CoronaVinyl Day 221 (H): Head Hunters by Herbie Hancock

For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

Today's CoronaVinyl category is "H," and I'm going with the alliterative Head Hunters by Herbie Hancock.

A native Chicagoan, Hancock was a musical prodigy who graduated from Grinnell College at age 20 with a double major in electrical engineering and music.  He soon began making a name for himself in the jazz scene, making his own music and then joining Miles Davis's band for much of the '60s.

In the '70s, he became one of the pioneers of jazz-funk fusions, and that's exactly what Head Hunters is.  Released in 1973, it was Hancock's 12th studio album.  Hancock played all things keyboards, and his backing band, known as The Headhunters, was comprised of Bennie Maupin (who had also previously played with Davis) on various woodwinds, Paul Jackson on bass, Harvey Mason on electric drums, and Bill Summers on all types of percussion (my favorite instrumental credit for him on the back of the album is "beer bottle").

Head Hunters was a crossover success, becoming the first jazz album to sell a million copies.  It reached #13 on the Billboard album chart, and the song "Chameleon" just missed out on the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, reaching #42.  It remains his highest charting song on the Billboard Hot 100.

Hancock is probably best known to non-jazz audiences for his 1983 jazz-hip hop song "Rockit" -- the first commercial single to feature scratching -- which picked up five MTV Video Awards.  Hancock continued making music regularly until 2010, and he has also dabbled in acting over the years.  He has won various accolades and awards over the years, including an Academy Award in 1986 for Best Original Soundtrack (to Round Midnight), 14 Grammy Awards (including at least one in each of the last four decades), and several honorary doctorates.  He is now a music professor at UCLA.

Since the album is only four songs total (two on each side), I'm not going to pick a favorite song from each side.