Sunday, March 8, 2020

Richard "Groove" Holmes - The Groover! (1968) [re-rip]

Holmes acquits himself well, if with few surprises, on this trio session with Billy Jackson on drums and either George Freeman or Earl Maddox on guitar. The organist shows his hundred-miles-per-hour capabilities on the frantic opener "Speak Low," but hits a more sensitive groove for "Blue Moon," and gets close to an R&B mood on the longest cut, the eight-minute "The Walrus." ~ by Richie Unterberger, AMG.

A nice one from the days when Groove was playing with guitarist George Freeman! The core of the tracks on here feature a trio of Holmes, Freeman, and drummer Billy Jackson – and the trio knows how to cook nice and nicely, especially on the original cut "The Walrus", a groovy number written by Freeman, with his usual off-kilter approach. Other cuts include "My Scenery", "Blue Moon", and "I'll Remember April". Nice cover, too – with Freeman looking really spaced out! © Dusty Groove, Inc.

Prestige Records, PRST 7570, 1968
Recorded 14th February, 1968 At Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ

Personnel:
Richard "Groove" Holmes - Organ
George Freeman - Guitar (#A1-B1)
Earl Maddox - Guitar (#B2-B3)
Billy Jackson - Drums

Tracks:
A1. Speak Low {Ogden Nash, Kurt Weill} (7:03)
A2. My Scenery {George Freeman} (4:09)
A3. Walrus {George Freeman} (8:25)
B1. Blue Moon {Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers} (5:04)
B2. I'll Remember April {Gene DePaul, Patricia Johnston, Don Raye} (6:20)
B3. Just Friends {John Klenner, Sam M. Lewis} (5:37)

Credits:
Producer - Cal Lampley
Recording Engineer - Rudy van Gelder
Design - Don Schlitten
Art - Irving Riggs
Photo - Jerry Field
Notes - Ralph Berton (April 1968)

12 comments:

  1. Thanks for this - I haven't heard this set (yet) but anything with the underrated George Freeman should be interesting. The earliest recording I've heard is with Charlie Parker, Live in Chicago 1950, and he sounds amazingly avant-garde even then! Any chance of his own recordings appearing at KCC?

    ReplyDelete
  2. A Big Thank you, Chris, for this real beautiful album.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Big Thank You Chris for this great post, really enjoying this warm groovy music.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for this and all the great many posts this year!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Lively stuff indeed, thanks Chris!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Cool! Never heard this one ever...
    Thank you Chris.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Richard "Groove" Holmes - The Groover! {FLAC} (1968)
    [220.13MB]
    https://1fichier.com/?x40p0lynakv66y4n5spp

    ReplyDelete
  8. Many thanks.

    ReplyDelete