Welcome to another new edition of our bi-weekly record-diving sampling extravaganza!
Thank you all for joining in another week of sampling goodness! Before we get into our artist and track in focus, and in case you aren’t already aware, there are some other Mission Briefs/Challenges currently taking place that you may also fancy spending some time on here:
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@sleepside is hosting Hip Hop Beat Battle #30: Outkast on Williams Street
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@B_LD is hosting Open Challenge #16 - Pure Sounds and No FX (currently in voting stage)
Today marks the one year anniversary of the unfortunate passing of my beloved homie/cat, the glorious, notorious, Sunny Sensei. His love to his fellow man knew no bounds, and he will be forever missed.
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- R . I . P.
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Originally, the track for this week was already picked out, and is by the numerously sampled legend, Roy Ayers. However, to honor a fallen friend’s memory, this week will feature two samples by Ayers. The first track is called, “Stairway To The Stars,” which is the seventh track from the album, Feeling Good. The album was recorded at Electric Lady Studios, and Sigma Studios, both in New York, and first released in Jamaica (1982), through Polydor Records (Polydor – PD – 1 – 6384).
The second song in the lineup for this week is from Roy Ayers Ubiquity, and is dedicated to the memory of the late great orange OG. “Everybody Loves The Sunshine” is the eighth and title track of the album, which was first released in Spain (1976) through Polydor Records (Polydor – 23 91 227), and recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York, and Larrabee Studios in West Hollywood.
Here is some information about Roy Ayers and the albums, from Wikipedia and AllMusic:
Roy Ayers (born September 10, 1940) is an American funk, soul, and jazz composer, vibraphone player, and record producer.[1] Ayers began his career as a post-bop jazz artist, releasing several albums with Atlantic Records, before his tenure at Polydor Records beginning in the 1970s, during which he helped pioneer jazz-funk.[2] He is a key figure in the acid jazz movement,[3] and has been dubbed “The Godfather of Neo Soul”.[4] He is best known for his compositions “Everybody Loves the Sunshine”, “Searchin”, and “Running Away”.[5] At one time, he was said to have more sampled hits by rappers than any other artist.[6]
Ayers started recording as a bebop sideman in 1962 and rose to prominence when he dropped out of Los Angeles City College[11] and joined jazz flautist Herbie Mann in 1966.[12]
In the early 1970s, Roy Ayers started his own band called Roy Ayers Ubiquity, a name he chose because ubiquity means a state of being everywhere at the same time.[13]
Ayers was responsible for the highly regarded soundtrack to Jack Hill’s 1973 blaxploitation film Coffy, which starred Pam Grier. He played Elgin in Idaho Transfer the same year. He later moved from a jazz-funk sound to R&B, as seen on Mystic Voyage, which featured the songs “Evolution” and the underground disco hit “Brother Green (The Disco King)”, as well as the title track from his 1976 album Everybody Loves the Sunshine.
Ayers in 1976
In 1977, Ayers produced an album by the group RAMP, Come into Knowledge. That fall, he had his biggest hit with “Running Away”.
In late 1979, Ayers scored his only top ten single on Billboard’s Hot Disco/Dance chart with “Don’t Stop The Feeling”, which was also the leadoff single from his 1980 album No Stranger to Love, whose title track was sampled in Jill Scott’s 2001 song “Watching Me” from her debut album Who Is Jill Scott?
In the late 1970s, Ayers toured Nigeria for six weeks with Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti, one of Africa’s most recognizable musicians.[14] In 1980, Phonodisk released Music of Many Colors in Nigeria, featuring one side led by Ayers’ group and the other led by Africa '70.[7][15]
In 1981, Ayers produced an album with the singer Sylvia Striplin, Give Me Your Love (Uno Melodic Records, 1981).[7] That same year, he also produced a second album called Africa, Center of the World on Polydor Records along with James Bedford and Ayers’s bass player William Henry Allen. Allen can be heard talking to his daughter on the track “Intro/The River Niger”. The album was recorded at the Sigma Sound Studios, New York.
In 1984 he released the LP In The Dark recorded with Columbia Records and produced by bassist Stanley Clarke. The LP produced the 12" single release called Love is in the feel which, along with other tracks on the album, promoted the use of a LinnDrum an instrument which gained enormous popularity amongst pop and jazz funk musicians from 1982 to 1985. At this time Ayers’ music was promoted extensively by the UK BBC Radio 1 disc jockey Robbie Vincent.
Ayers performed a solo on John “Jellybean” Benitez’s production of Whitney Houston’s “Love Will Save The Day” from her second multi-Platinum studio album Whitney. The single was released in July 1988 by Arista Records.
Ayers has played his live act for millions of people across the globe, including Japan, Australia, England and other parts of Europe.[16]
Ayers is known for helping to popularize feel-good music in the 1970s, stating that “I like that happy feeling all of the time, so that ingredient is still there. I try to generate that because it’s the natural way I am”.[17] The types of music that he used to do this consisted of funk, salsa, jazz, rock, soul and rap.[18]
Feeling Good is a studio album by American musician Roy Ayers. It was released in 1982 through Polydor Records, making it his last album for the label. Recording sessions for the album took place at Electric Lady Studios and Sigma Sound Studios in New York City.
Everybody Loves the Sunshine is a studio album by Roy Ayers released under the Roy Ayers Ubiquity umbrella. It was released through Polydor Records in 1976. It peaked at number 51 on the Billboard 200 chart.[2] In 2016, Pitchfork placed the title track at number 72 on the “200 Best Songs of the 1970s” list.[3]
The song “Everybody Loves the Sunshine” is notable for its drone synth note through most of the cut. It has been covered by artists including D’Angelo, Takuya Kuroda, the Robert Glasper Experiment, and others.[4]
-Taken from Wikipedia.org
Everybody Loves the Sunshine Review by Sam Samuelson
Roy Ayers’s had long made his shift into R&B/soul by 1976’s Everybody Loves the Sunshine. His recordings of this period can be very hit and miss, and in this particular record, you get both. The title track, “Everybody Loves the Sunshine,” is a quintessential song from the mid-'70s. While it might not have slammed the charts like Wild Cherry’s “Play That Funky Music,” it’s still a revered classic. It evokes that feeling of sweltering concrete in Brooklyn where the only relief is the local fire hydrant. Entirely sung by a choir repeating the same lines throughout, the rhythm section rolls along with a perfectly looped laid-back groove. It moves along lazily, hypnotically, and sluggishly as the sun slows things down to the right speed and “folks get down in the sunshine.” The rest of the album contains Ayers classics such as the burning percussive funk of “It Ain’t AYour Sign It’s Your Mind,” the spacey cosmic soul of “the Third Eye,” the bumping rubbery disco in “People and the World,” and the two horn-scorched closers “Tongue Power,” and “Lonesome Cowboy.”
- Review for AllMusic by Sam Samuelson
Here are two versions of both tracks available on YouTube, in case anyone experiences regional playback issues:
Here is a link to a version of the track that has been converted to 16bit/44.1KHz wav, and to the STEMS, please delete it after using:
ROY AYERS - STAIRWAY TO THE STARS - (FLAC)
ROY AYERS - STAIRWAY TO THE STARS - (WAV)
ROY AYERS - STAIRWAY TO THE STARS - (STEMS)
ROY AYERS UBIQUITY - EVERYBODY LOVES THE SUNSHINE - (FLAC)
ROY AYERS UBIQUITY - EVERYBODY LOVES THE SUNSHINE - (WAV)
ROY AYERS UBIQUITY - EVERYBODY LOVES THE SUNSHINE - (STEMS)
links are active for one week from today (04/20/24)
Album Photos:
images from google search
THE BRIEF
YOU have been selected by the notorious Global Sound Syndicate for a top-secret operation. Not really, please, share with your friends, family, and even your local produce cultivators for providing the world with quality fruits and vegetables.
Mission:
-Sample any part(s) of the track we’ve nominated
-Spend no more than 1 week turning it into music
-Post your creations here for us all to enjoy
Deadline: Sunday, April 21, 2024
Submit your entry no later than 11:59 PM, Sunday, April 21, 2024, or be faced with a brief moment of self-loathing for not participating. Submissions entered on later dates are also welcome!
Compensation:
Hearts and compliments from the community
(not guaranteed)
You can use as much or as little of the sample track as you like, you just have to use it. No winners, no losers, just good times!
Every two weeks we will post a track from our record collections, ideally something you’ve not heard before. Jams, full tracks, noodles - share whatever you like!
Thank you for not keeping this one in the secret stash, and for sharing with us! 
Also, props to 
Hope you feel better soon man!