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The Incredible Bongo Band

Band, *1972 US
R&B/Soul

Highly influenced by the work of Paul Buff, Art Laboe and Preston Epps, The Incredible Bongo Band was a faux group (essentially just a studio project), formed by Pride record executive Michael Viner to create theme music for the film "The Thing With Two Heads". Following the success of the project, Viner then used MGM studio downtime to record funk-influenced covers of hits, using pick-up musicians. Although the "group" never existed as a true band, a team of individuals was assembled for a publicity photo. The group's best known work is probably their percussion-centric cover of "Apache", originally a worldwide hit in 1960 by The Shadows. It was later sampled heavily by hip hop artists (and, over a decade later, drum 'n' bass artists) to become one of the most popular sampled percussion breaks of all time. The Art Laboe and Preston Epps instrumental "Bongo Rock" was also covered by Viner's pick-up outfit as "Bongo Rock '73" (a minor US chart hit), along with a cover of "Let There Be Drums", much influenced by the "surf-style" treatments of Paul Buff's drum-oriented works.

     
Members
PortraitMichael Omartian
key, voc *1945 US
PortraitKing Errisson
perc, cng *1941 BS
PortraitJim Gordon
dr, perc, p *1945 US
PortraitSteve Douglas
sax 1938-1993 US
PortraitMichael Viner
US

Discography



Title Artist Year Type
ApacheThe Incredible Bongo Band2018Single
Apache / BongoliaThe Incredible Bongo Band2018Single
The Incredible Bongo BandThe Incredible Bongo Band2016Single
40 Years Of The Incredible Bongo BandThe Incredible Bongo Band2014Album
The RiotThe Incredible Bongo Band2011Single
Breakdown EP 1The Incredible Bongo Band2010Album
Bongo RockThe Incredible Bongo Band2006Single
Hip Hop Is Dead / Ina Gada Da VidaNas / The Incredible Bongo Band2006Single
Bongo RockThe Incredible Bongo Band2006Compil.
ApacheThe Incredible Bongo Band2006Album
Bongo Rock: The Story Of The Incredible Bongo BandThe Incredible Bongo Band2001Compil.
Apache / Seven Minutes Of FunkThe Incredible Bongo Band / The Whole Darn Family1998Album
Apache / Seven Minutes Of FunkThe Incredible Bongo Band / The Whole Darn Family1998Album
Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo BandThe Incredible Bongo Band1996Compil.
Bongolia / KiburiThe Incredible Bongo Band1976Single
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida/ApacheThe Incredible Bongo Band1974Single
The Return Of The Incredible Bongo BandThe Incredible Bongo Band1974Album
Ohkey DokeyThe Incredible Bongo Band1974Single
Ohkey Dokey Parts 1 & 2The Incredible Bongo Band1974Single
The Best OfThe Incredible Bongo Band1974Compil.
The Best Of The Incredible Bongo BandThe Incredible Bongo Band1974Compil.
Kiburi / When The Bed Breaks Down I'll Meet You In The SpringThe Incredible Bongo Band1974Single
When The Bed Breaks Down I'll Meet You In The Spring / Ohkey DokeyThe Incredible Bongo Band1974Single
Bongo Rock / BongoliaThe Incredible Bongo Band1973Single
Dueling Bongos / Let There Be DrumsThe Incredible Bongo Band1973Single
Bongo Rock / Joybringer (From Holst's Planet Suite)The Incredible Bongo Band / Manfred Mann's Earth Band1973Single
Bongo RockThe Incredible Bongo Band1973Album
Bongo RockThe Incredible Bongo Band1973Single
Let There Be DrumsThe Incredible Bongo Band1973Single
Last Bongo In Belgium / Yellow SunshineThe Incredible Bongo Band / Yellow SunshineAlbum
Apache / Bongo Rock / Let There Be DrumsThe Incredible Bongo BandAlbum
Bongo Rock / Baby, Bunny (Sugar, Honey)The Incredible Bongo Band / Jerry Williams Jr.Single
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Acknowledgements
To all the music fans that are contributing on Discogs, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia. Thanks to Franz Flückiger for providing Storygram used to visualize band membership.
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