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Straight No Filter LP contents


Michael Fitzgerald

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I don't doubt that, Mike. It is thought that Duke Pearson registered the tunes wrongly at the time - they were very busy, and an error like that was bound to occur from time to time. I think they also got "Googa Mooga" wrong on Freddie Roach's "Mo' Greens, Please".

But, I am certain that the one labeled "Chain Reaction" was really "Soft Impressions". It is almost the same as "Impressions", and was probably intended as a tribute to Trane. And McCoy Tyner is on it. So, one of the two other tracks has to be wrongly labeled, too. There is a slight chance that McCoy could solve this, but he would probably have forgotten by now.

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Someone (on rmb maybe?) quoted Mobley from a very old interview where he said that several of the titles from the sessions that made up "No Room For Squares" (and later "Straight No Filter") were filed incorrectly by Blue Note. The one I remember being singled out was "Up A Step". It is clearly not "Up A Step". The tune "No Room For Squares" is the real "Up A Step".

Later,

Kevin

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It would probably be best to ask Michael Cuscuna what evidence he had to use the titles that he did when the LP came out in 1986. My guess is he will say that those were the titles on the tape box; I'm pretty sure no one pulled the copyright deposits until I did about 7-8 years ago.

So, here is the evidence we have:

1. On the one hand, the tune labeled 'Chain Reaction' sounds like it is derived from 'Impressions'. However, it is hardly 'soft', so the title 'Soft Impressions' doesn't really fit either.

2. On the other hand, the lead sheet for both the tunes (probably written out by Pearson) are consistent with the record titles, which most likely came from the tape box (probably written on the box by Pearson, Lion or RVG). I guess it is possible that Pearson created the cofusion by using wrong titles on both the tape box and the lead sheets, but that would mean he had to make the same error twice, probably at two different times.

This doesn't really help us solve anything. In addition, there is another red herring: on the Fresh Sound Lee Morgan Live in Baltimore 1968, Lee announces a Hank Mobley tune called 'The Vamp', but they proceed to play 'Chain Reaction' ('The Vamp' is a different piece from Mobley's Dippin')!

There is another example of Pearson mixing up song titles: the copyright deposits for Jackie McLean's 'It's Time' and 'Snuff' are inverted with respect to the It's Time LP. Here, I would be tempted to rely on titles and go with the LP: the third tune on the LP sounds more like something that should be called 'It's Time'. The fifth track is the same tune as 1962's 'Iddy Bitty', by the way. I may try to ask Jackie (perhaps through Rene) to help us clear this up.

On the subject of Mobley title confusions, Mike also confirmed that the copyright deposits for the tunes '18th Hole' and 'Early Morning Stroll' from the Flip are consistent with the titles on the album. In other words, 'Early Morning Stroll' on the Breakthrough should be called '18th Hole'. I have a little bit of trouble believing that Mobley would bring a piece of his to a recording session that he had already recorded about two years before and use the wrong title; it seems more likely that the titles on The Flip (and the copyright deposits) were inverted. Duke Pearson had nothing to do with this; the handwriting is different.

Bertrand.

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On the other hand, the lead sheet for both the tunes (probably written out by Pearson) are consistent with the record titles, which most likely came from the tape box (probably written on the box by Pearson, Lion or RVG). I guess it is possible that Pearson created the confusion by using wrong titles on both the tape box and the lead sheets, but that would mean he had to make the same error twice, probably at two different times.

This is really only one error: he gets the name wrong and writes the wrong name down twice. An error tends to perpetuate itself, as in the Jobim example below.

That's a very interesting post, Bertrand.

I still maintain that that long modal track on "Straight No Filter" sounds like a soft version of "Impressions". It's much softer than Trane's, as is Hank's sound.

Another wrong title is "Amor Em Paz" on the Jobim "Composer Plays" LP, which was incorrectly labeled "O Morro". This error lived on when Gary McFarland recorded the tune for his "Does The Sun Really Shine On The Moon" album.

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  • 1 year later...

hi, chewy-chew-chew here,-- has it occured to anyone here that perhaps in the beginning Hank would do a session by picking say a few up numbers, a ballard or two and doing a session all intended for 1 albums worth of material. but the 60s was a new decade for hank, as it was for everyone. hank was just entering his 2nd decade of professional saxophone playing, and he was on the top of his game. maybe he wanted to record, say for example, 4 ballard w/ andrew hill, butch warren, and master higgins. obviously hank doesnt want 4 ballads on one lp, so al would SPLIT 'EM UP.

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oh and ps- regading the 60s- in school and 2nd hand accts etc we learned that the 60s was a time of great political and social change and many times got very intense and out of control.

but i just dont buy that after watching 9 hours of 'rowan and martin's' 'laugh-in' today. they just made fun of everything: like they did this bit where they had 2 baseball announcers do a play by play of a student riot, and he was all: the hippie side checked the guadsman - this looks like it might result in a penelty, possibly the army

and then they were talking all serious about how important all the womens lib. is and then the guy came out and was talking about how many women he liberated last night-- tee hee

and the Sprio Agnew jokes were rediculous!

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