Preston Epps - Bongo Bongo Bongo
Year Released: 1960
Genre: Latin Jazz / Exotica / Percussion
Description:
“Bongo Bongo Bongo” by Preston Epps is a dynamic Latin jazz and percussion LP, released in 1960 on Original Sound Records (OSLP-5002). Riding the success of his 1959 breakout hit “Bongo Rock”, Epps expanded his rhythmic universe into a full-length album dedicated entirely to the expressive power of hand percussion — particularly the bongos, congas, and timbales.
The LP captures the height of the late-1950s bongo craze, when the instrument became a fixture in both jazz clubs and pop culture. Across its twelve tracks, Epps leads a small studio ensemble through an energetic fusion of Afro-Cuban, jazz, and early rock ’n’ roll rhythms, punctuated by his signature rapid-fire bongo solos. Each cut emphasizes groove and texture over melody, offering a pure rhythmic experience designed to “lift the spirit and move the feet.”
Key tracks include “Bongo Bongo Bongo”, “Flamenco Bongo”, “Bongo Express”, “Bongo Shuffle”, and “Bongo Boogie”, each showcasing Epps’s remarkable precision, speed, and inventiveness. The arrangements move fluidly between Cuban rumba, swing, and jazz-pop stylings, demonstrating how Epps bridged exotic rhythms with mainstream American music.
Recorded at Original Sound Studios in Hollywood, California, the album features clean analog production typical of the label’s early stereo experiments. Epps’s playing is front and center — crisp, natural, and often recorded with close-miked intimacy that gives each strike a tactile immediacy. The LP’s sound is vibrant and physical, predating the deep, dry drum tones later favored by funk producers, yet carrying the same percussive drive that would influence generations of beatmakers.
Though initially marketed as an “exotica” or novelty percussion record, Bongo Bongo Bongo aged into a cult classic among DJs and producers, prized for its organic drum tones and unprocessed rhythm sections. The record’s open passages and isolated bongo patterns made it a hidden gem in breakbeat circles, rediscovered by crate-diggers and featured in percussion-sample libraries throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
Its rhythmic DNA reemerged through the Incredible Bongo Band’s 1973 reinterpretation of “Bongo Rock”, which directly drew inspiration from Epps’s earlier work. Producers and DJs in the Ultimate Breaks & Beats era, including Breakbeat Lou, frequently cited Epps as one of the earliest figures to bring pure percussion to a pop audience. Elements of his playing style and rhythmic phrasing have since been sampled or referenced in tracks by DJ Shadow, Madlib, and The Avalanches, among others.
Original U.S. pressings of Bongo Bongo Bongo on Original Sound Records are highly collectible, identifiable by their vibrant cover art featuring Epps with his bongos and the tagline “The man who made America go bongo crazy!” Later reissues appeared on London Records (UK) and smaller boutique labels catering to collectors of early rhythm & percussion LPs.
“Bongo Bongo Bongo” remains a joyous and historically significant record — a bridge between exotica, jazz, and proto-funk, and a crucial chapter in the lineage that connects 1950s pop percussion to 1970s breakbeat culture and beyond.