Editing Herbie Hancock (section)

=== From ''Head Hunters'' (1973) to ''Secrets'' (1976) ===
{{See also|Head Hunters}}
[[File:Herbie Hancock and The Headhunters 1975.JPG|thumb|left|upright|Hancock (left) with the Headhunters, 1975]]

Hancock formed [[the Headhunters]], keeping only Maupin from the sextet and adding bassist [[Paul Jackson (bassist)|Paul Jackson]], percussionist [[Bill Summers (musician)|Bill Summers]], and drummer [[Harvey Mason]]. The album ''[[Head Hunters (album)|Head Hunters]]'' (1973) was a hit, crossing over to pop audiences but criticized within his jazz audience.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thevinylfactory.com/features/electric-herbie-15-essential-funk-era-herbie-hancock-records/|work=thevinylfactory.com|title=Electric Herbie: 15 essential funk-era Herbie Hancock records|author=Anton Spice|date=September 25, 2014|access-date=January 25, 2019|archive-date=November 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116192058/https://thevinylfactory.com/features/electric-herbie-15-essential-funk-era-herbie-hancock-records/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Stephen Erlewine]], in a retrospective summary for [[AllMusic]], said, "''Head Hunters'' still sounds fresh and vital three decades after its initial release, and its genre-bending proved vastly influential on not only jazz, but funk, soul, and hip-hop."<ref name="Headhunters ''Allmusic'' review">{{cite web |url={{AllMusic |class=album |id=r140166/review|pure_url=yes}}|title=Headhunters Herbie Hancock|last=Erlewine|first=Stephen Thomas|year=2010|work=Allmusic review of Headhunters|access-date=July 1, 2010}}</ref>

Drummer Mason was replaced by [[Mike Clark (jazz musician)|Mike Clark]], and the band released a second album, ''[[Thrust (album)|Thrust]]'', in 1974. (A live album from a Japan performance, consisting of compositions from those first two ''Head Hunters'' releases was released in 1975 as ''[[Flood (Herbie Hancock album)|Flood]]''). This was almost as well received as its predecessor, if not attaining the same level of commercial success. The Headhunters made another successful album called ''[[Survival of the Fittest (The Headhunters album)|Survival of the Fittest]]'' in 1975 without Hancock, while Hancock himself started to make even more commercial albums, often featuring members of the band, but no longer billed as the Headhunters. The Headhunters reunited with Hancock in 1998 for ''Return of the Headhunters'', and a version of the band (featuring Jackson and Clark) continues to play and record.

In 1973, Hancock was commissioned to compose the soundtrack for the controversial film ''[[The Spook Who Sat by the Door (film)|The Spook Who Sat by the Door]]'', based on the [[The Spook Who Sat by the Door (novel)|novel of the same name]] by [[Sam Greenlee]], who had grown up in the same neighborhood of Chicago as Hancock.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/features/battle-chicago-spook-who-sat-door|title=The battle of Chicago: The Spook Who Sat by the Door|first=David|last=Somerset|website=Sight and Sound|publisher=[[British Film Institute]]|date=June 3, 2020|access-date=March 11, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.uchicago.edu/story/i-wont-have-anything-do-amoral-dudes|title='I won't have anything to do with amoral dudes'|work=UChicago News|first=Andrew|last=Peart|date=February 27, 2023|access-date=March 11, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.discogs.com/Herbie-Hancock-The-Spook-Who-Sat-By-The-Door/release/635602|title=Herbie Hancock – The Spook Who Sat By The Door|website=discogs|date=February 21, 2017 |access-date=September 22, 2020|archive-date=November 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116192035/https://www.discogs.com/Herbie-Hancock-The-Spook-Who-Sat-By-The-Door/release/635602|url-status=live}}</ref> In the following year, Hancock composed the soundtrack to the first ''[[Death Wish (1974 film)|Death Wish]]'' film. One of his songs, "Joanna's Theme", was re-recorded in 1997 on his duet album with Shorter, ''[[1+1 (Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter album)|1+1]]''. Hancock's next jazz-funk albums of the 1970s were ''[[Man-Child]]'' (1975) and ''[[Secrets (Herbie Hancock album)|Secrets]]'' (1976), which point toward the more commercial direction Hancock would take over the next decade. These albums feature the members of the Headhunters band, but also a variety of other musicians in important roles.