Legends of Acid Jazz

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

LEGENDS OF ACID JAZZ

Clem asked about this series and I thought we should have a thread. Here’s what came out.

Legends of Acid Jazz series

24167 Boogaloo Joe Jones (Boogaloo Joe/Right on brother)

24168 Rusty Bryant (Night train now/Soul liberation)

24169 Sonny Stitt (Turn it on/Black vibrations)

24170 Idris Muhammad (Black rhythm revolution/Peace & rhythm)

24171 Melvin Sparks (Sparks/Spark plug)

24175 Pucho & the Latin Soul Brothers – Best of Pucho & the LSB (bits & pieces)

24176 Bernard Purdie (Purdie good/Shaft)

24177 Johnny “Hammond” Smith (Soul talk/Black feelin')

24178 Don Patterson (Exciting new organ of DP + other trax from session – mainly “Hip cake walk”)

24179 Houston Person (Person to person/The Houston express)

24184 Jack McDuff (Bits & pieces 1965-1969)

24185 Leon Spencer (Sneak preview/Louisiana Slim)

24186 Sonny Phillips (Sure ‘nuff/Black on black)

24187 Richard “Groove” Holmes (The groover/That healin’ feelin’)

24188 Gene Ammons (Black cat/You talk that talk (w Stitt))

24196 Various artists – Hammond heroes (some great stuff in here not issued in the series)

24197 Billy Butler (This is BB/Night life)

24198 Willis Jackson (Blue Gator/Cookin’ sherry)

24199 Red Holloway (The burner/Red soul)

24200 Shirley Scott & Stanley Turrentine (Hip soul/Hip twist)

24208 Trudy Pitts (These blues of mine/Introducing TP (most))

24209 Boogaloo Joe Jones (No way/What it is)

24210 Sonny Stitt/Don Patterson (Funk you DP/Soul electricity SS)

24211 Rusty Bryant (Fire eater/Wild fire)

24212 Various artists – Tenor titans (ditto see 24196)

24218 Willis Jackson (Keep on a blowing/Thunderbird)

24219 Charles Kynard (Afro-disiac/Wa-tu-wa-zui)

24220 Jack McDuff (Brother Jack/Goodnight, it’s time to go)

24221 Houston Person (Truth/Soul dance)

24222 Richard “Groove” Holmes (Spicy/Livin’ soul)

24233 Shirley Scott (Soul sister/Travelin’ light (w K Burrell))

24234 Bill Jennings & Jack McDuff (Enough said/Glide on)

24235 Johnny “Hammond” Smith (Soul flowers/Dirty grape)

24236 Sonny Stitt (Low flame/Shangri-la)

24237 Don Patterson (Four dimensions/(rest of) Hip cake walk + other bits from session)

Related Fantasy twofers

24071 Gene Ammons – Organ combos (Twistin’ the Jug/Angel eyes/Velvet soul)

24118 Gene ammons, Sonny Stitt & Jack McDuff – Soul summit (vols 1 & 2)

24126 Shirley Scott – Workin’/Stompin’

24127 Sonny Stitt/Ervin/Patterson – Soul people (plus bits)

24129 Gene Ammons – The boss is back/Brother jug

24131 Jack McDuff & Kenny Burrell – Crash/Somethin’ slick +1

24133 Richard “Groove” Holmes – Blue Groove (Get up and get it/Soul mist)

24138 Pucho & the Latin Soul Brothers – Tough/Saffron & soul

24141 Red Holloway & Jack McDuff – Brother Red (Cookin’ together + extras)

24142 Shirley Scott & Stanley Turrentine – Soul shoutin’/The soul is willing

24147 Jack McDuff – Live/At Jazz Workshop

24149 Don Patterson – Dem New York dues (Opus de don/Oh happy day)

24150 Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis – Streetlights (I only have eyes for you/Trackin’)

24151 Johnny “Hammond” Smith - Talk that talk/Gettin' the message

24161 Willis Jackson – with Pat Martino (Jackson’s action/Live action)

24164 Johnny “Hammond” Smith - That good feelin'/All soul

24165 Sonny Stitt – Night letter/Soul shack (w McDuff)

24240 Pucho & the Latin Soul Brothers – Cold shoulder (more bits)

24242 Jack McDuff – Silken soul (more bits & pieces)

24244 Johnny “Hammond” Smith - The soulful blues (Ebb tide/Nasty)

24253 Sonny Stitt & Don Patterson – The boss men/Night crawler + bits)

24254 Willis Jackson – Gravy (Grease & gravy/The good life)

24256 Jack McDuff – The soulful drums/Hot barbecue

24257 Charles Kynard – Soul Brotherhood/Reelin’ with the feelin’

24260 Billy Butler – Night life (Guitar soul/Yesterday, today & tomorrow)

24261 Sonny Stitt – Brothers four/Donnybrook (actually a Don Patterson session)

24265 Willis Jackson – Nuther’n like thuther’n (Boss shoutin’/More gravy

24267 Charles Earland – In concert (Live at the Lighthouse/Kharma)

24268 Eric Kloss – About time (Introducing EK/Love and all that jazz)

24269 Rusty Bryant – For the good times/Until it’s time for you to go

24270 Jack McDuff – The concert McDuff plus other live bits

24273 Willis Jackson – Soul night live/Tell it

24274 Jack McDuff – The last good ‘un (On with it + bits)

24276 Sonny Stitt – Goin’ down slow/So doggone good

24277 Bobby Timmons – The (not quite) Prestige trio sessions (Little barefoot soul/Chun-king)

24281 Gene Ammons - Fine and mellow (Big bad Jug/Got my own)

24282 Johnny “Hammond” Smith - Good 'nuff (The stinger/Willis Jackson cooks with JHS)

24284 Willis Jackson & Jack McDuff – Together again/Together again, again

24289 Shirley Scott – Trio classics vol 1 (Great Scott!/Shirley’s sounds)

24290 Houston Person – Broken windows empty hallways/Sweet buns & barbeque

24291 Johnny “Hammond” Smith - Opus de funk/Stimulation

24292 Richard “Groove” Holmes – Super soul/Soul power

24294 Willis Jackson – After hours (Loose/Soul grabber)

47072 Johnny “Hammond” Smith - Black coffee/Mr Wonderful

47089 Johnny “Hammond” Smith - Open house/A little taste

47098 Wild Bill Moore - Bottom Groove/Wild Bill’s beat

British issues on the Beat Goes Public label (Ace – all deleted since Concord)

CDBGPD040 Funk inc – Funk inc/Chicken lickin’

CDBGPD043 Boogaloo Joe Jones – Snake rhythm rock/Black whip

CDBGPD047 Pucho & the Latin Soul Brothers - Heat/Jungle fire

CDBGPD058 Funk inc – Hangin’ out/Superfunk

CDBGPD063 Sonny Phillips – Sure ‘nuff/Black magic

CDBGPD067 Boogaloo Joe Jones – The Mindbender/My fire

CDBGPD093 Charles Earland – Black talk/Black drops

CDBGPD117 Billy Hawks - New genius of the blues/More heavy soul

CDBGPD119 Bobby Timmons – The soul man/Soul food

CDBGPD122 Freddie Roach – The soul book/Mocha motion

And one more essential item, from P-Vine

PCD5621 Rhoda Scott - Hey! Hey! Hey!/Live at the Key Club

I’ve included a lot more stuff, because the Legends of Acid Jazz series was simply a continuation of a programme that Fantasy started in 1977 with the issue of Gene Ammons’ “Organ combos”. And continued after the series had been discontinued. The numbers of the Acid Jazz series slot in nicely, as you see. Acid Jazz was simply a marketing tool used when convenient, then dropped, when it no longer commanded any premium. Fantasy simply rebranded its organ reissue programme – whether or not each individual issue was Acid Jazz (a term which generally refers to jazz albums made under the influence of James Brown’s development of Funk).

I’ve also included 3 Milestone issues, as well as a few non-organ issues, all of which seem relevant to me. Also relevant, and although they’re deleted, copies are bound to be lurking around of the Ace BGP issues (which weren’t issues in the US) that I’ve listed.

It seems to me that it doesn’t matter if you don’t like the funky stuff; this programme was a marvellous achievement for Fantasy in my view (of course, I’m a fan). And it reflects (not without a few gaps, of course) Prestige’s absolute pre-eminence in Soul Jazz.

I’m not going to give y’all a rundown of what’s good here. Suffice it to say that I have every one of these except the Trudy Pitts (and I have one of the LPs).

MG

Edited December 6, 2006 by The Magnificent Goldberg

[Guest the mommy]

i wish they would have packaged the stuff differently-the "legends of acid jazz" moniker and the ugly graphics-it is embarassing to have them on the shelf. not to mention, some of the original names and packaging are cool. a british label reissued some of the prestige acid-ey jazz stuff themselves in a less lame way, didn't they?

[Soul Stream]

Dude, get the Trudy Pitts!!!!! That Legends of Acid Jazz Trudy Pitts/Pat Martino CD is really glorious. She's really killin' and I dig her vocals too. Bill Carney/Trudy Pitts/Pat Martino were a working unit and this is a nice documentation of what was going down at that time. Awesome. Trudy Pitts rules (and Pat ain't bad either. )

[Guest the mommy]

i liked the leon spencer a lot.

and the bernard purdie just because it had a different thing going on.

the rusty bryants too. rusty bryant-underrated king of the funky prestige scene.

the idris muhammed was good too, but inconsistent.

[LAL]

Completely agree.

Dude, get the Trudy Pitts!!!!! That Legends of Acid Jazz Trudy Pitts/Pat Martino CD is really glorious. She's really killin' and I dig her vocals too. Bill Carney/Trudy Pitts/Pat Martino were a working unit and this is a nice documentation of what was going down at that time. Awesome. Trudy Pitts rules (and Pat ain't bad either. )

[Guy Berger]

I’m not going to give y’all a rundown of what’s good here.

What if I ask really nicely?

Let me narrow down the criteria a bit: which have really good saxophone playing?

Guy

[Jim Alfredson]

Anything with Sonny Stitt on it, foo! And of course the Shirley Scott / Stanley T one.

[Guy Berger]

Anything with Sonny Stitt on it, foo! And of course the Shirley Scott / Stanley T one.

Which Stitt is the best? There are almost 10 of them!

It kills me that Concord is going to delete these before I get a chance to listen to all of 'em!

Guy

Edited December 6, 2006 by Guy

[connoisseur series500]

Some are better than others, but they're all pretty darned good. It might be easier to point out the ones that aren't as good.

I really like the first Boogaloo Jones cd and the Charles Kynard. Both came as pleasant surprises when I heard them. The first Johnny Hammond Smith is darned good as well. The Don Patterson/Sonny Stitt collaborations are great as Jim said.

[Soul Stream]

Personally, I think they're ALL very good. I remember a time when you had to go to a freakin' record convention to get ONE of these LPs and it would be a scratchy mess and STILL cost you 30 bucks. When this series came out I was all over it and still am. If you can afford it, get the entire series. Just my 2 cents.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Edited the list to add in 3 I forgot last night - 2 BGPs and a Japan-only issue of Rhoda's 2 TruSound albums. (How could I forget them!)

MG

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Completely agree.

Dude, get the Trudy Pitts!!!!! That Legends of Acid Jazz Trudy Pitts/Pat Martino CD is really glorious. She's really killin' and I dig her vocals too. Bill Carney/Trudy Pitts/Pat Martino were a working unit and this is a nice documentation of what was going down at that time. Awesome. Trudy Pitts rules (and Pat ain't bad either. )

Funny, Pitts is the one I really don't get. I've got "These blues of mine" on LP and hardly ever play it. And when I do, I never feel that she's swinging. Only time I've heard her really swing is on Willis Jackson's LP "Star bag" - but Willis could make the brain dead swing.

MG

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

I’m not going to give y’all a rundown of what’s good here.

What if I ask really nicely?

Let me narrow down the criteria a bit: which have really good saxophone playing?

Guy

You want a recommendation for sax players? Prestige was THE label for sax players.

But here's a rec from someone who warrants reapect:

"Man, I went on a trip with that cat. Man, if you are not together, he'll blow you off that bandstand, because he's got such a big, robust style, and he can play forty different ways. And he's just one of the cats."

That's Von Freeman talking about Willis "Gator Tail" Jackson. And he's just one of the cats, indeed.

Jug - the most beautiful sound man achieved on tenor sax.

Stanley - so smooth, so funky!

Rusty - with grits in it

Houston - pure joy

Stitt - lightweight sound but chops hanging down to his knees

MG

[Niko]

Anything with Sonny Stitt on it, foo! And of course the Shirley Scott / Stanley T one.

Which Stitt is the best? There are almost 10 of them!

It kills me that Concord is going to delete these before I get a chance to listen to all of 'em!

Guy

24236 Sonny Stitt (Low flame/Shangri-la)

(the others i have are boss men (similar but half a star less) and brothers 4 (has been discussed in an aotw thread not everyone's thing))

(and don't forget the Patterson/Ervin stuff)

edit to rewrite this with slighty more time

favorite is 24236 Sonny Stitt (Low flame/Shangri-la), Shangri-la is the best/liveliest single album of the ones i know, just the trio of Stitt, Patterson and Billy James, Low flame is earlier and "adds" the guitar player Paul Weeden which is a nice change of pace; The Boss Men are more than two LPs of Stitt/Patterson/James, nice but as i said i my favorite trio lp of those i know is Shangri-la; Brothers 4 is Stitt/Patterson/James plus Grant Green this is the most controversial one I think, it has some very nice Patterson ballad playing iirc, this is the record where some people say the varitone attachment is not functioning properly / not plugged in whatever... it does not do much harm

on the second half of

24210 Sonny Stitt/Don Patterson (Funk you DP/Soul electricity SS)

the varitone is definitely working properly not really my thing... the first half is Stitt/Patterson/James plus Charles McPherson and Pat Martino, just listening to this, great duet track between Patterson and Martino not bad but i was a little underwhelmed, as 1) Pat Martino is very good, but not as good as on Patterson's Boppin and Burnin and especially not as astonishing as on the first half of

24237 Don Patterson (Four dimensions/(rest of) Hip cake walk + other bits from session)

(first half=Houston Person half with astonishing Martino, second half fine trio of Booker Ervin/Patterson/James - not a full LP but a full session that contributed to three LPs)

2) the material and the overall impression, e.g. of McPherson is not as good as on really really great Patterson's Boppin and Burnin (with the same line-up except Howard McGhee instead of Stitt)

[as I said i'm just listening and I already see myself editing this again and improving my impression]

that edit: Funk You is really better than i remembered / described it above though maybe not at the level of Boppin and Burnin... Soul Electricity is odd - like an experiment what happened if Sonny Stitt played the old songs (Stella by Starlight, Strike up the band, Over the rainbow) again but this time using the modern varitone attachment - the result is pretty much exactly what one expects it to be - hardly anything has changed; but there is no saxophone sound anymore and instead there is - well not really anything... it's not that i hated the varitone or something... but if you just use to make some weird before/after picture that's somewhat thin

Edited December 6, 2006 by Niko

[andybleaden]

Not got the Tru Sounds Rhoda Scott material

for those interested this is the record cover for Hey Hey Hey

[Peter A]

Funny, Pitts is the one I really don't get. I've got "These blues of mine" on LP and hardly ever play it. And when I do, I never feel that she's swinging. Only time I've heard her really swing is on Willis Jackson's LP "Star bag" - but Willis could make the brain dead swing.

Try to find - or listen to - The Excitement Of Trudy Pitts (PR 7583), a swinging live date recorded in NYC in 1968, with incredibly wild guitar by Wilbert Longmire.

[king ubu]

Several of these are out now in Concord incarnations (universal logo on the traycard), including the Stitts, Brother 4 (rather lame) and I think I also saw the Scott/Stan T one (great one! as is the other Rhoda, with Lem Winchester and Kenny Burrell, respectively).

The Booker/Patterson is out again, too.

Seems Concord is not just deleting the stuff...many Pablo things I saw, also of course tons of the "classic" albums (Trane, Miles, Monk), and some of the later things, too (80s Jazztet, those glorious Art Farmer albums on Contemporary, etc).

And to return back on topic at the end, I don't dig Houston, really... got an album (twofer) of his in the 2001 sale and I think it's pretty lame. Same goes for his sideman appearances... rather boring player. Red Holloway has not been discussed yet - he's on the great "Soulful Drums" twofer (sold as by McDuff nowadays, not by Dukes). Pretty good one, but Holloway has his bag of Griffin licks in there, which is a slight letdown... otherwise a very joyful and nice player.

Oh, another favourite of mine is the after hours like Bill Jennings/Jack McDuff release in the Legends of Acid Jazz series! Probably lame for some, but I enjoy even their take on "Volare"...

Edited December 6, 2006 by king ubu

[Niko]

the Scott/Stan T one (great one! as is the other Rhoda, with Lem Winchester and Kenny Burrell, respectively).

reading Shirley for Rhoda i like them both a lot but i think i like the OJC of Scott/Turrentine "Blue Flames" even much better though it only has one album on it...

[king ubu]

the Scott/Stan T one (great one! as is the other Rhoda, with Lem Winchester and Kenny Burrell, respectively).

reading Shirley for Rhoda i like them both a lot but i think i like the OJC of Scott/Turrentine "Blue Flames" even much better though it only has one album on it...

It's just too much for me that both of these great organ ladies are called Scott, sorry... don't have "Blue Flames", but I have both "Trio Classics Vol. 1" and the Moodsville twofer of Scott just in trio, and they're great, too!

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Funny, Pitts is the one I really don't get. I've got "These blues of mine" on LP and hardly ever play it. And when I do, I never feel that she's swinging. Only time I've heard her really swing is on Willis Jackson's LP "Star bag" - but Willis could make the brain dead swing.

Try to find - or listen to - The Excitement Of Trudy Pitts (PR 7583), a swinging live date recorded in NYC in 1968, with incredibly wild guitar by Wilbert Longmire.

Well, I've ordered "Introducing Trudy Pitts", coming out in Japan on 21 Feb. That'll do for a start.

MG

[Soul Stream]

I'm amazed at what's been described as "lame" or not very good....

Brothers 4?!!! AMAZING

Soul Electricity is one of my all time favorites...Stitt and Patterson killin' standards.

I'll say it again. This is THE era of the B3 and Prestige was knockin' 'em out at the time. I love all this stuff...

[Soulstation1]

i have all the lotaj series except for the trudy pitts

all are available @ emusic

[Niko]

I'm amazed at what's been described as "lame" or not very good....

Brothers 4?!!! AMAZING

Soul Electricity is one of my all time favorites...Stitt and Patterson killin' standards.

why not disagree... nothing against the playing on Soul Electricity (Stitt simply means a high basislevel of quality) but the concept...

[Guy Berger]

i have all the lotaj series except for the trudy pitts

all are available @ emusic

SS1,

Which ones are your favorites?

guy

[Noj]

My favorites are the Stitt/Patterson, the Johnny Hammond Smith, and the Kynard. I've enjoyed very nearly all of them.

Like MG, I wasn't feeling the Trudy Pitts. Maybe I'll revisit it with Soul Stream's comments in mind.