The Magnificent Goldberg

Very dry... MG

It is about the only whole album Shirley recorded without a bass. I like it a lot. "Troubles of the world" is a beautiful track, though it doesn't have the intensity of some Gospel renditions. MG

I think many of his 60s soundtracks rank up there with Lalo, Oliver, etc., but they're not part of this box. "In the heat of the night" is certainly a great S/T. Never bought the record, though, so I don't know how it stands up away from Rod Steiger (and that other fellow). MG

Glad to hear you're back home. Hospitals are the VERY worst places. Keep well. MG

It all spends. Looks like an interesting first batch. We'll see what transpires. MG

Heck, Larson must be a jazz fan! I believe he is. There's a thread here somewhere. MG

No - though you can get all the tracks (except the two by Sonny without Jug) on Chronological Classics. There used to be a double LP called "Early visions" which covered all the recordings Jug made for Chess (some of them were issued on Aristocrat) between Nov 1948 and Mar 1951. That's the period from which "Jug & Sonny" comes from. It's a damn fine - and interesting - compilation, with all sorts of stuff in there, including his big hit "My foolish heart". It would all fit onto one CD. MG Thanks for the info, MG! I will examine the Chronological Classics now. This is an example of how our lives will change when there are no more retail music stores. I first heard "Jug and Sonny" over the sound system at a used/rare music store in Kansas City. One of the music fanatic clerks liked to put it on when he was placing new product in the bins. It was just one of many excellent albums I discovered by just being in that store and listening to what they were playing. Actually, having looked at Amazon.com, you may be able to find a cheaper combination of old Ammons, covering the Chess period, than the Chrono Classics. MG

Oh, I've listened to it quite a bit. "Creature" is a pretty decent slow blues. It's EASY to ignore the backing when GG's playing a slow blues. MG

A WORD OF CAUTION - "Live in Chicago" is, in my view, not up to the standard of the others, even though Eddie Buster is on organ and Jerrold Donovan on drums. Jug takes too many of the numbers too fast and his sound drops off. I think he may have been trying to show someone he could play a bit of Bop MG

"Groovin' with Jug", which is one of his very best ever, is out of print. But there are 45 cheapos at Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00...8458&sr=1-1 Go get sum GREEEAAASSSSE! mg

No - though you can get all the tracks (except the two by Sonny without Jug) on Chronological Classics. There used to be a double LP called "Early visions" which covered all the recordings Jug made for Chess (some of them were issued on Aristocrat) between Nov 1948 and Mar 1951. That's the period from which "Jug & Sonny" comes from. It's a damn fine - and interesting - compilation, with all sorts of stuff in there, including his big hit "My foolish heart". It would all fit onto one CD. MG

Apart from a few dud tracks here and there - not very many - Jug was always beautiful. I think his best period was between his two stints of bird, but after he came out in 1969, he made that "Boss is back" & "Brother Jug" and the "Night lights". They're all much better than good. Here's a list of the albums he made between his two sentences. 23 albums in just over 2 years! * Boss tenor – Prestige 7180 (6/1960) * Velvet soul – Prestige 7320 (6/1960,6/1961&9/1962) * Angel eyes – Prestige 7369 (6/1960,9/1962) * Nice ‘n cool – Moodsville 18 (1/1961) * Jug – Prestige 7192 (1/1961) * Late hour special – Prestige 7287 (6/1961&4/1962) * Soul summit (with Stitt & McDuff – Prestige 7234 & 7275 (6&12/1961&1,2&4/1962) Groovin with Jug (with Groove Holmes) Pacific Jazz 32 (8/1961) * Dig him (aka We’ll be together again) (with Stitt) – Argo 697 (PR7606) (8/1961) * Boss tenors (with Stitt) – Verve 68426 (8/1961) * Just Jug (aka Live in Chicago) – Argo 698 (PR7495) (8/1961) * Up tight – Prestige 7208 (10/1961) * Boss soul - Prestige 7445 (10/1961) * Twistin’ the Jug – Prestige 7238 (11/1961) * Mellow gravy (with McDuff) – Prestige 7228 (1/1962) * Boss tenors in orbit (with Stitt) – Verve 68468 (2/1962) * The soulful moods of Gene Ammons – Moodsville 28 (4/1962) Blue groove – Prestige MPP2514 (4/1962) * Preachin’ – Prestige 7270 (5/1962) * Jug & Dodo – Prestige 24021 (5/1962) House warmin’(with Howard McGhee) – Winley 6005 (Prob 5/1962) * Bad Bossa Nova – Prestige 7257 (9/1962) Swingin’ the Jug – Roots 1002 (c1962) (Never come across this one) The ones I've marked * are available at present (unless Concord have junked any). MG

I think you'd probably get it cheaper from Hiroshi Tanno - I'm going to order mine from him in a week or two. I haven't heard it but I think it might be sort of medium good - better than "Woga" anyway. I'm not all that keen on Richard Fritz arrangements and he did all Kynard's Mainstreams, as well as his last 2 Prestiges. But some is OK. MG

Ooooo - is there a personnel listing on that album, NS? MG Nope-none to be found on the sleeve. Couldn't find elsewhere either. I've never found a listing, either. MG

Shirley Scott - Drag 'em out - Prestige blue label stereo Harold Vick - Don't look back - Strata East Pharoah Sanders Live - Theresa (Bellaphon edition) Gene Ammons - Blue Gene - Prestige (OJC) James Brown - Ain't it funky - King Polydor reissue MG

I think it was Sam "The Man" Taylor. The sleeve notes to "Atlantic R&B 1947-1974" say the group was formed with him on tenor sax. but don't explicitly say that he was on their first session. MG Found a mention on Marv Goldberg's R&B Notebooks http://home.att.net/~uncamarvy/Chords/chords.html which says that Sam "The Man" Taylor played on "Cross Over the Bridge", the flip of ShBoom. If that's so, it makes sense that he played on the entire session. Thanks for that link Paul - Marv Goldberg is truly magnificent! (No relation:) ) MG

I think it was Sam "The Man" Taylor. The sleeve notes to "Atlantic R&B 1947-1974" say the group was formed with him on tenor sax. but don't explicitly say that he was on their first session. MG

I tend to agree - though there was one of those - "Soul bossa nova" that had a few good singles on it. That was one I never saw going cheep cheep. I saw all the others real cheap at one time or another and passed on them. MG Oh, and Q's arrangements for "Chamblee music" weren't anything to write home about.

Full title is "Night lights; Gene Ammons plays Nat Cole" Prestige P7862 2 Feb 1970, Van Gelder's. Remastered George Horn, 1985, Fantasy studios. Gene Ammons - ts Wynton Kelly - p George Duvivier - b Rudy Collins - d Pucho Brown - cga ("Calypso blues" only) Side 1 Night lights Nature boy Calypso blues Side 2 Lush life Sweet Lorraine The Christmas song One of my all time favourite Jugs. MG

What do you mean by "economic strength"? Guy Consumption and production as a sign of industrial strength. That's not strength; that's size. To me, strength would equate with resilience - the ability to cope with problems. I don't think too many western economies have that sort of ability, because of income inequality. Size helps, insofar as it takes a bigger problem to cause an upset. MG

For the last week or so, it's been farily chilly and very rainy (though we haven't had floods here, thank goodness). MG

Ooooo - is there a personnel listing on that album, NS? MG

It certainly isn't bottom of the barrel stuff. In GG terms, that's "Shades of Green", "The final comedown" and "The main attraction". I'd put it at about the level of "Goin' west". MG

It has long been apparent that the poorer countries of the world wish to have standards of living not greatly different from those of the richer ones. And it has also been forecasted that they will most likely follow a similar course in order to catch up. And it has also been seen that they prove most resistant to agreeing to cut their energy consumption. This is not hard to understand. It's hard to do anything about it, however. MG

"My mother's eyes" is a bitch of a session! "Modern man" is another! "Keep on loving" is pretty poor - one for completists. MG