Worst liner notes you've ever read?

[Ken Dryden]

I also found liner notes helpful on occasional during the LP era in making a decision about a purchase. One chain store used to allow customers to open CDs to preview them, but they have gone out of business (their inventory, like most chains, was a joke).

I don't automatically read liner notes, especially prior to reviewing a CD myself, as I want to come to my own conclusions rather than parrot someone else's. But I still admire well written notes, especially the work of Nat Hentoff, Bob Blumenthal, Doug Ramsey and other thoughtful writers with much to say.

I'm working on a set for an artist at the moment, though I'm following in the footsteps of Hentoff and the late Philip Elwood, who wrote notes for her earlier CDs. That's food for thought...

[Christiern]

I happen to be a big admirer of Hopkins' work, but if I had been assigned to do notes for a Hopkins album and found some of that work disappointing, I would probably have said so--as gently as possible.

I have, in fact, been critical of an album I annotated, but not often. Only once was I "censored" by the record company. That happened when I wrote notes for a Columbia Benny Goodman album. When I interviewed Benny (whom I once worked for), I asked him about that awful film, "The Benny Goodman Story." "I'm afraid," he said, "that's one film I can't identify with." Well, I thought that was funny, so I included it. Columbia's editor called to tell me that we could not criticize an artist's biographical film. I thought that was even funnier, so I used it in subsequent album notes.

[mailman]

I happen to be a big admirer of Hopkins' work, but if I had been assigned to do notes for a Hopkins album and found some of that work disappointing, I would probably have said so--as gently as possible.

I have, in fact, been critical of an album I annotated, but not often. Only once was I "censored" by the record company. That happened when I wrote notes for a Columbia Benny Goodman album. When I interviewed Benny (whom I once worked for), I asked him about that awful film, "The Benny Goodman Story." "I'm afraid," he said, "that's one film I can't identify with." Well, I thought that was funny, so I included it. Columbia's editor called to tell me that we could not criticize an artist's biographical film. I thought that was even funnier, so I used it in subsequent album notes.

McCormack did not criticize Hopkins work or the album in question. He made light of Hopkins the man. Any liner notes out there written in Goodman's lifetime saying that he was an SOB. I've read that a number of times but never on the back of one of his records. To my mind that would have been a slap in the face to the arist by the record company. That's what Bluesville (Prestige) did to Hopkins. Not printing it might have been a sight to McCormack but it wasn't his record. But hey, maybe Lightnin' Hopkins could have been hired to write a blurb on the dust jacket of one of McCormack's books and he could have written that McCormack was a no good so and so who shirked his responsibilities to his family and children and only was good for studying old musicians and nothing else in life. That would have evened things up. And maybe McCormack wouldn't have cared because hey, he got paid after all.

Let me agree with an above post about the work of Doug Ramsey. To think that I used to watch him to the news on WPIX here in NYC. His online blog is also wonderful. Back inthe days of Blue Note Lps I was particularly fond of the writing of Nat Hentoff and A.B. Spellman. Learned lots from their writing. Lots more to learn.

[Jazzmoose]

A friend of mine always defends Green's notes on the grounds that he's a musician and therefore thinks in those terms. Huh!

MG

Alright, as long as we're on that subject, something I've always wondered: is this Benny Green who wrote those liners the same Benny Green the piano player who put out an album called "These Are Soulful Days?" Or are there three different Benny Greens: one the trombone player, one the liner note writer, and one the piano player?

These are three different Benny Greens.

The Benny Green who wrote sleeve notes was a British jazz trombonist. He wasn't Bennie Green, the American jazz trombonist. Nor was he Benny Green, the American jazz pianist.

MG

Nor was he Ben E. Green, famous for the overexposed hit "Toke By Me"...

[Clunky]

I've been taken aback in the past by liners to a number of Mosaic sets ( Kenton Presents, Woody Shaw ) dissing some of the contents of the box in question. It was almost as if the writer was saying to me you've wasted your money on this one and as a result took some off the shine of having a nice new black box.

Now I realise that I value the honesty and integrity of the author far more. Honesty is the best policy.

[Fer Urbina]

... I wrote notes for a Columbia Benny Goodman album. When I interviewed Benny (whom I once worked for), I asked him about that awful film, "The Benny Goodman Story." "I'm afraid," he said, "that's one film I can't identify with." Well, I thought that was funny, so I included it. Columbia's editor called to tell me that we could not criticize an artist's biographical film. I thought that was even funnier, so I used it in subsequent album notes.

So, when's the "Chris Anderson Reader" coming out?

[AllenLowe]

well, I don't know about the Detroit pianist, but I'd be happy to read a collection of Chris Albertson notes -

to get back to the subject at hand, I actually DO NOT like Hentoff and his liner notes, which always strike me as lazy and hastily done - I don't really know how Hentoff got such an inflated reputation (and honors from the NEA) - as a music writer he is knowledgeable but never in depth, IMHO - also, talk to a few musicians of the 1950s and 1960s generation who ALWAYS told me they regarded Hentoff as a guy who would never be involved in a project unless it was somehow self-aggrandizing - he was NOT liked or respected by most of the older, post-WWII jazz guys that I knew -

Edited May 24, 2006 by AllenLowe

[Christiern]

... I wrote notes for a Columbia Benny Goodman album. When I interviewed Benny (whom I once worked for), I asked him about that awful film, "The Benny Goodman Story." "I'm afraid," he said, "that's one film I can't identify with." Well, I thought that was funny, so I included it. Columbia's editor called to tell me that we could not criticize an artist's biographical film. I thought that was even funnier, so I used it in subsequent album notes.

So, when's the "Chris Anderson Reader" coming out?

You'll have to ask Mr. Anderson.

Clunky: "I've been taken aback in the past by liners to a number of Mosaic sets ( Kenton Presents, Woody Shaw ) dissing some of the contents of the box in question."

I'm glad to hear that you have come around to understanding the advantage of truth in liner notes. Actually, you wouldn't want it any other way, I think. Due to the concept of presenting "complete" sets, Mosaic's producers cannot separate the wheat from the tare, so one is bound to find some tracks that would have been best if left in the vaul (which they often were, originally). When I wrote the notes for Mosaic's Count Basie's pre-atomic period on Verve, there were mundane dance band tracks (we tend to forget that the big bands were for dancers, too) that I had to describe--in keeping with the label's policy of mentioning every selection. You would not, I suspect, have liked it if I failed to note the blandness of such prom fare as "As I Love You or "Only Forever," to mention two eminently forgettable Basie tracks.

I think most liner note readers would prefer the occasional negative (honest) comment to such ludicrous, inflated praise as Stanley Crouch feels compelled to heap upon his friend, Wynton.

Addendum: Allen, I see that you sneaked in a comment as I posted. Thanks for the kind words. As for Nat Hentoff, he once showed me a row of filing cabinets in his office that were filled with jazz-related clippings. He told me that--due to demand on his time--he really didn't write notes anymore (this was around 1961), he just compiled them using press clippings as his base.

Let me add that I owe Nat a deep debt of gratitude for getting me hired at Riverside Records--he has always been there when I needed his help or advice.

Edited May 24, 2006 by Christiern

[Simon Weil]

to get back to the subject at hand, I actually DO NOT like Hentoff and his liner notes, which always strike me as lazy and hastily done - I don't really know how Hentoff got such an inflated reputation (and honors from the NEA) - as a music writer he is knowledgeable but never in depth, IMHO - also, talk to a few musicians of the 1950s and 1960s generation who ALWAYS told me they regarded Hentoff as a guy who would never be involved in a project unless it was somehow self-aggrandizing - he was NOT liked or respected by most of the older, post-WWII jazz guys that I knew -

Well, to judge him on the basis of his Albert Ayler article (available in chopped form online) - really, this is pretty insightful. AND he gets Ayler to talk intellectually (just about the only guy to, in my estimation). YES, it isn't the whole story. And, when he gets down to talking about Ayler in his VV sleevenotes, it's such an exceptionally chopped form of his original interview, that you'd be forgiven for thinking that Hentoff was really struggling.

I like "Jazz Is" and, really, like Hentoff. But, if you take another (famous) example the idea of Coltrane and Sanders "speaking in tongues" (from the sleevenotes to Meditations), I just think he gets that wrong - and says it with such conviction that that's what everyone remembers. Or then again he does get Coltrane to reveal important conceptual stuff in those same notes.

I guess sleevenotes are complex things and reveal (or can reveal) multiple sides.

(Yours patronisingly....)

Simon Weil

Edited May 24, 2006 by Simon Weil

[Fer Urbina]

... I wrote notes for a Columbia Benny Goodman album. When I interviewed Benny (whom I once worked for), I asked him about that awful film, "The Benny Goodman Story." "I'm afraid," he said, "that's one film I can't identify with." Well, I thought that was funny, so I included it. Columbia's editor called to tell me that we could not criticize an artist's biographical film. I thought that was even funnier, so I used it in subsequent album notes.

So, when's the "Chris Anderson Reader" coming out?

You'll have to ask Mr. Anderson.

Oops, sorry, Mr. Albertson.

Still, it'd be great to have a collection of your writings and/or memoirs.

F

[Ken Dryden]

A certain degree of honesty is expected, if discussing performances that have shortcomings. This is more true in historical, previously unissued releases or comprehensive boxed sets, as few artists currently on the scene promoting a new CD would appreciate negative comments about their work.

An example: When I composed the liner notes to the Jaki Byard Quartet, featuring Joe Farrell: The Last From Lennie's, Farrell obviously hit a clam during the introduction to one of the takes of the previously unissued Byard composition "Dolphy." I had to mention it, though I didn't make a big deal about it. It was a brand new work that was likely premiered with minimal rehearsal and fans of these musicians can probably tune out one bad note rather than allow this track to be lost forever in Fantasy's vault.

[Hot Ptah]

Back to the original premise of this thread, the worst liner notes you have ever read. I do not know if these are the worst, but they are among the most unusual I have ever read. They are by D. Strauss, for the CD "Cama De Terra", by Ivo Perelman/Matthew Shipp/William Parker, on Homestead Records.

D. Strauss begins the notes as follows:

"When the Girl from Ipanema went walking and all the boys went "Ohhhhhh", could that "Ohhhh" have been the plaintif heft of Albert Ayler's Tenor Mourness? Or was it Stan Getz holding his nose as he tipped Ayler for cleaning the dung off his shoes? And from that healthy admixture could Ivo Perelman sprout, full-blown? Perelman is that rare sort of Post-Modernist who can jumble evocation as he keeps his thumbs upon his instrument (with hand over heart), rather than sporting one at nose's length."

The rest of the notes continue in this style.

[Larry Kart]

Chris -- I always felt that Hentoff's notes, after a certain early period, were compiled from clippings. On the other hand, when I was an adolescent reading Down Beat in the mid 1950s, Nat was about the only guy reviewing records for DB then who was trying to separate the wheat from the chaff. Even if some of his opinions were second-hand (I think I suspected that even then), he was going to the some of the right people to find out what to say. When Martin Williams came on board at DB for a while a few years further on, it seemed fairly clear that he was one of Nat's gurus, as their later association at The Jazz Review would suggest. And I agree with Allen that Hentoff has been running on empty for a long, long time.

[ghost of miles]

I notice that at the bottom there's a disclaimer stating, "The opinions by Mr. Pirie are strictly his own and should not be construed as representing those of JazzUnlimited." No doubt!

Pirie... he's fantastic on a June Christy/Johnny Guarnieri Storyville CD I reviewed a while ago: he makes a rather sarcastic comment about Christy's mistake when she introduces George Walters as playing trombone (he's on trumpet), and then incredibly enough he goes on to comment on Leo Guarnieri's violin playing... (LG played cello, and it sounds like a cello.)

F

No kidding! I just got this CD as part of that Allegro sale... love the music, but the liner notes--uh, thanks, pal! -_-

[paul secor]

I suspect that part of the reason for Nat Hentoff's recycling of his jazz writing is that he has other subjects to write about besides jazz.

Also, just a thought - and I haven't thought about it until now, so I may be totally off base - perhaps jazz criticism is a relatively young person's game (late youth through middle age), and there's an element of being left behind as one grows older, the music changes, and it becomes harder to keep abreast of what's happening in the moment, as opposed to being familiar with what happened in the past. That was certainly true of most the writers who came of age in the late 40's and championed bop. It seems as if it was true for post-Ornette Martin Williams. As I say, just a thought. It may be very well be true for most listeners also - I'd say that it's true for me.

[JamesJazz]

I'll admit to a certain fondness for H. Alan Stein's notes (blurbs, really) on Savoy.

[Brownian Motion]

I suspect that part of the reason for Nat Hentoff's recycling of his jazz writing is that he has other subjects to write about besides jazz.

Also, just a thought - and I haven't thought about it until now, so I may be totally off base - perhaps jazz criticism is a relatively young person's game (late youth through middle age), and there's an element of being left behind as one grows older, the music changes, and it becomes harder to keep abreast of what's happening in the moment, as opposed to being familiar with what happened in the past. That was certainly true of most the writers who came of age in the late 40's and championed bop. It seems as if it was true for post-Ornette Martin Williams. As I say, just a thought. It may be very well be true for most listeners also - I'd say that it's true for me.

It may be unfair to Nat, but at some point I began feeling that Nat's championing of jazz had less to do with a strong sensitivity to the music than with projecting a certain kind of political persona. I will say that Nat did teach me to be more respectful of older musicians who, though they could no longer play with their youthful brilliance, still had something to say.

[Hot Ptah]

The merits of certain liner notes authors have been discussed here. What are your thoughts about the liner notes of Stanley Dance?

[JSngry]

Stanley Dance was a bad muthafukkah.

[paul secor]

Stanley Dance was a bad muthafukkah.

I'll take your word for that, but how about his liner notes?

[Christiern]

Stanley was a true gentleman who knew his stuff. His taste in jazz was perhaps too limited for some, but he was an honest writer of impeccable integrity. I miss him and his wife, Helen, very much. His liner notes? I always enjoyed them because I knew that they were written with the kind of authority that comes from many years of first-hand encounters and listening. He often shared with us a side of the music that few could relate.

I have read criticism of Stanley's notes on these boards and it usually comes from people who thought him to be stuck in time. Well, we all have our favorite periods in jazz, and--quite naturally--they are often a reflection of what we were listening to when the bug first bit us and we began our exploration. The same goes for pop, perhaps even to a higher degree. Stanley had been around for a long time and his taste may have seemed to retro, but it was not as narrow as some would have it. Consider the fact that many of those who wish Stanley had embraced post-bop jazz are people whose taste only goes back so far--that is the same limitation, only in reverse.

[AllenLowe]

I like Dance's work, even though, when it comes to bebop, he was a bit of a Czarist - I particularly like The World of Swing, one of the most valuable jazz books in my collection, because it has interviews/profiles of musicians that appear nowhere else - he did seem, in his last years at Jazz Times, to have become a bit overly cranky (his reviews tended to have a "I could have done it better" tone to them), but he did give my book American Pop a positive review, so I cannot question his integrity -

Edited May 25, 2006 by AllenLowe

[Hot Ptah]

I have enjoyed Stanley Dance's books on Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Earl Hines very much. I remember Stanley Dance's reviews at Jazz Times. I remember that in a concert review of Carla Bley, he wrote that she was having fun on stage, "as a good girl should" or something to that effect. I could not tell if he was saying things like that tongue in cheek, or if they reflected a cultural orientation toward a much earlier day, as well as a musical one.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

I think Dance's taste, or at least his understanding, was a hell of a lot broader than he's given credit for. I just reread his sleeve notes for Grant Green's "Alive". Dance understood perfectly what was going on there, and conveyed it in words that are as effective and meaningful now as they were in 1970.

He also produced some fine albums, including one of my favourites; Ram Ramirez' "Live in Harlem". This was another organ group (duo) recorded in another organ room, 10 years earlier.

I definitely have no complaints about Dance.

MG

[JSngry]

Stanley Dance was a bad muthafukkah.

I'll take your word for that, but how about his liner notes?

Stanley Dance was a bad muthafukkah.