Freddie McCoy

[.:.impossible]

I searched and searched... no thread for Freddie McCoy!

I am having the worst time finding affordable copies of his albums anywhere. I'd even settle for mp3s until I can find an actual record, but his stuff isn't available anywhere! I thought emusic had the Prestige catalog pretty well covered. The only thing I can find up there is the Johnny Hammond Smith double Opus De Funk. None of the McCoy albums are there.

Why is his stuff so hard to get my hands on?! Don't even go to gemm. Who are these people?

[mikeweil]

IIRC none of Freddie McCoy's Prestige dates was reissued by Fantasy - one of the artists they never got around to. I can't even recall there were Japanese LP reissues! I guess emusic has only stuff that already was on CD.

[Teasing the Korean]

The Prestige album with Spiderman on the cover is KILLER!

[.:.impossible]

It makes no sense... seems like his music would appeal to a cross-over audience that much of the Fantasy re-issues probably didn't.

[Indestructible!]

It makes no sense... seems like his music would appeal to a cross-over audience that much of the Fantasy re-issues probably didn't.

Yeah, it really is a shame that Fantasy did not choose to reissue any of McCoy's work. There's some damn fine stuff in there, and I would've thought they would have released at least ONE album over the years, but... nope!

The Spiderman cover is great... I think it was released on CD in Japan briefly, but then was pulled because of copyright issues on the use of the Spiderman image.

Personally, I'd love to see Mosaic do "The Complete Prestige Recordings of Freddie McCoy". I think it would be what, 7 CDs max? I'd pre-order that in a heartbeat! Lord knows Concord won't be releasing ANY Freddie in the near future.

Cheers,

Shane

[Man with the Golden Arm]

I did some recent searching on him too (having only "Collard Greens" on a comp) and have luckily picked up one lp ... with one butt ugly pen sketch on the cover.

"The Best of..." prestige 7706

A

1) Listen Here

2) Beans 'n Greens

3) Soul Yogi

B

1) Peas 'n Rice

2) Harlem Nocturne

3) Spider Man

4) Lonely Avenue

I see "Spider Man" on CD from japan but not too keen on the song content there so this one had to suffice for the dearth of McCoy.

I'd settle to see someone do just a twofer of stand out tunes.

[Man with the Golden Arm]

and what da heck!

I just clicked on your cool posters blog!!!!! NICE SHTUFF!

[JSngry]

On of those albums has Joanne Brackeen on piano, it that matters to anybody...

[Soul Stream]

Spider Man is my favorite Vibes album EVER! Period! Call me a loser...a Milt, Bobby, Walt, ect. hater. The SOUND of Freddie's Deagan Vibes on that album is just the shit. I LOVE Everything Freddie Ever did. Check him out the on Johnny Hammond Smith Prestige stuff too...

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Freddie was the first jazz musician to take up James Brown's developments in R&B and apply them to jazz. In a sense, therefore, he pioneered Acid Jazz and deserves a place in the history books for that (whether you like the music or not). Ace, on its Beat Goes Public label, included a fair number of McCoy tracks in its various artist Acid Jazz compilations. I recall other British labels with McCoy tracks, too. I think most of those only came out on LP ayway, since they were aimed at dancefloor audiences.

He ran his own band for several years but was never widely successful. He made eight albums (plus a "best of" compilation)

Lonely Avenue - PR7395 (1&2/1965)

Spider Man - PR7444 (10/1965)

Funk drops - PR7470 (6/1966)

Peas & rice - PR7487 (10/1965 & 4&5/1967) (includes the original version of "One cylinder")

Beans & greens - PR7542 (10/1967)

Soul yogi - PR7561 (1&2/1968)

Listen here - PR7582 (6/1968)

Gimme some - Cobblestone 9002 (late 1971)

A lot of those albums are pretty short. You could probably get all 7 of the Prestige albums into a Mosaic Select (if Mosaic could release Prestige material and if MC would touch it with a bargepole )

I suspect the reason Fantasy never released any of Freddie's albums on CD was because they had made plenty of money licensing individual tracks to British dancefloor companies and they probably didn't see much demand from the US. His Prestige LPs hit SILLY prices over here in the eighties.

MG

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

McCoy is an interesting player to me. He was never 100% devoted to Acid Jazz. Most of his albums have a wide variety of music in them - some Bebop stuff like "Doxy", "Stonewall" and "Mysterioso" (note the Milt Jackson connection - McCoy was a big fan), which I don't think were there to show his prowess as a bop player so much as to add variety to the programmes, - a lot of ballads, at which he was as superb a player as Johnny "Hammond" Smith and wrote some lovely ones - as well as funky stuff and straight swinging in four. His Prestige albums were all produced by Cal Lampley. As soon as Bob Porter took over from Cal at Prestige, Freddie McCoy stopped recording for that company. Porter speaks quite disparagingly of McCoy's importance and I wonder sometimes if the changeover at Prestige had anything to do with McCoy's ceasing to record there.

But his last album is very different. No Acid Jazz at all. It's a spectacularly uncommercial commercial album which sometimes calls to my mind George Braith's "Musart" LP.

Freddie's sound has always been particularly attractive to me. Actually, he has two sounds. On his funky material, he sounds very tough and hard, with almost no vibrato. On ballads, his sound shimmers even more than does Milt Jackson's when he's playing with the MJQ.

MG

[Dan Gould]

Maybe it would be impossible for them to deal with Concord, but it seems to me that McCoy would be the perfect artist for Da Bastids to reissue on their boutique label.

[Soul Stream]

Freddie's "Spider Man" LP is just one of the greatest vibe dates ever cut, certainly on Prestige. Man, his ballad playing on Yesterdays is just amazing. The amount of sustain he pulls off the bars without harmonic clashes...wow, don't know how he did it, but he could make those Deagan's sing.

[Teasing the Korean]

We had some friends over yesterday and indulged in two of my favorite activities: drinking red wine and listening to vinyl. I put on my only two Freddie McCoy albums, Spiderman and Lonely Avenue. Why haven't any of these records made it to CD???

[Swinging Swede]

Yes, it is strange that Fantasy didn't even put out a Legends Of Acid Jazz twofer.

Anyway, Soul Yogi recently appeared on a blog.

[Swinging Swede]

I just happened to notice that Spider Man was reissued on CD again in December 2008 (I have the old CD). It's listed as in stock on hmv.co.jp so now you have the chance to get it. Hiroshi can probably provide it too.

[JSngry]

Anyway, Soul Yogi recently appeared on a blog.

I've heard that that one features a totally cool version of "Pet Sounds" as an up-tempo bossa!

[Swinging Swede]

Anyway, Soul Yogi recently appeared on a blog.

I've heard that that one features a totally cool version of "Pet Sounds" as an up-tempo bossa!

Am listening to it now, and yes, it's there. He also takes on I Am A Walrus. JoAnne Brackeen is on this one, and she actually was on all 5 of McCoy's 1966-68 albums as she was a regular member of his group in those years.

By the way, the liner notes writer is none other than ... Chris Albertson! He even manages to mention Bessie Smith... He also says that his particular favourite is McCoy's own Salem Soul Song and I must agree that that one hits a really nice groove.

[Chas]

Although there has yet to be any official confirmation , family members are saying that Freddie McCoy died at age 76 this past September in Morocco .