The Magnificent Goldberg

Something that's going to be in my blindfold test, so I'm not telling. MG

Visions HAS been a TOCJ cd before. . . . Oh - I never noticed that, and it's an album I'd have snapped up in a trice. When did it come out? MG 1993 Ah, that was before I was on the internet. Though I was making frequent trips to Mole Jazz and Tower in London then, so I'm surprised I didn't see it. Thanks Hans. MG

I'd love to know what they are. I have all the Double Time ones Hank did in recent years. Hank was one of my teachers, too. We sure miss him here in Columbus. As you guessed, they're the ones he made for Double-Time with Hank and Freddie McCoy - Listen here - Prestige PR7582 - never reissued on CD MG Mm, and I forgot, but I've just been listening to it - Johnny "Hammond" Smith's "Love potion #9". Gene sounds better on this than the McCoy, because he's not using the Varitone. MG

Shindig house band or whoever, they were playing the arrangement from the single. And that was infinitely better - and yes, it SWANG!! - than what he'd had five, six years earlier, and since. MG

Indeed he did. He took over from Clyde McPhatter as lead singer with Billy Ward & the Dominoes in 1953 and had a hit that year with "Rags to riches". One thing that Wilson could do that JB never could was sing a big ballad, or a blues ballad. "Doggin' around", "A woman, a lover, a friend" and "No pity in the naked city" are some of the JW singles I regret ditching back in the day. MG I don't know. I always thought It's a Man's, Man's, Man's World and I'm Just A Prisoner were a pretty "big" ballads. Yes, I have always considered James Brown to be a truly great ballads singer: add Bewildered, Try Me, Lost Someone, You've Got the Power, I Don't Mind... As for Jackie Wilson, he ruled the R&B stage in the late 50s and early 60s. Nobody could take him out. It is too bad that more of those shows were not recorded. He was much greater live than in the studio, where he often suffered from poor production or taste. I'd forgotten about "Man's world", which is, indeed, as great as anything JW did. But the others aren't the same type of thing at all, in my view. JW was a SINGER; a man with a VOICE to power through all the crap and hit you; not many of them around (except in Gospel and in Africa, where there are plenty). MG

A 45 Mr Dynamite/The Dynamite Orchestra - Sh' mon pts 1 & 2 - Sue UK Don't know WHERE this comes from or who it is. Side 1 is a poor man's JB imitation. Side 2 is instrumental with raving tenor solo. MG

Like you , I suspected it was Lytle as well , and wondered if I had it . Turns out I do . This track is Baden Powell's Samba da Bênção (a.k.a.Samba Saravah) from Lytle's first Solid-State LP , A Man And A Woman , which features music from the Claude Lelouch film of that name . The organist on this date , Jimmy Foster , is also on Lytle's two Pacific Jazz sides . And to Al , and others who dig Lytle's playing , I heartily recommend The Soulful Rebel and People & Love (both on Milestone). The former is all kinds of groovy , while the latter dishes up the soulful tag team of Marvin Cabell and.............Betty Glamann ! Damn! That was the only Lytle album I didn't check out, because I thought it couldn't be that one! I agree about the Milestones. I put "People make the world go round" in my all organist BFT a few years ago. MG

Visions HAS been a TOCJ cd before. . . . Oh - I never noticed that, and it's an album I'd have snapped up in a trice. When did it come out? MG

Are those the stairs out of some jazz club? MG I don't know for sure, but I think the stairs are for an elevated subway in New York. Oh yes, I see. Thanks. Interesting. MG

True enough, but the difference between the early backings and those on "No pity", "Baby workout" and "Baby get it" is really quite striking. It may simply be that things had moved on a bit and that had helped. But I always wondered how Jackie's early records might have sounded if he'd recorded for Stax. MG

Here's Jackie doing some ballads Doggin' around No pity in the naked city http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvVX76VADHo&feature=related By 1965, when the second one was done, the backings had improved no end. That's a fine band behind Jackie there. MUCH better than the backings Dick Jacobs did for him. I think the crap backings were what made, for me anyway, Jackie Wilson a singles artist - I never for a moment contemplated getting an LP of him, though I had most of his 45s. MG

I've got it. This is what I posted here about three years ago (pay attention, squire )

I agree with everything you've said there, Dan - particularly the last paragraph. I think the trouble with that idea is that the licenses will have run out, so they'd have to pay again. Still cheaper than doing all the research and remastering etc, but not as profitable as it might be at first blush. MG

Indeed he did. He took over from Clyde McPhatter as lead singer with Billy Ward & the Dominoes in 1953 and had a hit that year with "Rags to riches". One thing that Wilson could do that JB never could was sing a big ballad, or a blues ballad. "Doggin' around", "A woman, a lover, a friend" and "No pity in the naked city" are some of the JW singles I regret ditching back in the day. MG

I always thought so. It was written by Berry Gordy. MG

Stanley Turrentine & Shirley Scott - Common touch - BN Thanks to Big Al for the reminder about this. An altogether lovely session. MG

Ah, there you are. It's been a long time. Thanks Aparxa. MG

It's forty-something years since I heard it, but doesn't "Ne me quitte pas" have a line in it that translates as something like, "I'll be the dog of your dog"? MG

Wow!!!! Couldn't resist a thread of this title, could I? MG

Thanks Hans. MG

Liza Li'l Liza Jane Eliza Doolittle

An eBay search produced this page within a few seconds I can't access that, Hans. You have to be a member or something. MG Yep, you have to be an eBay member and sign in to see that page. From what you said I gather you're not a member and didn't bid on any of the sets. Correcto! Decided to remain a cheapskate this month and buy some CDs from Benin instead MG

BFT74 Happy Birthday again, Al! 1 “Abide with me”, sung by a not terribly in tune quartet. “Close enough for jazz”, the man says. Perhaps it’s Stan Freberg. No, I think it's you. 2 “Happy Birthday” to you! 3 Ah, an R&B song, I think, played by a big band. Oh, isn’t that Nat Adderley? Seventies vintage, I reckon. Something produced by David Axelrod, I’m guessing. The arrangement is a bit funny; oddly syncopated. 4 Oooooooo, nice! I don’t think I know the trumpet player. Really nice band and arrangement – keep it simple. Wish it had gone on longer. 5 At a guess, I’d say this is the Afro-Blues Quintet +1. But did they ever use a marimba? Don’t know; I only have one compilation of their work. But this sounds a bit like them. Just gonna try that again, in case it’s Johnny Lytle. Yes, its Johnny Lytle. One I haven’t got, so it’s got to be from: “Johnny Lytle does it again” (PJ); “The sound of velvet soul” (SS); or “Be proud” (SS). And I’m going to guess it’s from the Pacific Jazz LP. Very nice. 6 Hey, this is nice, too! Can’t finger the organist immediately. Love the sound of the band behind. Guitarist sounds a bit weak. I get a kind of Gene Ludwig feeling about the organist, but I’m not sure of that. 7 Oh, here’s one I have. Pulling the LP out to play it all later. It’s track 1, side 2 of BST84315. 8 I nearly recognise this tune. My initial guess was it’s something from the LP of “Soulful flutes”. But I don’t think the organist would be as strong as this. It’s the strings that are putting me off this. Sounds more like McGriff than most. 9 Funny tune; another one I nearly recognise. Don’t think I know the saxman. He sometimes reminds me of the little I’ve heard by Zorn. It all strikes me as being just a little bit too busy. 10 Latin calypso “Ay ay ay ay” – don’t know the real title; perhaps it’s “Ceilito Linda”. Lovely trumpet player. Nice guitarist. Nice pianist. The guitarist sounds like Michael Howell. Maybe this is Diz. And Mike Longo. Interesting. 11 More Latin. No guesses here. Pleasant, but seems to last a lot longer than 3:18. 12 “Poinciana” played as if it were from the soundtrack of “The magnificent seven”. I wonder if it’s Al Caiola. Or is this the versatile Henry Mancini? (Not, apparently, the Fifty Guitars of Tommy Garret – and thanks for that!) Definitely one for TTK, this. Disc 2 13 “Bobby”, she sings. But I don’t know who she is. Or if “Bobby” is the title. Or if I want to hear it again. 14 A tune I know. A Jobim tune, “Once I loved”. Very nice. Could be by Jobim. 15 Don’t know this. I’m not very good with flute players. I can often recognise David Newman, but that’s usually about as far as it goes. This guy seems quite good, though. But overall, this sounds like an album filler. 16 Surely this is Lionel Hampton? But the arrangement seems a bit too corny or him. Oh, well, it IS Hamp. It’s the track that appeared twice. And quite right, too. 17 Oh my, isn’t this one nice! Now here’s something that’s been missing from my life. I just wanted that to go on and on. 18 At one and a half minutes, this must be something from a sound track. 19 Nice piano trio, but nothing special for me, I’m afraid. There’s something about the tune, though… Second time through, “Shiny stockings” occurred to me. And the name Guaraldi, Vince. 20 Sounds like it ought to be Jerome Morross. No, it’s slightly too intimate. No idea. Loved the tenor solo. 21 No 21 22 This didn’t grab me right from the start. And it didn’t grab me right from after the start, too. But, surprisingly, it didn’t grab me right from when it got going, also. 23 “Amazing grace” – kind of a country type version, but with Latin percussion. Nice, but not really getting to me, y’know? 24 Must be you, Al Well, that was nice, Al. Thanks very much!

An eBay search produced this page within a few seconds I can't access that, Hans. You have to be a member or something. MG

Flash Harry Lightnin' Slim Troy & the T-birds