The period between Herbie Hancock’s landmark 1965 album Maiden Voyage and the funk-jazz classic Head Hunters eight years later contains some of the least understood and most overlooked recordings of his career. It took quite a voyage to get from “Dolphin Dance” to “Chameleon” and as is often said, the journey itself is often more interesting than the destination.
Smack dab in the middle of Hancock’s evolution from a premier post-bop stylist to a funk wunderkind, came a soundtrack of sorts composed for Bill Cosby’s then-fledgling cartoon “Fat Albert,” punningly called The Fat Albert Rotunda. As an avid watcher of this series growing up, I don’t remember any of Hancock’s compositions on the show, but it was a very long time ago. As a grown-up, on first listen it comes across as if Herbie Hankcock suddenly embraced Motown- and Stax-style grooves, seemingly leaving behind the more cerebral (read: uncommercial) works that underpinned artier releases like Empyrean Isles.
After decades with this album, however, I’m more inclined to think that 1969’s The Fat Albert Rotunda is in many ways a natural progression from his last two Blue Note records. Speak Like a Child and The Prisoner found Hancock experimenting with a three-horn sextet configuration for the first time. On The Fat Albert Rotunda, he carries over the same trumpet/trombone/saxophone lineup of Johnny Coles, Garnett Brown and Joe Henderson from The Prisoner.
But it wasn’t just the horns that indicated a change in direction: Hancock also moved away from the complex song structures that are found from all the way back to My Point of View in favor of more straightforward melodic structures. That helped paved the way for his eventual transition to rock and R&B fusion.
It also can’t be ignored that Hancock was present during Miles Davis’ two critical transition albums where straight ahead jazz morphed into fusion jazz, Filles de Kilimanjaro and In A Silent Way. So, when he got the call from Cosby to score “Fat Albert” in 1969, Herbie Hancock was plenty ready.
At the time, he had recently switched labels, and they no doubt wanted a quick return on their new investment. When Cosby played the Warner Bros. execs these soundtrack tapes, they – in Hancock’s words – “flipped over it.” It seemed as if Herbie was set to become a crossover star, though in truth The Fat Albert Rotunda was a false start. His mainstream breakthrough didn’t happen until after he’d already left Warners.
Another indication of a progression beyond his prior works: Herbie Hancock turned to the Fender Rhodes throughout most of the album, marking the first time he used electronic keyboards on his own records. Buster Williams provides electric bass on most tracks, as well, contributing further to the mainstream feel.
Thing is, The Fat Albert Rotunda doesn’t start off like that at all: The strangely ominous 20-second intro on “Wiggle-Waggle” is a sitar-sounding instrument strumming combined with Coles’ echoplexed trumpet before the signature single-note guitar line gets the groove going. Joe Henderson and Joe Newman (on trumpet for this track) provide fiery solos before Hancock riffs away on the Rhodes. What gives “Wiggle-Waggle” its wiggle is that horn chart. It’s as busy and funky as anything James Brown ever did.
The closing “Lil Brother” is another number heavily influenced by Motown, with the incomparable Eric Gale providing some jagged guitar soloing. “Fat Mama” has a phat groove underpinned by a fuzz guitar and acoustic bass. “Oh! Oh! Here He Comes” is a mid-tempo funk number anchored nimbly by Williams’ electric bass; Hancock nimbly plays around it all on the electric piano. The title track is another groover highlighted by Henderson’s usual outstanding sax solo work.
In another sign that Hancock wasn’t quite ready for a headlong dive into contemporary music, “Jessica” returns to the acoustic, urbane gentleness of the prior two albums. It’s a lovely tune that serves as a temporary respite from the beat-oriented fare found almost everywhere else.
The standout track on this record is “Tell Me a Bedtime Story,” the most covered tune by far from Herbie Hancock’s “lost” era – and rightfully so. Led by Henderson’s flute and Coles’ gentle trumpet, it’s perhaps Herbie’s most melodic song ever. The theme is stated over and over again, and the horn section gives it a quietly majestic feel, not too unlike “Speak Like a Child.” In the end, “Tell Me a Bedtime Story” is like none of the other tracks and yet it’s the centerpiece of the entire record.
All of it helps to make Fat Albert Rotunda a unique item in Herbie Hancock’s long and diverse catalog. The nods to R&B and funk represent territory he would visit more in earnest four years later, but it comes in an entirely different flavor. Some of the tracks here don’t really offer much in the way of subtlety like anything during the Blue Note years did, but they’re also played too well to qualify for guilty pleasures. And where Hancock did pay more attention to composing, as in “Tell Me a Bedtime Story,” it was as good as he’s ever done.
More importantly, Herbie Hancock sounded like he was enjoying himself more than at any time since his 1962 debut. And when Herbie is having fun, his listeners usually are, too.
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