Album of the Week: June 29 - July 5th

[catesta]

Chuck picked me for the next AOTW, so here it is.

Hank Mobley - A Caddy For Daddy (click here to buy)

This was my first Mobley date, and I think it is still my favorite. An amazing lineup, Mobley is great, Higgins is off the charts, and the play of Morgan and McCoy Tyner in particular on The Morning After, is alone well worth the price of admission.

Any comments?? B)

BTW, I would like to nominate Dan Gould for the week of July 6th-July 12th.

I know this is his second go-around, but I think he may have something special in line for us.

[jazzbo]

Interesting choice. This is a good session. I'm going to enjoy digging it out and listening to it again.

After all, maybe it will help me realize why I "get" Hank!

[J Larsen]

How about that Lee Morgan solo on The Morning After? I haven't listened to this disc for a while, but every time I do I'm struck by that solo.

[catesta]

I hear ya.

That solo knocks me out. Lee should have been known as " The Morganstein," after this session.

[Big Al]

Great choice, catesta! I've never heard this one; this oughta make for a fun AOTW!

[shrugs]

Seeing I plan on picking up a bottle of JD today, I think a glass of it will go nicely with ACFD on Saturday night.

[Soul Stream]

I like this one a lot as well. A Caddy For Daddy, the song, is one of the best BN boogaloos ever. Anyway, I'm glad that I actually have this AOW in my collection already.

[Joe Christmas]

Can't say I ever cared about this one too much. I remember the heads as being pretty weak and Hank's solos predictable, but Higgins smoked. Fuller's uninspired here too, right? I'll play it tonight with some of the JD I *also* bought on Saturday and see if my memory can be curbed.

[JohnS]

When I was collecting vinyl this album was near the top of my most wanted list. When I eventually got a copy I recall being mildly disappointed by it. Playing the cd through now I don't hear very much to make me change my mind. Mobley sounds ill at ease, maybe it's the material but he doesn't generate the momentum or display the rhytmic ease of his best work. There's a hint of what he can do on the last track, though it's nowhere near his best. Lee Morgan comes off best.

Love the jacket.

Edited July 1, 2003 by JohnS

[Joe Christmas]

Listened last night. Once in the car and then at home on the good gear. I'm with John.

Blah. Though I like the Shorter tune.

Some of those three horn harmonies are pretty awful and even painfully out of tune in parts. Fuller is the culprit for most instances of the latter. Higgins boils though, if there is any saving grace. Sorry to be such a downer.

[JSngry]

Just want to make sure before posting anything - this IS Hank Mobley's A CADDY FOR DADDY we're talking about, right?

[catesta]

Thank you Jim.

[Clunky]

sorry to say but this one is rarely spun in these parts as this isn't exactly Hanks greatest session. Good cover and decent trumpet do not a good album make. Average only.

[jazzbo]

Well, I have mixed feelings about this. I think my favorite tune on this is "The Morning After" with its dark balladic aspect, and it showcases that Mobley "psycodrama" that Jim talks so well of, and has this odd "Hardbop Tailgate Trombone" writing for Fuller that just really gets me! Most of the album though I hear as a "bag of tricks" session, especially from the horn players and Higgins. Morgan's solos almost all just seem to me to be a string of his "effects" patterns. Mobley puts in some good ones but again using his "bag"---though they do keep my interest for their interplay with Higgins. The Fuller. . . well I just think "that's Curtis" when he's soloing.

The rhythm section keeps this one together. They're very tight, maybe too tight, with Cranshaw and Higgins locked into the groove for each track and really making it almost too slick. Tyner I like here, he really comes up with some interesting little touches in his solos, and his comping is nice, though contributing to the "slickness" for me as well.

I think we all would enjoy this if the remastering had more depth to it, but at least it isn't one of those McMaster SBM teethgrinders!

So thanks for choosing this and making me listen to it again, it's been a while. Partly this suffered because I had played Cannonball's "Live at the Club" right before it (the RVG Special Edition) and it was dimmed a bit in comparison. (THAT is one killer session!) Partly also since I last heard this my listening has been away from a lot of the hardbop/boogaloo sessions from the label at this time, and I seem to see more formulaic manufacturing in these sessions now than I did before. But this is good solid stuff, which I enjoy more when I'm doing something else than just critically listening. . . .

Edited July 4, 2003 by jazzbo

[catesta]

Lon I agree, a remastering is probably long overdue.

[Guest ariceffron]

The first two things i ever noticed about A CADDY FOR DADDDY were 1) The slick name and 2) the slick woman and auto on the cover. To this day i still dont know who she is. Anyways, i originally found it interesting to her Fuller and Tyner on a boogaloo type recording- usually dont hear them do that. Maybe its just the way the song is but i originally had an impression that Mobley and Morgans solos were kind of dragged out, and not as slick as all their others- and when i mean that, i mean ALL the others- i have never thought that of any other peticular solo of either musican. Nevertheless this album is one of my favorites, needless to say. Its also interesting how hank picked a wayne tune, but i think lee must of brought that in since they tried it at the rumproller session (anyone know if thats right).

[DrJ]

Never one of my very favorite Mobley dates, but solid and enjoyable. I think what's been said already captures it - as far as the front line is concerned, nobody is having their best day. On the plus side, everyone sounds relaxed and cool, but on the down side, there is a critical element of tension or drive lacking somehow. Fuller seems largely wasted, too - what, no compositions? This was an era when he was churning out some GREAT ones for the Messengers. I think it would have been well to play up his writing and trombone a bit.

Still, this FAR exceeds much in the pocket, mainstream modern jazz recorded by other mere mortals before or after.

Several other things struck me on re-listen:

1. A remastering is DEFINITELY overdue. It would give an extra sparkle and certainly improve the sound of the ensembles.

2. This may be one of Billy Higgins' finest hours on Blue Note. He is just on fire. Listen to "The Morning After" especially. Cranshaw has less of an impression but again it may partially be a remastering thing. But Higgins, this has to be some of his best playing for Lion and he's captured well on the recording.

3. I had forgotten this date had a version of one of my favorite Mobley compositions, "Third Time Around." (I don't play CADDY as much as a lot of other Mobleys for the reasons outlined above). I don't like this interpretation quite as much as the one on STRAIGHT NO FILTER but it's still pretty swell. What a great, hip song! That "da duuuh dah, da duuuh duh" release back into the main melody just builds an incredible amount of tension and momentum.

So overall, glad to see this one singled out for careful attention, I enjoyed pulling it out from "the archives."

Edited July 5, 2003 by DrJ

[JSngry]

Ok, it ain't DIPPIN'. But few things in life are, so let's move on.

Confession time (parents, take your kids away from the computer now...)

Ok, thanks. They can come back soon enough.

I was stoned like a mofo the first time I heard CADDY, and truthfully, it was probably 6 or 7 years before I heard it any other way. But since it was almost certainly made under similar, if not exact, conditions....

I mean really, a tune like "Ace Deuce Trey", ESPECIALLY "Ace, Deuce, Trey", with that rhythm bridge modified into whole toneness literally SCREAMS "I'M HIGH!", as if the A section didn't give it away from jump street (and it does. Big time). Sorry folks, but this one is just TOO DAMN HIP to be written or played any way other than under the influence of SOMETHING. Flail away all you like, but this much I know. Don't try it at home and all the other usual disclaimers apply, but there it is.

Now if all this album was was a bunch of stoned grooviness, it wouldn't be that much different from countless OTHER BN albums. But you got some really good stuff on here, stuff that rises above the norm. The Hank/Lee/Billy Eternal Triangle are in total sync as usual. Those guys weren't just on the same page in those days, they were in the same SENTENCE. It does no good to listen to any one of them seperate from the other, because they weren't PLAYING seperate from the other. Same for McCoy & Cranshaw. This ain't "soloist with rhythm section accompaniment" type jazz, it's very much a GROUP music, and the soloist is just part of the action. And pity poor McCoy - possibly the only straight cat on the date (Hank said that Lion always tried to make sure there was at least one), he had to go from playing with Elvin to playing with Billy in peak form. Does that suck, or what?

Now ok, your title tune is a bit of a hohum, but there were worse. Far worse. Besides, that background riff is kinda a sly Hank-as-Dexter self-celebratory thing, a bit of overtly comfortable egotism from a guy who usually wasn't so comfortable doing such things, and the structure seems to me to defy conventon in some quirky way. Funny, but even after all these years, I've never bothered counting bars. Maybe I will someday.

"The Morning After" - Oh yeah. This is the real shizzitt here. The way Hank navigates those changes is ANYTHING but routine, even by his standards, in all regards - harmonically, rhythmically, and especially texturally. Geez, all the fingering games he's playing would by themselves be enough to throw a LOT of cats off the highwire, but on top of that he's skipping octaves whilst navigating crossways to the general direction of the changes with a rhythmic acuity that is startling, to put it very mildly. This ain't relaxed music in ANY form - the tension is as INtense as anything I've ever heard. Lee's solo is actually a RELIEF!

"Venus" is a breather, a good way to start the second side after the near meltdown of "Morning" ends Side One (and does anybody notice that Lion's fades on this album are longer than usual, the better to draw out Billy's, Bob's, & McCoy's - BillyBob McCoy = BN's C&W sensation! - tomfoolery? Gotta love that Lion! But "Venus", nice enough, but these guys had other things on their mind on this day.

Like "Ace Duece Trey" (and all that THAT implies). I'll say it again - this is as hip as shit gets. Period.

"3rd Time Around" - goin' home, fast and clean, no bullshit, TCB'in. No flies on THIS stuff!

Sorry, can't realte to the remastering issue, since I've only heard this one on vinyl. But as my history with this album might imply, it is no longer vinyl that is in the best of condition, especially considering that at least once I fell asleep while side one played over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over for about 12 hours. But that's ok - it was a QUALITY 12 hours, 6 of which were spent subliminally absorbing "The Morning After". But yeah, I suppose a really good sounding digital represenatation of this date will have a place in my lifestyle too, so bring it on.

I don't hear "formula" as much as I do "typical". This is the way these guys played then, plain and simple. If they all had more inspired individual outings on other dates, they certainly had less inspired ones too. And the vocabulary is about the same either way. Mediocre? How? Where? Out of tune? Please. Show me a Blue Note small group record with more than two horns, and usually with JUST two horns, that's REALLY in tune. Good luck. But it doesn't matter. Such was not the nature of this beast, thank God! Fuller isn't a drag on these tunes, either as a section player or as a soloist. Again, he's having a typical outing on all counts.

Well, if it's "typical", why do I dig it so much? Simple - because "typical" for THESE guys in those days is/was better than anything has a right to expect to be. And because it's real. Cats show up, some already loaded, some no doubt waiting to get loaded, at least one's NOT gonna get loaded, get the levels, run the tunes, make a record, and book. I don't sense any tension or difficulty in this date, just the guys doing what it is that they do. And I LIKE what it is that they do. Always have and always will. No "all star" trips or "project" mentality at work like in so many of today's record dates. No meeting the band for the first time in the studio, if indeed ever! Just some friends and accquaintences getting together for a few hours to party and make a darn good record, one with more than a few high points and no REAL lulls. Nobody coasts, and sometimes some real sparks fly. A day in the life of a life that barely exists anymore, if indeed it still does. Stoned or not, you got a BETTER way to lead a life? I sure as hell don't.

If DIPPIN' is a no-hitter, then CADDY is a 6 hit complete game win. Yeah, you gave up a cuppla runs, but big whoop - you E.R.A.'s still under 3.00 and we're still in first place by 7 games. Besides, you went 4-4 at the plate with a BB, one homer, a triple, and 2 RBI singles. You're in the bigs, baby, and here is where you're gonna stay. Live It & Love It - Life Is Good.

And so is CADDY.

Edited July 6, 2003 by JSngry

[Jazzdog]

Beautiful Jim, just beautiful!

[Joe Christmas]

"No meeting the band for the first time in the studio, if indeed ever! Just some friends and accquaintences getting together for a few hours to party and make a darn good record, one with more than a few high points and no REAL lulls."

Weird, Jim! Much as I love these musicians, I had this vision of the involved shaking their heads, take after take, pointing fingers (as friends often do)... ultimately resigning themselves to a workable, however half-assed, recording. My daughter likes this one though, so it's not like it doesn't have a purpose around here.

[Late]

There's been constructive input on this album already, so I'll keep it short. My reaction to this one, as much as I've wanted to get into it, is always the same. When the sounds come out of the speakers, my countenance resembles:

[JSngry]

Ah, the men don't know, but the little girls all understand...

Edited July 6, 2003 by JSngry

[danasgoodstuff]

I was out of town when this was AOW but I just wanted to add my vote to the HELL YEAH! column. It doesn't sound at all rote to me, but that may be in part due to its being one of, if not the first, Hank albums I owned (25+ years ago). I wish I'd kept that copy, a mono promo pressing! I do agree that Billy Higgins is/was especially "on" that day; there's a reason that Hank and Lee both used him for so many of their own albums! I also don't agree that boogaloo/funk/blues/whatever numbers are necessarily lesser efforts: if it was that easy everyone would do them and well. And, well, they don't...

In the final (for now) analysis I'd have to say it's maybe not quite as nice as Soul station or Slice of the Top or Thinking of Home (wich I dig v. much), but it's probably my fav reg quintet Mobley and I definitely like it more than Dippin' (but may be I just need to listen to that one more).

[John B]

I have to agree w/ Joe Christmas on this one. Caddy is a fine album, but nothing great. I never hear that spark, know what I mean. It is a solid, middle of the road Mobley album. Not anywhere near his best work but not worth getting rid of.

[gaston]

hi frm france;

this record was the first Hank I got in the seventies. I Liked it and listened to it a lot and I began to collect all the mobley's records I could possibly find. Today of course I have got all of them and I think "a caddy..." is obviously not the best even if it's quite enjoyable.

I have loved it so much when I was young that I have named my french blog ( http://acaddyfordaddy.blogspot.com/)"a caddy for daddy". I remember at this time I didnt know what a "caddy" meant...