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Here are some of the songs that provided inspiration and were eventually sampled on “Be Yourself.” 

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Only the Strong Survive – Billy Paul

Most people know Billy Paul for his outstanding soul classic, “Me and Mrs. Jones,” but he is really one of the more underrated singers of his era. Sitting somewhere between the raw soul of Marvin Gaye and the groovy funk of Stevie Wonder, Paul was one of the architects of The Sound of Philadelphia, or Philly Soul. “Only The Strong Survive” was originally released in 1969 by fellow Philly singer, Jerry Butler, and there are a lot of different takes on it including one by Elvis, but I really like Paul’s strutting disco version. 

For “Be Yourself,” I mainly sampled the guitar in the intro. I played with the pitch and tempo a little bit, and you’ll hear in the second clip this little guitar noodling panning back and forth. I chopped some of that, and added it into the previous sample to add some variation to the groove. In the last clip, you’ll hear some of the saxophone and horns that I sampled that give that track some more pop. 

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Chicago Bus Stop (Ooh, I Love It) – The Salsoul Orchestra

The Salsoul Orchestra are one of the classic groups that producers like to sample. Blending disco, Latin music, and soul, they’ve been sampled by 50 Cent, Madonna, and more, so I’m definitely not the first one recontextualizing these songs, but they have such a distinct, but yet malleable vibe.

I thought the track needed something hooky and melodic, so I thought these little “doo doo’s” would do the trick. I didn’t want to overuse them, but I thought they added a sprinkle of fun to the song, especially in the beginning as the song revs up. 

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Give Me Your Love – Barbara Mason

I was actually looking for the specific phrase, “Be Yourself,” and came across this. Another cover, “Give Me Your Love,” was originally written and performed by the legendary Curtis Mayfield, but I stumbled across this Barbara Mason version, while looking for new music. To her own credit, Mason is a successful songwriter herself having written and recorded the soul classic, “Yes, I’m Ready.” Given that I wanted “Be Yourself” to celebrate the disco era, I felt that the song needed a dash of diva energy. I feel Mason’s subtle sassy, and at times sensual  delivery compliments and contrasts in an interesting way with the music behind her. 

From a psychological perspective, I also liked using the title phrase (“Give Me Your Love”), as a bridge between the id, ego and the superego helping you achieve alignment within yourself. Harmony between these three and their alignment with reality can bring powerful clarity. In other words, loving yourself internally, and being yourself externally, creates a light where others can do the same. 

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How Strange You Move – Venus

Discovering strange music relics is a major joy of mine. I had finished the minimal keyboard solo for “Be Yourself,” but I felt the song needed something to kinda converse with what I was playing on the keys during that break. The song needed a guitar lead with a different timbre from the guitars I was sampling from Billy Paul. I kept hearing a Spanish flamenco style guitar flourish in my head, but I wanted something with almost a Balearic beat vibe. I came across this bizarre Belgium “space disco” compilation that had this track that was pulled from an aerobics workout record from 1983. And it’s so brilliant! It’s funny, odd tracks like these can be a strikeout, or a grand slam in terms of sampling. Not only did it have this beautiful Spanish guitar part, but it has this gorgeous piano bit that I’m saving to use in the future. That said, the strumming guitar fit perfectly for the section where the song “dives” into the slinky keyboard/piano break. It’s definitely my favorite part of the song.