Charlie Earland - Black Drops (1970)

The late '60s and early '70s were a very productive time for Charles Earland. At his best, the organist delivered five-star gems during that period, such as Black Talk and Living Black -- and at his worst, he provided decent, if unremarkable, albums like Black Drops. Although not in a class with Black Talk or Living Black, this Bob Porter-produced soul-jazz/hard bop LP is satisfying and generally enjoyable. Earland surrounds himself with mostly fellow Philadelphians, including tenor and soprano saxophonist Jimmy Heath, guitarist Maynard Parker, trombonist Clayton Pruden, and drummer Jimmy Turner - in fact, the only non-Philadelphian on Black Drops is trumpeter Virgil Jones. Highlights of the LP range from the driving hard bop of Earland's "Buck Green" and John Coltrane's "Lazybird" to a funky workout on Sly Stone's "Sing a Simple Song" and some mellow, congenial grooving on "Don't Say Goodbye," and Burt Bacharach's "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head." ~ by Alex Henderson, AMG. 

Prestige Records, P-7815, 1970
Original Jazz Classics, OJCCD-1079-2, 2002
Recorded 1st June, 1970 at Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey 

Musicians:
Charles Earland - Organ
Virgil Jones - Trumpet
Jimmy Heath - Tenor Sax, Soprano Sax, Flute
Clayton Pruden - Trombone
Maynard Parker - Guitar
Jimmy Turner - Drums 

Tracks:
1. Sing A Simple Song {Sylvester Stewart} (5:44)
2. Don't Say Goodbye {Charles Earland} (7:09)
3. Lazy Bird {John Coltrane} (7:18)
4. Letha {Charles Earland, Leon Fisher} (7:23)
5. Raindrops Keep Falling On My Hand {Burt Bacharach, Hal David} (3:48)
6. Buck Green {Charles Earland, Leon Fisher} (7:17) 

Total Time: 38:42 

Credits:
Producer, Supervisor - Bob Porter
Recording Engineer - Rudy van Gelder
Remastering - Kirk Felton [Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, 2002]
Liner Notes - Sonny Hopson

LINK

Buck Green

Gene Ammons - Big Bad Jug (1973) [vinyl]

Jug's big and bad here in tone - and the style is nicely complicated at times - a bit more open-ended and electric than before, with a sound that's almost like the shift that Stanley Turrentine was making during his years at CTI! There's still a bit of the previous Prestige funk in the mix - thanks to drums from Billy Cobham, and organ from Sonny Phillips - but the group also includes up-and-comer Maynard Parker on guitar, who gets in some nicely snakey lines at times - slinking through the tunes with a warmly chromatic edge that's mighty nice, and which sets the tune for some of Ammons' more laidback solo moments. His tenor's still as strong as ever, though - blown with a beautiful sense of tone, on tracks that include "Lady Mama", "Big Bad Jug", "Lucille", "Fly Me", and "Fuzz" - plus a nice version of "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" with a sweetly gentle break! © Dusty Groove, Inc.

Prestige Records, P-10070, 1973

Recorded 28th (#A4,B3) & 30th October (#B1) and 1st November, 1972 (#A1,A2,A3,B2)
At Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey

Musicians:

Gene Ammons - Tenor Saxophone

Hank Jones - Electric Piano (#A4,B1,B3)

Sonny Phillips - Electric Piano, Organ (#A1-A3,B2)

Ernest Hayes - Organ (#A4,B1,B3)

Maynard Parker - Guitar (#A1-A3,B2)

Joe Beck - Guitar (#A4,B1,B3)

Ron Carter - Bass, Electric Bass

Billy Cobham - Drums (#A1-A3,B2)

Idris Muhammad - Drums (#A4,B3)

Micky Roker - Drums (#B1)

Tracklisting:

A1. Lady Mama {Gene Ammons} (6:48)

A2. I Can't Help Myself {Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Edward Holland} (4:10)

A3. Lucille {Harold Vick} (4:53)

A4. Fly Me {Ron Lockhart, Richard Druz} (3:08)

B1. Big Bad Jug {Gene Ammons} (7:47)

B2. Papa Was A Rolling Stone {Norman Whifield, Barrett Strong} (4:31)

B3. Fuzz {Dave Grusin} (4:27)

Credits:

Producer - Ozzie Cadena

Recording Engineer - Rudy van Gelder

Photography - Tony Lane

Charles Earland - Soul Story (1972) [vinyl>flac]

Here’s another great album from the ‘Mighty Burner’.  It includes a mighty bunch of players such as Gary Chandler along with Houston Person, Virgil Jones, Maynard Parker, James Vaas and Buddy Caldwell. Earland puts together a variety of tunes to make this another soul jazz classic.

An incredible album from Charles Earland -- a real crossroads in his career, one in which his streamlined organ jazz sound of the early 70s takes a slightly more expansive turn -- as on his albums of the mid 70s. The record has slightly larger groups than usual -- with players that include Gary Chandler on trumpet, Houston Person on tenor, and Maynard Parker on guitar -- but the real charm comes from Charles, and his ability to put together some wicked arrangements on tunes that make them complicated and funky at the same time. The best example of this is the album's amazing 10 minute version of "Love Story" with nice baroque changes, cool arrangements, and wild funky bits -- but the whole thing's great, and other cuts include "Betty's Dilemma", "One For Scotty", and "My Scorpio Lady". © 1996-2010, Dusty Groove America, Inc.

Prestige Records; PR 10018, 1972

Recorded 3rd May, 1971 at Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey

Track Listing:

A1. Betty's Dilemma {Charles Earland} (8:11)

A2. Love Story {Francis Lai} (9:58)

B1. One For Scotty {Charles Earland} (6:54)

B2. My Scorpio Lady {Charles Earland} (2:23)

B3. I Was Made To Love Her {Stevie Wonder} (2:48)

B4. Happy Medium {Charles Earland} (4:08)

Personnel:

Charles Earland - Organ, Vocals (#A2, B4)

Houston Person - Tenor Saxophone (#A1, A2, B4)

James Vass - Alto & Soprano Saxophones, Flute (#A1, A2, B4)

Gary Chandler - Trumpet (#A1, A2, B4)

Arthur Grant, Jr. - Tenor Saxophone, Flute (#B1-B3)

Clifford Adams, Jr. - Trombone (#B1-B3)

Virgil Jones - Trumpet (#B1-B3)

Maynard Parker - Guitar

Jesse Kilpatrick - Drums (#A1, A2, B4)

Billy "Kentucky" Wilson - Drums (#B1-B3)

Buddy Caldwell - Congas, Percussion (#A1, A2, B4)

Arthur Jenkins Jr. - Congas (#B1-B3)