Grant Green - Feelin' The Spirit (1963)

Note: the CD I listened to was the 2005 Rudy Van Gelder Edition which includes a bonus track.

In which one of my favorite jazz guitarists leads a group of great musicians through a set of traditional spirituals and gospel tracks. It sounds like the band is having a great time revisiting songs they grew up learning. Herbie Hancock, in particular, sounds like he'd been listening to a lot of Horace Silver and tried to incorporate some of Silver's sound and grooves into these arrangements. And Green brings beauty to everything he plays, as usual. Perfect for any Sunday morning.

Green - guitar
Herbie Hancock - piano
Butch Warren - bass
Billy Higgins - drums
Garvin Masseaux - tambourine

Original 1963 liner notes written by Joe Goldberg, noted jazz author, and 2004 reissue liner notes by Bob Blumenthal.

Reviews/ratings:

• Downbeat (★★): "The music poses no challenges to the musicians and, as a result, holds no surprises for the listener."
• HiFi/Stereo Review: "too casual"
• Billboard: "could prove to be one of Grant Green's best sellers to date."
• CashBox: "Feelingful"
• The Penguin Guide to Jazz (5th ed., 2000): ★★★½
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★★★
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: Only five tracks on the original album, my top picks are Just A Closer Walk With Thee and Joshua Fit De Battle Ob Jericho. The bonus track, Deep River, certainly fits the theme of the album - maybe at almost nine minutes in length there simply wasn't room for it?

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:
Sunday Mornin'/Grantstand/Grant's First Stand/Green Blues (2012)
Talkin' About (1965)
Green Street (1961)

Robert Johnson - King Of The Delta Blues Singers (1961)

Recorded 1936 & 1937, album originally released 1961, this particular CD reissue released in 1998.

From the back CD insert:

By 1961, Robert Johnson had become something of a mythical figure who people had heard of but had not necessarily heard. His recordings - the most important blues recordings of all time - had become virtually lost to the ages. That was, until this album, King Of The Delta Blues Singers was compiled and released, sparking a whole new generation's interest in authentic delta blues. Now, newly remastered and expanded to include a recently discovered, previously unreleased version of "Traveling Riverside Blues," King Of The Delta Blues Singers is a monument to the blues and an essential album for any music fan.

The last part may seem like hyperbole, but I don't think it is and I'm not sure what I can add to that. This is the real deal makes up an important album. It should be required listening in order to understand not only blues music, but also the '60s British invasion groups that owe quite a bit to these recordings (Stones, Clapton, Zep, etc). The remastering here is fantastic, plus, if I'm in just the right mindset, it's a blast to listen to. 

Uncredited 1961 liner notes and 1998 reissue liner notes by Peter Guralnick. Further reading recommendation: Biography of a Phantom: A Robert Johnson Blues Odyssey by Robert "Mack" McCormick.

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: Did not chart
• Billboard Catalog (1987): #34

Johnson has been honored posthumously many times (for a partial list, check his Wikipedia page), but since I was a philatelist as a teen, I'm choosing his selection to appear on a US postage stamp in 1994 to be my personal favorite:

Tracks:

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: The Gunter Hotel, where Johnson allegedly recorded these songs in room 414, is about 11 miles from our house, across the street from a theater my wife and I frequent, and next door to our favorite local steakhouse. One year for my birthday, I decided my lovely wife and I would enjoy a steak and a few drinks then spend the night in room 414 just to say we had stayed there. The hotel often hosts live music at its lobby bar, appropriately named Bar 414. There is also a plaque and small display recognizing Johnson near the hotel's front entrance.
However, the current owners, the Marriott organization, do not want you spending the night in room 414. At the very least, they don't make it easy for a music fan. Despite my best efforts - multiple phone calls, multiple in-person front desk attempts, clicking all over the hotel's website - the best I could get is "We can't guarantee anything, book a reservation for the night you want for a suite, then call the day before and request room 414. If it's available for that night, we'll try to hold it for you." The charge for a suite for one night in June at the time (2022 maybe?) was $450. Needless to say, we have not spent the night in room suite 414. Screw 'em. Seems like the hotel has really missed an opportunity not properly marketing its historic past.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Escaping The Delta (2004)

Duke Ellington & Count Basie - First Time! The Count Meets The Duke (1962)

Note: this release was originally purchased as a cassette tape, later replaced by a CD.

This album is exactly as you'd think: two legendary big bands playing together. Using the magic of stereo separation, the Count Basie band is on the left channel with the Duke Ellington band on the right. This recording session (July 6, 1961) had the potential to quickly become a competition, but it ultimately plays as a collaboration. Sure, musicians occasionally give in to the urge to play higher and louder than other players (I'm looking at you, lead trumpet players), but those moments are few and far between. I don't think this album was as successful as Columbia hoped, but it's still an enjoyable big band offering.

On rare occasions, the bands would pair up for a live performance or TV appearance, but this album would be the only studio recording of the two groups together. Original album liner notes from jazz writers George T. Simon and Stanley Dance.

Reviews/ratings:

• DownBeat (★★★★): "The parts remain greater than the whole...but still the parts are so great that they produce a mighty impressive whole."
• High Fidelity: "although nothing on the disc measures up to what either band can do on its own, there are some fine moments"
• Billboard: "should be one to watch"
• CashBox: "Jazzophiles should really dig this quality package"
• Stereo Review: Recording of Special Merit
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★★½
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★
• The Penguin Guide to Jazz (5th ed., 2000): ★★★

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: I prefer what was side one of the album (tracks 1-4) than the tracks on side two, save for the final track, Jumpin' At The Woodside, which will forever remind me of Gene, Gene, the Dancing Machine.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: In the latter half of 1984, I traveled 350 miles from my parents' house and began adventures as a music education major at a provincial, directional state university (more on those escapades here and even more here). Thinking I needed to expand my horizons beyond pop/rock music, I began buying more and more classical and jazz music, mostly on cassette for convenience. This album was one such purchase (R.I.P. Crossroads Mall in Greenville). It may have been my first big band recording that I bought in any format.

I enjoyed playing in the jazz band in high school and thought I'd continue playing big band music in the university's jazz band, but I didn't have the talent to pass an audition. I may have graduated as an award-winning trumpet player at my high school, but when I got to college, I was suddenly with 30 other trumpet players who had also been the best at their respective high schools. So my mediocre chops and below-average sightreading skills were simply no competition for the 5 spots in the jazz band.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Big Boss Band (1990) with George Benson
Sinatra at the Sands (1966) with Frank Sinatra
It Might As Well Be Swing (1964) with Frank Sinatra

Lee Ritenour - Portrait (1987)

I've stated this before, but you never knew what kind of album Ritenour would be releasing in the '80s: AOR/West Coast pop, Brazilian, Reggae lite, Smooth jazz, or more traditional, straight-ahead jazz. Well, as the title might suggest, this album brings a little bit of most of those genres mentioned. And because it was the '80s, Ritenour plays not only electric and acoustic guitars, but a guitar-synth hybrid MIDI-controller named the SynthAxe.

It almost seems like Ritenour tried to get an album recorded with Yellowjackets (which I'm sure would have been amazing), but only finished 4 cuts then went to the vaults to fill out the rest of the album. Some decent tracks, but hardly essential. Lots of familiar names in the credits, though, including Alex Acuña, Vinnie Colaiuta, Paulinho Da Costa, Nathan East, Russell Ferrante, Kenny G, Jimmy Haslip, Jerry Hey, Harvey Mason, Phil Perry, Greg Phillinganes, Mark Russo, and Eric Tagg.

Ratings/reviews:

• Stereo Review: "a pleasant stylistic hodgepodge"
• Billboard: "Superb production and lineup"
• CashBox: "mirror-slick fusion project, stuffed to the gills with guests"
• DownBeat: "Ritenour always looks the same on the covers of his albums, like the smiling boy next door - non-threatening - and that's pretty much what his music is like"
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: Did not chart
• Billboard Contemporary Jazz: #7
• Radio & Records Jazz Radio National Airplay: #4
• CashBox Jazz: #3

Tracks:

1. Asa - Brazilian MPB with guest artist Djavan
2. Turn The Heat Up - AOR/West Coast pop with vocals from Eric Tagg and Phil Perry
3. Windmill - mid-tempo, bossa-ish smooth jazz. The SynthAxe makes its first appearance.
4. White Water - the first cut that features Yellowjackets and is immediately identifiable as such.
5. Portrait - funk-lite featuring a lot of bass slapping from Nathan East
6. G-Rit - more funk-lite, this time featuring Kenny G on tenor sax
7. Shades In the Shade - return of the SynthAxe
8. Children's Games - Yellowjackets 2, a lilting jazz waltz written by Antonio Carlos Jobim
9. Runaway - Yellowjackets 3, third and final track that includes the SynthAxe
10. Route 17 - Yellowjackets 4

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:

Amparo (2008)	Festival (1988)
Rit's House (2002)	Harlequin (1985)
Two Worlds (2000)	On The Line (1983)
This Is Love (1998)	Rit/2 (1982)
Larry & Lee (1995)	"Rit" (1981)
Stolen Moments (1990)	Rio (1979)
Color Rit (1989)

Fleetwood Mac - Rumours (1977)

Note: This release was originally given to me as a LP, later replaced by this CD.

I'll save you the trouble: "Hey Mark, I thought this album would have appeared on the blog years ago." Well, for many years, I - like many people born in the 1950s and 1960s - had a vinyl copy of Rumours that I liked to spin. But when my youngest son decided he was going to collect vinyl, I wanted to encourage his worthwhile pursuit of physical media so I let him take any of my records that he wanted. Rumours was the first thing he pulled from the shelves. Smart kid. So I picked up this CD.

I consider Rumours to be a seminal summer album and I really can't add anything new to the mountains of words written about this great collection of songs, so I'll just shut up, listen, enjoy, and attempt to rank the tracks. Spoiler alert: I like the singles that I remember hearing on my AM radio back in '77 (see below).

Press of the time:

• High Fidelity: "will end up as one of the year's top ten releases."
• Stereo Review: "it seems rather pointless to shell out $7.98 for what is essentially a one-song album."
• Rolling Stone: "bright little three-minute singles with a hook in every chorus."
• Robert Christgau: A
• Billboard: "Fleetwood's astonishing breakout success of 1976 is consolidated and verified"
• Record World: "A consistently beautiful sounding album that encompasses many styles and emotions."

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #1
• CashBox: #1
• CashBox CD (1984): #28

The album won the Grammy award for Album of the Year, besting the likes of Aja, Hotel California, and the soundtrack to Star Wars. Over at the My Favorite Decade blog, I ranked Rumours as the 4th best album of 1977, behind The Stranger, Aja, and the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever. Other awards, honors, and accolades available over at the album's Wikipedia entry.

Tracks, ranked according to today's mood, and peak on the Billboard Hot 100:

11. Oh Daddy
10. Never Going Back Again
9. I Don't Want To Know
8. Second Hand News
7. Songbird
6. The Chain
5. Gold Dust Woman
4. Go Your Own Way (#10)
3. Don't Stop (#3)
2. You Make Loving Fun (#9)
1. Dreams (#1)

I've long maintained that the best thing Stevie Nicks ever wrote was Sara, but Dreams certainly runs a close second. And before you tell me that I should have purchased a CD that included the track Silver Springs, save it. I bought this CD to replace an LP and I wanted to replace it as is. (as was?)

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: As I mentioned above, this is a quintessential summer album and I'm immediately taken back to the summer of 1977. I turned 11 that summer and it consisted of the usual stuff: swimming pools, miniature golf, trip to my paternal grandmother's house in Tyler, Vacation Bible School, etc. I also took a trek to Las Vegas NM with my father to climb to the top of Hermit's Peak. In related news, Summer 1977 was also around the time I discovered backpacking and camping wasn't for me. And then, in late summer, I started my first and only year as a member of a tackle football team through the local Boy's Club. In related news, Summer 1977 was also around the time I discovered contact sports weren't for me. Below is a picture of me and the cabin caretaker at a cabin near the base of Hermit's Peak. That kid looks like he's up to no good but sweet mama I sho do miss that thick blonde hair.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Greatest Hits (1988)

Various Artists - Blue TV (2001)

EU import

Subtitled "Blue Note Takes A Commercial Break," this is simply a weak compilation of tunes thrown together because the tracks were - at some point - used in a television ad in the US or UK. This CD might be my least favorite of the Blue Series. Despite the occasional good tune, Blue TV is too inconsistent to work for me as an album. Here's an explanation from the liner notes, written by British DJ/record label exec Dean Rudland:

I started to research which tracks went with which TV ads, but that quickly seemed to be a lot of work so my efforts waned. Then I discovered one the McFerrin tracks was used for a Cadbury ad in the UK with the lyrics altered from "Thinkin' about your body, thinkin' about your face" to "Thinkin' about your chocolate, thinkin' about your taste" and that quickly drained any desire to seek out other ads. You're on your own.

Tracks:

1. Unforgettable - Peggy Lee
   From the 1964 album, In Love Again!
2. Don't Worry, Be Happy - Bobby McFerrin
   From the 1988 album, Simple Pleasures
3. Let There Be Love - June Christy
   From the 1957 album, Fair And Warmer!
4. Thinkin' About Your Body - Bobby McFerrin
   From the 1986 album, Spontaneous Inventions
5. They All Laughed - Chet Baker ✔
   Recorded 1957, released in 1995 on the album Embraceable You
6. Theme From Bullitt - Wilton Felder
   From the 1969 album, Bullitt
7. Fly Me To The Moon - Julie London ✔
   From the 1973 album, The End Of The World
8. Summertime - Joe Williams
   From the 1961 album, Have A Good Time With Joe Williams
9. Wild Is The Wind - Nina Simone
   From the 1959 album, Nina Simone At Town Hall
10. (Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay - Peggy Lee ✔
    From the 1969 album, A Natural Woman
11. I Can See Clearly Now - Holly Cole Trio
    From the 1993 album, Don't Smoke In Bed
12. On The Street Where You Live - Holly Cole Trio
    From the 1992 album, Blame It On My Youth
13. Let's Face The Music And Dance - Jackie McLean ✔
    From the 1960 album, Sine, Swang, Swingin'
14. Lazy Bones - Jeri Southern
    From the 1958 album, Southern Breeze
15. Comin' Home Baby - Buddy Rich Big Band
    From the 1969 album, Buddy & Soul
16. Feeling Good - Stanley Turrentine ✔
    From the 1966 album, Rough 'N' Tumble
17. Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia) - Us3 ✔
    From the 1993 album, Hand On The Torch

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None, but this is a reminder that earlier this year I put together an unofficial, possibly incomplete list of titles in the Blue Series. Available here: The Blue Series (1991-2002).

Previously revisited for the blog:

US releases
Blue Funk (2001)	UK releases
Blue '70s (2000)	Blue 'N' Soul (2001)
Latino Blue (2000)	Blue Series Sampler (2001)
Blue Brazil (1999)	Capitol Rare Vol 3 (1999)
Jump Blue (1999)	Blue 45s (1998)
Blue Boogie (1999)	Blue York Blue York (1996)
Blue Valentines (1999)	So Blue So Funky Vol 2 (1994)
Capitol Rare (1999)	California Cool (1993)
Capitol Rare Vol 2 (1999)	So Blue So Funky (1991)
Blue Bossa Vol 2 (1999)
Blue Bacharach (1999)
Midnight Blue (1999)
Blue Movies (1999)
Blue 'N' Groovy Vol 2 (1999)
Blue Break Beats Vol 3 (1996)
Blue Break Beats (1992)
Blue Beat (1991)
Blue Bossa (1991)

Various Artists - Blues Masters, Volume 2: Postwar Chicago Blues (1992)

This blues compilation is Volume 2 in an extensive blues series of CDs from Rhino which is slowly finding its way to my collection as I continue my blues education this summer. The Chicago mentioned in the title is the one in Illinois; the war mentioned refers to World War II. The Chicago record labels that became legendary are represented on this disc, including Chess, Vee-Jay, and Cobra. The music was developed in the Mississippi Delta and moved to Chicago during the Great Migration: these blues are amplified, raw, and in-your-face, with the electric guitar taking the lead alongside powerful vocals. A great primer for me as I continue to investigate all the subgenres of blues music - I always seem to come across previously unfamiliar names in these compilations. Mostly unfamiliar tunes, but there's a few I recognize. This music all predates my birth, but still teaches this old dog some new tricks.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks:

	Song	Artist	Year
1	Rollin' & Tumblin' Part 1	Baby Face Leroy Foster	1950
2	Just Make Love To Me	Muddy Waters	1954
3	That's All Right	Jimmy Rogers & His Trio	1950
4	Off The Wall	Little Walter & The Night Cats	1953
5	Don't Start Me Talkin'	Sonny Boy Williamson	1955
6	Evening Sun	Johnny Shines	1953
7	Smokestack Lightnin'	Howlin' Wolf	1956
8	I'm A Man	Bo Diddley	1955
9	Five Long Years	Eddie Boyd	1952
10	Sweet Woman (From Maine)	Robert Jr. Lockwood	1954
11	Mama Talk To Your Daughter	J. B. Lenoir	1955
12	Bright Lights Big City	Jimmy Reed	1961
13	You May	Jody Williams	1957
14	All Your Love (I Miss Loving)	Otis Rush	1958
15	All Your Love	Magic Sam	1957
16	First Time I Met The Blues	Buddy Guy	1960
17	Blue Guitar	Earl Hooker	1962
18	Little By Little	Junior Wells	1957

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Volume 3: Texas Blues (1992)
Volume 7: Blues Revival (1993)
Volume 8: Mississippi Delta Blues (1993)
Blues Masters Sampler (1993)