Sonny Rollins, Kendall, Brendan, Camryn, Erin and Me...

I began to hang out with Sonny Rollins and his Sugar Hill Harlem crowd…anyway, Sonny had a big reputation among a lot of the younger musicians in Harlem. People loved Sonny Rollins up in Harlem and everywhere else. He was a legend, almost a god to a lot of the younger musicians. Some thought he was playing the saxophone on the level of Bird. I know one thing–he was close. He was an aggressive, innovative player who always had fresh musical ideas. I loved him back then as a player and he could also write his ass off…

               Miles Davis

Saxophone Colossus (1956) signed by Sonny, Tommy Flanagan, Max Roach

It was just another record date, you know? It wasn’t one of my first dates as a leader, so it didn’t have any particular significance. Of course, I had great musicians on that record, and with great musicians the music was always paramount-trying to make it the highest quality. But other than that there was no reflection at that time about that album, or even later.

Sonny Rollins

Sonny Rollins And The Modern Jazz Quartet (1953) signed by Sonny, John Lewis, Milt Jackson, Percy Heath

When Sonny recorded “Wail” and “Dance of the Infidels” with Bud, I don’t think he was more than 17 or 18. But that’s how great he was then. I mean, he caused some guys to, you know, crash. Like, Andy Kirk Jr., a good tenor player. Sonny caused him to quit. If you didn’t have whatever it takes to keep going or forging ahead:  Sonny was so great, man, that it was frightening. To all of his peers, even Bird would talk about Sonny like he was one of the cats from his era in terms of his ability.

               alto saxophonist Jackie McLean

Work Time (1955) signed by Sonny, Ray Bryant, Max Roach

One very important thing I learned from Monk was his complete dedication to music. That was his reason for being alive. Nothing else mattered except music, really.

Sonny Rollins

Thelonious Monk & Sonny Rollins (1955) signed by Sonny “Kendall from Me”

 When I played with Coltrane, I had the impression — and back then it was true — that I was much more popular than him. I remember what Kamasi Washington said about “Tenor Madness”: “Sonny, you weren’t even really playing.” I wasn’t really playing. Coltrane was playing. I was only playing halfway, because I thought that I was the guy and that Coltrane was this young whippersnapper. That was my mind-set. It was immature… I don’t want people to think that I’m saying, “Oh, wow, I could have played much better,” but that’s the story of “Tenor Madness.” My attitude on it wasn’t right.

Sonny Rollins

Tenor Madness (1956) signed by Sonny “Love To You All”

Well, he (Coleman Hawkins) was primarily my main idol when I first really got into him around 1939. But I'm happy to say that all of the people that I encountered, the older guys, they were all wonderful mentors for me. All these guys. J. J. Johnson, the trombone player. Oscar Pettiford, the bass player. Max Roach, the drummer. Of course, Thelonious Monk, piano. So all of these guys, they all showed me. They all mentored me. I really learned a lot from being around them.

Sonny Rollins

Rollins Plays For Bird (1956) signed by Sonny, Max Roach

I can hear music that elevates me, but on the other hand there’s martial music that’s made to make people go to war. So music is neutral. It has nothing to do with ethics. Music is not on the same level as trying to understand life. We’re here for 80-something years. One lifetime is not enough to get it right. I’ll be back in another body. I’m not interested in trying to get that technical about that because I don’t need to know. What I need to know is that being a person who understands that giving is better than getting is the proper way to live. Live your life now in a positive way. Help people if you can. Don’t hurt people. That works perfectly for me, man.

Sonny Rollins

Sonny Rollins Vol. 1 (1956) signed by Sonny, Donald Byrd, Max Roach

I was fortunate to play with great piano players in my time. However, I felt that I could concentrate on my own stream of thought better without a pianist. I just wanted to not be led — it's hard not to be led by a piano. ... In my playing, I always felt more free, to be able to go places my mind took me, without having a piano say, "Hey man, go from this chord. Go to the fourth there. Go to the seventh there." Which is good, I mean — it's nothing wrong with that. But I felt freer, just going there myself. And when I have a great bass player, like yourself, and a great drummer, that's all I need. I need the rhythm and the rest of it, I wanted to be free to hear whatever was there to be heard.

Sonny Rollins on his piano-less trio innovation

Sonny Rollins Vol. 2 (1957) signed by Sonny, J.J. Johnson, Horace Silver

Prestige was a label with an office on the west side of Manhattan run by a good guy called Bob Weinstock and his irascible father – someone who didn't care much about jazz, or the musicians. He could just as easily have been selling shoes. But jazz has always needed those little independent labels. They've often been run by fans like Weinstock, jazz enthusiasts with a bit of money from somewhere, who had the means to get their idols recorded. A lot of recordings that have stood the test of time wouldn't have happened without them.

Sonny Rollins on Prestige Records

A Night At The Village Vanguard (1957) signed by Sonny “To Brendan”

Theodore "Sonny" Rollins' career was almost derailed by drugs, and in 1950, he served ten months in Rikers Island for armed robbery. Sonny was released until he violated his parole with heroin possession in 1952 and he was sent to the Lexington Medical Center in Lexington, KY, the only federal medical facility at that time which dealt with drug addicts. Signing up for an experimental methadone program, Sonny was able to kick his heroin addiction.

Clifford Brown And Max Roach At Basin Street (1956) signed by Sonny, Max Roach

Fortunately, Sonny joined the Clifford Brown-Max Roach Quintet in 1955. Clifford Brown was a clean living trumpet player and composer who eschewed the drug addled lifestyle made popular by Charlie Parker. As Sonny said later, "Clifford was a profound influence on my personal life. He showed me that it was possible to live a good, clean life and still be a good jazz musician." They toured for a year and recorded Clifford Brown And Max Roach At Basin Street (1956) and Sonny Rollins Plus Four (1956). The quintet was well on its way to jazz dominance when Clifford and pianist Richie Powell died tragically in a car accident on a rain soaked anaconda of a two lane highway, or the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Max Roach +4 (1956) signed by Max

Since 1956, Sonny has embarked on a solo career, and he has released more than eighty albums as a leader with some of the best jazz artists and compositions. An awe inspiring soloist, his concerts became legendary feats of sheer athleticism as notes cascaded out of Sonny's horn in torrents. His skills were partly honed during his sabbatical (1959-1961) when he would practice on the Williamsburg Bridge, near his home on the lower East Side of Manhattan, because he didn't want to disturb his neighbor, an expectant mother. So Sonny stayed on the bridge, practicing and woodshedding for almost two years. As he explained, “I am always happy to be practicing. Period. I enjoy just playing my horn and going into the type of meditation that playing involves. It puts me mentally in a place that is always transcendent and above real life. I love playing just for myself. It’s a great experience.”

Way Out West (19657) signed by Sonny “My Good Friends In Jazz”

The first time I saw Sonny was at Blues Alley in 1985 in Washington DC, a tiny venue with maybe one hundred-fifty seats. Sonny was a commanding presence and his sound was full, rich and powerful. After the show, he signed a couple of my favorite albums, including Saxophone Colossus (1956) and Way Out West (1957) which depicted Sonny in full cowboy attire in the Mojave desert. According to the album liner notes, it was Sonny's idea to celebrate his first trip out west with an outfit which included a Stetson, holster, and horn (instead of a pistol). It is an iconic shot by noted jazz photographer William Claxton. The recording session started at 3am and finished around 8am to accommodate drummer Shelly Manne and bassist Ray Brown's rigorous recording session schedules. A trio format, it was the first time Sonny played with Ray and Shelly, and they played mostly old western songs like Johnny Mercer's "I'm An Old Cowhand" and Roy Rogers' "Wagon Wheels."  Sonny's genius was to transform loping, throwaway western pop into hard bop improvisatory tour de forces. They are remarkable performances.

Way Out West (1957) signed by Sonny, Ray Brown

Sonny was always kind when I met him and he was always happy to sign albums. I had read where he had stalked his hero Coleman Hawkins for autographs when he was young, so I believed we were kindred spirits. Sonny once said, "There was a great photographer named James J. Kriegsmann, who used to make these pictures of musicians, and he made a beautiful picture of Coleman. So I had my 8-by-10, and I knew where he lived, up on 153rd street, and one day I knew when he was coming home. He signed my autograph. I was 13 or 14. I was a real pest, as a young guy. It's sort of embarrassing to think about it now." Evidently, I don't suffer from the same pangs of conscience as Sonny so I remain rather shameless.

When he signed his Blue Note debut from 1957, Sonny inscribed it on the side, so I had Donald Byrd and Max Roach sign it the same way. I certainly was not going to quibble with Sonny! In some ways, this was a perfect metaphor for Sonny and his music, always laying out, taking us places we’ve never been.

The Sound Of Sonny (1957) signed by Sonny, Roy Haynes, Percy Heath

The last time I saw Sonny was at "A Benefit Concert For Clearwater", December 6, 2009 at The Tarrytown Music Hall. As my birthday present, Erin and I brought our three children, Kendall (12), Brendan (10) and Camryn (8) to see the "Saxophone Colossus." We were excited to expose our children to a legendary jazz artist whom we had seen many times over the years. The kids dressed up to meet Sonny: the girls wore their favorite dresses and Brendan wore his favorite Rolling Stones t shirt (his transition to Kanye, Kendrick and Chance was just beginning). It was a great performance and we enjoyed Sonny's (still) formidable chops. His band included his nephew, trombonist Clifton Anderson, and bassist Bob Cranshaw, an old friend and Sonny's rhythm of choice for the past fifty years. After the show, we visited with Sonny. He was particularly kind with my children and he signed and personalized an album to each of them. My favorite inscription reads, "Camryn, Stay lovely and nice to your parents!!" Words, respect, and truth from an unforgettable performer and philosopher!

Don’t Stop The Carnival (1978) signed by Sonny “Camryn Stay Lovely And Nice To Your Parents”

Sonny Rollins, a seminal jazz artist and a beautiful man, it's not many who can claim recording with Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Thelonious Monk, and the Rolling Stones. Yes, that's Sonny's wailing (and uncredited) sax solo on Tattoo You 's "Waiting On A Friend."

Saxophone Colossus indeed.

Sonny with Brendan, Kendall,and Camryn Tarrytown Music Hall 12.06.09

Sonny with Bob Cranshaw friends for fifty+ years Tarrytown Music Hall 12.06.09

Sonny Rollins and his band Tarrytown Music Hall 12.06.09

Choice Sonny Rollins Cuts (per BKs request)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA2XIWZxMKM

“St. Thomas” Saxophone Colossus 1956

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MkUvZUTFUc

“Tenor Madness” with John Coltrane 1956

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6BAN0zM0X4

“Alfie’s Theme” Alfie 1965

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nDCHEhabrs

“Don’t Stop The Carnival” live 1975

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlatJOsLhPA

“I’m An Old Cow Hand” Way Out West 1957

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58zINMduvt0

“I’ve Got You Under My Skin” A Night At The Village Vanguard 1957

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuZ8CYg0hKM

“Moritat” (Mack The Knife) Saxophone Colossus 1956

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hP3snBSzYU

“Without A Song” The Bridge 1962

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVjakWUFY7g

“The Way You Look Tonight” with Thelonious Monk 1954

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pse9wHphsPI

“Oleo” Trio In Stockholm 1959

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gS0IjqOt-E8

“Why Don’t I” Volume 2. 1957

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TDS-s-GQ4I

“Love Letters” live in Sweden 1959

Bonus Pick:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYSTlwf2_XM

“Waiting On A Friend” The Rolling Stones with an uncredited Sonny Rollins

Sonny Rollins wailing at Tarrytown Music Hall 12.06.09

Sonny Rollins and his nephew Clifton Anderson Tarrytown Music Hall 12.06.09

Art Farmer and Me...

I started off studying the piano, because that’s the first instrument that I ever heard. My mother used to play the piano with her father’s church choir. At that time, it was very customary to have a piano in the house, and someone played it. There were a lot of music students in our family, and it just seemed the natural thing to take piano lessons. Then after that, when we were living in Phoenix, Arizona, a man gave me a violin, and I studied that for a couple of years. Then I switched from the violin to the bass tuba. I was playing with a marching band that was part of a church organization in Phoenix. I heard some of the older guys in the band jamming around one day, and I wanted to play a horn, but the only horn available was the tuba.

               Art Farmer

The Art Farmer Septet (1954) signed by Art

Louis Armstrong was the well where you go to for the water. You know, he was the source. And if somebody could come along and say as much as Miles said, and you couldn’t hear Louis Armstrong in it, that was really a miracle to me. I’m certainly not putting down Louis Armstrong. As I said, I haven’t heard anything greater than Louis Armstrong, nothing as far as an individual instrument. The emotion that he could get out of that horn, there’s nothing around like that.

               Art Farmer on Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis

Art Farmer Quintet (1955) signed by Art

You listen to everyone, and you try to get some of their quality. I certainly listened a whole lot to saxophone players — Johnny Hodges and Charlie Parker and Ben Webster and Lester Young — for dynamics and for phrasing, and just getting around the music. The last thing a person should do is just listen to their own instrument, because that limits you so much. It’s just unnecessary to put yourself in a situation where you’re dealing with that kind of limitation. It’s like you’re just listening to half of the world…you’re just saying, 'I don’t want to know anything else.' There’s no point in that.

               Art Farmer

When Farmer Met Gryce (1955) signed by Art

The flumpet? I hate that name, but I'm stuck with it! That was made by a trumpet-maker named David Monette, who makes trumpets for a lot of very fine trumpet players, such as Wynton Marsalis and the principal players for the Boston Symphony and the Chicago Symphony. I asked him to make me a trumpet and he made it. It was very fine and I started really working on the trumpet. Then he got the idea that it really didn't sound like me, but he wanted to make a flugelhorn for me. So I told him to go ahead and do it. Then he called up one day and he said, "Well, I made it very carefully and put every part in order, made it by hand, but it sounds like hell, and I really don't like it. But I have another idea." So I told him to go ahead and make it. Then a couple of months later, he called and said, "It's ready." I went to Chicago, where I was booked, and he brought it to the gig. Right from the start, it sounded like the answer to my prayers. You could go one way or the other on it. You could approximate the warmth of the flugelhorn, or you could approximate the projection of the trumpet. If you really wanted to put a note out there, you could do it, and if you wanted to be more intimate, you could do that also.            

               Art Farmer on the origin of the 'flumpet'

2 Trumpets (1956) signed by Art, Donald Byrd, Barry Harris, Jackie McLean

Born in 1928 in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Art Farmer was raised in Phoenix, Arizona, a neglected jazz outpost in the 1940s. As he recalled, "A lot of bands didn't come through Phoenix. Phoenix was a relatively small town. Billy Eckstine never came through, Earl Hines never came through, Duke Ellington never came through, nor Count Basie. But I certainly remember the ones that did come through. When I heard Jimmie Lunceford's trumpet section, well, I knew what my life was going to be instantly." And what a wonderful life in jazz ensued!

The Jazz Soul Of Porgy & Bess (1959) signed by Art, Herbie Powell, Harry “Sweets” Edison

An acclaimed band leader, composer, innovator, and trumpeter, Art Farmer released more than sixty albums as a leader, and appeared on hundreds more as a session player, alongside jazz icons, Donald Byrd, Benny Carter, Lionel Hampton, and Sonny Rollins. But first, Art had to get out of Phoenix. Despite his mother's reservations about her twin boys leaving home at age sixteen, Art headed west to Los Angeles with his brother Addison before they graduated from high school.

On The Road (1976) signed by Art

Art remembered, "We actually went there supposedly on a vacation. We had had our little day jobs and saved our money, and we went over to Los Angeles for a couple of weeks. But the music scene was so alive on Central Avenue in Los Angeles, and we heard so many people, it just seemed senseless to go back to Arizona. So we decided to stay there and finish our high school there, and support ourselves by whatever means were possible. You could just walk up the street and go from one club to the other. Within an area of about 20 blocks there would be like five or six clubs. These clubs were forced to close by one o’clock because of wartime restrictions, but then there were some other clubs that would open up. I don’t think they were quite legal, but they got away with it some way. They would open up when the first clubs closed, and they would stay open until maybe six or seven o’clock in the morning." It was heady stuff for teenagers, and Art and brother Addison were committed to making a name for themselves in music, and they did.

To Duke With Love (1975) signed by Art, Billy Higgins, Cedar Walton

The Summer Knows (1976) signed by Art, Billy Higgins, Cedar Walton

Whether performing in bands led by Johnny Otis, Jay McShann, and Benny Carter, or participating in Central Avenue jam sessions, Art worked on his technique, with its warm, lovely and lyrical phrasing. He said, "I decided to work on sound, because it seemed like most of the guys my age were just working on speed." Art wisely straddled both swing and bebop. A flurry of frenetic notes was never his primary aim or skill, Art was adept at swing, especially on ruminative ballads. His education continued when he joined the Lionel Hampton Orchestra for a European tour, "The music wasn't easy. I was lucky to be there, and the more experienced sidemen were very helpful. That's one thing about the music business...when people see that you're serious about learning, well, then, they'll bend over backwards to give you a helping hand. That's what keeps the music alive, I think." When Art returned, he moved to New York City, and his recording career began in earnest in 1953.

Meet The Jazztet (1960) signed by Art, Benny Golson, McCoy Tyner, Curtis Fuller

Thirteen albums quickly followed until Art joined his musical soul mate, Benny Golson, and they formed The Jazztet in 1959. Their first recording, Meet The Jazztet, featured a nineteen year old wunderkind, pianist McCoy Tyner and the great trombonist Curtis Fuller. Benny Golson was the principal songwriter and "I Remember Clifford", "Blues March" and "Killer Joe" became essential Golson jazz standards. Art remarked, "The thing that really attracted me to Benny was the warmth of his ensemble writing. That was one of the things that you could hear in The Jazztet. With three horns, you could get a certain depth that you couldn't get with two horns. Nobody was writing for three horns until Benny came along and started writing for The Jazztet." A fruitful and enduring partnership, Benny and Art released twelve albums as The Jazztet with Curtis Fuller, and they recorded and toured sporadically for the next twenty-six years.

Another Git Together (1962) signed by Art, Benny Golson, Harold Mabern

From 1962 on, Art concentrated on the flugelhorn (and later, the flumpet!). Less taxing on the embouchure and easier to play, the flugelhorn afforded a warm, burnished sound with a fatter timbre. Art explained, "In certain rooms, the trumpet sounded very brassy and piercing, and it just didn't blend in the way I wanted it to do. I remembered that I had heard some other people like Clark Terry playing the flugelhorn, and I had heard a recording that Miles Davis had done playing the flugelhorn, and I felt I should give it a try." It remained a powerful weapon in Art's music arsenal.

From Vienna With Art (1970) signed by Art, Jimmy Heath, Jimmy Woode

By 1968, as social unrest abounded and rock music eclipsed jazz, Art moved to Vienna, joined the Austrian Radio Orchestra and jammed with other expatriates Dexter Gordon, Don Byas, Ben Webster and Johnny Griffin. As he wryly observed, "There were more of them over there than over here at that time." Art would remain in Vienna until the early 1980s when he became a fixture again at New York City jazz clubs, the Blue Note, Sweet Basil, and the Village Vanguard, and he kept residences in New York and Vienna until his death in 1999.

Back To The City (1986) signed by Art, Benny Golson, Curtis Fuller

Erin and I saw The Jazztet perform in the early 1980s in Washington, DC, and we saw Art many times with his quartet in jazz clubs in New York City. He was always kind and generous, if a little weary and taciturn off stage. There was a palpable sadness as Art peered at me through his doleful eyes as he looked at his albums. I couldn't help but wonder if the tragic loss of his identical twin brother (accomplished bassist and Jazztet member) Addison to a cerebral hemorrhage thirty years earlier had left a searing memory. I never asked him directly, but there seemed an unspoken, profound loss. Perhaps that's why Art excelled playing blues and ballads, he came by his wistful melancholy deeply. He signed the vinyl with nary a comment, happy to inscribe, little to say.  And I was happy sharing his time, happier still for the beauty and legacy of his music.

Real Time (1992) signed by Art, Benny Golson, Curtis Fuller

Near the end of his life, Art revealed in an interview, "You know, the trumpet is an instrument that really makes people suffer. It makes the listener suffer sometimes. It makes the player suffer almost all the time, you know, to master that thing. The trumpet is the Master, and it makes you suffer to get to the point where you can do anything with it at all."

Art's humility was unneeded and unfounded. In his hands, the trumpet was mastered. No one ever suffered.

Something To Live For (1987) signed by Art

Talk To Me (1974) signed by Art

Choice Art Farmer cuts (per BK's request)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKI13urHWvA

"I Remember Clifford"  Meet The Jazztet  1960

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SC0T-pap098

"In A Sentimental Mood"    Live with Ray Brown

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhmX-i9-hjE

"Alfie"  The Summer Knows  1976  Art Farmer

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cepSLVmbuO4

"Killer Joe"   Meet The Jazztet  (1960)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyIQXzcwVmw

"Song For My Father"  Art swings Horace Silver!  1967

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQLtNSPC7P0

"Satin Doll"  Art rocks the Flumpet!!  Live with Gerry Mulligan, Lee Konitz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bxoJ_Y9pOI

"Sometime Ago"  Live with Jim Hall  1964

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pwj0Uffv93Y

"The Windmills Of Your Mind"  Art swings Michel Legrand with strings   1984

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRYcY4dj8Lg

“Moanin' "  Brass Shout   1960

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulidPstlB5w

"The Shadow Of Your Smile"  The Time And The Place   1967

The Time And Place (1967) signed by Art

Michel Legrand and Me…

Something that I found a long time ago, when you’re not in danger, your work is not very interesting, because I can search for months if I have time, slowly, nicely, from 9am to 8pm, trying and writing. But..when I have to do Summer of 42 movie, it was Friday afternoon in Los Angeles. The producer and the director took me to the screening. I said, “I love it, When do you need it?' He said, “Wednesday.” I said, 'Fine, Wednesday.' I recorded it and I was finished by Sunday night. Because when you have no time to do something, a very short time, you come up with something much more extraordinary than if you have searched for two years. That’s what I think.

               Michel Legrand

Bonjour Paris (1957) signed by Michel

No, I want to learn. I don’t want to teach. I have been assaulted by so many saying, “Would you teach me?” No never, because I’m no good at it. I know I’m terrible at it because Nadia Boulanger got sick one night when I was a student, she said, “Can you do the class tomorrow morning?” I said, 'Sure,' and the next morning I am ridiculous. I do a monologue for three hours. I cannot understand that what I know they don’t. If you start like that how can you be a teacher? It’s ridiculous. So I’m terrible and it’s boring and I have no patience. But to learn, yes, my God, my God, that’s my nourishment.

               Michel Legrand

C’est Magnifique (1958) with the incomparable beauty of Catherine Deneuve

I hate the idea of goals, results, limits. I’m an artist, not a politician. I’m motivated by life and by the richness and diversity of all kinds of music. Without forgetting that what’s really important is to remain a beginner. One of the most stimulating periods of your life is the time when you’re discovering things, when you’re learning. When you become too skillful, your spontaneity disappears, you’re no longer afraid of anything. I hope I never become someone whom people coolly describe as 'very professional.' Throughout my life, I’ve always wanted to vary my musical pleasures, and to remain an eternal beginner, without ever rationalizing things in terms of a 'career.' Stravinsky once said: “We insomniacs are always trying to find a cool spot on the pillow.” I’ve been searching endlessly for that spot for years!

               Michel Legrand

Legrand In Rio (1958) signed by Michel

The first one is Ray Charles. When I gave a tiny melody to Ray, when he starts to sing, I’m destroyed, I’m on the floor because of what he does with it. I know how good this is, what I wrote, but when he sings it, it’s a million times better and he’s the only one. If anyone else tries to sing it, even the great ones, it’s nothing. The emotion was so high because he understood so deeply every little crotchet. For me, he’s not a singer; he’s a huge inventor. You give him a string quartet and when he sings, it’s a symphony orchestra. Streisand, she sings so well and she’s so musical instinctively. When she sings, it’s better than what I wrote too. But Ray was the highest one of them, because every note had a life with him.

               Michel Legrand on Ray Charles, his favorite interpreter of his music

I put a great deal of faith in melody. Nadia Boulanger always said: "Put whatever you want above and below the melody but, whatever happens, it’s the melody that counts." For example, modern music tends to bore me now. It does, of course, contain innovative rhythmic and contrapuntal devices but, without melody, its lifeblood, it is lifeless and this helps to dehumanize it. For my part, melody is a mistress to whom I’ll always be faithful.

                Michel Legrand

Music From The Films (1958)

An Oscar is a gold star, a piece of flattery, the sweet taste of success but, deep down, it doesn’t make you any better or worse as a composer. Your strengths or weaknesses remain unchanged. When I was a boy, I imagined that I had a pot of grease with special powers: If I dipped my fingers in it, I would have the technique of a Horowitz. Unfortunately, Oscar statuettes aren’t covered in grease! In any case, that’s not what counts: I wrote all that music for and because of the cinema. Without films, none of it would exist.

               Michel Legrand

The Young Girls Of Rochefort (1968)

I saw Michel Legrand perform once at Birdland, a jazz club in New York City in March, 2007. The occasion was a celebration of Monsieur Legrand's seventy-fifth birthday, a special event with the redoubtable Ron Carter accompanying on bass and the equally talented Lewis Nash on drums. It was a rare club appearance for the legendary composer/conductor and three-time Academy Award winner (with thirteen nominations!). A large, black Bosendorfer concert grand piano sat menacingly in the center of the Birdland stage, installed especially for Monsieur Legrand's performance. It looked as impregnable as a fortress, ready to thwart anyone who might dare to attack it.

The club buzzed with anticipation, as Legrand had not toured in decades and most of his appearances were in elegant concert halls, L'Olympia or Salle Pleyel in Paris, or Carnegie Hall in New York City. A cultured man of letters, multiple Grammy and Oscar winner, a future Legion d'Honneur award designate, Monsieur Legrand had left the clubs and saloons decades earlier. It was going to be a memorable night...

Michel Legrand was born in a Parisian suburb and showed a proclivity for music at an early age. His father, composer Raymond Legrand, abandoned his wife and two young children shortly after Michel was born. That left Michel with a lonely and desolate childhood. By his own admission, Michel was moody and he found  salvation in a battered, upright piano in the apartment. By four years of age, he was showing prodigious talent and by the time he was ten, Michel enrolled in the Paris Conservatoire, where he studied classical music under the renowned and fearsome teacher, Nadia Boulanger. 

Madame Boulanger taught piano and composition for seven decades, primarily at the Conservatoire and in her Paris apartment, and her students included future classical composers Aaron Copland, Elliott Carter, Virgil Thomson, and Philip Glass, to name a few. Occasionally, a jazz artist might sneak in, like Quincy Jones, but Nadia Boulanger was a devoted classicist at heart. Her influence was enormous and she was close to Igor Stravinsky, a composer whom she deeply admired and championed during their friendship which lasted a span of some sixty-five years. No less a towering figure in popular music than George Gershwin visited with Nadia Boulanger in 1927 requesting private lessons. After conversing for thirty minutes, Madame Boulanger flatly declined Gershwin, "I can teach you nothing." Clearly, Nadia Boulanger was not someone to be trifled with.

Michel Legrand spent seven years studying with Boulanger  at the Conservatoire and mastering skills in counterpoint, fugue, piano and solfege - a method to teach pitch and sight singing. Michel's world was irretrievably upended one night in 1947 when he saw Dizzy Gillespie perform a jazz recital. Michel was blown away by what he saw and he began to supplement his classical education with jazz improvisations. Blame it all on Dizzy! For her part, Nadia Boulanger was unimpressed, "Nadia Boulanger, she hated it. She fought with me and said, 'No no no, this stupid, ridiculous music with three chords, don’t talk to me about it. No, no, you are a classical musician, Michel.' She was doing some dinner at her home and she liked me very much as her student. She invited for dinner three people like Paul Valéry, Jean Cocteau – it was extraordinary - so I was in the dark listening. At the end of the dinner, she’d say, 'One of my students is going to play something for you.' So every time, I played jazz, because in front of her guests, she couldn’t throw me out."

I Love Paris (1954) 8 million sold, paid $200, nice trade!

When he graduated, the seventeen year old Legrand accompanied French singers like Henri Salvador and Juliette Greco as he continued broadening his musical experiences. In 1954, when he was barely twenty-two, Michel recorded I Love Paris, an instrumental album of classic French chansons. A resounding success, I Love Paris sold eight million copies. For his efforts, Michel received a paltry two-hundred dollar payment upfront.  Years later, Michel was nonplussed, "I didn’t care. It was the first recognition of my orchestrating. It was the first time I was seen in America. I have to tell you, for this television show in New York on NBC, the seven minutes I did, I was paid $7,000. I’ve never seen such a fortune before in my life. I was the king of New York. Every night I went to the best restaurants, I invited all my friends. I went to the clubs. At the time on Broadway, there was the first Birdland. It was extraordinary, and I didn’t want to go back to France. I said to my friends, 'I’m staying here.' I almost did. I Love Paris was a very good launch for me. I was very pleased with it."

Legrand Jazz (1959) signed by Michel “Americalement”

As expected, Columbia Records was equally pleased, and more albums followed as Michel worked with jazz legends, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans and Ben Webster in 1958 on Legrand Jazz. Michel recalled, "I remember the recording. Everyone in New York said Miles at that time in the Fifties was the king of the scene. All the jazz guys with whom I worked said to me, “If Miles likes you, you’ll work in New York. If Miles doesn’t like you, you’d better go home now.” That’s exactly what they told me. They said, “When Miles goes to a session, he arrives fifteen minutes late on purpose. He opens the door of the studio and he stays at the door for five minutes to listen to it. If he likes it, he goes in and undoes his trumpet case, and he starts to play. If he doesn’t like it, he goes out and you’ll never hear from him.” So I said, 'Jesus Christ.' It’s exactly what he did, you know. At that time, Columbia recorded in a church on 30th Street, extraordinary sound. So I was rehearsing with the orchestra and after fifteen minutes the door opened, and Miles arrived with his trumpet case and he stays at the door a few minutes. Then he closes the door, he goes in, he sits down and he starts to play. The first take we did together, he comes to me and he says, “Michel, you like the way I played it?” I said, 'Miles, it’s not for me to tell you how to play.' He said, “Absolutely you have to tell me how you want me to play your music." Though only twenty-six years old at the time, Michel Legrand's stature and reputation was growing as quickly as his eclecticism.

The Windmills Of Your Mind (1969) Nobody was ever cooler than Steve McQueen!

Michel also brought his singular talents to film, and his impressive filmography includes early work with French auteurs, Jean Luc Godard (seven films) and Jacques Demy (ten films). These film makers were part of La Nouvelle Vague, the French New Wave which unleashed the acting talents of Jean-Paul Belmondo, Catherine Denueve, Anna Karina, Jean Seberg and so many others. Along with Francois Truffault, Godard was probably the most influential. The hallmark and style of these directors was improvised dialog, portable equipment which created a faux documentary perspective, quick camera shots with sharp angles, and dramatic cutaways that left a jarring experience for the viewer. Partly, this was their vision, but it was also defined by necessity and economics. It was simple, the more film that was shot, the costlier the film became. In a way, our collective attention deficit disorder begins here.

In all, Michel scored over two-hundred films in his lengthy and storied career, and worked with everyone from Robert Altman to Orson Welles, Clint Eastwood to Barbra Streisand, an amazing oeuvre. He won his first Academy Award for Best Original  Song in 1968, "The Windmills Of Your Mind" from The Thomas Crown Affair.  He also won for Best Original Dramatic Score in 1971 from Summer Of '42 , and Best Original Song Score in 1983 for Yentl. Equally worthy of Oscar consideration, though criminally overlooked, was Michel's work on Never Say Never Again, Sean Connery's swan song as James Bond in 1983, the only real and true Bond. There are some movies (and songs) that Oscar never gets right!

The Happy Ending(1969) My kind of anniversary celebration!

For me, the first exposure to the music of Michel Legrand was 1971's Brian's Song, a made for television film that featured Billy Dee Williams as Chicago Bears running back Gale Sayers and James Caan as his teammate Brian Piccolo. It tells a heart wrenching tale of two teammates from different backgrounds who had love and respect for each other in a racially charged environment. Remarkably, Piccolo and Sayers became the first interracial roommates in the history of the NFL in 1969. Unfortunately, Brian Piccolo succumbed to cancer one year later when he was twenty-six years old. As Gale Sayers accepted the George S. Halas Most Courageous Player Award for his comeback from injuries in 1969, he deferred to his teammate, "He has the heart of a giant and that rare form of courage that allows him to kid himself and his opponent -- cancer. He has the mental attitude that makes me proud to have a friend who spells out the word 'courage' 24 hours a day of his life. . . . I love Brian Piccolo, and I'd like all of you to love him, too. Tonight, when you hit your knees, please ask God to love him." When Billy Dee Williams delivers these very same lines in the movie, it is his most shining moment ever as an actor, even eclipsing his work as a Colt 45 Malt Liquor pitchman! I was babbling like a little boy when I heard those lines, all right I was young then, but still, it remains a powerful and poignant emotional touch stone. And Michel Legrand composed a lovely, haunting melody which conveyed the sadness and sorrow without being overly mawkish or maudlin.

Brian’s Song (1972)

So, there was a lot to be excited about when I saw Michel Legrand perform at Birdland thirty-six years later, we shared a lot of history and tears, whether he knew it or not. The show was a bit late starting and just then, Michel emerged from backstage and sauntered toward the bar. He was tall, elegantly dressed in black tie and he was greeted warmly by friends. I hovered nearby with some vinyl, just in case. I had practiced my lines, over and over. My eight years of grammar and high school French would finally pay untold rewards. A window opened in their conversation, I jumped in, "Bon soir, Monsieur Legrand. Vous etes tres gentille. Monsieur, s'il vous plait, pourriez-vous signer mon vinyl?" My lines were impeccably delivered with perfect elocution. Monsieur Legrand greeted me cheerfully, as though I were a long lost friend from the 6th Arrondissement.  He grabbed my arm, then he unleashed a fusillade of French in a burst that overwhelmed me. I had no idea what he was saying, I felt all the blood drain from my face, I muttered quietly, "Mais non, je parle un peu de francais, un petit peu." "But no, I speak a little French, very little." Indeed, my fraudulence had been unmasked. With unfailing bonhomie, Michel inscribed the vinyl and then left to perform on stage with Messrs. Carter and Nash.

Michel Legrand And Friends (1975)

Thankfully, the show lived up to expectations as Michel Legrand is a virtuoso pianist. The imposing black Bosendorfer sounded warm and inviting in his skilled hands. He played songs from his immense discography, "You Must Believe In Spring", "The Summer Knows", and "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" and he sang two songs in a fey voice that was hushed and moving: "What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?" and "The Windmills Of Your Mind" en francais. I did not join in. The highlight for me was an instrumental "Brian's Song", a bit jaunty perhaps, but not a funereal dirge. No tears this time, just warm remembrances and deep love for Gale Sayers and Brian Piccolo.

Michel Legrand was asked recently if he reflected on his achievements, "No. I don’t want to have anything in the past. I want to be a man without any past. For two basic reasons. First, I don’t want to be tempted to listen to one of my old records which was a success and try to do it again. I don’t want to fall into that trap. Also, I don’t want to listen to an old record or an old film and say, “Jesus God, how could I write such shit?” I don’t want to be tempted or to suffer."

Michel Legrand, composer, conductor, and bon vivant. His music does not suffer anyone.

After The Rain (1983)

Choice Michel Legrand Cuts (per BK's request)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2h8XLTgi8Ns

"Brian's Song"  live with orchestra

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_X4AYu5m2ko

"I Will Wait For You"  Live 2001  with Phil Woods on alto saxophone

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzNJ-HBgRSw

"Watch What Happens"  Live with Oscar Peterson  1984

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8NrINKHcXI

"How Do You Keep The Music Playing"  Sinatra sings, Quincy Jones conducts  1984

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mvZitPwHyM

"The Summer Knows"  Sinatra sings Legrand  1974

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiX0Jx5ghIs

"You Must Believe In Spring"   Live At Jimmy's  1975

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_8qxVqLa_w

"After The Rain"  After The Rain  1983

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuywQUf8TEY

"Brian's Song"  Live At Jimmy's  1975

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5pJutZab3w

"Brian's Song"  single release 1972

Bonus Tracks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJyGVmEbYiY

"Brian's Song"  Hank Crawford blows alto sax  1972

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=im-3NCC-UgE

"What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life"  Bill Evans plays Legrand  1972

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i31PrPbRtB4

"The Windmills Of Your Mind"  Jessye Norman sings Legrand

Herb Alpert and Me…

We had to borrow money to start A&M, and borrow money just to release a single. That was the only intention we had at the time; a lot of record companies then were starting, operating out of trunks of cars. Fortunately, 'The Lonely Bull' single became a big hit. The record distributors said we should take the money and run, which piqued our interest, so we did The Loney Bull album. The Tijuana Brass was the label's savior, because the records we sold let A&M experiment. We started with the two of us, Jerry (Moss) and me, and ended up with 500 employees.

               Herb Alpert

Whipped Cream & Other Delights (1965) signed by Herb

I used to go to bullfights in Tijuana for about three years during the spring, and I liked the sound of this little band that was used to announce the different fights. It wasn’t a Mariachi band, it was a brass band, and I was trying to get the feeling of those afternoons that I spent there with ‘The Lonely Bull.’ Then, Jerry (Moss), my partner, came up with the band name, Tijuana Brass. We later did a TV special, and part of it was filmed in that bullring in Tijuana.

               Herb Alpert

The Lonely Bull (1962) signed by Herb

Born in 1935 in Los Angeles, Herb Alpert became an unlikely champion of Latin music. Herb attended the University of Southern California and performed as a member of the USC Trojan Marching Band for two years. Then, he joined Keen Records in 1957 as a staff songwriter and co-wrote the hit single "Wonderful World" with producer Lou Adler and Sam Cooke. Herb learned a lot from his brief time with Sam Cooke. As Herb later related, "Sam used to come in with his loose-leaf notebook, and he'd say, 'Herbie, what do you think of these lyrics?' I'd think to myself, 'Man, this is really corny. I don't know what he's trying to communicate here. I'd say, 'What's the melody like?' He'd pick up his guitar, and this thing that had this so-so lyric attached to it became magical."

In 1962, Herb started A&M records with Jerry Moss when they released The Lonely Bull. The single was a hit, went to Number 6 in the Top 40 and put their fledgling record label on the map. The Lonely Bull was recorded in Herb's garage and Herb multi-tracked the trumpet parts to create the signature Tijuana Brass wall of sound. To accommodate the swelling interest of fans who wanted to see the Tijuana Brass perform live, Herb put a band together. The band was not authentic Latin lotharios as depicted on the album covers with toreador jackets. Rather, Herb described them as "four lasagnas, two bagels and an American cheese."

What Now My Love (1966) signed by Herb

In their storied career, Herb Alpert and The Tijuana Brass sold in excess of seventy million records, won six Grammys and had fourteen platinum records. They were a commercial juggernaut and in 1966, they had three albums in the Top 10 selling thirteen million copies, easily outstripping The Beatles in their prime!  My first exposure to Herb Alpert happened at an early age. I was surrounded by sounds. My grandmother played piano, my mother played piano, and my dad played saxophone (although I never heard him play). There was always music, even as it emanated from a sturdy, faux mahogany Magnavox console which doubled as a sideboard during holiday meals, or as a book shelf and cabinet long after the electronics failed. It was as much a part of the fabric of 1960s and 1970s hi-fi entertainment as anything.

I remember hearing the tight brass arrangements of The Tijuana Brass through the Magnavox and felt something stirring. Mostly, I remember staring at the Whipped Cream & Other Delights album cover. I was instantly smitten by the beautiful, buxom vixen frolicking in a mound of whipped cream. She seemed to be beckoning me to join her. It was heady stuff. 

Whipped Cream & Other Delights (1965) signed by Herb

The brunette beauty was Dolores Erickson, a Vogue fashion model and one time beauty pageant winner (yes, she was Miss Longshoreman and Miss Maritime!), and she appeared on album covers for Cy Coleman, Nat King Cole and The Sandpipers but none as risqué or as sexually charged. She showed up for the Whipped Cream photo shoot wearing a bikini, undid her straps, and photographer Peter Whorf strategically applied shaving cream, as whipped cream was deemed too fragile to withstand the harsh photographic klieg lights. As Dolores recounted, "On my head was whipped cream. And of course it was whipped cream on my fingers, too. Shaving cream probably doesn’t taste very good."  Whipped Cream & Other Delights became Herb Alpert's best selling album, selling over six million records, and it was in the Top 10 for sixty one weeks and the Top 40 for nearly three years. Clearly, it wasn't all about the music. At least not for me...

Casino Royale (1967) signed by Herb

Herb and Jerry Moss ran a very successful record label and signed notable and commercial artists in the ensuing years like The Carpenters, Waylon Jennings, Quincy Jones, Wes Montgomery and The Police. Herb and Jerry eventually sold A&M Records to Polygram in 1987 for over $500 million and Herb has become a noted philanthropist. Herb continues to tour and record with his wife Lani Hall, the former lead singer of Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66, a band which Herb signed to A&M back in the day. 

I saw Herb and Lani perform in 2009 at the Ridgefield Playhouse in Connecticut. They were touring in support of Anything Goes, their first album recorded together. They performed a bunch of jazz standards - "It's Only A Paper Moon", "Let's Face The Music And Dance", and "That Old Black Magic" - with a crack session band. As a tease, Herb deftly tossed in a few notes of "Whipped Cream" and the crowd roared. It brought back many memories of the original album and The Dating Game theme, another stalwart in the 20th Century pop music lexicon.

Tan, relaxed and worth hundreds of millions, Herb was laid back and easy going when I met him. He laughed when he signed Whipped Cream for probably the ten millionth time. I told him that my adolescence was never quite the same after viewing this cover. I told him that I never found Dolores, but I did find my blue eyed, brunette beauty Erin, and that has made all the difference in my life.

Thanks again Herb for the music, guidance and direction. And especially, Whipped Cream & Other Delights.

…Sounds Like… (1967) signed by Herb

Choice Herb Alpert Cuts (per BKs request)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8r__vNf80o&list=PLuhAEE12s8eOtAHcfdasqvLex85ig4-Kq&index=6

“Whipped Cream” Whipped Cream and Other Delights 1965

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8ByJ1C0iR4

“This Guy’s In Love With You” 1968 video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYJtU6WV_J4

“The Lonely Bull” The Lonely Bull 1962

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Z0pP8FqYvk

“Spanish Flea” 1966 video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJjlCJLhBF4

“Casino Royale” …Sounds Like… 1967

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYxOQh5eCvU

“Tijuana Taxi” Hollywood Palace 1966

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9q2mbvlsRYU&list=PLuhAEE12s8eOtAHcfdasqvLex85ig4-Kq

“A Taste Of Honey” Whipped Cream and Other Delights 1965

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vltC-O7PDYQ

“Rise” Rise 1979

Jerry Butler, Erin and Me…

The first place you can go and perform is in a church and someone’s gonna say 'Amen' whether you’re good or bad.

                Jerry Butler

Soul Artistry (1968) signed by Jerry, brother Billy Butler

While performing one night in Philadelphia, the sound system went down, and from my days in church, we just kept on singing. So we sang the song a capella. And when we finished it, the people jumped up outta their seats and hooped and hollered and Georgie (Woods) ran on stage and said, 'That was the coolest thing I ever saw. So cool, we're gonna call you the Ice Man."

               Jerry Butler on the origin of his nickname bestowed by Philly DJ Georgie Woods

Moon River (1962) signed by Jerry

We were always political. When we started traveling, especially in the South, we were caught up in the fact that we were celebrities and we had money, but we were denied entrance to places because of the color of our skin. Then came the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War and the women's liberation movement. All this came along while we were making music. So naturally a lot of the people who came out of that music became political.

               Jerry Butler

Ice On Ice (1969) signed by Jerry

We both loved Jerry Butler and have listened to him endlessly out on the road while on tour. The Iceman Cometh is a classic LP! Love that so much. 'Baby, don't you understand...what you're doing to the man?' How could we not at least try to cover that?

               Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys on covering "Never Gonna Give You Up" in 2010

More Of The Best (1966) signed by Jerry

Born in Mississippi, Jerry "The Iceman" Butler grew up poor in Chicago, a resident of the infamous Cabrini Green housing project. Jerry wrote and sang his first hit "For Your Precious Love" in 1958 as the eighteen year old lead singer of The Impressions, a band Jerry formed with his childhood friend, Curtis Mayfield. Blessed with a deep, mellifluous baritone, there weren’t many eighteen year olds who sounded like Jerry. Ever.

 Jerry is also a brilliant songwriter and wrote many of his hits -"Hey, Western Union Man", "Only The Strong Survive', "Never Give You Up", and "Moody Woman" - with Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, a terrific songwriting team. And Jerry co-wrote "I've Been Loving You Too Long" with Otis Redding in 1965, one of Otis' most moving and powerful songs.

The Soul Goes On (1968) signed by Jerry and Billy Butler

 For nearly thirty years, Jerry performed a Valentine's Day concert at Blues Alley in Washington DC, a small and intimate club. A gifted singer and storyteller with great breadth and depth, Jerry can sing Willie Nelson's "Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground" or Jimmy Cliff's "Sitting In Limbo", and almost eclipse the original artists, while crushing his own compositions. He is soul incarnate.

 Jerry also covered Randy Newman's "I Don't Want To Hear It Anymore". Randy Newman is a Los Angeles born, New Orleans-influenced master songwriter, that is, until he wrote, to me, the most annoying, cloying top 10 hit ever in "Short People", and all the other Disney soundtrack tripe that followed. Newman's early work remains transcendent: "I Guess It's Going To Rain Today", "Sail Away", "Louisiana 1917", "You Can Leave Your Hat On", "Guilty" and "Mama Told Me Not To Come" are classics that Nina Simone, Aaron Neville, Etta James, Ray Charles and many others have performed.

You & Me (1970) signed by Jerry

 One memorable Valentine's Day, Erin and I went to see Jerry at Blues Alley with some friends. Erin excused herself to go to the bathroom before the show. Only Erin didn't go to the bathroom, she went to see "The Iceman." She couldn't get into his dressing room, a rare miscue, so she slipped a piece of paper underneath his dressing room door with one of my favorite songs as a request.

Only The Strong Survive (1984) signed by Jerry

 Erin returned to our table as Jerry came on stage to thunderous applause. He grabbed the microphone. "Thank you very much. Before I start the show, I want to acknowledge how great my fans are. Thank you. I get a lot of requests but this is unusual. I just got a piece of paper which says: I don't want to hear it anymore." Jerry paused and waved the piece of paper in his hand. The crowd laughs nervously, then got the joke. Jerry continued, "Actually, this is a great song. My band doesn't know it, but I will sing the first verse for you." Jerry then sang a cappella:

"In my neighborhood, we don’t live so good
The rooms are small, and the buildings made of wood 
I hear the neighbors talking 'bout you and me 
I guess I heard it all, ‘cause the talk is loud and the walls are much too thin.  I don’t want to hear it anymore.”

 The crowd goes nuts. There is no one cooler.

Jerry Butler is the Iceman and he cometh.

 Happy Valentine's Day!

Ice ‘N Hot (1983) signed by Jerry

Jerry Butler Choice Cuts (per BK's request) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZhcEf-VBdY

"I Don't Want To Hear It Anymore"  Jerry sings Randy  1964

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrZ7NfwNBEk

"For Your Precious Love"  The Impressions with Jerry and Curtis Mayfield  1958

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EebwgNfE-c8

"Moon River"  Jerry sings Mancini!  1961

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZOnEX6lTKM

"Hey Western Union Man"  Jerry  1968

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HashXpCyNWk

"Ain't Understanding Mellow"  with Brenda Lee Eager  1971

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcDJC7hj-pI

"Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground"  Jerry sings Willie!  1992

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO28vIIv17A

"Mr. Dream Merchant"  Jerry  1967

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7RDmsRjonE

"Only The Strong Survive"  Jerry 1968

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjczGwA7AZ4

"He Will Break Your Heart"  Jerry 1960

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0GLx3QZ_UM

"Moody Woman"  Jerry  1969

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K59n5NmF6aE

"I've Been Loving You Too Long" Jerry sings Otis and Jerry!  1968

 Bonus Cut:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skAnv1BJGxY

"I've Been Loving You Too Long"  Otis sings Jerry and Otis!  1965

Only The Strong Survive (1984) signed by Jerry

Phyllis Hyman, DJC4 and Me…

I often think of my great friend Danny Callahan, especially around his birthday and the holidays. He lived greedily and lustily as if each day was going to be his last. Until it was. I met Danny in Washington, DC in 1982 when his brother, Carey, brought me to his 35th Street apartment in Georgetown. Danny was not home so Carey found Danny's key under the mat and let us in. Security was never an obsession with Danny. Carey said, "Make yourself at home and have a drink." I did.

I walked over to a beautiful antique Welsh dresser with a gorgeous marble top and a fully stocked bar, Well fortified with glass in hand, I surveyed the apartment. Some tasteful furnishings graced his living room, reflecting his mother's proper English upbringing, marred (or enhanced!) by inversion boots which hung menacingly in a door way. I felt like I was in an interior from American Gigolo and Richard Gere was about to enter. The stereo was along a wall with a nice stack of vinyl. Carey suggested I pick something out, so I started digging. Then, Carey excused himself to run an errand and he left me alone in the apartment.

There was an eclectic mix of records and a lot of disco and dance music, artists like Sylvester, Donna Summer, and The Weather Girls. Not feeling that vibe, I found some jazz. I selected Miles Davis' Kind Of Blue, placed it on the turntable, and the glorious sounds of Miles, John Coltrane and Bill Evans filled the room. Halfway through "So What", the door opened abruptly and Danny exploded into the room. "Who the f*ck are you? And what are you doing in my apartment?" Startled, I stammered, ‘I'm dating Erin, Carey brought me here. Carey said he'd be right back.’ "So you're Lance Romance, I've heard a lot about you. Well Lance, you have good taste in music." Unclear who Lance was, I stuck out my hand, and his paw engulfed mine. I guess I was Lance. We shared a drink and this was the beginning of our beautiful friendship. A friendship that would last nearly thirty years.

Daniel Joseph Callahan IV

Danny was an unstoppable force of nature. Fiercely loyal and protective of his friends, he was a hustler's hustler, a salesman extraordinaire, an expert carpenter/plumber/electrician, devoted to his wife and children, and a brilliant storyteller in the great Irish tradition. He had so many stories...

When Danny graduated from high school, which was interrupted when he got dismissed from the Delbarton School in Morristown, New Jersey, he attended the University of Utah, a surprising choice given the Mormon influence and a reputation as a "dry" state. Why? I asked. He replied, "The skiing. It was fabulous." Not surprisingly, Danny's university life was not  a solemn oath of chastity and contrition.

He was on campus just a short while when he secured a most valuable employment: a Miller Beer truck driver. In short order, Danny turned a moribund route into the most lucrative in the Utah Miller Beer Company by the sheer dint of his fearless and outsized personality. Soon, he moved off campus and into an apartment with a monstrous stereo subsidized by his Miller Beer earnings. Danny slept on a pool table (he felt it was better support for his lumbar) and he developed his skills as a fearsome 9 ball champion. And there were many, many parties. The late night revelry continued until the Miller Beer truck route was rescinded. Evidently, after a year or so, there were inventory issues. Indeed, some supplies may have fallen off the back of the truck. No matter, Danny was ready to move on and so he did.

Danny returned to Washington, DC and joined an investment bank, Drexel Burnham Lambert, just as Michael Milken was beginning his junk bond alchemy which would revolutionize corporate bond financings and merger arbitrage. Rather than sell Mrs. Jones $25,000 in municipal bonds with 1 point ($250 commission), Danny was selling commercial banks and trust departments $25 million MCI Communication or Turner Broadcasting high yield bonds with 4 points ($100,000 commission). Danny did so well that he was the only retail broker in the Drexel network to be invited by Milken to attend the infamous Predator's Ball in Beverly Hills. All the 1980s legendary financiers were there: Carl Icahn, Nelson Peltz, Ron Perelman, T. Boone Pickens.....and Danny Callahan. 

Danny's clients loved him so much that they hired him to run their businesses. First, he moved to Chicago to run Moloney Coach, an old school custom limousine/car builder. Danny ended up at a car show in Las Vegas, partying all night with Super Bowl Champ and Chicago Bear Dan Hampton and a newcomer who was working the car show for the first time, Pamela Anderson. Her first Playboy cover had yet to  appear, and Danny said they had a great time. Pam was really kind and sweet, just a small town girl from Canada. And not genetically modified or surgically enhanced. Yet.

Callahan’s Famous - best barbecue chicken ever, served at Macomb Street Beach Club

Callahan’s Famous: made by a master

Then Danny put some money in a venture capital deal, Tiregator, a tire recycling business headquartered in Mexia, Texas, a dusty, hardscrabble town of 7,000 hardy inhabitants about 90 miles south of Dallas. Danny slept in a cinder block factory during the week, as loyalty and commitment were hallmarks of his life. Unfortunately, the failure of a highway bill to include recycled tires doomed his company but Danny remained undeterred. There were other dreams and deals to pursue. At the very least, Danny found an old wooden, lead fortified Mexican jail door with bullet holes and visible claw marks which weighed a ton. A real ton, 2,000 pounds and Danny drove it back to DC to find a place for it.

He found the perfect place when he and his wife Karen bought a Kensington Maryland house. I visited the house just as they closed on the property. The land was remarkable but the house was less than inspiring. In an instant, Danny started sketching his vision on a napkin. "We're gonna knock this wall down, blow this side out, nuke those trees and build a wraparound deck 12 feet off the ground." My head was spinning, these were the rants of a madman, or so I (wrongly) thought...

The house became a showcase of their impeccable taste, and the Mexican jail door found a place of prominence in Danny's custom wine cellar. He wanted it to be the entry door, but it was too heavy to open and hanging it would take some advanced engineering. He fastened it against the back wall, nestled among the first growth burgundies and bordeaux, with nary a California cabernet to be found. He wanted stone walls for his new property but he didn't like the price he was quoted. So he went to a library, read a book and built beautiful stone walls by himself. There was nothing insurmountable for Danny.

Katie, Danny, Karen and DJ at the beach!

He was also an expert diver, which certainly saved his foot and his life in September 2009. As he was packing up some personal effects from his family home in the Florida Keys which they had recently sold, he went for a farewell swim and dove off the dock into the intra-coastal. Just then, a bull shark chomped on his right foot. Danny knew that it would be foolhardy to fight the shark, the jagged, uneven teeth would surely shred his foot if he struggled. So he let the shark pull him under. Then he kicked it under the snout with all the force he could possibly muster. The shark released his foot, Danny broke free and swam toward the closest ladder. Unfortunately, the ladder was covered in sharp, jagged barnacles which caused additional wounds. Danny told me that he wanted to swim to a newly installed (barnacle free) ladder but it was too far, and he didn't think he could out swim the angry bull shark. Danny came out of the water, writhing in pain. He and a friend duct taped the wounds and then drove frantically to Marathon Hospital. They had called ahead and found out that a plastic surgeon was waiting in the ER to treat him. 130 stitches later, Danny was up and about, extolling the wonders and virtues of duct tape. "You can do anything with duct tape" became his mantra.

When Danny was leaving the hospital, a crusty, old ER nurse commented how lucky he was. "I've seen people show up here with half their leg in a bag, and they leave with a stump. You're a very lucky man." Actually, we were the lucky ones. Danny Callahan was so much fun to be around, and his light shone so bright for so long that the world seems ever dark and dim since his untimely passing in June 2010.

 I miss him every single day.

The Phyllis Hyman story below and so many others wouldn't have happened without him.

Oh, I'm a ballad queen for sure... I don't dig dance stuff very much but I seem to hit the charts with it. Go figure...

Phyllis Hyman

Phyllis Hyman (1977) signed by Phyllis

Be nice to take that thing home and put it on my wall - but you know it ain't even real. Just a record they spray-painted gold. But that's OK. I'll take this and be more than thrilled! I've been in the business long enough to collect a whole bunch of them suckers!

Phyllis Hyman

Phyllis Hyman was a beautiful and statuesque soul singer. Born in Philadelphia in 1949, she was raised in Pittsburgh and moved to New York City in the mid 1970s. She had a hit with a cover of The Stylistics' "Betcha By Golly Wow." and she joined Arista Records under the aegis of noted hit maker/svengali Clive Davis. She released four albums with Arista and ten in her career. Phyllis also was nominated for a Tony Award as Best Performance by an Actress in Sophisticated Ladies, a 1981 musical that featured the music of Duke Ellington. She had talent and beauty in abundance and her performance of "In A Sentimental Mood"  is transcendent.

Danny, Karen, Erin and I went to see Phyllis perform at Blues Alley in Washington, DC in the early 1990s. Blues Alley is a (mostly) jazz club housed in an 18th century carriage house in Georgetown, which seats maybe 150. The first show was sold out so went to the late show. As we waited for the first show to end, a line snaked from the club entrance down the alley out to the Wisconsin Avenue sidewalk. There was excitement and a buzz among the crowd as it was a rare opportunity to hear an R&B diva perform in such an intimate setting. 

Under Her Spell (1989) signed by Phyllis

Just then the door to the club opened, and Phyllis walked out alone to mingle with the crowd. She was gorgeous, impeccably dressed, over 6 feet tall, and she exchanged pleasantries with her fans as she made her way down the line. When she approached me, I had some albums ready. While she signed I asked her why she came outside? She said, "Darling, I always like to see my audience. I need to see who I'm performing for." I was mesmerized, I'm not sure what else I said, something inane like we were thrilled to see her and looked forward to her show. She continued greeting her fans and the line started moving so we headed into the club.

We took our seats at a table about eight feet from the stage. Phyllis had a great band with her and she went through some of her biggest hits, "Somewhere In My Lifetime", "You Know How To Love Me", and "Betcha By Golly Wow." During a break between songs, she bantered with the audience. At one of the tables nearby, Phyllis noticed a delicious plate of roast chicken. She said to the table, "Man, that chicken looks good. Is it?" Yes came the reply, muffled with laughter. "Can I have some? Just give me a taste. I'm really hungry." With that, a fan gave Phyllis a large piece of chicken, which she devoured voraciously on stage. It was rather disconcerting but she went on to perform the rest of her show flawlessly. And without further interruption.

Sadly, her demons got to her in June 1995 when she took her own life, and she was only forty five years old. Her note read in part. "I'm tired. I'm tired. Those of you that I love know who you are. May God bless you." The news was tragic and such an unfortunate end to a beautiful and talented artist.

Choice Phyllis Hyman Cuts (per BKs request)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62onld3ZNac

“You Know How To Love Me” You Know How To Love Me 1979

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZpqBqx9kVU

“Somewhere In My Lifetime” Somewhere In My Lifetime 1978

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBvDSbFdgic

“Never Say Never Again” unreleased James Bond theme 1983

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SupGplAkREc

“Betcha By Golly Why” with Norman Connors 1976

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctavAD72byY

“Meet Me On The Moon” Prime Of My Life 1991

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-fLcBT0hes

“Living All Alone” Living All Alone 1986

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6aim1VOXLY

“Old Friend” Living All Alone 1986

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-1B1BlWWJ8

“Can’t We Fall In Love Again” with Michael Henderson 1981

Ray Charles, David “Fathead” Newman and Me…

I didn’t have any qualms about being called "Fathead". It was not derogatory to me at all...My music instructor from high school gave me the nickname... I had this bad habit of memorizing the music. He wanted to make sure that I read the music. I had some music on my bandstand one day when we were playing "Sousa’s March." The music was upside down on my music stand. He knew that I could barely read the music upright let alone upside down. He walked behind me and thumped me on the head in class and called me "Fathead". He said: ‘You are supposed to read the music, not memorize the music.’ ...After class they all started calling me "Fathead" and it stuck. By now, it is like a trademark.

               David Newman on "Fathead"

Fathead: Ray Charles Presents David Newman (1959) signed by David “Fathead blows Hard Times”

I had no idea that I was going to become an Atlantic recording artist.  Ray had just said that he was going to feature me.  I really didn’t know that he would be presenting me as such, and that I was going to become an Atlantic artist myself.  Because Ray was recording for Atlantic.  I just thought we were really doing an instrumental, and Ray was just going to feature me.  But what he did is, he set it up.  It was called Ray Charles Presents Fathead.  It was like setting me up.  And hence, from that recording on, I became an Atlantic artist, and I signed a contract then.

David Newman 

The Sound Of The Wide Open Spaces (1960) signed by David

Ray gave us a lesson in music appreciation. Before I encountered Ray, my only real love was jazz and bebop.  With Ray I learned how to respect and admire and love all other forms of music.  This music is an incredible gift.  I want to expand my mind and expand the music as it comes through me, put my stamp on it, my feeling, and see what comes out.  I want to explore other areas, bridge the generations.  You can’t close yourself off as music moves on.

David Newman

Fathead Comes On (1963) signed by David

This music is a gift, it’s an incredible gift.  What happens is the music doesn’t really come from me or from us; this music comes through us.  So I want to explore what I can do in all the different areas of music.  I don’t necessarily want to stick to a certain form insofar as the music goes.  I want to expand my mind and expand the music as it comes through me and as I feel it. 

David Newman

House Of David (1967) signed by David

He has one of the kindest, sweetest dispositions of anyone I'd ever known. They called him "Fathead" but I called him "Brains" because of his keen intelligence. He had it all covered - down and dirty blues and high flying bop. And he put it together with a smoothness that had me wishing I could blow sax half as good as him.

Ray Charles on David "Fathead" Newman

The Many Facets Of David Newman (1969) signed by David

I respect him as a man, and we kind of have that respect as men — and I respect his playing.  I broke a lot of bread with David.  The thing I like about him is whatever he plays, for me, I can understand it, I can feel it, how he expresses himself.  He’s just the kind of player that I like, and there are many others, but David is one that I had the experience of being around a lot, so I know him from A to Z!  He’s a very soulful man, and he can play in almost every setting… He’s on most of my recordings.  Every time I use a small band, I always use David.  He has a beautiful sound, a warm sound, and he always finds the blue notes.

Hank Crawford on David Newman

More Soul (1960) signed by David, Hank Crawford

Indigo Blue (1983) signed by David, Dr. John, Hank Crawford, Bernard “Pretty” Purdie, Howard Johnson, Melvin Sparks

Fire! Live At The Village Vanguard (1989) signed by David, Hank Crawford, Stanley Turrentine, David Williams

Born in Corsicana, Texas in 1933, David "Fathead" Newman was raised in Dallas and began playing the piano and saxophone. He graduated from Lincoln High School and attended Jarvis Christian College on a scholarship where he studied music and theology. After two years, David left college to go on the road with Buster Smith, a hard blowing alto saxophonist who was the great Charlie Parker's mentor. 

Captain Buckles (1971) signed by David

On the road in 1951, David met Ray Charles who was playing in Lowell Fulson's band. The two became good friends, and when Ray started his own band in 1954, David joined him as a baritone saxophonist. "because that was the only opening." David later switched to tenor saxophone and became the featured soloist on many of Ray's earliest hits: "The Right Time", "Unchain My Heart", "What'd I Say", and "Lonely Avenue." In 1958, Ray Charles produced and played piano on David's first album, Fathead: Ray Charles Presents David Newman. An instrumental jazz album, it featured Ray's blues and gospel piano with David's warm, burnished tenor. One of the highlights is "Hard Times", a song written by Paul Mitchell that has an infectious groove that never ceases to inspire. It is an early soul jazz recording which helped define the genre and has since become a standard.

The Best Of David Newman (1971) signed by David

After ten years with The Ray Charles Band, David left to pursue a solo career with Atlantic Records. He released over thirty-eight albums as a leader in his storied career and he also participated as a session musician on important recordings with Aretha Franklin, Aaron Neville, BB King, Joe Cocker, Dr. John, and Lou Rawls among many others. Throughout his career, David's talents and artistry were always evolving. Never rooted in his past work, David sought challenges with contemporary music. In 2003, he played tenor sax on Dr. Lonnie Smith's Boogaloo To Beck, a greasy, soul jazz excursion into Beck's very recent oeuvre. "Loser", "Sexx Laws", and "Jack Ass" never sounded funkier or groovier. And he explained his interest in Rap and Hip Hop in a revealing Downbeat interview in 1998:

“So I want to explore and to play in other areas, even see how my music fits into the Rap situation — I mean, poetically.  I don’t really see anything wrong with Rap.  It’s just the content in Rap that’s a little offensive sometimes.  But the Rap music itself is really an extension of the music, coming from Louis Armstrong.”

Front Money (1977) signed by David

Down On The Deuce (1984) signed by David, Hank Crawford, Howard Johnson, Cedar Walton

I saw David many times over the years. He was so soulful on tenor saxophone and he was an accomplished flutist. He was always happy to sign albums and he signed a lot over the years. I told him how much I loved "Hard Times", so he signed his first album "Fathead blows Hard Times." He laughed when I showed him the Doug Sahm And Friends cover. It was a legendary 1972 session with Bob Dylan, Dr. John, David Bromberg, Flaco Jimenez, Augie Meyers and host of other Tex-Mex greats. I asked him about the session. David said slyly, "It was really smokey. There was a haze in the studio. I'd never seen so much smoke. I don't really remember that much."

Doug Sahm And Band (1972) signed by David, Dr. John, David Bromberg

Late in his career, David released a tribute to Duke Ellington, Mr. Gentle, Mr. Cool (1994), a fine album of eleven Ellington compositions including the rather obscure title cut. Although Duke wrote this song about his two trumpet players Shorty Baker (Gentle) and Ray Nance (Cool), he could have been thinking about David Newman. Just a kind, gracious, talented man, not a Fathead...but Mr. Gentle, Mr. Cool...David Newman.

Still Hard Times (1982) signed by David, Jimmy Cobb, Hank Crawford, Howard Johnson, Larry Willis

Resurgence! (1980) signed by David, Louis Hayes, Cedar Walton, Buster Williams

Choice David Fathead Newman Cuts (per BKs request)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xB6NkprG0o

”Hard Times” Ray Charles Presents David Newman 1958

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwQVYbVIp5o

”Birth Of A Band” Ray Charles Orchestra with Tina Brooks 1963

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8K9CpYjKb-4

”Hit The Road Jack” I Remember Brother Ray 2005

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUvWeeTmjNk

”Alfie”. live in studio 2007

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSTlInH0Q7I

”Cristo Redentor” Davey Blue 2002

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=254sP0LCXVM

”Yesterday” Bigger & Better 1968

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_NIaLTjraE

”Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying” The Gift 2003

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPDZZ8eg9mA

”Everything Must Change” Resurgence! 1981

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMnSeZmuN0I&list=PLccpwGk_xup_1YLI3JCyJqqe4YeL8co0l&index=1

”Girl Talk” Life 2007

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUTXnwviyag&list=PLccpwGk_xup96o0Ch50jC23ObXx3N1Jg_
“Take The Coltrane” Chillin’ 1999

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Jsl6COM5zM

”Drown In My Own Tears” The Weapon 1973

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0_4od4XXN4

”Georgia On My Mind” live with Ray Charles on organ, Fathead on flute 1963

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQdBI84USWo

”Dealer’s Blues” Doug Sahm And Band 1972

Heads Up (1986) signed by David, David Williams

Midnight Ramble (1983) signed by David, Dr. John, Hank Crawford, Howard Johnson

George Jones and Me...

For me, liquor went with country music real naturally, especially inside those Texas honky-tonks. We did what we did and we didn’t care who knew it. It hurt our careers, but we weren’t in the music business primarily for careers. We were in it for the music and because its pace and schedule allowed us to live the way we wanted. It’s easy to get drunk and chase women when you’re working on the road. It isn’t that easy for men who have to come home at a certain time every night.

George Jones

To let In Mind (1965) signed by George

Once, when I had been drunk for several days, Shirley decided she would make it physically impossible for me to buy liquor. I lived about eight miles from Beaumont and the nearest liquor store. She knew I wouldn't walk that far to get booze, so she hid the keys to every car we owned and left. But she forgot about the lawn mower. I can vaguely remember my anger at not being able to find keys to anything that moved and looking longingly out a window at a light that shone over our property. There, gleaming in the glow, was that ten-horsepower rotary engine under a seat. A key glistening in the ignition. I imagine the top speed for that old mower was five miles per hour. It might have taken an hour and a half or more for me to get to the liquor store, but get there I did.

             George Jones

A Taste Of Yesterday’s Wine (1982) signed by George and Merle

I met him at the Blackboard Café in Bakersfield, California, which was the place to go in '61. He was already famous for not showing up or showing up drunk, and he showed up drunk. I was onstage - I think I was singing Marty Robbins' 'Devil Woman' - and he kicked the doors of the office open and said 'Who the fuck is that?' It was one the greatest compliments of my entire life when George Jones said I was his favorite country singer.

             Merle Haggard on George Jones 

When you’re called ‘The Possum’ …there’s no way I can ever live it down. T. Tommy Cutrer was a disc jockey. Everybody loved him. He was one of the old-timers on the all-night shows along with Ralph Emery, and those two got started calling me ‘The Possum.’ I had an album out with a side view of me with a crew cut. I was very young, and my nose looked more turned up, and I’ve got little beady eyes so I guess I did look like a possum! So they both laid into me and called me ‘Possum,’ and it got everywhere.

George Jones

Heartaches & Hangovers (1984 reissue)

 George Jones is simply the greatest country singer who ever lived. Don't take my word, ask Johnny, Frank, Waylon, or James.  

When people ask me who my favorite country singer is, I say, ‘You mean besides George Jones?

                  Johnny Cash

The second best singer in America.

                   Frank Sinatra

If we all could sound like we wanted to, we’d all sound like George Jones.

Waylon Jennings

He sounds like a steel guitar. It's the way he bends notes, the way he comes up to them, the way he crescendos and decrescendos. The dynamic of it is very tight and very controlled - it's like carving with the voice.

                 James Taylor

Salutes Hank Williams (1960) signed by George

Born in the hard scrabble Texas town of Sarasota, George Jones grew up with an abusive, alcoholic father. Many nights when his father came home hammered, he would force young George to sing. It was either singing or beatings. A tough way to hone his song craft, but George became a singer. As he observed in his autobiography I Lived To Tell It All, "The Jones family makeup doesn't sit well with liquor...Daddy was an unusual drinker. He drank to excess but never while working, and he probably was the hardest working man I've ever known." George's hero was Hank Williams, and he started busking on nearby Beaumont streets when he was nine or ten years old. George said, "I couldn't think or eat nothin' unless it was Hank Williams, and I couldn't wait for his next record to come out. He had to be, really, the greatest." 

Twelve year old George busking in Beaumont

George left home at sixteen, worked at KTXJ, a radio station in Jasper, Texas, and then at KRIC in Beaumont. In 1954, He recorded his first single on Jack Starnes and Pappy Dailey's Starday Records, with the prescient title "No Money In This Deal." George explained his less than optimal recording experience:"It was a terrible sound. We recorded in a small living room of a house on a highway near Beaumont. You could hear the trucks. We had to stop a lot of times because it wasn't soundproof, it was just egg crates nailed on the wall and the big old semi trucks would go by and make a lot of noise and we'd have to start over again."

Blue & Lonesome (1964) signed by George

George had his first hit record with "White Lightnin' " in 1959. George was so drunk it took nearly eighty takes to master the hillbilly moonshine ode of two minutes and thirty-six seconds. Buddy Killen, his bass player, was so incensed (and his hands so inflamed) that he threatened to throttle George. The take that producer Don Pierce liked best had a slight imperfection as George slurred "slug." For the next fifty years, George would mimic this slur thousands of times while performing his Number One hit song. And Buddy Killlen fared all right too. He sold his publishing company ATV (country music's largest) to Sony for $30 million in 1989, and started Killen Music Group which published Outkast, among other artists in the 2000s.

Sings A Book Of Memories (1967) signed by George

George had thirteen Number One hits, seventy-eight Top Ten hits, and a brilliant recording career but he was often irresponsible when he was drinking. In 1977, he was scheduled to play The Bottom Line in New York City to a VIP crowd as a showcase for his label, Epic Records. George showed up for a meeting with his producer in the afternoon then promptly disappeared for three weeks. There was no social media or tracking devices in those days, George was gone. Despite his considerable talent, promoters would not book George because they were never sure if he would show up. As a response in 1982, George co-wrote "No Show Jones", with the telling lyrics, "They call me No Show Jones, I'm seldom on, instead of just singin' my songs, my whereabouts are unknown, they call me No Show Jones."

Greatest Hits (1961) signed by George

I met George Jones a couple of times. In the early 1980s, George was in bad shape, the booze and drugs were destroying him and he kept missing shows. As a make up, WAMU, a country radio station in Washington, DC sponsored a signing with "The Possum"  at a nearby restaurant before a Merriweather Post Pavilion show. There was a line of fans waiting, and there was a lot of grousing whether George would show up at 3pm, or would he be somewhere else on a bender. It was a tough call in those days, odds were favoring a bender. Just then, George came sauntering down the hill dressed in his country stage regalia, and took his place behind a counter to meet his fans and sign autographs. His demons were in abeyance that afternoon, and George was a southern gentleman, friendly and courtly.

Hits By George (1967) signed by George

In concert, George's musical performance was stunning, his singing powerful and his phrasing uncommon. It was lifted from one of his heroes, Lefty Frizzell. George admitted, "I got that (phrasing) from Lefty. He always made five syllables out of one damn word." George sang his hits: "White Lightnin' ", "The Window Up Above", "She Thinks I Still Care", "The Race Is On", and "The Grand Tour." The encore, "He Stopped Loving Her Today", is considered the greatest country music song and performance, a song George almost didn't record.  When he finished the recording in 1980, George reportedly said to his producer Billy Sherrill, "Nobody will ever buy that morbid son of a bitch." George was wrong. It won a Grammy and the CMA Song of the Year in 1980 and 1981, and  as he said later, this three minute song salvaged a four decade old career.

I Lived To Tell It All (1996)

George Orwell once said that "autobiography is the most outrageous form of fiction." He clearly had read the George Jones memoir, I Lived To Tell It All (1996), a story of almost complete dissipation, George did so much cocaine and booze that he started to speak in voices. Two distinct voices, "The Old Man"  (patterned after the curmudgeonly actor Walter Brennan) and "The Duck" (as in Donald). The greatest singer in country music was reduced to a babbling fool ravaged by the rapacious and ruthless creditor that is drugs and alcohol. In 1978 and 1979, George "lived" at the Spence Manor Hotel and The Hall Of Fame Motor Lodge in Nashville, both popular havens for visiting tourists. George would play on the street, disheveled and dissolute, almost unrecognizable as the country music superstar he was. As George writes in his book, when he was spotted, a tourist might say, " Look over there, That's George Jones. Nah, their companions often answered. That ain't him. That man hasn't had a bath or shaved or nothin'. Besides why would George Jones be sitting out in the sun by himself playing a guitar and singing? That man is a street singer."  At his nadir, George was hospitalized (again), he weighed one hundred pounds, his motor skills were shot, he could not perform simple arithmetic, and his IQ was tested at 74. A shocking result, his story is a difficult read and a harrowing tale.

Signed by George

George was composed, relaxed and sober as he sat at the table at the Borders Bookstore in 1996. There was a sign "Only Books Will Be Signed, No Memorabilia." So I bought a book and waited in line. As I got closer, I pulled a couple of records out. Just then a Borders employee accosted me. "What are you doing with those? He's not signing any albums, just books" she scolded. "I know, I just want to show him a couple of his old records," I said innocently. Of course, that was a ruse. I sat down next to George and starting handing him the vinyl covers. One after another. The Border Bookstore crossing guard gave me a scowling glare but not George's wife, Nancy. She was very interested and loved the artwork with the garish and colorful 1960s suits and the buzz cuts George was sporting. They both enjoyed the trip down Possum's vinyl memory lane.

George Jones, mostly sober since his marriage to Nancy in 1983, and the greatest country music singer who ever lived.

The Best Of Sacred Music (1971) signed by George

Sings The Songs Of Dallas Frazier (1968) signed by George

Armed and Dangerous

Possum, Nancy and Me…

Elvin Jones and Me...

I don't think you can talk enough about Coltrane and that period we were in, because it was historic. It certainly was one of the most significant things that ever happened to me. Thank God I had that association. I think it gave me such a clear insight into myself and my approach to music...That Coltrane group gave me a whole new universe of possibilities to explore as well as my full capacity as a musician. I think it's a beautiful thing when you can be in a situation where you can use all the knowledge you have and apply that in a context that works. There's no greater feeling.

               Elvin Jones

Coltrane Jazz (1961) signed by Elvin, McCoy Tyner

I guess they always assume I would know what to do. The whole time I was there, no one really told me what to play or how to play it. Like, we played "My Favorite Things" about 10,000 times, but the first time we played it, he didn't tell me it was going to be in three-quarter time, we just started playing. As a matter of fact, John (Coltrane) never gave Jimmy (Garrison) any bass parts. I never saw a sheet of music the whole time I was in that group. I think John had a notebook in which he used a system of dots. It was very small, it looked like an address book. I'd see him with it sometimes and get a glimpse of it every now and then., and it was just full of dots, like braille. I guess that was his music notation code. I don't know where the hell that book is now.

               Elvin Jones

Dear John C. (1965) signed by Elvin, Hank Jones, Richard Davis, Sir Roland Hanna

To experience his whole paradigm-shifting concept of time was just an epiphany. You got the feeling like he was ahead of the beat and behind the beat at the same time. He was the beat. He was wrapped around the beat in a way that was just stunning. He had all that plus his most beautiful range and his ability to coax the sound out of the drums in different ways. Just the way he touched the drums was spiritual. People come along sometimes and just change the entire landscape and the way that other people think of everything. Elvin was one of those people, no doubt. You were not the same after you listened to him.

               drummer Bobby Previte

Today And Tomorrow (1964) signed by Elvin, McCoy Tyner

The greatest contribution jazz has made in music has been to replace the role of the conductor with a member of the ensemble who, instead of waving his arms to keep time and convey mood, is an active member of the musical statement. That person is the drummer.

               Elvin Jones

Midnight Walk (1966) signed by Elvin

Lists. I hate lists. Rolling Stone's Top 500 Rock albums, Top 500 Songs, Top 100 Guitarists, Top 100 Songwriters...the lists go on and on...ad infinitum, ad nauseam. To me, lists are an utter waste of time, as insipid as they are inconclusive. Personal tastes are subjective and always in motion, especially in music. So...here's my Top 5 Jazz Drummers whom I had the great fortune to see and, of course, haunt for their signatures. In no particular order, they are: Art Blakey, Max Roach, Roy Haynes, Billy Higgins and Elvin Jones.

Jazz At The Lyman’s (private recordings-1967) signed by Elvin, Hank Jones, Milt Hinton, Coleman Hawkins, Clark Terry

Elvin Jones was born in Pontiac, Michigan, the youngest of ten and brother to pianist Hank and composer/trumpeter Thad, both fellow jazz legends. Elvin is best known for his stint as the drummer in the John Coltrane Quartet (1960-1966), possibly the most influential jazz band ever. In a three week span in October 1960, Elvin, John, pianist McCoy Tyner and bassist Steve Davis recorded so much material it yielded four classic jazz albums: Coltrane Jazz, Coltrane's Sound, Coltrane Plays The Blues and My Favorite Things. Elvin also participated on the classic recordings, Duke Ellington & John Coltrane (1963), A Love Supreme (1965) and Ascension (1966). Elvin's gentler side was exhibited on John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman, a 1963 recording which featured the inimitable stylings of Johnny Hartman on six beautiful ballads. This marks the only occasion that John Coltrane recorded with a singer. While Elvin is celebrated for his pulsating percussion and ferocity, his exquisite brushwork is revelatory on this recording. Who knew he could play the brushes so beautifully?!

The Real McCoy (1967) signed by Elvin, McCoy Tyner, Ron Carter

After leaving Coltrane in 1966, Elvin became a highly sought after sideman and appeared on hundreds of recordings with fellow jazz stalwarts George Coleman, Frank Foster, Lee Morgan, Art Pepper and Wayne Shorter. He also released more than forty-five albums as a leader and he formed the Elvin Jones Jazz Machine which showcased and nurtured younger musicians. For his part, Elvin was humble about his role as a musician. He once said, "That's what the drummer is supposed to do, keep the time. If you can do something else besides that, fine. But the time is essential and non-negotiable."

Summit Meeting (1976) signed by Elvin, James Moody, Clark Terry

There was never any doubt who the leader was when you went to see the Elvin Jones Jazz Machine. Elvin could be loud and ferocious, his sinewy limbs enveloping his drum kit, or he could be lyrical and melodic, using his brushes on cymbals and snare with delicate masterstrokes to create a rhythm and hushed sound ambience. And there was no shortage of musicians who came to see him to pay homage. As the great James Brown exhorted (in a different context), "Give the drummer some!" Elvin was the original "Funky Drummer" so everyone wanted to give Elvin some, and musicians and fans loved to see him perform.

Elvin! (1961) signed by Elvin, Hank Jones, Frank Foster, Frank Wess

I saw Elvin many times in the 1990s in New York City jazz clubs like the Blue Note, the Jazz Standard and the Village Vanguard. Elvin was kind and generous each time I met him. Once, I told him that I wished he had more recordings with his brothers, Hank and Thad, as I handed him Elvin!, his 1961 debut as a leader, which featured their inestimable talents for the first and only time. "Yes, that was a very special recording. We kept it in the family," he replied. He paused as looked over the John Coltrane records, "That was some great music," he added with his characteristic humility and understatement. But Elvin was not content to rest on his considerable laurels. The gigs I saw in the 1990s were clear evidence. Young Jazz lions like tenor saxophonist Javon Jackson, trumpeter Nicholas Payton, trombonist Delfaeyo Marsalis and John's son, saxophonist Ravi Coltrane were pushed to excellence, following the punishing and propulsive lead of Elvin, their leader and mentor.

Time Capsule (1977) signed by Elvin, Kenny Barron, George Coleman, Frank Foster, Frank Wess

Elvin Jones' influence extends far beyond Jazz and his fellow jazz brethren. Many rock drummers kneel at the altar of Elvin. In the 1960s, Jimi Hendrix quipped that his drummer Mitch Mitchell was "my Elvin Jones" and in the early 1970s, The Allman Brothers' Butch Trucks and Jaimoe Johanson signed up to take drum lessons. Elvin reportedly rebuffed their attempt, telling Jaimoe and Butch, "What do you guys want? I know who you are. What am I supposed to teach you?" Jaimoe said that they ended up talking for a long time instead of a formal lesson and a great friendship blossomed.

The Main Force (1976) signed by Elvin

A long time ago, multi-reed instrumentalist/savant Rahsaan Roland Kirk once spoke about "not bein' afraid when you hear the thunder, 'cause, you know, it's probably Chick Webb and some other drummers playin' up there across the sky."  You know Elvin Jones is sitting in with those other drummers contributing his wondrous, joyful thunder.

Thanks Elvin, for the beats, the brushes, the rhythm and the time. It was always essential and non-negotiable.

Reunited (1982) signed by Elvin, Richard Davis, Pharoah Sanders, McCoy Tyner

Choice Elvin Jones cuts (per BK's request)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kPXw6YaCEY

"My Favorite Things"  Live in Belgium - 1965

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ-968Fw3bA

"Lush Life"   Johnny Hartman and John Coltrane  1963

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN_cAErPe0o

"Take The Coltrane"  Duke Ellington & John Coltrane  1962

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HFEmDh1gpY

"Feelin' Good"  Dear John C.  1965

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fth9UUa1Mfw

"A Love Supreme - Acknowledgement"   A Love Supreme  1965

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHXkK5bBxVc

"You Are Too Beautiful"  Elvin! 1961 with brothers Thad and Hank

Genesis (1971) signed by Elvin

Benny Golson and Me...

I went to see Lionel Hampton in 1945 at the Earle Theater at 11th and Market St. in Philadelphia. It was the first time I had seen a live band. I had started playing piano at age nine and fancied I'd become a concert pianist one day. But during the Hampton concert, the band played an intro and Arnett Cobb stepped out from the reed section to the front of the stage with his tenor sax. A microphone came up out of the floor, and Arnett started playing "Flying Home." At that moment, the piano for me started to lose its appeal. I told Arnett years later in Nice, France, that he was the reason I was playing the tenor sax. Tears welled up in his eyes.

              Benny Golson

Jazz Sahib (1957) signed by Benny, Hank Jones, Phil Woods

John (Coltrane) and I were like blood brothers. I was 16 when I met him — he was 18. And we spent our time in my living room, listening to lots of 78 [rpm] records, trying to figure out what was going on. And we had a beat-up piano in the corner, and I'd play after a fashion, while he played. And he played worse than I did — for me. We really annoyed the neighbors. We were in the front room, and it was summertime ... but we knew we were getting better. My mother would go to the market, and after a few months, we were getting requests. Do they know 'Body and Soul'? Do they know 'Don't Blame Me'? So we knew we were progressing, see?

               Benny Golson

The Other Side (1958) signed by Benny, Curtis Fuller, Barry Harris

After that concert was over, we went backstage, like kids do, and got everybody's autograph. It was an evening concert and Charlie Parker was going over for the first show at a place called the Downbeat. And so, John (Coltrane) and I were walking up Broad Street with him, and John was saying, `Can I carry your horn for you, Mr. Parker?' I'm on the other side saying, `What kind of mouthpiece do you use? What kind of reeds do you use? What strength reed do you use? What is the make of your horn?' This crazy kid stuff, and he was telling it all and I thought I was getting the real lowdown. We got to the club, of course we were too young to go in, and he said, `Kids, keep up the good work,' and he went upstairs. We spent the night just standing out front listening to them play from up on the second floor, and walked home talking about it after it was over. This was exciting stuff to us, you have to believe that.

               Benny Golson seeing Charlie Parker/Dizzy Gillespie with John Coltrane

The Modern Touch (1958) signed by Benny

On his 1960 masterwork Meet The Jazztet, Benny Golson's "Killer Joe" introduces some of the first rap (well before Isaac Hayes, The Sugarhill Gang, etc.), as Benny describes "Killer Joe" as a fly dude in the spoken word intro:

"We'd like you to meet a friend of ours who goes by the name of Killer Joe. Picture a so called hippie or hip cat standing on a corner in a neatly pressed, double breasted form fitting pin striped suit, a pair of pointy toed shoes with bowl white stitches around the soles, a black shirt, a long white tie, a black pencil mustache and, of course, a very wide brim black felt hat. Killer Joe always has a pocket full of loot, but only the kind that jingles, you see, he likes to play the horses. He is most certainly a ladies man. As a matter of fact, he is always going to accept cash contributions from them for any cause, namely his own. The most important thing about Killer Joe that you have to know is that he's very much against manual labor. Killer Joe...."

A bluesy, soulful funk, "Killer Joe" has appeared on over sixty albums by artists as varied as Lionel Hampton, Quincy Jones, Jack McDuff, and Tito Puente. A gifted performer, Benny is a skilled and prolific composer of more than three hundred songs, among them, "Along Came Betty", "Blues March", "I Remember Clifford", "Stablemates", and "Whisper Not" - all well worn and recorded jazz standards.

Groovin’ With Golson (1959) signed by Benny, Ray Bryant, Curtis Fuller

Benny grew up in Philadelphia and some of his school mates and friends were John Coltrane, Jimmy Heath, Ray Bryant, and McCoy Tyner, most Philly born and bred, and (eventual) jazz legends.  After three years of study at Howard University in Washington, DC, Benny left to join the Bull Moose Jackson Big Band, and then he enjoyed stints with Tadd Dameron, Lionel Hampton, Dizzy Gillespie, and Art Blakey where his real education as a musician began. As Benny observed, "After I left Howard, I drove a furniture truck. Jazz is so much better!" For three years, Benny co-led The Jazztet with Art Farmer and released six critically acclaimed albums. To date, Benny's discography has more than forty-five albums as a leader and he has appeared on hundreds more as a saxophonist, writer, and arranger.  

The Curtis Fuller Jazztet (1959) signed by Benny, Curtis Fuller

Another Git Together (1962) signed by Benny, Art Farmer, Harold Mabern

In the early 1960s, Benny moved to Hollywood for a lost decade or more as he wrote scores for the television shows, Mission Impossible, M*A*S*H, Mod Squad, Ironside, and The Partridge Family. Yes, it is hard to believe that a musician as gifted as Benny Golson was writing Partridge Family scores while Shirley Jones, David Cassidy and Danny Bonaduce engaged in their mindless and soulless drivel on screen, but I am sure it helped to pay Benny's bills!

Al De Lory M * A * S* H (1970) signed by Benny

The Hollywood hiatus, however, did exact an artistic toll. As Benny later admitted, "For seven or eight years I didn't play my horn at all. I could have used it as an ornament or put dirt in it and planted flowers. I did not like my sound or my style, what I was playing wasn't reaching my heart, and I didn't know what to do about it. I was studying composition privately, I wanted to do some things I hadn't done before in composition. Once I moved, I put all my energy into that, and the playing fell aside. But the thinking process was working the whole time, and when I finally picked up the horn again in the late '70s, I sounded different, although it took about ten years before I felt comfortable again. I had to get my imagination oiled up."

Back To The City (1986) signed by Benny, Art Farmer, Curtis Fuller

After this sustained absence, Benny returned to the jazz scene with a vengeance. He regrouped The Jazztet with the formidable front line of Art Farmer on trumpet, Curtis Fuller on trombone, and Benny on tenor saxophone, and Erin and I saw them perform at Charlie's Georgetown in 1983/84. Charlie's Georgetown was an elegant supper club in Washington, DC named after local jazz guitar great Charlie Byrd who often performed there. Benny and The Jazztet performed a wonderful set which included "Along Came Betty", "Killer Joe", and "I Remember Clifford", a beautiful, elegiac ballad written as a tribute to Clifford Brown, a trumpet prodigy whose life was cut tragically short at age twenty-five in a car accident. It was an exquisite set, flawlessly executed.

Real Time (1986) signed by Benny, Art Farmer, Curtis Fuller

Many years later, I saw Benny perform several times at the Jazz Standard in New York City. Seeing him in concert was like going to a master class in Jazz. Benny is an expert story teller and craftsman with the mien, manner and erudition of a jazz scholar. Which he is. Benny would introduce each piece with an anecdote of where it was written, who performed it, and, as equally important, the song title. Too often, I have gone to jazz concerts where the artists assume that each member of the audience has attended Julliard or Berklee, performing a rigorous set with nary an explanation or song title offered. It is infuriating. More than once after a show, I have asked an artist in the dressing room which songs they had played. That never happens with Benny, and I always came away smarter for seeing him.

Tune In, Turn On (1967) signed by Benny

Benny was equally kind and generous off stage. He patiently looked through each album as he was signing. He loved Meet The Jazztet, one of McCoy Tyner's first album appearances and he appreciated the classic mid-century design of The Modern Touch (photographed in his apartment) and The Other Side, from the design team of Paul Bacon and Paul Weller. He laughed when he saw the cover of Tune In, Turn On, a song collection of "The Hippest Commercials Of The Sixties" with a phosphorescent, psychedelic television. A throw away collection of Madison Avenue "Mad Men" songs like "Cool Whip", "No Matter What Shape (You're Stomach's In)", and the (then omnipresent) Marlboro cigarette theme, "The Magnificent Seven",  it is a colossal waste of the estimable jazz talents of Art Farmer, Eric Gale, Bernard Purdie, and Richard Tee. "Not my best recording", Benny duly admitted. He was especially kind when he signed the John Coltrane tribute album to my children: Kendall, Brendan and Camryn. Not the easiest names, and I have albums signed by other artists that are indecipherable, but he listened intently to each spelling, and carefully inscribed each name. He also gave me his business card and told me to call him some day and we could hang out and talk jazz. Unfortunately, I never made that call, not wanting to intrude on his privacy. For me, a rare show of restraint.

This Is For You John (1987) signed by Benny, Ron Carter

As Benny so eloquently stated in a recent interview, "Why continue to sound the way I sounded 30 years ago? That's not moving forward. Time should become your confederate. You should lock yourself in tandem with time on its one-way journey, moving ever forward. That's the way creative people should be moving - ever forward into the darkness of the unknown where things are awaiting your discovery. That's the adventure. You can play it safe. Everybody can do what you see in the light. But the real hero is the one that delves into the darkness."

Benny Golson, always moving forward as an artist, arranger, composer, and a really nice guy.

Turning Point (1962) signed by Benny

Blues ette (1959) signed by Benny

The Compositions Of Benny Golson (1962) signed by Benny

Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus (1963) signed by Benny, George Coleman, Charles McPherson, Richard Wyands

Stockholm Sojourn (1964) signed by Benny

Choice Benny Golson Cuts (per BK's request)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZQpxZ9cG-Y

"Killer Joe" - with intro - 1960

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nr7wcGmh12A

"I Remember Clifford" Live - 1958 - with Lee Morgan, Art Blakey

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCXnH2JhpEk

"I Remember Clifford" Live with Milt Jackson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVnVYa_x0AY

"Stablemates" Live - 1989 - with Freddie Hubbard

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVnVYa_x0AY

"Whisper Not" Live - 1987 - with Freddie Hubbard, Ron Carter

Benny Golson business card, circa 1999

Eight Jazz Classics (1979) signed by Benny

Eddie Palmieri and Me...

The Bronx was great, because at the time, the Bronx was beautiful. I was about five or six years old, moving from 112th Street between Madison and Park. My father and my grandmother, my mother and my grandmother, all formed a luncheonette called El Mambo. I named it. I was in charge of the jukebox. I talked to the jukebox man and told him what I wanted to hear. At 14 or 15, I was a soda jerk, sometimes just a plain old jerk, you know what I mean? Selling cigarettes at three for five cents. The Hydrox, the ones that look like Oreos, they were a penny each. It was a wonderful, wonderful youth that I spent.

               Eddie Palmieri

La Perfecta (1962) signed by Eddie

I never liked jazz, because I didn’t comprehend it. I was just dedicated to the Latin dance music from the big three: Machito, Tito Puente and Tito Rodriguez. Little by little, especially when I made La Perfecta, especially in 1964, (trombonist) Barry Rogers told me, we were playing in the Palladium next to the Birdland, “Eddie, I want you to hear something. He took me on a Sunday to Birdland, (to see) the original John Coltrane Quartet, with Jimmy Garrison, McCoy Tyner, Mr. Coltrane and Elvin Jones. It was empty, the place, unfortunately, but, fortunately for me, I saw one of the greatest shows I ever saw. McCoy Tyner took a solo, and that solo went between 15 to 20 minutes, and it just kept swelling and swelling and swelling, and he became immediately my mentor. I already had Art Tatum, naturally Bill Evans, my favorite when it comes to his form of playing.

               Eddie Palmieri

Viva Palmieri (1961) signed by Eddie

My kid brother, Eddie Palmieri, is a nut. While playing piano with the Tito Rodriguez band, Eddie decided to leave the financial security of one of the most successful Latin bands around and formed his own band. The band business is rough enough, but Eddie made it even rougher for himself by going against the tide, and instead of organizing a Charanga, the popular sound of the day, he organized what I call a "Trombanga", a band featuring trombones and flute. Novel? Yes. A fresh sound? Yes. Commercial possibilities? A very big gamble. His gamble paid off though because his band La Perfecta is one of the busiest working bands in New York City...

               Charlie Palmieri liner notes to Eddie's first album La Perfecta  1962

Echando Pa’Lante (1964) signed by Eddie

You could only record at 2:45 (length of time), so when I signed finally with Roulette, I met the one who made it possible, the gentlemen called Teddy Reig. He was the manager of the Count Basie Band, so they knew about jazz and how long they play and all that. I told him, 'Listen, this number is very popular in the street, in the Palladium, for the last year-and-a-half. It’s called ‘Azucar Pa’ Ti,’ and it’s not going to be no 2:45.' He said, “Eddie, just record it.” It came up to eight minutes, thirty seconds, and it became a classic. It’s in the Library of Congress, an honor.

               Eddie Palmieri on his composition "Azucar Pa' Ti", added to the National Recordings Registry in 2009

Azucar Pa’ Ti (1965) signed by Eddie

Oh, it was received absolutely wonderfully by The Weathermen, and the CIA and FBI came to talk to Morris Levy (Roulette Records owner). The Weathermen were anti-government, and everybody in the group had my record. I couldn’t leave the country, I had to leave the planet. That’s the honest truth. Morris Levy – remember he had a tapestry behind his desk, on which it was written, “Oh Lord, bring me a bastard with talent” – told me, 'Mr. Palmieri, I don’t need the CIA and the FBI to come to see me for something that I didn’t do. Is that clear, Mr. Palmieri?' I said, 'Clear as a bell, boss.'

               Eddie Palmieri on his unlikely fan support for Harlem River Drive (1971)

Harlem River Drive (1971) signed by Eddie

Harlem, New York 1963. photo by Leonard Freed, basis for HRD album cover

Born in Spanish Harlem of Puerto Rican descent and raised in the South Bronx, Eddie Palmieri has won nine Grammys in an acclaimed career spanning more than six decades. Studying classical piano at age eight, Eddie switched to timbales, but gave them up at the prescient suggestion of his mother. He remembered, "Oh, carrying the timbales, I figured I was going to get a hernia. My mother, who wanted me to stay on the piano, bought me a case that weighed more than two or three timbales in the metal case, and every time I would pick it up, she would say, “Eduardo, don’t you see how beautiful your brother (Charlie) looks when he goes to work? He doesn’t have to carry an instrument. When will you learn, Eduardo?” I’m picking up the box of timbales because my uncle is honking the horn. 'Come on, Eddie, let’s go!' And I’m telling her, 'I’m learning, ma. I’m learning.' Two years later, I made a deal with my uncle and he couldn’t refuse it. I went back to the piano. But it was my mother who put us on the piano." Yes, Mrs. Palmieri was a remarkable woman who worked tirelessly as a seamstress and at other jobs to provide for her sons, Charlie and Eddie, who would both play professionally as pianists and band leaders. In tribute many years later, Eddie recognized, "The reason I became a musician was because of my mother, it was solely based on her. She was the stimuli. She worked extremely hard before and after the Depression to make sure we had the best teachers and facilities to practice daily. As for becoming famous, that never crossed my mind. My only interest was to become a student of music, which I am still working on."

Mozambique (1965) signed by Eddie

Charlie Palmieri, nine years older, was a massive influence on Eddie as he readily acknowledged, "I would try to imitate my brother, who was a genius – his attack on the piano. I was aware of percussion, you know, rhythmical patter because I wanted to play timbales. That helped me. Then I just kept studying and studying, and then eventually, I met Mr. Bob Bianco, who took me into the world of harmonic structures of jazz." Eddie would study with Bianco for more than twenty-five years, honing his skills and mastering his craft. Always self deprecating, Eddie would unfailingly defer to his brother Charlie, "He was the pianist, I am the piano player."

El Sonido Nuevo (1966) signed by Eddie

After playing piano with Tito Rodriguez's Orchestra in the 1950s, Eddie formed Conjunto La Perfecta in 1962. With this band, Eddie introduced a novel "Trombanga" approach, replacing trumpets and strings with trombones and flute while playing the popular Charanga rhythms of the day. With this instrumentation, Eddie's band had a distinctive growlier and grittier sound, and the 'bone-centric style was influential to Latin music masters and band leaders Willie Colon and Manny Uquendo in their later recordings. For his part, Eddie offered a simpler reason, "If you didn’t excite the people in the Palladium, the dancers, you were never brought back. There’s your answer. We had to go in there and go right through them like a Mack truck, and we did. La Perfecta, wherever we played, we blew them away. We had no choice. It was a different sound. It was known as the “Sound of the Royal Elephants” in the Catskills."

Champagne (1968) signed by Eddie

As fearsome as the sounds of his collective ensemble was, Eddie's piano was equally formidable. As Eddie explained, "I’m a drummer at heart, I love the percussion. That’s what makes you move, it’s the pulse of life. (Jazz saxophonist Donald Harrison), always tells me, ‘You know Eddie, you solo like a drummer.’ But that’s natural, because no matter how you want to play it, the piano is a percussion instrument, (it is) hammers on strings."

The Sum Of Latin Music (1974) signed by Eddie

I saw Eddie recently at the Blue Note in New York City with his Latin Jazz Sextet, they were promoting Subiduria, his most recent recording. He opened with "Life", a plaintive, rueful ballad written for his wife, who "heard it as she was on her dying bed, and she liked it." The  duet with bassist Luques Curtis was part homage, part elegy and was punctuated by Eddie's anguished cries, which heightened the pathos of this ruminative and emotional piece. Thankfully, a jaunty and celebratory "La Luz Mayor" followed and then, Cal Tjader's "Samba do Suenho", a beautiful groover with a pulsating alto saxophone solo by (current Stephen Colbert band member) Louis Forche. All the while, Eddie applied discordant Monk infused flourishes and Nicky Marrero and Little Johnny Rivero supplied percussive accents on timbales and conga. "Picadillo", a burner from the book of Tito Puente, featured the trap drumming of Craig Haynes who, amid the swirling rhythms and deep percussive beats, was dropping bombs like a MF. Yes, he truly was. 

Vamonos Pa’l Monte (1971) signed by Eddie

Next, came Craig's dad's turn, the irrepressible, unstoppable ninety-two years young jazz drummer extraordinaire Roy Haynes. There aren't many still performing today who have played with Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, and countless others. Indeed, Roy Haynes may be the last man standing. It is not by coincidence that Roy's band ten years ago was called "The Fountain of Youth", Roy's still got it. Eddie warmly welcomed Roy to the stage, "You know, I'm so nervous that I may grow my hair. This artist means so much to me. You know, when I heard "In Poco Loco" by Bud Powell in 1949, it changed my life. I was three, alright, I was thirteen but it changed my life and Roy Haynes was playing drums. It is a thrill to welcome Roy to the stage to play with me." Roy began the exquisite Palmieri composition "Resemblance" with a gorgeous mallet solo on drums, before Eddie and bassist Luques Curtis joined in and completed an amazing night of music.

Eddie’s Concerto (1976)signed by Eddie

After the show, I went upstairs to the dressing rooms to visit with Eddie and get some vinyl signed. I chatted with Luques Curtis briefly and thanked him for his impeccable bass work, the chemistry and telepathy with Eddie was akin to a Vulcan mind meld. Luques smiled, "Thanks, Eddie is the man. I love playing with him." Luques noticed my vinyl. "Hey, if you're looking for Eddie, he's not here. He's at the restaurant next door. Wherever he plays, whatever town he's in, he's never in his dressing room. Just look for the closest restaurant before and after the show, that's where he is. This is not a well kept secret." I thanked Luques for the inside information and bounded down the stairs to catch my quarry at the Japanese restaurant. Next door.

Superimposition (1970) signed by Eddie

Sure enough, Eddie was holding court in a back booth with assorted family, friends, well wishers and... me. After waiting five or ten minutes, I seized my opportunity when a seat vacated, and I slid in next to him. He saw the albums and he flashed a big grin. I handed him The Sum Of Latin Music. "What's the date?" he said brightly. 'Nah Eddie, don't worry about that,' I said as he inscribed "8.1.17" on the album. ‘Actually, today is 7.31', I told him. Eddie laughed, "That's alright, I'm giving you a nice head start on tomorrow." Next came Superimposition, possibly my favorite EP album. I asked him about some of the curious song titles, "Chocolate Ice Cream"? "Well, who doesn't like chocolate ice cream?" True, how about the significance of "17.1"? "Well, we were smoking reefer, and we just laid down a great track. I looked at my rhythm section and they were nineteen, eighteen and fifteen, all young cats. So we smoked some more reefer, and we divided their ages and came up with 17.1. Of course, we found out later that the right number was 17.3, or whatever, but it was already titled "17.1", so I said, what the hell?!" Reefer or not, it is a great track with a great title. When I showed Eddie Viva Palmieri, a wonderful record by his brother Charlie, Eddie was moved. “You know my brother was everything to me. He’s the reason I’m here with you today. I’m just a piano player, but he was a pianist.” I thanked Eddie again for his kindness and, especially his music.

Eddie Palmieri, as much fun off stage as on, so much more than just a piano player. As he said in a recent interview, "I don't guess I'm going to excite you with my music and my band - I know it." Anyone who has ever seen him, knows this too.

Recorded Live At Sing Sing (1972) signed by Eddie

Recorded Live At Sing Sing Vol. 2 (1972 recordings, 1974 release) signed by Eddie

Eddie Palmieri at the Blue Note, NYC 7.31.17

Special Guest with Eddie Palmieri 7.31.17

”He found the mallets!” Sittin’ in with Roy Haynes 7.31.17

Choice Eddie Palmieri Cuts (per BK's request)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fScAoA6mgVw

"17.1"  Superimposition  1970

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdJdrSxqo6o

"Chocolate Ice Cream"  Eddie Palmieri and Orchestra  Live

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4LlF0RH63Y

"Azucar Pa Ti"   Azucar Pa Ti  1965

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yquE9vKQeFE

"Mi Guajira"   La Perfecta   1962

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVlZr3-_mDY

"Pa' Heule"  Superimposition 1970

Well, just listen to it. It had a great double meaning: 'Give me a taste, a taste / Give me a little piece to sniff.' They were taking that, “Pa’ Huele,” like it would be cocaine. They were taking it every which way. - Eddie Palmieri

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARCWjHkERwU

"Conmigo"   La Perfecta  1962

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHfCzfwkAAg

"Picadillo" Eddie & Cal Tjader  El Sonido Nuevo  1966

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsLjZwxgdac

"Life"   written for Eddie's wife   Sabiduria   2017 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf0JKB9iXeQ

"Vamonos Pal Monte"  Eddie and Charlie jamming, Ismael Quintana singing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEJccV0PSR0  

"Resemblance"    Bamboleate   Eddie & Cal Tjader  1967

Junior Mance and Me...

You know, it really wasn’t a leadership thing. We just got on the stand and they would call a tune and you’d blow.

                     Junior Mance

At The Village Vanguard (1961) signed by Junior

The first time I played with Hawk (Coleman Hawkins) was in Chicago in May 1954... When he played the Bee Hive, he needed a piano player so I was called for the gig. Hawk and I did eight weeks there together. Man, he knew more tunes. I learned more songs playing with him than with anyone else. I’d ask him what key he wanted to play a song in, and Hawk would say, “Wherever you want to put it. Just play the intro and I’ll figure out where we’re at.” When you’ve been playing as long as that guy, things come automatically.

Junior Mance

Jam Session (19(54) signed by Junior, Maynard Ferguson, Clark Terry, Max Roach, Harold Land

I played with Dizzy almost three years – three great years. I learned more in that span of time than I learned from any teacher, and certainly more than I got out of the time I was in college. I lived maybe a 10-minute walk from Dizzy. He had a studio in his basement and he said, “Come on over any time.” We’d go down to his studio and he showed me a lot about comping, a lot about the alternate changes on things. It was like a music lesson. Most of the time it started off with some tune we were doing.

And I learned a lot just from listening to him every night on the gig. The first night in the band, playing with the great Dizzy Gillespie, I was all over the place with notes. And he just eased over to me and calmly said, “You know, the sign of a mature musician is when you learn what not to play; what to leave out.” It took me a while to do.

Junior Mance on Dizzy Gillespie

The Chicago Sound (1957) signed by Junior Mance, Johnny Griffin

I never got involved with that. I had looked at enough of these guys from Chicago who messed up. They were only fooling themselves. Lester Young smoked pot, but he wasn’t outrageous with it… I smoked a joint on one record date early on and played worse than I ever did. I never was in my right mind. I never touched it again. 

Junior Mance on staying clean

Griff & Lock (1960) signed by Johnny Griffin, Junior Mance

I like outside tunes, things you don’t hear often, and just what hits me. I was taught very early to listen to everything. You don’t have to use it all, just listen to it. When I was young, Benny Carter said to me, “When a musician stops listening, he’s in trouble.” And of course, he was right.
Junior Mance, liner notes Truckin’ And Trakin’

The Soul Of Hollywood (1962) front cover

The Soul Of Hollywood (1962) back cover signed by Junior

The year before my mother died, I had my own trio band and we recorded my first album. We were playing at the London House, a very upscale jazz club in Chicago. My working there coincided with her birthday, so my father decided we would give her a surprise party. He told Mama, “I want to see this movie,” and they drove downtown. The London House had a marquee almost like a movie theatre. And she looked up and said, “What?” when she saw my name.

She didn’t say a word. She walked in. I had long-stemmed roses on the table, and it was the first time she’d ever seen me perform in a club. So after the night was over and I’m walking back to the car with her, I said, “Ma, did you like it, did you enjoy it?” She said, “Son, I had a great time, but I still wish you’d been a doctor.” My ego hit the floor. My father whispered in my ear, “Dummy, why didn’t you leave well enough alone?” But he told me in later years, “She was proud of you.” There’s so many times I’ve wished she could have been there – like the one this past weekend at the Kennedy Center. But I don’t regret one instant of my career. There were hard times, but I don’t regret that either.

Junior Mance

Live At The Top (1968) signed by Junior, David “Fathead” Newman

A jazz pianist, composer, and educator, Junior Mance was born in Chicago in 1928. Junior became the house pianist for the Bee Hive lounge in Chicago and served as the accompanist for Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins and other great artists when they were passing through. He began his recording career with Gene Ammons in 1947, and later toured with Lester Young, Dizzy Gillespie, and Cannonball Adderley. Junior released his first trio album in 1960 which has since become his preferred music and art form ever since.

Get Ready, Set, Jump! (1964) signed by Junior

A very soulful and blues-based pianist, Junior has an exquisite touch on ballads and standards. He released over fifty albums as a leader, and appeared on over one-hundred as a sideman for such renowned artists as Dizzy Gillespie, Dinah Washington, Joe Williams and Johnny Griffin. Also an educator, Junior taught at The New School in New York City for over twenty years before retiring in 2011. Brad Mehldau, certainly one of the most influential jazz pianists extant, is one of Junior's most celebrated and accomplished students.

Straight Ahead! (1965) signed by Junior

I saw Junior perform many times in some really interesting venues in New York City, including The Blue Note, Birdland and, for many years, Junior appeared with bassist Martin Rivera at the Knickerbocker Bar and Grill near New York University in the heart of Greenwich Village. An old neighborhood steakhouse with Al Hirschfield framed caricatures adorning its walls, The Knickerbocker was the perfect environment to see Junior Mance perform his compelling mix of blues, gospel, soul, and jazz, and Martin Rivera's beautiful, resonant bass was the perfect complement to Junior's virtuoso playing.

I Believe To My Soul (1966);signed by Junior

The last time I saw him, Junior was playing an intimate show at the Kitano Hotel in midtown Manhattan. He played a tremendous set, including the Billy Taylor penned civil rights classic "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free" and Duke Ellington's glorious "The Single Petal Of A Rose." From the gospel burn of "I Wish...." to the lyrical elegance and brilliance of "The Single Petal...", it was a bravura performance.

Harlem Lullaby (1967) signed by Junior

After the show, I spent some time with Junior as he signed some albums. I told him how much I enjoyed his performance. He laughed when he saw The Junior Mance Touch (released in 1973). I told him that I really liked the album. It had a great mix of songs, from Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" to George Harrison's "Something" to Leadbelly's "Midnight Special." Junior said he hated it. He said it was his first album (and last) for Polydor, a label he joined after he had left Atlantic Records. He said he recorded the album with Martin Rivera and turned it in, and the label put strings on it. Suffocating, syrupy, saccharine strings. Junior said he was shocked when he listened to it. After all these years, he was still not happy. I  told him he should reissue the album without the strings. Junior said he had no idea where the tapes were, and he was moving forward, not backward.

The Junior Mance Touch (1973) signed by Junior

Junior was impressed with my records and their quality. "How many do you have?" I told him a lot, probably 7,000 or more. A collector himself, he asked: "Do you ever get calls from collectors? I get calls all the time, people want to buy my collection. I don't even know how they find me." I told him it's because of his ownership, his provenance makes his records more interesting and valuable. That, and I'm sure there are a lot of original issue Blue Note records, the holy grail. "Well, I ain't selling", he replied defiantly. On that, we could both agree.

Junior Mance, a wonderfully gifted jazz pianist, vinyl enthusiast and collector.

With A Lotta Help From My Friends (1970) signed by Junior, Billy Cobham

Holy Mama (1976) signed by Junior

Choice Junior Mance Cuts (per BKs request)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spHHYXRDwqY
“I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free” Live At The Top 1968

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QzBeFmUkbE
“The Single Petal Of A Rose” with Richard Davis 2007

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lABJDjKtzJQ

“You Are Too Beautiful” Live At The Village Vanguard 1961

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE9JtUQZgms
“When I Fall In Love” Mance 1998

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ym6uyJL8kVQ

“Georgia On My Mind” live 2002

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2k92JtTyOE

“That’s All” with David Fathead Newman 1968

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=junior+mance

“Slow Freight” live with Ray Bryant 1993

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu54FQWIwkw

“The Shadow Of Your Smile” with Martin Rivera 1983

Truckin’ And Trakin’ (1983) signed by Junior, David “Fathead” Newman

Johnny Cash, June Carter and Me...

I took my guitar one mornin', real early, went down and sat on the steps of the studio until he (Sam Phillips) got there. And he was in a good mood that mornin'. He put me in the front of of a mic and I sang about two hours. He kept sayin', 'What else you got? Let me hear more.' Then, after I sang all these other people's songs, he said, ' Sing somethin' you wrote. I want to hear your stuff.' So I sang him everything I'd written... Then he said, 'Do you know any musicians?' I said, yeah. I'd just met Marshall (Grant) and Luther (Perkins)... so he said, 'Come back with them and we'll put somethin' down, see how it sounds.' I came back with them the next day, and first thing we recorded was "Wide Open Road", a song I'd written in Germany. And then I recorded "Folsom Prison Blues" and then "Hey Porter!" He liked all three of them but he liked "Hey Porter!" best. And he said "We gotta have a love song. A weeper, a cryin' song.' So I went home and wrote "Cry! Cry! Cry!" I came back with the two musicians and put that down soon after. That was February 1955.

               Johnny Cash on his initial recordings with Sam Phillips at Sun Studios

The Fabulous Johnny Cash (1958) signed by Johnny

I knew absolutely nothin' about the record business. I mean, nothin'. I didn't know my record was out, and Sam (Phillips) walked up to me, handed me this big 78 and said, "Why don't you take this down to WMPS and get Bob Neal to play it?' So I went down, got on Bob Neal's noon show, handed him the record. He played "Hey Porter" and he liked it. He said, 'That's good, let's play the other side.' He reached to turn it over, dropped it and broke it. And I thought, Well I did what I set out to do: I sang on the radio. That's it, I thought my career was over. I had no idea there was even another copy. I thought one was all there'd be.

               Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash Sings Hank Williams (1960) signed by Johnny and June

Let me put it to you this way: Whatever you think Johnny Cash was, he was something better. And you would really be pleasantly surprised if you knew him. He’s the real guy.

               Merle Haggard

Ring Of Fire (1963) signed by Johnny

I wrote it backstage at a show with Carl Perkins in Gladewater, Texas. And when I recorded it, I recorded it real slow the first time. Sam (Phillips) played it back and he said, 'I don't like that arrangement. Let's speed it up.' And I wasn't gettin' any sound on my guitar speedin' it up, so I put paper in the strings to get that shufflin' sound, and we picked up the tempo, and he kept sayin', 'Pick up the tempo, let's do it faster next time.' So we did....But I didn't like the record when I heard it on the radio. I hated it. I called Sam from Ocala, Florida - I was on tour when it came out - and I said, That's the worst thing I have ever done. Please don't send out any more copies of "I Walk The Line" that way. I hate it. And he said, 'Well, let's give it a chance and see.' Course, the higher it climbed on the charts, the more I got to like it, and I started doin' it that way on stage.

               Johnny Cash on recording "I Walk The Line"

Original Sun Sound (1964) signed by Johnny

There was a package of myself, Jerry Lee [Lewis], Roy Orbison and Carl Perkins. We were all young and wild and crazy. As crazy as you can get. We discovered amphetamines, or I did, anyway. Jerry thought he was going to Hell for not preaching. He went to seminary and wanted to be a preacher, but he turned to rock and roll. He would tell us all we were going to hell. I said, 'Maybe you're right, Killer. Maybe you're right.'

               Johnny Cash on his early Sun Records days in 1955

Orange Blossom Special (1965) signed by Johnny

I was lucky. I saw Johnny Cash perform more than a dozen times in all sorts of venues. From the eighteen thousand seat Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland as one of The Highwaymen (Willie, Waylon and Kris were the others) to the twelve-hundred person 9:30 Club mosh pit in Washington, DC to President Clinton's Inaugural Ball in 1993 at the Washington Hilton (as an unannounced guest!) to one of his last public appearances with June Carter Cash at the Bottom Line in New York City. Each time, Johnny was a mesmerizing presence, dressed in black, guitar held high, his profundo bass intoning songs that were drawn from the deepest reservoir of the soul. If Johnny Cash was not directly the voice of God, his timbre was certainly the next of kin!

I grew up listening to Johnny Cash. On long car trips, the tinny fidelity and flinty reception of AM/FM radio (circa late 1960s) would yield a variety of Top 40 sounds along highways and interstates. There were no iPods or iPhones to provide personal playlists, we were left to the mercy of radio program directors and DJs.  Occasionally, the unmistakable, clarion call of Johnny Cash would cut through the clutter with "Ring Of Fire", "Folsom Prison Blues", or, even, the Shel Silverstein penned novelty "A Boy Named Sue." No one sounded like Johnny Cash on the radio then, or now. It stirred my interest and I had to listen and learn more.

By now, the legend of Johnny Cash is well known and writ large. Born poor in rural Arkansas, Johnny enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1950, served in Germany as a code breaker, returned to the U.S. in 1954 and showed up at Sam Phillips' Sun Studios in Memphis with songs he had written. Out of the gate, Johnny recorded "Hey Porter", "Cry! Cry! Cry!", "Folsom Prison Blues" and "I Walk The Line" and his career was off to the races. He left Sun Records in 1958 and joined Columbia Records and flourished for the next twenty-eight years, winning awards, selling millions of records and becoming Johnny Cash. Then, Columbia Records, in their infinite wisdom, unceremoniously dumped him. Johnny Cash was "too country" and didn't mesh with the "countrypolitan" drivel that Garth Brooks, Vince Gill et al were serving up in the late 1980s (and even today). Johnny's devout and steadfast interpretation of Harlan Howard's "three chords and the truth" had devolved into line dances, gaudy outfits and over-wrought emoting. Johnny Cash's simple rhymes and rhythms were deemed anachronistic and unwelcome.

American Recordings (1994) signed by Johnny

Enter Rick Rubin, maverick record label owner, genius and producer of Beastie Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, Tom Petty and so many others. They seemed an unusual pair. Rubin's pitch to Johnny was simple: eliminate the strings, the outfits and the ornaments, it will be just you, your guitar and songs. Johnny had always wanted to record an album like this and he even had a working title, Late and Alone. They began collaborating together and their first album, American Recordings, was released in 1994 and featured Rubin's minimalist production on songs by Leonard Cohen, Nick Lowe, Glenn Danzig and Tom Waits. It was startling in its simplicity, a radical transformation that worked. American Recordings won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album that year, and hipsters were getting hip to how hip Johnny Cash was.

Johnny's next album, Unchained, was a more fleshed out production with Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers providing support and songs culled again from unlikely sources like Beck - "Rowboat", Soundgarden -  "Rusty Cage", Josh Haden - "Spiritual" (with Flea on bass!), and Tom Petty - "Southern Accents." Unchained met with critical and commercial success and it won a Grammy for Best Country Album. To celebrate, Rick placed an ad in Billboard with this caption:

American Recordings and Johnny Cash would like to acknowledge the Nashville music establishment and country radio for your support.

It was accompanied by an iconic photo of Johnny (wearing a prison jumpsuit) flipping off famed photographer Jim Marshall during rehearsals for a San Quentin concert in 1969. It is my favorite corporate marketing piece ever! And it is available on posters, t-shirts and coffee mugs...

Billboard Ad, 1998 - Rick Rubin and Johnny Cash give thanks and praises!

Johnny and Rick would go on to release more than 140 songs over the next decade with the American Recordings imprimatur. Prison songs, pain songs, train songs, sea chanteys, spirituals, show tunes, the entire range of the Great American Songbook. And when Johnny Cash sang a song, he didn't rent it, he owned it. Perhaps his most celebrated cover was Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt", a harrowing song of despair and dissolution by lead singer Trent Reznor. As Trent said when he was initially approached about a Johnny Cash cover, he was "flattered" but 'the idea sounded a bit gimmicky." That changed when he and Zach De La Rocha saw the video. "We were in the studio, getting ready to work and I popped it in. By the end, I was really on the verge of tears...there was just dead silence. There was, like, this moist clearing of our throats and then, "Uh okay, let's get some coffee." Trent added, "I felt like I just lost my girlfriend because that song isn't mine anymore."  Trent wasn't alone, U2's "One", Beck's "Rowboat", Neil Diamond's "Solitary Man", The Eagles' "Desperado" and so many others all suffer the same fate once Johnny Cash sings. They are his songs, they are not theirs. As Tom Petty said about "I Won't Back Down", "When I heard his version, it was like I'd never done it. It dropped my jaw, something about the authority his voice carried. When the Army and C.I.A. people called me and asked me to use it in their training programs, they wanted to use the Johnny Cash version. I guess it sounded more American."

Tennessee Inaugural Ball Program; January 20, 1993 (front cover)

Though I saw him more than a dozen times, I only met Johnny Cash twice. The first time was at President Clinton's Inaugural Ball, January 20, 1993 at the Washington Hilton in Washington, DC. My brother-in-law Matt hooked us up with tickets so Erin and I put on our finest formal evening wear and attended the black tie affair. Several states (but not all) were hosting balls, including Arkansas and Tennessee, the top two destinations. We opted for Tennessee, it had better musicians. I mean, who cares about politics when you can see a dozen fabulous performers?! The Tennessee Ball did not disappoint. The International Ballroom had a big stage where Kathy Mattea, Take Six and Jimmy Buffet performed. An obscure group called the Dixie Chicks opened, wearing horrific, Minnie Pearl inspired, gingham check outfits. This was before Natalie Maines joined the band as lead singer and no one knew who they were. Worse, no one cared.

Erin and I decided to hang out in the Exhibit Hall, a smaller ballroom which was adjacent. A wise choice. As we mingled with assorted black tie politicos and high end donors (of which I am neither), I saw Jerry Jeff Walker performing off to the side. We went over. There was no stage, he could have been busking in the New York City Subway for all the attention he was receiving. Just then a tall man dressed in black (unremarkable for we were all dressed in black!) approached, escorting Emmylou Harris. Emmylou joined Jerry Jeff and sang beautiful harmony on "Little Bird", one of my favorite songs from Jerry Jeff's Viva Terlingua. The man stood nearby and watched about five feet from us. It was Johnny Cash. Yes, Johnny Fucking Cash! The Man In Black! After Emmylou and Jerry Jeff finished, Johnny started to walk away. Sadly, I had no Johnny Cash vinyl, as he wasn't listed as a performer at the show, but I stopped him, shook his hand and had him sign the back of the program. “JohnnyPleaseBigFanSignThankYou", my words ran together in an indistinguishable, staccato burst. Johnny smiled, shook my hand, signed my paper and gave it back to me. "JohnnyPleasePictureBigFanPlease" came my next incoherent blurt. "Sure" came the genial response. Later, the photo was developed and Johnny was the essence of cool detachment. I was not. Sadly, I have not been able to locate this photo. So, if you find a picture of someone in a black tux, wild-eyed and overwrought with emotion standing next to Johnny Cash at the Tennessee Inaugural Ball in 1993, I'd appreciate you sending it back to me...

The rest of the night was one of the great nights of music ever. After Jerry Jeff and Emmylou played, Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead performed with Rob Wasserman, then Bruce Cockburn, Dion, Lou Reed, and Rosanne Cash all played sets. Rosanne, in particular, played a rousing show with her husband John Leventhal on guitar and called her dad on stage to sing "Tennessee Flat Top Box", one of his early hits. That's was a highlight for sure. Around 4am, there were less than a couple dozen hearty, bleary souls when Paul Simon appeared and sang "Bridge Over Troubled Water." It was an incredible night and an auspicious start for....well, it was an incredible night of music.

Tennessee Inaugural Ball Program (back cover) signed by Johnny, Emmylou Harris, Jerry Jeff Walker

The last time I saw Johnny Cash was at the Bottom Line in New York City on July 1, 1999. A superb venue in the East Village, maybe five-hundred seats and home to some fabled performances through the years by Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young and Willy DeVille. Johnny had been quite sick and while he was recording extensively with Rick Rubin, his public appearances were limited. June Carter Cash, daughter of Mother Maybelle and A.P. Carter, the family who invented Country music in rural Virginia in the 1920s, stealing most of their melodies from Celtic airs and Scottish Highland reels, released Press On, her first album in twenty-four years. She was touring and her tour consisted of two shows at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles and two shows at the Bottom Line. I met June at a CD signing prior to the show at an HMV record store in Times Square and I brought along some vinyl. She was vivacious and perky, just like her appearances on stage with Johnny all through the years.

Press on (1999) signed by June

That night at the Bottom Line, June appeared with her band, and they played a tight set which focused on her new songs from Press On. One highlight was an Appalachian-infused "Ring Of Fire" which she co-wrote with Merle Kilgore about her early, volatile relationship with Johnny Cash. The mariachi horns of Johnny's iconic arrangement were replaced by fiddles and mandolin, and June even strummed Mother Maybelle's vintage autoharp to create a lustrous hillbilly mood. Half way through the set, June introduced a special guest, Johnny Cash, and he made his unsteady way to center stage from off stage. The crowd gave Johnny and June a thunderous ovation. They performed a duet on "The Far Sides Of Jordan", a heart wrenching gospel with the prescient opening stanza:

I believe my steps are growin' wearier each day

Still, I've got another journey on my mind

Lures of this old world have ceased to make me wanna stay

And my one regret is leavin' you behind

They finished the song and Johnny left the stage. There was barely a dry eye in the house as June continued with her set. After the show, Johnny signed some vinyl. I had learned my lesson, I kept it short and simple: "Please, Johnny" and "Thank You." I have met a lot of musicians through the years, everyone from Frank Sinatra to Jerry Garcia to Dizzy Gillespie to Johnny Rotten, and no one has left me as flustered or flummoxed. After all, he is, was and will always be, Johnny Fucking Cash!

Press On cd (1999) signed by June

The music and legacy Johnny Cash left is astounding, particularly his late career resurgence with Rick Rubin. Rosanne Cash said it best: "It's like Matisse doing the jazz dancers when he was in his 80s....like a whole new level of art and depth and mastery and confidence. Rick came at just the right time, and Dad was just the right age that that could be unlocked in him." Years later, Rick Rubin reflected on their relationship, "He really played a huge role in my life, and of course, we worked a lot together for a long time. It was always fulfilling and I always looked forward to it. I would have to say it affected me more in terms of quality of life than in terms of the way that I work. My life was definitely made better by having him as a friend. He was just a beautiful man."

Thanks for all the beauty in your songs, Johnny. And thanks to Rick Rubin for curating the American Recordings to add to your already nonpareil discography.

Carousel Ballroom, 4/24/68 Johnny with Dan Hicks signed by Dan

It's been a good 30 years... It's been a great spiritual experience sharing my feelings with my audience. And that's what performing is. It's communicating your feelings through lyrics, recitation, or dialogue between songs. I found it to be a great challenge yet a most rewarding thing and probably the most rewarding vocation a person can have...

               Johnny Cash 1984 interview

Choice Johnny Cash Cuts (per BK's request) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FywSzjRq0e4

"Hurt"   Johnny Cash video, filmed at home in Hendersonville, TN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGrR-7_OBpA

"One"   Johnny obliterates U2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZBaklS79Wc

"Redemption Song"  Johnny and Joe Strummer sing Ras Bob

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8i5NLyXZdc

"I Won't Back Down"   Johnny dominates Tom Petty

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yY6pMTPkUL8

"Rowboat"     Johnny destroys Beck

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5rVmXyZP5s

"Solitary Man"    Johnny dispatches Neil Diamond

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VmxF6tyJ4U

"Desperado"   Johnny annihilates The Eagles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4udoRz-m2Dw

"Spiritual"  Johnny exhilirates Josh Haden....Flea on bass!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPKN33AqBfU

"I'm Free From The Chain Gang Now"  

Johnny goes home

Bonus cuts:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRlj5vjp3Ko

"Ring Of Fire"  Johnny live 1963

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnplCRQVLDM

"Ring Of Fire"   June Carter Cash   Press On  1999

The Heath Brothers and Me...

Really Big! (1960) signed by Jimmy and Tootie Heath, Tommy Flanagan, Clark Terry

I had met Jimmy Heath, who - besides being a wonderful saxophonist - understood a lot about musical construction. I joined his group in Philadelphia in 1948. We were very much alike in our feeling, phrasing and a whole lot of other ways. Our musical appetites were the same. We used to practice together, and he would write out some of the things we were interested in. We would take things from records and digest them. In this way, we learned about the techniques being used by writers and arrangers.

                               John Coltrane, Downbeat, 1960

Nice People (1964 recordings) signed by the Heath Brothers, Donald Byrd, Clark Terry, Kenny Burrell,Curtis Fuller, Cedar Walton,

Trane was always high on Jimmy’s playing and so was I. Plus, he was a very hip dude to be with, funny and clean and very intelligent. Jimmy is one of the thoroughbreds.

                                  Miles Davis 

Live At The Village Gate (1963) signed by Jimmy, Tootie, Milt Jackson, Hank Jones, Bob Cranshaw

He’d say, “Hey, come here. Let me show you something on the piano.” The first time I had him at my home in Philadelphia, he showed me things on our piano. He said, “If you want to be an arranger and composer, you have to learn this keyboard.” He showed me harmonies that I still use…very modern voicings on the piano. He’d voice chords differently than anyone else. He was the first to show me the 9th next to the 10th, and how to create note clusters and harmonic devices that I still use today.

Jimmy Heath on the influence of Dizzy Gillespie

Jay Hawk Talk (1965) signed by Jimmy, “thanks for Ears”

He was not a guy who had an entourage like some people. He was an ordinary human being with a world of talent. And he would give his talent to others. He would show you a lot of things. We all learned from Dizzy, and those who passed through Dizzy’s bands all went on to become the giants of the music.

Jimmy Heath on his mentor Dizzy Gillespie

Kenny Dorham Quintet (1954) signed by Jimmy

At that session with Howard McGhee in ’48, I played baritone for a couple of tunes, and that was the first time ever that I’d recorded on baritone. This album with Kenny was one of the very few other times I played baritone on record. He asked me to play it on “Be My Love.” Being 5-foot-3, it’s not too often that I’d be asked to play the baritone saxophone; it was too big for me! I think I did just three sessions with it. Three strikes and I’m out.

Jimmy Heath on playing with Kenny Dorham’s Debut Record

Jazz ‘ n’ Samba (1964) signed by Jimmy, Milt, Tommy Flanagan, Richard Davis

So when I started making my own records for Riverside, I wanted to bring those guys in. Especially Wynton (Kelly), the way he plays those triplets. A friend of mine in Philly said, and I agree, that he plays teardrops in his solos. They’re just dripping down.

Jimmy Heath

Much In Common (1964) signed by Tootie, Milt, Ray Brown, Kenny Burrell, Hank Jones

I arranged one half of that record, and Oliver Nelson arranged the other half. For some reason, Oliver had a whole big band and I only got a tentet. When I found that out, I said, “Oh shit, they cheated me!” And Oliver insisted on using minor seconds in his orchestration all the time, that crunchy harmony, which was a pet peeve with Milt Jackson. Bags had perfect pitch, so the minor seconds rubbed him wrongly. He’d be like, “Are you playing E or F or what?” Later he told me, “Look, Bermuda”—he called me that—“I like your side of the record better than Oliver’s.”

Jimmy Heath on arranging Ray Brown/Milt Jackson

Opus De Funk (1975) signed by Jimmy and Percy Heath, Milt Jackson, Ron Carter, Tommy Flanagan

The first record I bought myself was “C Jam Blues” and “Rain Check” by Duke Ellington. I came home one day and it was under the sofa. I think Tootie (younger brother and phenomenal drummer Al “Tootie” Heath) broke it. Erskine Hawkins: “Swinging on Lenox Avenue,”  “After Hours,” and “Tuxedo Junction,” Glen Miller: “Serenade in Blue,” Bird and Dizzy: “Shaw Enough” and “Groovin’ High,” Sarah Vaughan: “If You Could See Me Now;” John Coltrane: “Naima.” Kenny Dorham was the romantic composer of the bebop era. He wrote four or five beautiful ballads. And Gil Evans: “Porgy & Bess” with Miles, because me and my wife courted on that album, and we’ve been married now for 51 years.

Jimmy Heath on records that changed his life, 2011 interview

Showboat (1960 recordings) signed by Jimmy

There are great family traditions in Jazz. The Marsalis clan from New Orleans is probably the most notable, the Jones boys (Thad, Hank, and Elvin) from Detroit are probably the most talented, but the Heath Brothers (Percy, Jimmy, and Albert "Tootie") from Philadelphia (via North Carolina) are the most unsung and underrated.

In Motion (1979) signed by Jimmy, Tootie, Percy

Percy Heath is the oldest brother, a bass player with The Modern Jazz Quartet for forty years and an accomplished cellist. Percy is tall, 6'3", all sinewy limbs and long fingers as he thumps and thwacks his upright bass, setting an immaculate groove. Jimmy Heath is the middle brother, a tenor saxophonist, flutist, arranger and composer. Jimmy is diminutive, 5'3" but a full force gale when blowing his tenor sax. Albert "Tootie" Heath is the youngest brother, a drummer who has recorded with Nina Simone, Wes Montgomery, and Dexter Gordon. Tootie is thicker, sturdy and strong as he beats complex time and rhythms on his drums, the consummate timekeeper.

Passin’ Thru (1978) signed by Jimmy, Percy, Tootie

Collectively, the Heath brothers have appeared on hundreds and hundreds of jazz recordings. Jimmy alone has appeared on over one-hundred twenty-five records and some of his one-hundred plus compositions have become jazz standards and recorded by Charlie Parker (a latin groove "Fiesta"), Miles Davis ("The Serpent's Tooth"), Chet Baker ("Gingerbread Boy"), and Dexter Gordon ("C.T.A.") to name just a few. During breaks with their various band commitments and tours, the Heath Brothers also recorded together. As brothers. They have released twelve albums and, despite Percy's passing in 2003, Jimmy and Tootie still get together and perform. The Heath Brothers' shows are so much fun, with their talent and good humor readily apparent in all that they do.

The Gap Sealer (1972) signed by Jimmy and Tootie Heath, Kenny Barron, Bob Cranshaw

They have signed lots and lots of albums over the years and they have always been kind and generous. Ever true to his instrument, Percy always drew a bass scroll with tuning pegs underneath his signature. When I showed Tootie the Nice People album, I pointed to some of the signatures. I told him, "‘Look I got brother Percy and brother Jimmy here and brother Kenny (Burrell)...’  "What's your name?" he interrupted. Then he signed it, handed it back to me and smiled, "Look, now we got brother Neil on there too." It may have been my proudest moment. An honorary Heath Brother, if only on a signature on a great album.

The Heath brothers. Nice, easy, affable, and extremely talented brothers.

Jimmy (1972) signed by Jimmy and Tootie Heath, Kenny Barron, Bob Cranshaw

Love And Understanding (1973) signed by Jimmy, Bob Cranshaw

From Vienna With Art (1978) signed by Jimmy, Art Farmer, Jimmy Woode

Brothers & Others (1983) signed by Jimmy, Percy, Tootie , Stanley Cowell

Choice Heath Brothers Cuts (per BKs request)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhgJ2z-Ro7A&list=PLbgNWYWDRcDAPWZyu4TwtxZAI0oiG_Ghj&index=5

“A Time And A Place” Pulp Fusion 2014

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46hJOHdabLQ&list=PLK_wZjcZ4-31TOVJEtvb7Mc4ogo8XwIe0&index=5

“A Sound For Sore Ears” Brotherly Love 1982

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGx9pC67B2M&list=PLK_wZjcZ4-31TOVJEtvb7Mc4ogo8XwIe0&index=3

“Autumn In New York” Endurance 2009

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkJYWI5K0pg&list=PLK_wZjcZ4-31TOVJEtvb7Mc4ogo8XwIe0&index=8

“This Is What It Is” As We Were Saying 1997

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcnH-VKepJ0&list=PLK_wZjcZ4-31TOVJEtvb7Mc4ogo8XwIe0&index=21

“Watergate Blues” Marchin’ On 1975

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJdSRSusHcw

“On Green Dolphin Street” Really Big! 1960

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOegZMsxJaE

“Invitation” The Gap Sealer 1972

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9e6PS3pxH0

“All The Things You Are” Nice People 1988 compilation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YN-T4X8_Qc

“Gingerbread Boy” On The Trail 1964

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XRa6WggMRw

“Tenor Madness” live Kongsberg Jazz Festival 1989

Peer Pleasure (1987) signed by Jimmy, Larry Willis

Be Bop (1988) signed by Jimmy, J.J. Johnson, Jon Faddis, Mickey Roker, Milt Jackson, Cedar Walton

Soul Sauce (1965) signed by Jimmy

Black Drops (1970) signed by Jimmy

X and Me...

So when I started playing with Billy and John before we found DJ, they were doing Carl Perkins songs in the garage. And that was kind of unheard of in the late seventies. That music was considered pretty dead. So American roots music was always something that X played. John taught me how to sing by pulling out an acoustic guitar, and we'd sing Hank Williams songs. That's how he was trying to teach me how to sing.

                                         Exene Cervenka

Los Angeles (1980) signed by John Doe, Exene Cervenka, Billy Zoom, DJ Bonebrake

We were trying to recapture the freedom and dangerousness that rock and roll had. Short songs. Fast and loud and wild. But I think what defined it was that freedom. You could do anything you wanted. It wasn't codified into one type of punk rock.

                                          John Doe

Wild Gift (1981) signed by X

Formed in Los Angeles in 1977 by John Doe and Billy Zoom, X is one of the great American punk rock bands. Their roots are rockabilly and hard core country, the music of Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, George Jones, and Johnny Cash, not the country cosmopolitan pap that mostly emanates these days from Nashville. They released seven studio albums from 1980-1993, and their debut Los Angeles (1980) was produced by The Doors' legendary keyboard player Ray Manzarek on a paltry $10,000 budget. X blisters a version of The Doors' "Soul Kitchen" and Ray even plays an organ solo on "The World's A Mess, It's In My Kiss." Ray enjoyed the band so much he produced their first four albums, and they are all great records.

More Fun In The New World (1983) signed by X

I saw X many times over the years and they are an incendiary live act. In 1983, they performed at the Ontario Theater in Washington DC, a converted movie theater, capacity maybe five-hundred seats. X was touring in support of More Fun In The New World and they delivered an explosive and remarkable show. Though critically acclaimed, X never made a lot of money, nor enjoyed wide commercial success, and they broke up as the band members pursued other interests. John Doe has had a solo career and many roles as an actor (including supporting roles in Road House and Boogie Nights - two cultural masterpieces!), and Exene Cervenka has released solo albums, written poetry, and exhibited her collages at galleries in New York and Los Angeles.

Under TheBig Black Sun (1982) front cover

Back cover signed by X

In 1995, X reformed and released a (kind of) acoustic live album Unclogged. I saw them again at the old 9:30 Club, a small venue (maybe three hundred seats) in a run down office building in a seedy part of downtown Washington, DC. This was long before that neighborhood became gentrified, or the 9:30 Club moved to posh, new digs. Tuning up for a song, John Doe asked the crowd, "Does anyone know Johnny Cash? He really needs to sing this song. If you know him, or how to reach him, please see me after the show." The band then launched into a country rock version of "Burning House Of Love" with loping drums that would have made Johnny's long time drummer W.S. Holland proud. It would have been a perfect song for Johnny Cash. If I only knew Johnny Cash. Or Rick Rubin. At the time, Cash and Rubin were recording interesting covers of Beck, Danzig and Tom Waits(and later Nine Inch Nails, Nick Cave, U2, etc.), introducing the wonders and magnificence of Johnny Cash to millennials and hipsters everywhere. You could hear X's undying love of country music underneath their punk rock cacophony. Just like Harlan Howard famously defined country music, punk rock is really three chords and the truth (in three minutes or less).

Ain’t Love Grand (1985) signed by X

A side project, The Knitters' Poor Little Critter On The Road (1985) and The Modern Sounds Of The Knitters (2005) with all members of X including Blaster supreme Dave Alvin, reaffirmed their love of country, and included convincing covers of Albert Brumley's "Rank Stranger" and Merle Haggard's "Silver Wings." It doesn't get any more country or soulful than John Doe's earnest vocals and Exene's ringing harmonies.

The Knitters: Poor Little Critter On The Road (1985) signed by John Doe, Exene Cervenka, DJ Bonebrake, Dave Alvin

back cover signed by Billy Zoom

The other band members are equally talented and interesting.

DJ Bonebrake is an accomplished drummer, sometime vibraphonist, and jazz aficionado. He once told me that his favorite jazz drummers and influences were Max Roach, Art Blakey and Elvin Jones, excellent and discerning choices. DJ also told me of being on a commercial flight with the Modern Jazz Quartet in the 1980s, and everyone was in coach except Milt Jackson. Milt was chilling in first class, as any first rate vibraphonist should.

Billy Zoom is an excellent guitar player, occasional tenor saxophonist, and inveterate electronics tinkerer. The Billy Zoom Music and Custom Shop is a world class specialist in vacuum tube audio equipment. Since 1970, Billy and his shop have designed, built, modified, and repaired thousands of guitar amplifiers and studio recording gear. Billy Zoom is truly a gearhead's gearhead.

See How We Are (1987) signed by John Doe, Exene Cervenka, Tony Gilkyson, Dave Alvin, DJ Bonebrake

When I met John Doe, I asked him if he was a Baltimore Colts fan (he graduated from Antioch College in Baltimore in 1975). He said, "Hell yes." I mentioned that I knew Baltimore Colt and NFL Hall of Famer Art Donovan and went to college with his son, Artie. I told John that we used to hang at Art's Valley Country Club in Baltimore, and drink Schlitz beer. John exclaimed, "Schlitz? You should be drinking Natty Bo! (National Bohemian, another vintage Baltimore brew)." John signed so many records that I gave him a signed Art Donovan football card. A few days later, my friend Artie saw X perform at the Bottom Line in New York City. Artie said he introduced himself to John Doe after the show, and John said he still had his Dad's football card in his back pocket. That's respect and commitment from a Natty Bo lover and erstwhile Baltimorean.

X...the band is greater than the sum of its parts. Thankfully, they "play too hard when I ought to go to sleep."

Unclogged (1995) front cover

Choice X Cuts (per BKs request)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=r-U6dXK4Mig&list=PL-cHDTXElYhg1Qtuud7VOjl-D1Fb3vumJ&index=8

“The World’s A Mess” Los Angeles 1980

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MRHa1vUMvEs

“Burning House Of Love” Unclogged

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=k5ikNYY0JgQ&list=PL-cHDTXElYhg1Qtuud7VOjl-D1Fb3vumJ&index=3

“Soul Kitchen” Los Angeles 1980

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vmbWy-MGTFg

“4th Of July” See How We Are 1987

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=emY12SGdrIM

“White Girl”

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=24qbIQynztY

“See How We Are” live acoustic 1986

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Vjk-JLlGXrM&list=PL_dv_QRa4hIPS0LVi0CrCDvaQuyJCEOor&index=6

“Breathless” Under The Big Black Sun 1982

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Zjwx4lt-hVU&list=PL_dv_QRa4hIPS0LVi0CrCDvaQuyJCEOor&index=4

“Poor Girl”

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NaBSr-KV47E&list=PL_dv_QRa4hIPS0LVi0CrCDvaQuyJCEOor&index=1

“The New World” More Fun In The New World 1983

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NOdMYZa3dA4

“Breathless” live on David Letterman

Unclogged back cover signed by John Doe, Exene Cervenka, DJ Bonebrake, Tony Gilkyson

Maynard Ferguson, Danny and Me..

Daniel Joseph Callahan IV (1957-2010)

Happy Thanksgiving! I am thankful for my faith, family and friends, especially those who are no longer with us. At the top of my list is my great friend, Danny Callahan. He was the life of every party, pegged the fun meter, and always turned it up way past eleven. He was a brilliant storyteller and I miss his enthusiasm, counsel, and most of all, his company. The holidays, and most days, shine a little dimmer without DJC IV. This Maynard Ferguson story, and so many others, could not happen without him.

Jam Session (1953) signed by Maynard Ferguson, Harold Land, Junior Mance, Max Roach, Clark Terry

Change is always happening. That's one of the wonderful things about Jazz.

               Maynard Ferguson

Hollywood Party (1954) signed by Maynard

Born in Canada, Maynard Ferguson was a child prodigy on violin, who switched to cornet and trumpet, and was playing on the CBC by the time he was thirteen. Maynard made his bones in the big bands of the day, especially with Charlie Barnett and Stan Kenton. He went solo in 1956 and became best known for playing in an upper register, a high C was nothing for Maynard's powerful playing. Maynard also made the transition from Big Bands to Jazz-Rock Fusion, and had a top 40 hit with "Gonna Fly Now" from the Rocky movie, which became a staple at his live shows thereafter.

A Message From Newport (1958) signed by Maynard, Slide Hampton

Back in the late 1980s, Maynard was playing a week long gig at Blue Alley in Washington, DC. On Sunday night, my friend Danny Callahan called me and told me to get to the club right away. "I've been talking to Maynard about you and all your records. He wants to meet you. And Larry's cousin is his bass player. You gotta come now." I told Danny that I've been hitting it hard all week, and I gotta get up early for work, so I'm out. Danny says, "I'm bringing them back to your house after the show." I hang up. No shot they're coming, I went to bed.

Jazz For Dancing (1959) signed by Maynard, Slide Hampton

Sure enough, 'round midnight, I get a knock on my door. The door opens: there stand Danny, Larry, and Larry's cousin the bass player. ‘Where's Maynard?’ I ask. " You know I worked him as hard as I could,” Danny tells me. I believed him. Danny was as persuasive a salesman as I have ever met. Maynard told Danny, "You know, I like you a lot and you're a lot of fun. But we've been on tour for a long time and this is the last night. As soon as this show ends, I have a car taking me to the airport and I'm going back home to California. So I don't give a fuck about your friend's pissant record collection."

So! Si, M.F. (1962) signed by Maynard, Slide Hampton

Fortunately, Larry's cousin the bass player was more enthusiastic. In those days, my bar was always open and we drank and played records till the wee hours. I remember playing Duke Ellington and Ray Brown's extraordinary "This One's For Blanton", the only duet album Duke ever recorded. It was a tribute to his bassist, Jimmy Blanton who died at age 23 in 1942 from TB. Blanton, hugely influential, was the first jazz bassist to perform bass solos. Ray Brown was the perfect musician to complement Duke's inspired playing. Larry's cousin the bass player was very impressed, and there were many other records we played that night that Larry's cousin the bass player had never heard before.

This One’s For Blanton (1972) signed by Ray Brown

Years later, I saw Maynard at the Blue Note in New York City. He was very kind as he signed a bunch of albums. He had a steady stream of visitors come by to pay homage, former colleagues and great jazz players like Slide Hampton, Jonah Jones, and Jimmy Owens. Maynard was still able to hit all the high notes, and the Rocky theme never sounded so good.

Swinging My Way Through College (1958) signed by Maynard, Slide Hampton, Jonah Jones

I sure wish Maynard showed up to listen to my "pissant records". At least Larry's cousin the bass player got his groove on.

Maynard Ferguson (1971) signed by Maynard

Choice Maynard Ferguson Cuts (per BKs request)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jxvhsr_R15E

“The Fugue” A Message From Newport 1958

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHd3vzyM1fw

“Gonna Fly Now” Mike Douglas Show 1977

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMn245qb2s8

“Somewhere” Germany 1969

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_xD2VQuGUU

“Conquistador” Conquistador 1977

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSSDjbWHssw

“Theme From Star Trek” Memories Of Maynard 1979

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fC6ykRiQcvA

“MacArthur Park” M. F. Horn 1970

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uNbqi2hrmc

“Hey Jude” Maynard blows The Beatles!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-rxvX7mVuI

“Carnival” Carnival 1978

Carnival (1978) signed by Maynard

Ray Bryant and Me…

The first music I heard was gospel. My mother was an ordained minister and a self-taught pianist, so I spent a lot of time in church. She gave me my first lessons.

Ray Bryant

Gotta Travel On (1966) signed by Ray

This guy sat down all alone at the piano. I was absolutely astonished by what I heard. It was Art Tatum. From that moment on, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

               Ray Bryant on his first jazz concert

Alone At Montreux (1972) signed by Ray

Playing solo piano is pretty demanding. You're out there all alone and you’ve got to do it all by yourself, but there's also a certain degree of freedom involved. You can really do anything you want to.
Ray Bryant

All Blues (1978) signed by Ray

At the age of six my mother sent me to the neighborhood piano teacher. She realized that no matter what I wanted to do the best thing would be to acquire a solid musical foundation and that would be through classical training. I've never regretted it.

Ray Bryant

Slow Freight (1966) signed by Ray

Some people say I was I still have traces of classical training in my playing. There's no doubt about it. That's the best way to learn the piano. Go to a teacher and study formally. As I grew older and started hearing jazz, I just naturally gravitated towards it. At the time there weren’t schools available so most things you just had to work out yourself. That came from experience and actual trial and error. I feel like those circumstances make for the formation of real musical identities.
Ray Bryant

Lonesome Traveler (1967) signed by Ray, Clark Terry

Ray Bryant was surrounded by music as a child. His brother Tommy was a noted bass player, brother Len played drums, and sister Vera Eubanks became an organist and pianist specializing in gospel music. Ray's nephews are also prominent musicians: Kevin Eubanks is a guitarist and was the bandleader on Jay Leno's Tonight Show for 15 years, trombonist Robin Eubanks played with Art Blakey and Elvin Jones, and trumpeter/flugelhornist Duane Eubanks won a Grammy as a member of Dave Holland's big band. Clearly, music is a successful enterprise for the gifted Bryant family.

Take A Bryant Step (1967) signed by Ray

In 1953, Ray and his brother Tommy joined the house band at the Blue Note in Philadelphia, and accompanied jazz legends Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Lester Youngwhen they were passing through. Ray developed formidable piano skills: soul drenched blues meets gospel meets boogie woogie, unique skills for most mid-1950s jazz pianists. Throughout his marvelous career, Ray appeared on more than 50 albums as a leader, and on hundreds more as a session player. Ray also played on early recordings for acclaimed singers Betty Carter, Carmen McRae and Aretha Franklin (on the Queen of Soul's second album released in 1961 when she was only 18).

Social Call (1955-56 recordings, released 1980) signed by Ray, Betty Carter

A talented composer of many songs that have become jazz standards, "Cubano Chant", "Little Susie", "Slow Freight" and "Cold Turkey" have been recorded by Count Basie, Art Blakey Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Peterson and others. Ray also wrote "The Madison Time" which became an unlikely dance hit in 1960. A novelty song, it spawned one of the first line dances in music history. On the jacket of a 45 single, it was introduced as "the swingingest - the zaniest - the most sensational new dance craze." Baltimore DJ Eddie Morrison supplied the calls (the only song I know that has shout outs to Jackie Gleason and Wilt Chamberlin!) while Ray, brother Tommy, and jazz trumpet great Harry "Sweets" Edison lay down an infectious groove. The director John Waters saw the dance as a boy growing up in Baltimore and included it in Hairspray, his camp masterpiece (released in 1988). "The Madison Time" continues to make appearances in the broadway play adaptation of Hairspray whenever it is performed. And Ray's groove grooves on...as it should.

MCMLXX (1971) signed by Ray

I saw Ray perform many times over the years and his music was very inspiring. When I returned home from the hospital when my first child was born in 1997, I was so full of joy from the miracle of birth and life. I wanted to celebrate, and I had a lot of music choices. The first record I listened to was Ray's beautiful rendition of "Lil' Darlin'", a Neal Hefti groove made famous by Count Basie.

Montreux ‘77 (1977) signed by Ray

Backstage at the Kennedy Center when I met Ray several months later, he was with a friend. I told Ray this story. He was moved. He said, "Man, that's beautiful. That's why I play music." Ray motioned to a friend nearby, "Hey, did you hear that? That was really beautiful." His friend nodded yes. Ray then signed the album and personalized it to my daughter Kendall, who was months old at the time. It is a beautiful memory of a beautiful night of music with a beautiful man. This started a listening tradition when my other two children were born, they are all my "Lil Darlins."

Thanks for all the great music, Ray. Especially the music for my "Lil Darlins."

Here’s Ray Bryant (1976) signed by Ray “To Kendall”

Hot Turkey (1975) signed by Ray

Choice Ray Bryant Cuts (per BKs request)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCsEzFAFXCI

“Lil Darlin’ “ Here’s Ray Bryant 1977

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRQbImfGA6c

“Little Susie” live in Hamburg, Germany 1986

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIDrO-V9qY4

“Slow Freight” Slow Freight 1967

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCjecP1HT-s

“Cubano Chant” Lonesome Traveler 1966

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcBkoVJ1vOQ

“Madison Time” 1960

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l94iNMcoliA

“Madison Time” Hairspray 1988

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF0h5tGfegY

“Con Alma” Ray Bryant Trio 1960

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJleP1d4UqI

“Girl Talk” Here’s Ray Bryant 1976

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErgKqUz-qD0

“My Blues (Blues #5) Alone With The Blues 1957

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hayZl_3qbiw

“Good Morning Heartache” Here’s Ray Bryant 1976

Best Of Ray Bryant (1980) signed by Ray

Somewhere In Time promo (2000) signed by Ray

Hard Cookin’ (1965) signed by Ray, Frank Foster, Jackie McLean

Joe Ely, The Clash and Me…

Honky Tonk Masquerade had just come out, and we were in London playing the Venue Club when all The Clash.showed up one night. They came backstage and I guess they'd heard me on the radio and knew every song on my record. This was 1978 and coming from Lubbock; we had no idea what was going on in London. They told me they were coming to America and I asked where they wanted to play. 'Laredo, El Paso' -- they were naming off all these gunfighter ballad towns from Marty Robbins songs. 'Well I don't know about that,' I said, 'but we could play Lubbock together.' And they were like, 'Lubbock! All right!' They told their booking agent they didn't care about Houston or Dallas, they wanted to play Laredo, Lubbock, El Paso, and Wichita Falls. Somehow he put it together and we played Houston, San Antonio, Laredo, Lubbock, and Juarez. It was a great Europe-meets-Texas meeting.

Joe Ely on The Clash

Honky Tonk Masquerade (1978) signed by Joe

Playing with The Clash definitely kicked my band up a notch. Growing up in Lubbock, I always hung around with the rock & roll guys, so I came from a rockin' background. We played the Palladium in Hollywood together and Monterey Pop festival -- Bond's in New York. It was a big boost for us, so when they invited us back the following year for the London Calling shows in London, it was a real eye-opener. We were playing their venues with them -- the Electric Ballroom, Hammersmith Odeon -- wild, steamy, crazy shows that were unbelievable.

                                          Joe Ely

Texas Special (45rpm - 1980) signed by Joe

Texas Special back cover (45rpm -1980)

It's important to find new perspectives in songwriting. I’m not interested in making up a song that I could have done when I was eighteen because I'm not thinking the same way. You have to keep widening your scope and never re-create something just because it was successful. I've spent my whole life… looking to make that next different song. To me, that's success.

Joe Ely

Joe Ely (1977) signed by Joe

Born in 1947 in Lubbock, Texas, the birthplace of Buddy Holly, one of the pioneers of rock and roll. Joe Ely formed The Flatlanders with his friends, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock, and they released one album in 1972, Jimmie Dale And The Flatlanders. Joe recalled their strengths, “Jimmie was like a well of country music. He knew everything about it, and Butch was from the folk world. I was kinda the rock & roll guy, and we almost had a triad. We hit it off and started playing a lot together. That opened up a whole new world I had never known existed.” Although each became better known as solo artists and songwriters, Flatlander interest has remained strong throughout the years, resulting in several reunion tours and some recent studio recordings. As the title of their 1990 release suggests, The Flatlanders were More A Legend Than A Band.

Down On The Drag (1979) signed by Joe

With a compelling mix of honky tonk heartbreakers and scorching rockers, Joe Ely is a magnetic performer. In 1995, I saw him play the Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia. The old Birchmere was a converted furniture store, a rectangle box with low ceilings, a small stage and an impressive list of bands. Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle and Dave Alvin were just a few of the performers I saw in this intimate two hundred-fifty seat venue. Joe was touring in support of Letter To Laredo (1995) which was a dramatic change for Joe's roots rock sounds. For this show, he was accompanied by guitarist Teye (Teije Wijnterp), a Dutch flamenco master, and Joe was showcasing new songs "I'm A Thousand Miles From Home,” "Saint Valentine,” “All Just To Get To You" and the Tom Russell penned cockfighting ballad, "Gallo Del Cielo." I guess there aren't many cockfighting ballads around, but "Gallo Del Cielo" is surprisingly listenable, and the deft flamenco flourishes by Teye are a nice touch.

Letter To Laredo (1995) signed by Joe

Before the show, I headed backstage to get some albums signed. I was told Joe was in the van in the parking lot, so I went outside. Attached to a nondescript white Ford Econoline van was a camper. This was not a luxury Airstream or a tricked out tour bus, the camper looked like it had plenty of road miles with dents and dings, and I opened the rickety screen and knocked on the door. Joe answered and invited me in. He had reading glasses on and was sharing a quiet moment before the show. I felt bad about interrupting his solitude. Just not that bad. 

Musta Notta Gotta Lotta (1981) signed by Joe

Joe was happy to sign some albums. As he was signing Live Shots (recorded during his 1979 London tour in support of The Clash), I asked him about about his time on the road with The Clash. "That was a great tour and they were a lot of fun to play with. We had some good times and they are all great guys." I told him how much I enjoyed his cover of "White Line Fever" (released on a Merle Haggard tribute Tulare Dust). "I'd love to play it tonight but I really need Lloyd (Maines, pedal steel player extraordinaire and father of lead Dixie Chick Natalie) to do it justice." Joe was so kind and generous, and then he went on stage and rocked out in his inimitable West Texas roadhouse style. To paraphrase one of Joe's best tunes, we were lucky to be listenin'. Like The Clash sang on Sandanista's "If Music Could Talk", "Well, there ain't no better blend, than Joe Ely and his Texas men."

What’s Shakin’ Tonight (1984 - 12” single) signed by joe

Lord Of The Highway (1987) signed by Joe

Choice Joe Ely Cuts (per BKs request)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iiBPXlQ5cF8

“Should I Stay Or Should I Go” Joe sings The Clash!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0xOQN_5AgXs

“If You Were A Bluebird” live with Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Butch Hancock 1990

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1457WDYKrQ

“Not Fade Away” live at Billy Bob’s with Bobby Keys

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WJuItBzbnXk

“Are You Listening Lucky?” Lord Of The Highway

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWr3JDcmxVs

“I Fought The Law” Live acoustic

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dFjvLsUczAA&list=PLyQnHRd_AJAPjw41VcRUWDW3Y19-i0vgV&index=5

“Tonight I Think. I’m Gonna Go Downtown” Honky Tonk Masquerade 1978

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1Miszhec_tk

“Musta Notta Gotta Lotta” live with David Grissom, Bobby Keys

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GqR4VF-GIbA

“Where Is My Love” with Linda Ronstadt 1978

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5RrnXHZirE

“Dallas” Live at Gruene Hall 1986

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqkJUHSBYHY

“She Never Spoke Spanish To Me”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2Dp-KH0XYs

“If Music Could Talk” The Clash 1980

Twist in’ In The Wind (1998) signed by Joe

Panhandle Rambler (2015) signed by Joe

Ruth Brown and Me…

She was one of the original divas. I can't really say that I've heard anyone that sounds like Ruth, before or after. She was a combination of sass and innocence, and she was extremely funky. She could really put it right on the beat, and the tone of her voice was just mighty. And she had a great heart. What I loved about her was her combination of vulnerability and resilience and fighting spirit. It was not arrogance, but she was just really not going to lay down and roll over for anyone.

Bonnie Raitt

Rock & Roll (1949-56recordings, released 1957) signed by Ruth

I was trying to do Billie Holiday, because she was the voice to be heard at that time... I could do her better than she could do herself. When I got into New York and I worked in Café Society, she walked in the club one night and I was onstage with a gardenia and everything in my hair. Josh White told me there was this woman in the club and she was Billie Holiday. She upset the table, stood up and walked away while I was onstage. I was insulted or hurt, I didn't know what. When I did get off, I went backstage and she was still there. She looked at me and said, 'Let me tell you something, and you better believe this: You got a great voice, and your star is out there. You can be wonderful, but you have got to know who you are. Every time that you go out on that stage and do what you did just now, they call my name. But nobody will ever know yours.'

Ruth Brown on meeting Billie Holiday

Gospel Time (1962) signed by Ruth “Love Peace Love”

In school, we had music classes, but I ducked them. They were just a little too slow. I didn't want to read no note. I knew I could sing it. I woke up one morning and I could sing.

Ruth Brown

Unfortunately, a lot of entertainers have the wrong disposition. They treat people like, 'Oh, you are so lucky, here I am.' I always take time to talk to people to tell them I appreciate them. What has made it easier for me now at this late age, is I don't remember meeting anyone who said, 'I like Ruth Brown's singing, but I can't stand that bitch, she is evil.'

Ruth Brown

Ray (Charles) called me and said, 'I'm doing this movie. Who do you want to play you?' And I said, 'Halle Berry, you crazy fool!' He said, 'I ain't that blind.'

Ruth Brown on her last conversation with Ray Charles

Ruth Brown’65 (1964) signed by Ruth

Born in Portsmouth, Virginia, Ruth Weston was steeped in the gospel harmonies of the Emanuel A.M.E. church where her father served as the choir director. She also fell under the spell of secular music, the songs and vocals of Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington and, especially Billie Holiday. Soon, Ruth began clandestine trips across the Elizabeth River in Southern Virginia to perform in night clubs as a teenager. As Ruth recalled, "The club owners would talk to each other...that's how I got my jobs, one person would say, 'This girl is good.' And, of course, I was singing cheap." Secular music - her parents called it "the devil's music" - prevailed over sacred and Ruth ran off and married trumpet player Jimmy Brown when she was only seventeen years old. Or, at least Ruth thought she married Jimmy - he was already married - and while ol' Jimmy didn't hang around for long, the name Ruth Brown stuck.

In 1949, Ruth Brown was signed by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson, the co-founders of Atlantic Records, a fledgling rhythm and blues label which was only two years old. Ruth's first hit was "So Long" in 1949, and then "Teardrops In Your Eyes" followed in 1950 which stayed Number One on the R&B charts for three months. Ruth put Atlantic Records on the map and in the black, selling over three million records. Sixteen Top 10 and five Number One hits followed in the next six years including "5-10-15 Hours", "Oh, What A Dream", "Mambo Baby" and "Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean", and Atlantic Records became known as the "The House That Ruth Built." Atlantic fared very well in the ensuing years, signing Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Otis Redding, Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones, while selling and earning millions. Ruth Brown, not so much, her fortunes ebbed, and mostly ebbed some more.

The Real Ruth Brown (1972) signed by Ruth

When Ruth left Atlantic in 1960 after an eleven year stint, she was broke, not an uncommon experience for artists of that era. Through the magic of record label accounting, she was $30,00 in arrears as Atlantic accrued all her band, production, recording and travel expenses to her account which she could not pay. Worse, many of her songs were covered by popular white artists of the day with no credit, a common practice known then as "Whitewashing." I mean, does anyone really need to hear Pat Boone sing Little Richard's "Tutti Fruitti" or "Long Tall Sally"?! As Ruth ruefully related, "Well, some people might have thought it was flattering, but for me, it didn't do a damn thing except stop me from getting on the top TV shows. I never got to do The Ed Sullivan Show. Patti Page did, Georgia Gibbs did."

Ruth left the music business in the 1960s and settled on Long Island with her two young sons and husband number three, Bill Blunt, a policeman who did not want her to sing. They were not a good fit and they soon divorced. Ruth admitted, "I could pick a good song, but I sure couldn't pick a man." She raised her two sons and provided for them anyway she could: toiling obscurely as a school bus driver, teacher's assistant, and maid. No task was too menial to provide support for her family. She remembered the hard times, "Ruth the singer disappeared. I did a lot of things to survive. All I wanted was to feed my kids and keep the lights on." As her finances worsened, she reached out to her old friend at Atlantic Records, Ahmet Ertegun. She got a $1,000 check in response, a pittance, "crumbs from a rich man's label...for every Picasso he had hanging on his wall, I had a damp patch on mine", she bitterly recounted.

You Don’t Know Me (1978) signed by Ruth

Her career rebounded when an old friend, comedian Redd Foxx, invited her to appear on his show "Sanford And Son." This led to a role on a short-lived television sitcom Hello Larry, then a role in John Waters cult classic Hairspray as "Motormouth Maybelle" and eventually, a Tony award in 1989 for Best Actress in a Musical for Black And Blue. Perhaps her best achievement (and longest lasting legacy) was successfully suing Atlantic Records for royalties for her extensive back catalog. Ruth wrote in her 1995 memoir, Miss Rhythm, that despite many attempts through the years by various attorneys, she was, "expertly stonewalled by the powers at Atlantic. And always, always there was the constant threat from them: Leave, get lost, drop it, or we'll sue for the recovery of the money you owe." Ever tenacious and uncowed, Ruth found the right attorney in Howell Begle and in 1987, they won a settlement from Atlantic Records for a (paltry!) $20,000 for Ruth, forgiveness of her outstanding "debts", and an additional $1.5 million to establish The Rhythm and Blues Foundation which serves artists in need. Royalty reform was also part of the accord which benefited artists like Solomon Burke, Wilson Pickett and Big Joe Turner, and other labels like Motown, Universal Music and MCA subsequently gave sizable donations to the foundation.

The first time I saw Ruth Brown, she was performing at the Iridium in New York City in 1999 when it was located on 63rd and Broadway, near Lincoln Center. She had a great band including her long time Hammond B3 organist, Bobby Forrester, tenor saxophonist Bill Easley and music director and guitarist extraordinaire Rodney Jones. She was feisty, full of vigor, and prowled the stage like a feral cat as she sang her songs, "5-10-15 Hours", "So Long", and "Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean." She was particularly bawdy and bodacious on "If I Can't Sell It, I'll Keep Sitting On It", a raucous, tongue firmly planted somewhere tale of a used furniture salesman peddling wares. Full of sexual innuendo and risqué by 1936 standards when the song was written, it came from the prolific pen of lyricist Andy Razaf ("Ain't Misbehavin' " and "Honeysuckle Rose"). With Ruth's skills, it was a mesmerizing show stopper.

Gospel Time (1962) signed by Ruth “To Kendall Happy. Birthday “

Afterwards, I met with Ruth in her dressing room. She was warm and gracious as she signed the vinyl. I mentioned how much I enjoyed Gospel Time. "Well, that's where it all started for me, in the church. I love those songs," she confided. I mentioned my daughter's second birthday was coming up that weekend. "Oh, that's wonderful. What's her name?" "Kendall", I replied, and she thoughtfully signed it, "To Kendall, Happy Birthday!" The framed album still hangs proudly in Kendall's bedroom, as it has for the past seventeen years, next to some older friends, Bobby Short and Tito Puente, and newer friends, Beirut and Neutral Milk Hotel!

Erin and I saw Ruth again five years later, and though she had suffered a stroke, there was nothing that could stop her indomitable will, spirit and strength. She could no longer cavort around the stage, so she sang from her chair and the rhythm, the blues and her soul radiated. Despite all her travels and travails, there was a singular, positive affirmation in Ruth Brown and her music. Especially when she sang the blues.

The author Robert Louis Stevenson once wrote, "Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but of playing a poor hand well." No one played a hand better than Ruth Brown, rich or poor.

Have A Good Time (1988) signed by Ruth

Choice Ruth Brown Cuts (per BK's request)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnmbJruEkKw
“Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean" Live 1955

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHe16XFQUpI
“Oh What A Dream" Live at The Apollo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhW8QqXX_ck

"Teardrops From My Eyes" Live At The Apollo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrmf5pntPXA

“Ain't Nobody's Business" Live with B.B. King 1993

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17LZnN20eKs
“If I Can't Sell It, I'll Keep Sittin' On It" Live 1990

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fADIumYD4Tw
"Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean" Live 1993 with Bonnie Raitt Rock n Roll Hall Of Fame Induction

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CjyfQtFR2Y
"Please Send Me Someone To Love" Black Is Brown & Brown Is Beautiful 1969

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VA7pKn1WNwo
“Yesterday" Ruth Sings The Beatles Black Is Brown & Brown Is Beautiful 1969

Les Paul and Me...

Ever since I was a freckle-faced, red-headed kid, I just attacked the guitar. I was terribly aggressive about it. There were certain things that, if they intrigued me, whether it was music or electronics, I just went for the throat.

Les Paul

The New Sound (1950 10” vinyl) signed by Les

Right from the start I wanted to get different sounds and I wanted to get different effects. The first thing that hit me was that if I played a note and I played an octave higher than that, playing the two notes together — even three octaves apart — it created big sounds and different sounds, making the whole thing very special because it had never been heard before. It was a new kind of music, and that turned me on…
Les Paul

Jazz At The Philharmonic (1944 recordings) signed by Les

Once Miles Davis asked me, “What’s the secret, Les? People love you.” I said, ‘It’s simple, but it’ll be difficult for you.’ And he says, “Well, tell me, tell me, what should I do?” I said, ‘Play ‘Mockingbird Hill.’ “I don’t play that goddamned thing,” he says to me. I say back, ‘I’m only kidding, Miles. The secret is, I don’t play for myself; I play for the people. I do my best to entertain.’

Les Paul

Les Paul And Trio (1957) signed by Les

Les Paul did not invent the electric guitar, it only seems that he did. Most musicologists credit George Beauchamp with the first design in 1931 and cite Beauchamp's partnership with Paul Barth and Adolph Rickenbacker in 1932 as the first commercial production. Born Lester Polsfuss in Waukesha, Wisconsin, Les Paul was an early achiever. playing guitar as a precocious youngster: " When I got my first guitar my fingers wouldn't go to the sixth string so I took off the big E and played with just five strings. I was only six or seven."

The New Sound Vol. 2 (1951) signed by Les

An inveterate inventor, Les was always exploring ways to make his equipment sound bigger and better. He began his career in 1928 as a guitar player named "Red Hot Red" or "Rhubarb Red" playing mostly hillbilly and country songs. Frustrated by orchestras who drowned out his sound, Les was only fourteen in 1929, when he tore apart his mother's telephone to amplify his guitar. His tinkering didn't stop there, it was just beginning.

The Hitmakers! (1953 - 10” vinyl) signed by Les

Les designed his first solid body electric guitar, dubbed "The Log' after the the 4 x 4 solid piece of pine used in its construction. As Les recalled, "When I developed my first solid-body guitar in 1941, I took it to Gibson and they dismissed it. They called it that “broomstick with the pickups on it.” From 1941 to 1951, I couldn’t convince Gibson to do a damn thing about putting out a Les Paul guitar. Finally, Leo Fender decided to come out with the Fender solid-body line, and immediately Gibson said, “Find the character with the broomstick with the pickups on it!” And so they asked me to design a guitar. I thank Leo for coming out with his Broadcaster, because it woke Gibson up. Gibson was asleep and Fender was not asleep. That’s the way it goes. Fender was the first to market, but I was way, way out front."

Bye Bye Blues (1952) signed by Les

The Gibson Guitar Company finally introduced the Gibson Les Paul in 1952, and it has become the de facto rock star guitar: Duane Allman, Jeff Beck, Chuck Berry, Eric Clapton, Jerry Garcia (before switching to Fender Stratocasters and Doug Irwin Customs), Jimi Hendrix (although better known for his Fender Stratocasters), Jimmy Page, Keith Richards.... even Ras Bob Marley played a Gibson Les Paul. It is probably easier to list those who didn't play or record with a Gibson Les Paul than those who did!

The New Sound (1955 - 12” vinyl) signed by Les

In 1945, Les played on Bing Crosby's radio show and they became friends, recording "It's Been A Long, Long Time", a number one hit. Shortly thereafter, Bing was given a confiscated German tape recorder - the Magnetophon - a spoil of the recently ended World War II by US Army Major Jack Mullin. Bing brought it to the Ampex Corp. to manufacture fifty machines because he wanted to record his radio show rather than record live in a cramped studio. Bing gave Les one of the machines, and of course Les customized it, adding an extra recording head and Les began experimenting with "sound on sound", or overdubbing. Les was one of the first to introduce this multi-tracking technique in 1948 on "Lover" using eight different guitar parts to fill out this track. Later, Ampex outfitted his home with the first eight track studio and many artists and musicians would visit with Les to draw on his vast production and sound knowledge. He would remain a restless and relentless inventor throughout his life.

50 Years Of Jazz Guitar (1974) signed by Les, Kenny Burrell, Jim Hall, Pat Martino

A near fatal automobile accident in 1948 curtailed his playing for eighteen months. Les had his arm set at a ninety degree angle so that he would always be able to cradle and pick his guitar. A little extreme but what dedication! In 1949, Les married Colleen Summers (renamed Mary Ford) and she became his singing and touring partner. Les Paul & Mary Ford became a marquee act and they had more top ten hits in 1951 than The Andrews Sisters, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra combined, selling over six million records. As rock and roll emerged in the mid-1950s, Les and Mary's recording career waned and they became less commercially viable. I guess their divorce didn't help either...

The Hit Makers! (1955 - 12” vinyl) signed by Les

The first time I saw Les play, he was appearing at Fat Tuesday's, a now defunct jazz bar on the lower East Side of Manhattan. He played there almost every Monday,night from the club opening in 1984 to its closing in 1996. In search of a new venue, Les took his act uptown to the original Iridium in Lincoln Center and to the newer Iridium on Broadway near Times Square. Les performed there every Monday night until several weeks before his death in 2009, capping an incredible performing career spanning more than eighty years!

Multi-Trackin’ (1968 recordings, 1979 release) signed by Les

In these intimate clubs, it felt like a pilgrimage as fans and musicians came to see him, pay homage and ask for his blessings. Most often, he played with a trio, Lou Pallo on rhythm guitar, Brian Nowinski on upright bass, and they played his hits: "How High The Moon", "It's A Long, Long Time", "in A Mellow Tone", and "Over The Rainbow." Sometimes, a special guest would sit in and perform, and I remember just missing Tony Bennett as he had visited Les the previous Monday.

Lovers’ Luau (1959) signed by Les

Les' chops were still formidable well into his 80s. He would play fleet runs and highlight his dexterous finger picking and fret work. No vocals, just pure instrumental bliss by his trio as they played jazz standards from the Great American Songbook. In between songs, Les would banter with the audience. It was a weird combination of "Angry Old Man" and "Drunk Uncle" mixed in with some hayseed cornpone, as Les' filter was dimmed by the inexorable march of time. Politically correct, he was not...

Warm and Wonderful (1962) signed by Les

After the show, Les would hang in his dressing room and sign autographs. There would be an endless procession of guitar cases brought to the altar of Les. It seemed as though we were in a Gibson Guitar showroom, not a nightclub. Each time I brought him some albums, Les was cheerful, he liked looking at the album covers, but he didn't share any insights. After all, there was another show to do and the Sisyphean task of signing all those guitars and memorabilia lay ahead.

Swingin’ South!! (1963) signed by Les

As he said so prophetically years ago, "When rock came in, people didn't know what to do. Even Sinatra, he didn't know what to do. The music was changing, and it's changing now." Les Paul knew exactly what to do. He went on playing, inventing, recording and multi-tracking. He was always "way, way out front."

Chester & Lester (1977) signed by Les

The one and only inviolate truth is the Gibson Les Paul.
Wherever would we be without Les Paul?

The Les Paul Trio (1947 recordings, 1978 release) signed by Les

Choice Les Paul Cuts (per BK's request)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkGf1GHAxhE

"How High The Moon" Les and Mary Ford 1951

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vfuvf0qoccw

"It's Been A Long, Long Time" Bing Crosby with Les Paul Trio 1945

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8jEkQ7FB8g

"Lover" First Sound on Sound - 1948

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u22ZkhEXynA

Les and his god son, Steve Miller, Steve playing a Fender at the Iridium!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbwKPk5s0q8
Les and Jeff Beck Jamming

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMOL454T4Gg

"Blues" Live - Les, Nat King Cole, Illinois Jacquet 1944