The new 25th Anniversary Vinylphyle restoration of Erykah Badu’s chart-toping 2000 album Mama’s Gun is an excellent reissue which should be of interest to fans of vocal jazz and modern soul sounds as well as analog loving audiophiles.
A platinum seller with three hit singles including her first top 10, this is a super chill, fluid grooving and melodic song cycle often categorized as “neo-soul” and bridging pop, soul, funk, jazz, hip hop and even singer-songwriter pop. While I’ve read numerous references to Billie Holiday in discussing Ms. Badu’s vocal style, I also hear strong Dinah Washington flavors by way of Minnie Ripperton and Chaka Kahn (which are some pretty great touchstones as well).
As with other Vinylphyle releases in this top-notch new series from Universal Music, Mama’s Gun was pressed at RTI — renown as one of the best vinyl manufacturing facilities in the world. The 180-gram vinyl is dark and well centered. The production quality elements throughout are also outstanding, the album cover is made of heavy cardboard stock akin to a vintage jazz album from 1960s on Verve or Blue Note. Each disc comes housed in an audiophile-grade plastic lined inner-sleeve.
From Universal’s udiscovermusic website we’ve also gleaned some additional information which reveals that this release is more than “just” a reissue but a genuine restoration of note for fans seeking the best quality version of a favorite album.
There we learn:
“There are no sequenced analog masters for Mama’s Gun. The original 44.1kHz/16-bit files, with the original CD mastering and limiting, have been the only source for all digital and vinyl reissues—until now. The record was reassembled and rebuilt digitally from 14 individual track tapes, newly transferred in 96kHz/24-bit, in order to create the first true remaster of this record since it came out 25 years ago.”
In the new liner notes for the album Ms. Badu adds insights into her passion for analog at the crossroads of digital: “With this remastering, we’ve carefully blended analog warmth with digital precision. It’s breathtaking to hear the subtleties of each layer come alive in a new way, making the project resonate even more powerfully.”
Indeed, what a lush round sound Mama’s Gun delivers! Largely played by live musicians in top studios including New York’s iconic Electric Lady (which was created by Jimi Hendrix), no less than The Roots’ Questlove is featured on drums on many of the tracks.
It is haunting hearing “In Love with You” which features vocal contributions from Stephen Marley — Bob Marley’s second son — supported mostly by lovely softly strummed nylon string acoustic guitar. Ms. Badu’s hit “Bag Lady” (#6 Billboard Top 100) was co-written with soul legend Issac Hayes and received two Grammy nominations that year. “Cleva” — which features Roy Ayers on Vibraphone, feels almost like a lost Stevie Wonder tune.
if you ever liked early Meshell Ndegeocello albums like her 1999 masterwork Bitter or even newer artists like New Orleans’ Tank & The Bangas, you might well enjoy Mama’s Gun. Highly recommended.
Universal’s Vinylphyle series 2LP release of Erykah Badu’s Mama’s Gun is currently exclusively available via udiscovermusic for $54.98.
Mark Smotroff is a deep music enthusiast / collector who has also worked in entertainment oriented marketing communications for decades supporting the likes of DTS, Sega and many others. He reviews vinyl for Analog Planet and has written for Audiophile Review, Sound+Vision, Mix, EQ, etc. You can learn more about him at LinkedIn.
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