades after the group’s departure. Instantly recognizable from the dramatic string arrangements of Charles Stepney and the five-octave voice of Minnie Riperton, the group released six albums between 1967 and 1971 that combined rock, soul, and psychedelia to theatrical and occasionally transcendental heights. The racially mixed group never really broke out of the Midwest, a region in which they frequently played out. Their failure to become more than a regional cult act can be partly attributed to their management’s decision to spurn a slot at Woodstock in order to play a more lucrative festival in Toronto. Despite some patchy albums and poor management decisions, Rotary Connection’s status as an influential cult group has steadily risen since the ’70s.

Rotary Connection, “Memory Band”