Fatboy Slim’s \u201cPraise You\u201d is built around the voice of Camille Yarbrough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The vocal comes from \u201cTake Yo’ Praise\u201d, released on Yarbrough’s 1975 album The Iron Pot Cooker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Norman Cook, better known as Fatboy Slim, found the recording while digging through older music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The opening vocal gave him exactly what he needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then he combined it with a piano loop from another obscure source.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The result became a UK No. 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the music video cost almost nothing compared with conventional major-label productions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It became legendary anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The defining vocal comes from Camille Yarbrough’s \u201cTake Yo’ Praise\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cook has explained that he heard the opening unaccompanied vocal and realised a few lines might be enough to build a track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He placed them into his sampler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then experimented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The sample happened to fit another piece of music remarkably well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That lucky compatibility became the beginning of \u201cPraise You\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An American singer, writer and cultural activist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Iron Pot Cooker combined music with spoken-word and political ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTake Yo’ Praise\u201d was part of that wider artistic world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That context is worth remembering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The sample became famous through a British dance hit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the voice existed inside a completely different cultural and musical environment first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sampling can make a few seconds internationally famous while the original artist remains less familiar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The piano loop came from a very different source.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fatboy Slim used material from a demonstration or test record associated with JBL audio equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is an extraordinary piece of crate-digging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One sample came from a soulful 1970s vocal recording.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another came from material not created to become a pop hit at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cook heard compatibility between them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That’s the producer’s contribution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The sources did not begin together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He made them belong together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The sample was cleared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
People associated with the release have discussed contacting Yarbrough and receiving permission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She was reportedly positive about the respectful use of her recording.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That distinction matters because famous sample stories often become dominated by lawsuits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPraise You\u201d is a better example of licensed musical reuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spike Jonze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But he appears on screen under the fictional identity Richard Koufey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The video presents the Torrance Community Dance Group performing outside a cinema in California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The choreography is deliberately awkward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The location looks ordinary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Passers-by react.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The whole thing resembles a public dance performance somebody accidentally filmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That apparent amateurism was intentional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not exactly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was part performance art, part fictional community group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jonze had already experimented with videos of himself performing strange dances in public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fatboy Slim responded to the idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The final production embraced low-budget authenticity rather than expensive spectacle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The result was completely different from the polished music videos surrounding it in the late 1990s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because it proves that personality can beat budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are no enormous sets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No celebrity glamour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No complicated visual effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just dancers committing completely to something strange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The audience can see ordinary people passing by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That makes the performance feel spontaneous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is funny without treating the dancers cruelly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The joy is sincere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That matches the recording perfectly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The meaning comes primarily from Yarbrough’s vocal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The repeated declaration is affectionate and appreciative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cook removes the words from their original arrangement and places them inside something euphoric.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new context changes the emotional scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A soulful expression becomes a communal dance anthem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is one of sampling’s great creative possibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Big beat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Electronic dance music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alternative dance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sample-based pop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fatboy Slim was one of the defining artists of the big-beat era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The style combined:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
breakbeats<\/p>\n\n\n\n
samples<\/p>\n\n\n\n
rock energy<\/p>\n\n\n\n
funk<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and club production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It worked equally well in dance venues and mainstream radio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because it was accessible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some electronic genres can feel highly specialised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Big beat often used:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
obvious hooks<\/p>\n\n\n\n
recognisable samples<\/p>\n\n\n\n
huge drums<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and playful production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That made recordings easier for rock and pop audiences to approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Artists such as Fatboy Slim and The Chemical Brothers could appear at festivals beside bands without sounding out of place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 1998 album also includes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Rockafeller Skank<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gangster Trippin<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Right Here, Right Now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It became one of the defining dance albums of the late 1990s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPraise You\u201d provided a slightly warmer emotional centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Try:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fatboy Slim \u2013 The Rockafeller Skank<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Avalanches \u2013 Since I Left You<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Chemical Brothers \u2013 Let Forever Be<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moby \u2013 Natural Blues<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Groove Armada \u2013 I See You Baby<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Basement Jaxx \u2013 Red Alert<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cornershop \u2013 Brimful of Asha (Norman Cook Remix)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These tracks demonstrate different approaches to sample-heavy late-1990s dance music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because \u201cTake Yo’ Praise\u201d has its own identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The famous Fatboy Slim vocal isn’t simply a magical soundbite that appeared inside a sampler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It came from an artist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An album.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A different historical context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following samples backwards is one of the best ways to discover music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A club hit can lead to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
soul<\/p>\n\n\n\n
jazz<\/p>\n\n\n\n
funk<\/p>\n\n\n\n
folk<\/p>\n\n\n\n
or something completely unexpected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most famously:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Camille Yarbrough’s \u201cTake Yo’ Praise\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the recording combines that vocal with other unlikely musical sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fatboy Slim’s achievement was recognising that they could fit together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then Spike Jonze created a video with almost no conventional pop-star glamour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A collection of unlikely ingredients became a No. 1 song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is basically the entire spirit of sampling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Fatboy Slim’s \u201cPraise You\u201d is built around the voice of Camille Yarbrough. The vocal comes from \u201cTake Yo’ Praise\u201d, released on Yarbrough’s 1975 album The Iron Pot Cooker. Norman Cook, better known as Fatboy Slim, found the recording while digging through older music. The opening vocal gave him exactly what he needed. Then he combined it with a piano loop from another obscure source. The result became a UK No. 1. And the music video cost almost nothing compared with conventional major-label productions. It became legendary anyway. What does \u201cPraise You\u201d sample? The defining vocal comes from Camille Yarbrough’s \u201cTake…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5474,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3354,2148,3353,2293,35,11],"coauthors":[2],"class_list":["post-5473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-camille-yarbrough","tag-explained","tag-fatboy-slim","tag-meaning","tag-piano","tag-video"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n