Plas Johnson - This Must Be The Plas!

I have a couple of local thrift shops which I check semi regularily for LPs.  As luck would have it I found this little gem for a dollar, in excellent condition at that!!  This will be the first Plas Johnson post here at the Crypt, and I think it's a good one.

Johnson's career has been a storied one.  Originally from N'awlins, him and his brother Ray (RIP Mar/13) moved out west where they became first call session players.  Most notably, Plas was the main sax in Henry Mancini's band for the performance of the Pink Panther Theme.  Now who doesn't know that little ditty??!!?

Over the years Johnson released many great albums, also playing under the pseudonym Johnny Beecher.  "This Must Be The Place" is hardly a classic, but a solid soul jazz album to be sure.  Plas plays alto, tenor and bari on these tracks - all with his relaxed and swingin style.  The tunes are mostly standards with one original put together for the session, "S'il Vous Plait".  Overall we get a light swing with a laidback feel.  In my opinion, Plas Johnson excels at ballads.  I think his style is most convincing when playing this type of tune.  There's plenty of solos on every track, and he's joined by guitar, vibes, piano, organ, bass and drums.

Here's the problem folks...  I can't for the life of me find a definitive personnel list for this session.  The pianist is Paul Smith, we know this as he is mentioned in the liner notes.  Aside from that I can offer a few guess-timates (although his pianist was generally his brother Ray) based on the players he was playing with during this period.  Perhaps if any of you have an account at Tom Lord we can get an answer.  I will be sure to edit this post with the info!!

OK thanks to Daver88 we now have the session info, thanks alot my man.

Aside from that, we have a really great condition hunk of wax here!!  It cleaned up very nicely, but i would guess that it's previous owner was using a poorly aligned needle, or a blunted needle.  This creates the anomolies you hear around the sax.  I digress, overall its a great listen ripped at 24/44.1 wav and dithered to 16/44.1 FLAC.  Never released on CD as far as I can tell.  Pour yourself a scotch and chill the hell out y'all... enjoy!!!

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Capitol ST-1281
1959

A1 Too Close For Comfort
A2 I Hadn't Anyone Till You
A3 Heart And Soul
A4 Poor Butterfly
A5 Memories Of You
A6 Just One Of Those Things

B1 There Is No Greater Love
B2 If I Had You
B3 My Silent Love
B4 Day In-Day Out
B5 My Old Flame
B6 S'Il Vous Plait

Plas Johnson (as,ts,bs) 

Paul Smith (p) 

Tony Rizzi (g) 

Morty Corb (b) 

Alvin Stoller (dm)

Unknown (vbp)

Unknown (org)