Ernie Watts - Chariots Of Fire (1982)

Note: this release was originally purchased as a LP (twice), later replaced by a CD.

Lifted directly from an earlier post:

When I was in high school jazz band circa 1983, the director gave us a chart that I fell in love with the first time we played it. It was titled Valdez In The Country and the promo line at the top of the sheet music stated something like "as heard on Chariots of Fire, the new Qwest album from Ernie Watts." At the time, I had never heard of saxophonist Ernie Watts, but I found a copy of his 1982 album and listened to this track over and over.

I was informed that this album had been released on CD back in 2005 on Wounded Bird Records, but I had never been able to find a copy for a reasonable price. I mean I like the thing and have fond memories of it, but I don't like it $100 worth, ya know? So I settled for buying a second copy of the LP, listened to that occasionally, and ripped some mp3 files. But after a decade-long hunt, I was finally able to locate a reasonably priced copy and here we are.

Q, of course, is Quincy Jones, producer of this album and founder of the Qwest label

It's an okay album, nothing to write home about, but it brings back fond memories of my senior year in high school and that's worth the price paid plus some. Compare it to comfort food, if you will. In addition to Watts, there's a few other familiar names in these credits, including James Ingram, Steve Lukather, Don Grusin, Jerry Hey, Michael Omartian, and Greg Philliganes.

The lead track, Chariots of Fire (Theme) (Dance Version), won a Grammy award in the now-defunct category of Best Pop Instrumental Performance, beating such releases as Crazy For You by Earl Klugh and As We Speak by David Sanborn.

Reviews/ratings:

• Billboard: "This is a classy package."
• Record World: "the selling points are two tunes featuring Grammy nominee James Ingram."
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #161
• Billboard Jazz: #13
• Billboard R&B: #46
• CashBox: #156
• CashBox Jazz: #14
• Record World Jazz: #14
• Radio & Records Jazz Radio National Airplay: #16

Tracks: Four the eight tracks are covers of music from Vangelis's hit soundtrack to the movie Chariots Of Fire, including two versions of the familiar main theme, a dance version (track 1) and a slow version (track 8). There's also two covers here - the aforementioned Valdez In The Country (Donny Hathaway) and Lady (Lionel Richie, made famous by Kenny Rogers). The "two tunes featuring Grammy nominee James Ingram" are originals titled Hold On and (mostly instrumental) Gigolo. Both feature the typical Quincy Jones style of the time: funky bass, lots of horn licks, and hooks for days (see also The Dude, Thriller, Every Home Should Have One, etc). Even after all these years, my favorite track is still Valdez In the Country.

This just in: the slow version of Chariots Of Fire can be heard in the first scene of WKRP In Cincinnati, season 4, episode 19, "The Creation Of Venus" (first aired March 31, 1982). Venus introduces the artist as "the magnificent Mr. Ernie Watts" and the album cover can be seen. Bonus points for promo posters of Trust by Elvis Costello, Come Morning by Grover Washington, Jr., and A Place For My Stuff by George Carlin. (A wealth of promo posters featured on WKRP can be found over at the My Favorite Decade blog.)

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: see above