I've been obsessed with Galt MacDermot for a number of years now. MacDermot is probably most well-known for composing the music for 60s phenomenon Hair and scoring the much-sampled Cotton Comes to Harlem. In recent years, hip-hop sampling of MacDermot's music lead to a resurgent interest in his career, even prompting rapper (and Madlib brother) Oh No to put out a mediocre album consisting entirely of MacDermot samples. If you know Busta Rhymes' breakout single "Woo-Ha! (Got You All in Check)," then you know MacDermot's "Space" from his soundtrack to Woman Is Sweeter, a 1969 French film so underseen that the only thing I could figure out about it from IMDB was that the late Yves St. Laurent played himself in it. Similarly, if you heard Handsome Boy Modeling School's "The Truth," then you have also heard MacDermot's "Coffee Cold." Apparently, this close relationship between MacDermot and hip-hop is no accident. According to his website, MacDermot fielded calls from V.I.C. of The Beatnuts in the early 90s requesting clean copies of his out-of-print records, which then lead to a "mutually beneficial relationship" in which MacDermot's old records got new life and were distributed to NY collectors and distributors. Because MacDermot owned and operated his own label, Kilmarnock Records, from the 1960s on, he was free to re-release these records as he pleased. Lesson: own those master recordings!All this is to say, here's some other MacDermot songs I really like. First, "Cleaning Me With Fire," a song off of Take This Bread: a Mass in Our Time, which as you might have been able to guess is a 1973 "funky" take on the Catholic Mass. This song is just really catchy in my opinion, and the vocals sound prêt-a-Kanye. In case you were wondering who's singing the chorus on this, well surprise, it's Nell Carter. Yes, that Nell Carter, from 80s sitcom Gimme a Break. Also, the woman with the deeper voice is Canada's First Lady of Blues Salome Bey (who also does this awesome Gospel song from a Broadway musical).
The second tune is definitely no party-starter but rather more beautifully haunting. "Anne-Marie" is a track off of Fergus MacRoy's At the Homestead Upright. Fergus MacRoy, an alter-ego for MacDermot himself, sounds like Hank Williams country but more sentimental. The whole number is poignant and eerie, all the more so because the re-issue version put out by Kilmarnock comes with the scratches from the record on it. I guess when you own some of the only copies of your recordings, even your re-masters may suffer from defects. Alternate theory: MacDermot intentionally recorded the song this way to give it an old-timey feel.
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