yasujiro, I have to agree with chervokas that at least on the version I have there is no reverb on the bass and drums though as he said the reverb is subtle yet quite noticeable on Sonny's sax. I doubt on the AP version has additional reverb was added by Doug Sax since as I said the effect is rather subtle. At least through my system I'm not totally aware of the space the drums occupy but they almost come to the foreground and almost inundate the bass during Manne's more active flourishes. Thank you guys for covering this with me since I'm enjoying the record and the conversation immensely.
For whatever reason, i never really 'got' Ornette until i heard this album. I'm not saying that this is the perfect universal gateway to Ornette by any means, but on my journey that's the way it was. I think Steve Lacy helped me get in to Monk way more too.
I listened to A Night at the Village Vanguard again last night, and I definitely celebrate it. On the other hand, Way Out West is an album I really can‘t get into. I mean, it‘s like fun and all, but I have been listening to Country and Western for decades, so Jazz versions of Western classics probably still irritate me.
NP: Albert King - Born Under A Bad Sign (Stax CD) I never heard the oop (and expensive) MoFi version of this classic, but this very affordable Stax release is said to sound a lot better. It sure sounds nice to me.
Except other than "Wagon Wheels" there's not really any country or western material on there... I mean Im an Old Cowhand is a novelty about a displaced cowhand driving a truck by Johnny Mercer I think. It's a Broadwayish Hollywood gag song. And then there's original material on there and Ellington material on there.
Hi, I have just two Hadley Caliman tracks (from mainstream compilations). Was wondering how does the first two albums sound like. Not able to find them online easily for a "test" before buy. Any of you have these ones ? How good are they ? Thanks. Hard as hell to get info about "mainstream" albums.
Well, the song was written by Johnny Mercer and it is a novelty song indeed. Yet, being performed by Bing Crosby, The Sons of the Pioneers and Roy Rogers, the earliest Western versions of this song are from the 1930s. To me, this is an essential C&W song. I liked Country Music long before it became a hype. Back in the video days, I probably had at least a hundred of the old Singin‘ Cowboy movies on tape. Still, I never liked this one song much, and it has come to point that I prefer not to listen to it. To put it mildly. You‘re of course right, it‘s one of only two Western classic here. Unfortunately, it not only opens the album, my japanese SHM-SACD has some bonus tracks, which start out with a 10 minute version of I‘m an old Cowhand... Wagon Wheels I actually like. I‘m giving the album another spin right now, and once I‘m over the intro theme, it gets really good indeed. It‘s just that there‘s number of Sonny Rollins albums I like better than this one.
Btw, two albums I REALLY come to like recently are Don Pullen - Evidence of Things unseen Jerry Gonzalez & the Fort Apache Band - Moliendo Café I had never heard of either one before you recommended them on this thread. Much appreciated! The Don Pullen CD is offered at fairly high prices on both Discogs and ebay. Amazon is selling a made-to-order CD-R, so the marketplace sellers were trying to stay under that price and I bought a Mint condition 1984 original for under $9.
To add to the above points: Five out of six tunes on Way Out West can hardly be called country and western classics, and Johnny Mercer's "I'm An Old Cow Hand", a pop tune made famous by Bing Crosby, can hardly be called one either. Some like Roy and the Sons who recorded it were in their "pop music mode", as it was one of Bing's biggest hit records ever. Wagon Wheels was a pop song, introduced by Paul Robeson, and is about black American sharecroppers having to load and carry cotton in wagons. Not a country song, and no country singer that I know of ever recorded it. Trains rushin', here and there Flying machines flashin' through the air Automobiles all shiny and new Poor folks with nothing else to do But when I wanna travel To the soil I plead I climb on my wagon And see Wagon wheels, wagon wheels Keep on a turnin' wagon wheels Roll along, sing your song Carry me over the hill Go on mule, there's a steamer at the landin' Waiting for this cotton to load Go on mule, the boss is understandin' There's a pasture at the end of each road Wagon wheels, wagon wheels Keep on a turnin' wagon wheels Roll along, sing your song Wagon wheels, carry me home Wagon wheels, carry me home The album title was because Sonny was recording in California, I believe for the first time. The cover photo was a gag. Sonny selected that song "Cowhand" because he was a fan of classic Hollywood movies and especially Bing Crosby musicals. Like any boy in the late 30's, he also liked cowboy movies, thus the hat gag. It was Sonny's very first time visiting the western USA, and he enjoyed the humor of the cover shoot. Sonny has stated in many interviews that he often selected ballads and standards from movies that he saw as a kid.
I don't mean to hijack this thread but for Bitches Brew original mix, other than HD Tracks version ( looking for a physical copy). Is there any links or websites that someone can put me to? I've been looking through some threads on it but no clear answer.
I’ll have to be sure to use this next time. It didn’t occur to me to do so at the time. I find this fascinating! I wish I could’ve been alive to experience all of that. Seeing a jazz show for the music is definitely a rare thing today. It’s nice to hear how amazing a place the Vanguard was, I definitely envy you!
Carson Robison recorded it in 1936, Bing Crosby sang it in Rhythm of the Range (1936), Gene Autry did it in Back in the Saddle (1941), Roy Rogers in King of the Cowboys (1943). Of course it is a novelty song, but considering its history, it is hard to say it’s NOT a Western song. As I said before, I used to love those old Singin‘ Cowboy movies, and I‘m An Old Cow Hand it’s just something I overplayed at some point. Wagon Wheels actually is song I‘m not familiar with, so I‘m not surprised to learn that it‘s not a C&W song.
Glad you like 'em. Those are both great, great albums I think. Classics to me. I'm not crazy about buying the CDR's, but there is a Black Saint Don Pullen box on CD that's still available with CDs and full artwork I think. With that one also gets the excellent Sixth Sense. The other Pullen records from the period are good, but not as good as Sixth Sense or especially Evidence of Things Unseen.
Thanks for this. By all accounts Sonny just knows so many songs and he can pull 'em out of a hat, and he thinks about 'em not just the music but the lyrics and how they fit. I love the song selection on WOW.
In Johnny Mercer's memoirs he said that he wrote the song "I'm an Old Cowhand" to make fun of the people he saw in Texas in 1936 driving fancy cars but wearing cowboy hats. He said: "I saw all those guys down there in ten gallon hats driving cars around and it struck me as funny"...It was a mocking and very satirical lyric. I'm a cowboy who never saw a cow Never roped a steer cause I don't know how Sure ain't a fixin' to start in now Yippie yi yo kayah I'm an old cowhand and I come down from the Rio Grande And I learned to ride, ride, ride 'fore I learned to stand I'm a riding fool who is up to date I know every trail in the Lone Star State Cause I ride the range in a Ford V-8 Yippie yi yo kayah We're old cowhands from the Rio Grande And we come to town just to hear the band We know all the songs that the cowboys know 'Bout the big corral where the doggies go We learned them all on the radio Yippie yi yo kayah When he shared the song with Bing Crosby, Bing got quite a laugh and said he'd use it in his next picture. Mercer wrote more lyrics for the movie version not used on the record that were extremely sarcastic of fake cowboys. They were really strong, making the urban Texans out as fools. Such things as only knowing horses from the race track, preferring strawberry floats to the outdoors, and wanting to sing "Hi-De-Ho" (Cab Calloway's early hip-hop song) instead of anything country. Hardly a song that a real westerner would be proud of, but some recorded it because of Bing's hit record, and their record companies wanted some of that action. Most artists did not get to choose their songs for the record sessions. Sorry about tossing all of this into the mix...but I thought calling Sonny Rollins LP a set of Country Music covers was quite wrong.
Mike, Sony SRCS 9118/9 are CDs from Japan that have the original mix in excellent sound. Long out of print. The same mastering (as far as I can tell) is used for the two cd Bitches Brew in the "Complete Columbia Albums" box set. And the original mix appears on vinyl in the deluxe Bitches Brew 40th Anniversary box set.
Well, I don’t think anybody called this album a set of country music covers. All I initially said is that I‘m not overly fond of the first track, which is the reason it Way Out West is not one of my favorite Sonny Rollins albums. As to the fake cowboys: The vast majority of them were probably tourists. For collectors of vintage cowboy gear, the East used to be the preferred hunting ground. Real cowboys would wear their outfits out. It was the tourists who would nicely store their cowboy gear away upon their return home, thus preserving it for later generations. Still, back in the days, they must‘ve been a real pest and a pity to look at. And since we‘re at it: Urban Cowboy (1980) with John Travolta started one of the most embarrassing fashion trends in recent history. Many leathers are (or were) being considered ‚legitimate‘ for cowboy boots, including lizard, ostrich, elephant, eel, and anteater. Yet, even for the most tolerant boot lover, the frog skin boots that popped up in the 1980s took things a tad too far.
of my better pickups; Nina Simone BS 6028 Stereo version, This album is also known as "Jazz As Played In An Exclusive Side Street Club." However, the back cover and vinyl label read "Little Girl Blue." feels almost like a 78.
To me, country and jazz have gone together since the days of Bob Wills and Spade Cooley et al. I'm cool with it.
Another great one from the '80s featuring the great quartet of Geri Allen, Charlie Haden and Paul Motian, maybe should have been on my list of '80s recommendations: