Since September 2010, this blog has recorded the journey of this music junkie as I attempt to listen to all the music in my CD collection. CDs revisited in their entirety from start to finish - no skipping tracks, no shuffle. Compact Discs only - no vinyl, no tapes, no files.
The Downbeat magazine review of this album calls it "cliche-ridden, r&b-influenced jazz." Does that mean I'm not supposed to dig it? Too bad, because it certainly delivers and is an enjoyable way to spend 40 minutes. McCann is on top of his game as both performer and composer. The liner notes below explain the impromptu nature of this show and, maybe because of that spontaneity, it sounds like the band is having a great time grooving on the stage. The duo released a successful studio follow-up in 1971, appropriately titled Second Movement, which also topped the Billboard jazz album charts.
Reviews/ratings:
CashBox: "one of the most exciting jazz albums of the year"
Tracks: What was side one (tracks 1-3) is preferable to side two, but it's all good.
Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Probably through versions of the song by Roberta Flack and The Roots with John Legend, I was previously familiar with Compared To What (#85 pop, #35 R&B). But the album as a whole came to my attention as I was putting together a list of the Billboard Jazz Album charts and noticed this album was in the top ten from December 20, 1969 until November 21, 1970. That remarkable run includes thirteen consecutive weeks at #1. It had an almost identical run on the Record World Jazz LPs chart. That info, along with spreadsheets of other album charts, is available at our popular sister site: albumcharts.wordpress.com
This wonderful "book set" is described on the Stax website thusly:
The five-disc box set contains the A- and B-sides of every single released under the Stax banner in 1968, including the company's sub-labels. With a 56-page book including revelatory, in-depth liner notes by Andria Lisle, Robert Gordon, and Steve Greenberg, as well as rare and previously unseen photos, the set presents more than 120 songs from this unprecedented creative period in American music.
And on the set's hype sticker:
More hype:
To be honest, I was initially weary about getting all the b-sides because I usually dismiss them completely, saying something like "b-sides are b-sides for a reason," but once I heard this entire set, I changed my mind. In many cases, the b-side is just as good or better than the a-side. In one case, it was the b-side that charted: Tribute To A King, a memorial to Otis Redding. I didn't do any research so I'm just guessing here, but I'd wager this box set was the first time some of these b-sides have appeared on a CD.
The book does a fantastic job of describing the included singles within the context of the Memphis culture of 1968: civil unrest, the sanitation strike, and the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The photo used on the cover is of the MLK memorial march down Main Street in Memphis on April 8.
Tracks, with just a few of my many favorites indicated with ✔.
Sub-labels of Stax1 included in this set are Volt2, Enterprise3, Hip4, Magic Touch5, and Arch6.
DISC ONE 26 tracks, 69 minutes
Released January - March
Artist
Single
R&B
Pop
Otis Redding2
(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay b/w Sweet Lorene
1
1
✔
Sam & Dave1
I Thank You b/w Wrap It Up
4
9
✔
The Memphis Nomads1
Don't Pass Your Judgement b/w I Wanna Be (Your Lover & Your Honey)
✔
Shirley Walton3
I Was Born To Love You b/w I'm So Glad You're Back
Otis Redding & Carla Thomas1
Lovey Dovey b/w New Year's Resolution
21
60
Ollie & The Nightingales1
I Got A Sure Thing b/w Girl, You Have My Heart Singing
16
73
Eddie Floyd1
Big Bird b/w Holding On With Both Hands
✔
The Bar-Kays2
A Hard Day's Night b/w I Want Someone
Johnnie Taylor1
Next Time b/w Sundown
34
William Bell1
Every Man Oughta Have A Woman b/w Tribute To A King
16
86
Mable John1
Able Mable b/w Don't Get Caught
Rufus Thomas1
The Memphis Train b/w I Think I Made A Boo Boo
✔
Jeanne & The Darlings2
What Will Later On Be Like b/w Hang Me Now
DISC TWO 22 tracks, 60 minutes
Released March - May
Artist
Single
R&B
Pop
Derek Martin2
Soul Power b/w Sly Girl
✔
Linda Lyndell2
Bring Your Love Back To Me b/w Here I Am
Carla Thomas1
A Dime A Dozen b/w I Want You Back
Kangaroo's4
Groovy Day b/w Every Man Needs A Woman
Isaac Hayes3
Precious Precious b/w Going To Chicago Blues
✔
The Mad Lads2
Whatever Hurts You b/w No Time Is Better Than Now
31
Otis Redding2
The Happy Song (Dum-Dum) b/w Open The Door
10
25
✔
Albert King1
(I Love) Lucy b/w You're Gonna Need Me
46
✔
Johnnie Taylor1
I Ain't Particular b/w Where There's Smoke There's Fire
45
✔
Eddie Henderson Quintet3
Georgy Girl b/w A Million Or More Times
✔
Shirley Walton3
Send Peace And Harmony Home b/w The One You Can't Have All By Yourself
DISC THREE 29 tracks, 79 minutes
Released May - September
Artist
Single
R&B
Pop
Booker T. & The MG's1
Soul-Limbo b/w Heads Or Tails
7
17
✔
Eddie Floyd1
I've Never Found A Girl (To Love Me Like You Do) b/w I'm Just The Kind Of Fool
2
40
Delaney & Bonnie1
It's Been A Long Time Coming b/w We've Just Been Feeling Bad
Linda Lyndel2
What A Man b/w I Don't Know
50
✔
Harvey Scales & The Seven Sounds5
Broadway Freeze b/w I Can't Cry No More
✔
Johnny Daye1
Stay Baby Stay b/w I Love Love
Bobby Whitlock4
Raspberry Ring b/w And I Love You
Judy Clay & William Bell1
Private Number b/w Love-Eye-Tis
17
75
Jimmy Hughes2
I Like Everything About You b/w What Side Of The Door
21
The Delrays6
Lollipop Lady b/w (There's) Always Something There To Remind Me
Lindell Hill6
Remone b/w Used To Be Love
The Aardvarks6
Subconcious Train Of Thought b/w Unicorn Man
Fresh Air6
Somebody Stole My Gal b/w Somebody Stole My Gal (Instrumental)
Judy Clay1
Bed Of Roses b/w Remove These Clouds
The Staple Singers1
Long Walk To D.C.(b-side starts next CD)
✔
DISC FOUR 29 tracks, 79 minutes
Released September - November
Artist
Single
R&B
Pop
The Staple Singers1
Stay With Us
The Soul Children1
Give 'Em Love b/w Move Over
40
Johnnie Taylor1
Who's Making Love b/w I'm Trying
1
5
✔
Rufus Thomas1
Funky Mississippi b/w So Hard To Get Along With
✔
Carla Thomas1
Where Do I Go b/w I've Fallen In Love
38
86
The Mad Lads2
So Nice b/w Make Room
35
✔
Charmells2
Lovin' Feeling b/w Sea Shell
Jeanne & The Darlings2
It's Unbelievable (How You Control My Soul) b/w I Like What You're Doing To Me
✔
Southwest F.O.B.4
Smell Of Incense b/w Green Skies
The Village Sound4
Sally's Got A Good Thing b/w The La La Song
Eddie Floyd1
Bring It On Home To Me b/w Sweet Things You Do
4
17
Booker T. & The MG's1
Hang 'Em High b/w Over Easy
35
9
✔
Ollie & The Nightingales1
You're Leaving Me b/w Showered With Love
47
The Popcorn Generation4
Kitchy Kitchy Koo b/w Shake It
The Bar-Kays2
Copy Kat b/w In The Hole
DISC FIVE 28 tracks, 78 minutes
Released November & December
Artist
Single
R&B
Pop
Dino & Doc2
Mighty Cold Winter b/w A Woman Can't Do (What A Man Do)
William Bell1
I Forgot To Be Your Lover b/w Bring The Curtain Down
10
45
The Goodees4
Condition Red b/w Didn't Know Love Was So Good
Mable John1
Running Out b/w Shouldn't I Love Him
Billy Lee Riley4
Family Portrait b/w Going Back To Memphis
William Bell & Judy Clay1
My Baby Specializes b/w Left Over Love
45
104
The Soul Children1
I'll Understand b/w Doing Our Thing
29
The Staple Singers1
The Ghetto b/w Got To Be Some Changes Made
Albert King1
Blues Power b/w Night Stomp
✔
The Epsilons1
The Echo b/w Really Rockin'
Rufus Thomas1
Funky Way b/w I Want To Hold You
✔
This Generation4
The Children Have Your Tongue b/w Give Her What She Wants
Daaron Lee4
Who's Making Love b/w Long Black Train
Johnnie Taylor1
Take Care Of Your Homework b/w Hold On This Time
2
20
✔
Personal Memory (Loosely) Associated with this CD: My favorite civil rights story comes from 1966, not 1968, but the writings in the included book reminded me of this story so here it goes: My father attended Union Theological Seminary (now Union Presbyterian Seminary) in Richmond, Virginia and, upon graduation in 1962, was called to the Sardis Presbyterian Church in Sardis, Mississippi. Sardis is a small town on the edge of the Delta, about an hour's drive south of Memphis. A young preacher, 24 years old, dropped into a position of moral leadership in the Deep South, in the middle of the civil rights movement - I can't even imagine.
My parents in front of the church manse, 1962.
In June of 1966, James Meredith, who had integrated the nearby University of Mississippi in 1962, walked alone in the Meredith March Against Fear "to promote black voter registration and defy entrenched racism." Headed to Jackson, the march started at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis on June 5; Meredith was shot on June 6. Other organizations rallied to take Meredith's place and complete the march to Jackson. More on the march here or check out the 2014 book, Down to the Crossroads: Civil Rights, Black Power, and the Meredith March Against Fear by Aram Goudsouzian.
The march eventually entered Sardis on Hwy 51 and passed directly in front of the Presbyterian church. Like many churches in rural small towns, the church didn't have any locks on the doors. In preparation for the incoming marchers, the church's (white, male) board of deacons had met without my father's knowledge and decided to have locks put on the doors of the church in order to keep out any marchers; I feel confident in saying the deacons used the N-word instead of the term "marchers." In any case, my father walked up to the church to work one morning and saw the local locksmith putting strong Yale locks on the doors of the church. I'm sure my father made some small talk with the locksmith and carried on with his morning. After lunch, when he was alone, Dad returned to the church and removed the new locks. He simply believed (as I do) that a church is no place for bigotry (sadly, a message that many churches still need to hear these many decades later). Dad then took the locks and placed them on the bookcase directly behind his desk in his office so that anyone who entered the office would know precisely who had removed the locks. He claims nobody ever said a word to him about it. I'll bet there was plenty of talk about it, though.
Within six months, Dad had wisely accepted a call to another congregation. In December 1966, the family, including an infant named Mark, moved from Mississippi to the oil fields of West Texas, where they lived until 1978. Here's a photo of that infant child taken in 1968, around the time the songs found on disc 3 were released:
Note: the CD I listened to was the 2013 remaster with 5 previously unreleased bonus tracks.
If you've ever been hurt by your main squeeze, deceived by your best friend, or down to your last dime and ready to call it quits, Albert King has the solution if you have the time to listen.
My listening habits developed over many years, of course, so I can't pinpoint when I started listening to classical music almost exclusively in the fall/winter months and blues music almost exclusively in the spring/summer months, but it happened at some point, here we are in spring, so it's time to start spinning some blues discs. And here we've got a blues legend cutting tracks with the Stax house band a.k.a. Booker T & the MGs. What's not to like? Widely considered King's best (and breakthrough) album, these songs introduced many to both the note-bending guitar work and gritty vocals of Albert King, firmly establishing his place in the blues revival of the '60s. If you like your R&B with a heavy emphasis on the B, this album is highly recommended.
Reviews/ratings:
Billboard: "a realistic, soulful style which hits the mark"
The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (★★★★★): "a blues monument"
While the album failed to chart upon release, it has since been given many accolades, including the following:
In the 2012 edition of Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Albums list, the album ranked at #491 (in the 2003 edition, it ranked at #499): "King’s first album for the Stax label combines his hard, unflashy guitar playing with the sleek sound of the label’s house band, Booker T. and the MG’s. Hits such as 'Crosscut Saw' and 'Laundromat Blues' earned King a new rock & roll audience."
In 1985, the album was added to the Blues Hall of Fame as a Classic of Blues Recording.
In 1999, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which honors recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance
Tracks: Not a bad track to be found. My favorites are Crosscut Saw, Kansas City, Down Don't Bother Me, and Laundromat Blues.
Bonus tracks: alternate takes of Born Under A Bad Sign, Crosscut Saw, The Hunter, and Personal Manager along with an untitled instrumental which was certainly good enough for inclusion on the original album.
Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Several years ago I was visiting the Stax website, as one does, and they were having a sale: this CD plus a Stax t-shirt for $29.99. I was on that like gravy on biscuits.
I'm currently in the early stages of planning a trip next year that will not only include a trip to the Stax museum (again), but also take us to Clarksdale, Mississippi and as much of the Mississippi Blues Trail as we can possibly fit in. Hopefully, that will include a drive through Indianola to see the Albert King marker.
I'm not the biggest fan of Joe Henderson's playing, but I'm certainly a fan of the remainder of the band - in particular Lee Morgan, Bobby Hutcherson, and Ron Carter - plus the tunes here are well-written. While I don't like the album as much as the critics, it is still an enjoyable, worthwhile hard bop disc for me.
Henderson - tenor saxophone Lee Morgan - trumpet
Curtis Fuller - trombone
Bobby Hutcherson - vibes
Cedar Walton - piano
Ron Carter - bass
Joe Chambers - drums
Reviews/ratings:
Downbeat (★★★★): "Henderson is out on his own now; this record proves he is ready."
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: My favorite cut today is the title track which is described in label press as "the standout of the set, a modal masterpiece where the leader summons one of his most transcendent and visceral solo statements." And don't sleep on the stellar solo turns from Hutcherson, Fuller, then Carter. Also track 3, Black, with great solos from Morgan and Walton. I like the Latin groove of Caribbean Fire Dance, but I think it has the least enjoyable soloing.
High Fidelity: "much more palatable in its individual parts than as a whole"
Record World: "RCA Victor must have one of the all-time top-selling soundtrack albums"
Stereo Review: "The burden of the singing falls on Julie Andrews, and she almost succeeds in putting some spice into this overcooked stew of sentimentality."
For the record, the five Academy Awards won were Best Picture, Best Director (Robert Wise), Best Sound (James Corcoran & Fred Hynes), Best Film Editing (William Reynolds), and Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment (Irwin Kostal).
Personal Memory Associated with this CD: I've seen both the stage musical and the 1965 movie multiple times; I always enjoy the show. I've never been in the cast of the show - my lone R&H cast experience was as Lt. Cable in South Pacific - but I once worked on the backstage crew of a touring company production when they passed through town back in the '90s.
When I was in high school, I received a Walkman knock-off for Christmas (probably 1983) and, for reasons unknown to me all these years later, opted to listen to my father's pre-recorded cassette of this album more than once that Christmas Day instead of any of my own tapes.
Note: the CD I listened to was the 1999 Rudy Van Gelder Edition with an 2 bonus tracks.
This was Hancock's fourth album release as a leader; a weak attempt at a concept album about the Empyrean Isles, described in the original, atypical liner notes written by Nora Kelly as "elusive and said to vanish at the approach of ordinary mortals" and "that incense-bearing trees blossom there," etc. You get the point. Needless to say, it fails in its task of being a concept album, but there are a couple of destinations here I don't mind visiting, especially Cantaloupe Island.
Pianist Herbie Hancock was already an elite jazz session player when he led this set for Blue Note...But Hancock was also hard at work on his compositional craft. His four original pieces on Empyrean Isles prompt motifs based on brisk chord changes as well as scale-based improvisation. Nearly two decades before his embrace of turntablism on “Rockit,” Hancock was already signaling his intention to swing between radically different formal designs. –Seth Colter Walls
So they obviously like the album more than I, as does the uDiscover Music website, where this albums was ranked at #34 on its list of The 50 Greatest Blue Note Albums.
Hancock - piano
Freddie Hubbard - cornet
Ron Carter - bass
Tony Williams - drums
After recording this album, Hancock, Carter, and Williams (plus Wayne Shorter) would soon join Miles Davis to become what is commonly known as his "Second Great Quartet."
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: As I mentioned earlier, Cantaloupe Island is the star here and yes, I was familiar with the tune before it was famously sampled by Us3 in 1992. My other top pick is Oliloqui Valley, which swings harder than it should and features a killer solos from Hubbard and then Carter. That doesn't mean the other two tracks (One Finger Snap and The Egg) aren't good, simply that I much prefer the first two I mentioned. Both One Finger Snap and Cantaloupe Island were chosen for the 1988 CD release, The Best of Herbie Hancock: The Blue Note Years.
Bonus tracks: Alternate takes of One Finger Snap and Oliloqui Valley. All tracks, including the bonus tracks, were recorded at the Van Gelder Studio on Wednesday, June 17, 1964.
Not sure about rock'n'roll hits, but there's healthy helping of R&B plus a couple of surf rock classics. Or maybe that simply illustrates how much rock'n'roll owes to rhythm and blues. This CD ("compiled" by Joel Whitburn and released by Rhino) is first-rate; my only complaint is the 24 minute running time.
This disc is part of a 20 CD compilation series spanning 1955 to 1974, with one 10-track album for year; each track made the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. All the Billboard Top Rock'n'Roll Hits discs for years 1960 through 1969 were originally released in 1988 or 1989, and rereleased in 1993 with revised track listings, due to licensing restrictions. This 1993 reissue replaced Fingertips Pt. 2 by Little Stevie Wonder with If You Wanna Be Happy, and Walk Like A Man by The Four Seasons with Deep Purple.
Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart
Several of the tracks are new to my CD shelves but not new to my ears. Since I was born in 1966, these tunes have always been around, right? All ten cuts are fantastic.
Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Except for The Beatles and Stones, I wasn't much for '60s tunes until my college years (1984-88), but then I was in deep and have never looked back.
