Nature of the Beast

Hancock was at a crossroads creatively in early 1973, having released a string of masterful but commercially disappointing albums with his Mwandishi-era band. In Herbie’s words, “I began to feel that I had been spending so much time exploring the upper atmosphere of music and the more ethereal kind of far-out spacey stuff. I was beginning to feel that we (the sextet) were playing this heavy kind of music, and I was tired of everything being heavy. I wanted to play something lighter.”

Recorded in San Francisco and released in October of 1973, Head Hunters was a sensation, making history as the first platinum-selling jazz album, crossing over to mainstream rock audiences, and hitting #13 on the Billboard chart. It featured a largely new band with woodwind master Bennie Maupin, bassist Paul Jackson, drummer Harvey Mason, and percussionist Bill Summers, and includes the smash hit “Chameleon” in addition to an inspired reworking of “Watermelon Man” from Hancock’s 1962 debut album. Head Hunters was named to Rolling Stone’s list of 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and was inducted into the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry for historically significant recordings.