Feets, Don't Fail Me Now is the twenty-seventh album by jazz pianist Herbie Hancock. The record was released in February 1979 by Columbia Records.
| Feets, Don't Fail Me Now | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | February 18, 1979 | |||
| Recorded | 1978 The Automatt, San Francisco | |||
| Genre | Electronic, funk, jazz, disco | |||
| Length | 40:38 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer | David Rubinson, Herbie Hancock | |||
| Herbie Hancock chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | [3] |
| Smash Hits | 5/10[2] |
Overview edit
This was the first of Hancock's albums to discard jazz completely in favor of a more commercial disco sound, with vocoder effects and repeating lyrics. Background vocals were provided by 'The Waters', a family vocal group from Los Angeles. All LP and CD editions after the first pressing use an alternate 'Disco Mix' version of "Tell Everybody". The original version was included as a bonus track on the disc in the Complete Columbia Albums Collection box set.
Track listing edit
- "You Bet Your Love" (Herbie Hancock, David Rubinson, Allee Willis, Jeffrey Cohen) – 7:41
- "Trust Me" (Hancock, Rubinson, Allee Willis) – 5:44
- "Ready or Not" (Ray Parker Jr., Cohen) – 6:48
- "Tell Everybody" (Hancock, Rubinson, Bruce Good, Cohen) – 7:49
- "Honey From the Jar" (Hancock, Cohen) – 6:53
- "Knee Deep" (Hancock, Melvin Ragin) – 5:43
Personnel edit
- Herbie Hancock – lead and backing vocals, all keyboards
- James Gadson – drums
- Eddie Watkins – bass
- Ray Obiedo – guitar
- Bill Summers – percussion
- Julia Tillman Waters, Maxine Willard Waters, Oren Waters and Luther Waters – backing vocals
- Ray Parker Jr. – guitar and drums on "Ready or Not"
- Coke Escovedo – timbales on "Ready or Not"
- Sheila Escovedo – congas on "Ready or Not"
- James Levi – drums on "Knee Deep" and "Trust Me"
- Freddie Washington – bass on "Knee Deep"
- Wah Wah Watson – guitar on "Knee Deep"
- Bennie Maupin – soprano saxophone on "Knee Deep"
Additional personnel edit
- Produced by – David Rubinson & Friends Inc. and Herbie Hancock
- Associate producer – Jeffrey Cohen
- Engineers – Fred Catero and David Rubinson
- Assistant engineers – Chris Minto, Leslie Ann Jones, Ken Kassie and Cheryl Ward
- Mastering engineer – Phil Brown
- Keyboard and Vocoder engineer – Bryan Bell
- Synthesizer Programming - Gordon Bahary
References edit
- ^ Ginell, Richard S. (2011). "Feets Don't Fail Me Now - Herbie Hancock | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
- ^ Starr, Red. "Albums". Smash Hits (February 22 - March 7, 1979): 25.
- ^ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 94. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.