Five Man Army
Also Found On:
The links below will take you either to the Collector section of MASSIVEATTACK.IE, or to an external website - either amazon.com or discogs.com, where you can find out more about all the the album (s)/release (s) that this particular Massive Attack song appears on.
Collected, Plastik Kolexion Vol. 1
First Released On:
1st June 1991
Duration:
06:04
Variations/Remixes:
N/A
Credits:
Written by Grant Marshall, Andrew Vowles, Robert Del Naja, Adrian Thaws and Claude Williams
Produced by Grant Marshall, Andrew Vowles, Robert Del Naja and Jonathan Sharp
Recording Engineered by Kevin Petri
Recorded at Eastcote Studios, London
Mixed at Matrix Studios, London
Mix engineered by Jeremy Allom
See Blue Lines info section for further credit details by clicking here.
Sampled:
Daydreaming uses a sample from the song "I'm Glad You're Mine" by noted American soul and gospel performer Al Green. It appears primarily on his 1972 release I'm Still In Love With You. It is not credited officially by Massive Attack.
Covered:
N/A
Vocalist(s):
Adrian Thaws, Claude Williams, Horace Andy, Robert Del Naja and Grant Marshall
Lyrics:
History:
Five Man Army more than any other Massive Attack recalls the heydays of The Wild Bunch with lyrics referenceing The Wild Bunch's live stint in Japan, turntable's and mixer boards, house parties, not to metion Willy Wee who had been at Daddy G's side throughout much of The Wild Bunch's lifetime. Five Man Army, itself was based around a similar song also called Five Man Army by Dillinger and Trinity, even though this song was not sampled, merely the bassline copied entirely. This was Daddy G's doing most likely as this song, with it's deep dub basslines is mostly indebted to his particular love of dub and reggae.
Additional Info:
The vocalist of the first verse of Five Man Army is very commonly confused as being Daddy G. In fact, it is fellow Wild Bunch hanger-on Willy Wee, who has a very comparable deep voice like Daddy G.
The majority of Horace Andy's lyrics which appear towards the end of Five Man Army were lifted from his own back catalogue of reggae anthems, namely "Cuss, Cuss" and "Money Money".
On Collected, the song's duration is only 05:21. This is because at the 03:58 time duration mark into the song, there is a seamless edit which cuts out roughly the next 40 seconds of the song.
Live Appearances:
Five Man Army was played extensively throughout the 1994 soundsystem tour. On this tour, with Tricky and Willy Wee being available on most dates, they were able to provide their vocals as they are on the album version. For the 1995 tour, with Tricky falling out with Massive Attack, it was Daddy G who had had to provide the vocals for both of Massive Attack's lost touring party member on Five Man Army alongside 3D, Horace Andy and Willy Wee. The song itself was arranged and played in a similar fashion to way it appeared on Blue Lines. Since the 1995 tour however, Five Man Army has failed to make any of the live setlists, probably owing to the fact of Willy Wee's removal from the touring setup at this time.
Quotes:
3D on whay he mentions his Sony Walkman Budokan in the lyrics for Five Man Army - "Every rap track has a reference to Sony, yeah! It's not a plug for them though, it's just that Sony and their Walkman's are such a massive influence and the Sony Budokan is the ultimate portable sound experience, extra bass and a really huge sound. They even give you a cushion to sit on while you listen to it. It's a totally obsessive object and if you have something that you're really into, you constantly think about it, so when I think about words and music I constantly think of my Budokan, it's that simple. I also think about Subbuteo..." [Jocks Magazine - February 1991]
