Harold_Z

I'm with Catesta on this one. How could you NOT like Tony Bennett? GEEZ! Or Stevie for that matter. What a bunch of jazz snobs!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY !

I've been playing a fender precision bass for 40 some odd years.....I have no interest in playing any other. I have a jazz bass bridge pickup on the one I use most..still fender all the way. It's all I need in the way of an instrument.

I totally agree. I kinda had the feeling that everyone thought that except Tommy T.

I'm pretty much in agreement with all that's been said above. I see the "Billy Banks and his Rhythm Makers" sides (of which Fats was a participant of) as somewhat of a stylistic precursor to the Fats "Rhythm" sides. Any pro or con on this?

You're Velcome.

Happy Birthday Lon ! !

Thanks Guys. That's good enough for me. I'll be downloading Open Office this weekend.

I'm on a new computer and my trial version of Microsoft Office is expiring at the end of the month. I was checking prices on the internet and was somewhat bugged by the prospect of having to shell out big bucks for Office. In my online travels I came across a "clone" program for 11.95. The program is called Office Writer. Anybody familiar with this or something similar? Is it any good?

Yeah. Also for awhile they were "Gordon Edwards' Encyclopedia of Soul." When Cornell's "Teasin'" was released they played the Bottom Line. It was Cornell, Gordon, Tee and Purdie. The first lineup I saw at Mikell's was Gordon, Cornell, Tee, and Charlie Brown on tenor. Can't exactly remember the drummer, but I think it was Herschel Dwellingham. That had to be in '71 or '72.

Yeah...I see Stuff as a different thing from those bands also. I love all those bands, but I think the musicians in Stuff were individually capable of playing in a wider range of styles than any of the guys in the other bands mentioned. A couple of exceptions being Fred Wesley and Al Jackson. I think the other guys were all firmly rooted in Funk and R&B and played the hell out of that music, but were pretty much stylistically only in that bag. The guys in Stuff were doing a lot of record dates, mostly as individuals, not as the Stuff band. They were first call for a lot of recordings and could function well in a lot of different settings. IMHO, the weakness of their recordings is some of the material (they recorded originals to get songwriter royalties) and they had a tendency to revert to "laying down the track" to the extent that there was a great groove happening but the missing element was the singer or horn player that wasn't there. That didn't faze them - they were used to laying down the track without a vocalist present. It's what they did for a living.

You really had to hear this band live - their records don't do them justice, although I DO like the records. Live, espescially prior to the release of their first lp, the repetoire would include classic and (then) current R&B tunes, and singers would VERY often sit in. Joe Cocker for one. They were at Mikell's 5 nights a week for years. It was a small bar and you could get up close and watch the action. Espescially when they first started there and it wasn't AS packed. To me it was an R&B band, but with a jazz attitude. They improvised and burned. The grooves were intense. BTW, Cornell used to call Gordon Stuff. I think the band name came from that. Stuff was a common greeting back then. As in "Hey Stuff, what's happenin'?"

Sure is.

imho everything by Ray Charles on Atlantic and ABC is essential. Just get it all.

Richard Davis used to hold the Fender vertically. It was (I guess) more comfortable to him like that. He's another guy, like Ron, who hated playing Fender, but would do record dates on it.

Now!!!

I have the old RCA 6 lp set. This is smokin! I can't resist this one.

George Brunis wrote the parody lyric (Ugly Chile) and recorded it for Commodore in 1943. edit to add: In the "This Is Jazz" series on Jazzology (a jazz radio show from 1947) Brunis sings the tune and host Rudi Blesh announces the tune with a rundown on how Brunis parodied the original tune.

To add one more thing...I think this lyric probably predates ALL of what we've been talking about and goes back to "the dozens".

I haven't heard the Johnny Mercer record in question, but from the description it sounds like the "Ugly Chile" George Brunis recorded for Commodore in 1943. What are the songwriter credits? Clarence Williams wrote a tune called "You're Some Pretty Doll". I think it dates back to the 20s or possibly earlier. Eddie Condon recorded it for Commodore with Fats Waller, George Brunis, Pee Wee Russell, etc in 1940. In 1943 Brunis did a parody on it, again for Commodore - he turned the lyric around and called it "Ugly Chile". the lyrics include a line "Your hair is nappy - who's your pappy?." Again - the context of the times. Brunis, a white New Orleans first generation jazzer, was known NOT to be a racist. He was a clown however. I have a suspicion that Brunis could deliver the line and come off less offensive than Johnny Mercer. It was a good record with some smokin' Wild Bill Davison and George Wettling, etc. I know it's currently available on an ASV George Brunis compilation. Sidney Bechet, who frequently worked and recorded with Brunis, was known to play the tune and would announce it as "Ugly Chile." The credits on the Commodore "Ugly Chile" were Williams, Brunis.

I don't have any of Gil's stuff either on cd or lp, but I took a look at cd universe and came up with this: Scott-Heron, Gil - Revolution Will Not Be Televised CD Cover Art Large Front Revolution Will Not Be Televised CD Gil Scott-Heron 4 stars Our Price: $9.65 Add to Cart Add to Wish List Availability:Usually ships in 1-2 days Format: CD Email a Friend Detailed Information List Price $11.98 (You save $2.33) Category Rock/Pop, Rock, Jazz, Soul/R&B, Jazz Vocals, Contemporary Jazz Vocals Label Bluebird RCA (USA) Orig Year 1974 All Time Sales Rank 10507 CDU Part# 1111268 Catalog# 6994 Discs 1 Street Date Oct 25, 1990 Studio/Live Studio Mono/Stereo Stereo Producer Bob Thiele; Joe Lopes Engineer Bob Simpson Personnel Bernard Purdie Brian Jackson - piano Burt Jones - guitar Charlie Saunders - percussion David Spinozza Eddie Knowles Gerry Jemmott Gil Scott-Heron - vocals, various instruments Hubert Laws Ron Carter - bass instrument Also: Bernard Purdie, On that particular track (revolution), which is really about the only track I heard on that - and it's been a while - my money is on Jemmott. I'm sure it's him. The sound is clear and defined. It's Gerry's sound. A Fender jazz bass with the bridge pickup mixed in for definition., For a reference check Gerry on BB King's "The Thrill Is Gone"album. Ron's electric sound is not as defined (check "Sugar".)

Pretty sure that's right. I remembering it as Jerry Jemmott.

Ron played a Fender Precision and from what I've heard hated it. He sounds fine on it tho and to me it just shows that it's the player, not the instrument, that makes good music.

Happy Birthday Jazz Kat ! Stick with the music!

I haven't listened to Red Clay for a while but if I recall correctly It's electric bass on the title track at least. Turrentine's Sugar is definitely electric bass. Ron Carter played electric bass on some of the Rascal's Atlantic stuff as did Jerry Jemmott and Chuck Rainey.