One of our favorite albums
ever by Willis Jackson - and in fact one of our favorite soul jazz sides of the
60s! There's a mad groove here that's quite different than any of Jackson's
earlier work - freer, looser, and more experimental - handled with a sound
that's almost fuller in the arrangements, but which also gives the soloists
more room to groove around. Willis himself plays the amazing ‘Gator’ horn on
"Alfie" - a long funny-looking variation on the tenor, and a horn
that has an almost George Braith or Roland Kirk-like sound. The rest of the
group features some great guitar by Wally Richardson and smoking organ by Carl
Wilson - plus electric bass at the bottom from Bob Bushnell, a key component to
the harder-hitting quality of the grooves. The set features a fantastic version
of Baden Powell's "Song of Ossanha", plus great covers of
"Sunny", "Girl Talk", and "Ode to Billy Joe" -
and the tracks "Soul Grabber", "Alfie", "I Dig Rock
& Roll Music", and "Rhode Island Red". © Dusty Groove America, Inc.
Prestige Records, PRST 7551,
1968
Recorded 20th October,
1967 (#A1,A4,B4,B5) in New York City;
25th October, 1967
(#A2,A3,A5-B3) at Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
Personnel:
Willis “Gator” Jackson -
Tenor Sax, Gator Horn (#B3)
Wilbur “Dud” Bascomb -
Trumpet
Sammy Lowe - Trumpet
Heywood Henry - Baritone
Saxophone (#A1,A4,B4,B5)
Carl Wilson - Organ
Lloyd Davis - Guitar
Wally Richardson - Guitar
Bob Bushnell - Electric Bass
Lawrence Wrice - Drums
Tracks:
A1. The Song Of Ossanha
{Baden Powell, Vinícius de Moraes} (2:39)
A2. Sunny {Bobby Hebb} (6:35)
A3. Girl Talk {Neal Hefti,
Bobby Troup} (5:26)
A4. Ode To Billie Joe {Bobbie
Gentry} (2:55)
A5. Sometimes I'm Happy
{Vincent Youmans, Irving Caesar, Clifford Grey} (5:13)
B1. Soul Grabber {Willis
"Gator" Jackson} (1:58)
B2. Rhode Island Red {Willis
"Gator" Jackson} (3:33)
B3. Alfie {Hal David, Burt
Bacharach} (8:22)
B4. I Dig Rock & Roll
Music {Noel Paul Stookey, James Mason, Dave Dixon} (2:49)
B5. These Blues Are Made For
Walking {Willis "Gator" Jackson} (5:49)
Credits:
Producer - Cal Lampley
Recording Engineer - Rudy van
Gelder
Design, Liner Photo - Don
Schlitten
Art - Irving Riggs
Liner Notes - Chris Albertson
(Feb. 1968)
