Grant Green - Born To Be Blue (1985)

These tracks were recorded December 11, 1961 & March 1, 1962, but not released until 1985 on LP and cassette, 1989 on Compact Disc. While revitalizing the Blue Note record label in the 1980s, Bruce Lundvall and Michael Cuscuna started rereleasing classic Blue Note albums while also clearing the vaults of previously unreleased recordings by Blue Note artists. That last part is where this album comes in and the late release explains the uncharacteristic album cover they chose instead of a Reid Miles-inspired classic Blue Note design. This 1985 article in CashBox magazine suggests that Alfred Lion didn't release some '60s albums because the material was "just not up to Blue Note standards." I will note that the article is vague about which recording Lion was referring to. But this collection of standards and pop songs features Green, Sonny Clark, and Ike Quebec, so I can't figure out why the label sat on it for over twenty years.

Grant Green - guitar
Ike Quebec - tenor saxophone
Sonny Clark - piano
Sam Jones - bass
Louis Hayes - drums

CD liner notes by Richard Seidel.

Reviews/ratings:

• The Penguin Guide to Jazz (5th ed., 2000): ★★★★ "best of all [Green's] Blue Notes"
• 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:

1. Someday My Prince Will Come - from Walt Disney's 1937 animated movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
2. Born To Be Blue - 1946 jazz standard written by Mel Tormé and Robert Wells.
4. If I Should Lose You - from the 1936 film Rose of the Rancho.
5. Back In Your Own Back Yard - popular song from 1928 with lyrics by Al Jolson & Billy Rose with music by Dave Dreyer.
6. My One And Only Love - 1953 jazz standard written by Guy Wood and Robert Mellin.
7. Count Every Star - 1950 pop song written by Bruno Coquatrix and Sammy Gallop.
8. Cool Blues - jazz blues written in 1947 by Charlie Parker.
9. Outer Space - Green original

I'm hard-pressed to pick a favorite here, but today I'm leaning toward the beautiful ballad My One And Only Love. Quebec steals the show on many of the tracks, most notably on the swinging Someday My Prince Will Come.

Included is an alternate take of track 2, Born To Be Blue, which is almost as good as the track ultimately used so I have no problem with it. My problem is the sequencing: the alternate take immediately follows at track 3, ruining any kind of flow to the album.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:
Talkin' About (1965)
Idle Moments (1965)
Feelin' The Spirit (1963)
Green Street (1961)
Sunday Mornin'/Grantstand/Grant's First Stand/Green Blues