| The Headhunters | |
| Background: | group_or_band |
| Origin: | United States of America |
| Genre: | Jazz fusion |
| Years Active: | 1973–present |
| Label: | Columbia, Verve Forecast, Basin Street, P-Vine, Owl Studios |
| Past Members: | |
The Headhunters are an American jazz fusion band formed by Herbie Hancock in 1973. The group fused jazz, funk, and rock music.
Hancock had grown dissatisfied with his prior band, Mwandishi, and wanted to make a band with a stronger funk component.[1] He chose the name of the group, "Headhunters", while doing Buddhist chanting.[1] The name pleased him because it made a triple reference to the jungle, to intellectual concerns, and to sexual activity.[1]
In 1973, the band comprised Hancock (keyboards), Bennie Maupin (saxophone, clarinet), Harvey Mason (drums), Paul Jackson (bass), and Bill Summers (percussion). Their first album, Head Hunters, sold more than one million copies.[2]
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [3] | US Jazz (Trad) | US Jazz (Cont) | |||
| Head Hunters (Herbie Hancock album) |
| 21 | — | — | |
| Thrust (Herbie Hancock album) |
| — | — | — | |
| Flood (live album with Herbie Hancock) | — | — | — | ||
| Man-Child (Herbie Hancock album) |
| — | — | — | |
| Survival of the Fittest |
| 126 | 12 | — | |
| Straight from the Gate |
| — | — | — | |
| Return of the Headhunters | (with Herbie Hancock) |
| — | — | 9 |
| Evolution Revolution |
| — | — | — | |
| Platinum |
| — | — | — | |
| Speakers in the House |
| — | — | — | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||
Colors = id:clav value:purple legend:Keyboards id:saxo value:gray(0.5) legend:Saxophone id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:perc value:claret legend:Percussion id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:lguitar value:green legend:Guitar id:Lines value:black legend:Studio_album id:Lines2 value:gray(0.75) legend:Live_album id:bars value:gray(0.93)
BackgroundColors = bars:bars
BarData = bar:Herbie text:"Herbie Hancock" bar:Bennie text:"Bennie Maupin" bar:Paul text:"Paul Jackson" bar:Mike text:"Mike Clark" bar:Harvey text:"Harvey Mason" bar:Bill text:"Bill Summers" bar:DeWayne text:"DeWayne McKight" bar:WahWah text:"Wah Wah Watson"
PlotData= width:10 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)
bar:Herbie from:01/01/1973 till:01/01/1975 color:clav bar:Herbie from:01/08/1997 till:01/06/1998 color:clav bar:Bennie from:01/01/1973 till:01/01/2003 color:saxo bar:Paul from:01/01/1973 till:01/12/2003 color:bass bar:Mike from:01/01/1974 till:end Color:drums bar:Harvey from:01/01/1973 till:01/06/1973 Color:drums bar:Harvey from:01/08/1974 till:01/05/1975 Color:drums bar:Bill from:15/09/1973 till:end color:perc bar:DeWayne from:09/05/1992 till:01/04/1993 Color:lguitar bar:WahWah from:01/04/1993 till:01/08/1993 Color:lguitar
LineData = at:01/01/1973 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1974 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1975 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1975 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1975 color:black layer:back at:16/08/1978 color:black layer:back at:29/09/1998 color:black layer:back at:16/08/2003 color:black layer:back at:24/09/2008 color:lines2 layer:back at:12/09/2009 color:lines2 layer:back at:08/06/2011 color:black layer:back at:09/07/2012 color:black layer:back at:17/11/2022 color:black layer:back