One-Track Ponies : Jazz Albums You Keep Just For One Track

[Chas]

This is a thread about those albums in our collections that we feel contain only one good track , albeit one good enough to keep us from freeing up shelf space by eighty-sixing the album . So , this is not to be a listing of favorite tracks , but rather an inventory of albums that you pull out , listen to the one good track , then re-file . Such an exercise may be of some utility in this age of à la carte downloading .

To kick things off , my first one-track pony is Dave Pike's The Doors of Perception . After a pretty inconsequential , commercial , debut effort for Atlantic ( Jazz for the Jet Set ) , Pike recorded this over-produced musical farrago for Atlantic's Vortex subsidiary .The album is a mess really , veering as it does from psych-jazz experimentalism to poppy soul-jazz to more traditional jazz forms in such a way as to leave the listener wondering what these particular tracks are doing sharing space on the same album - the album is all seams . Although there are seven unissued tracks from the recording that produced the album , whether or not a more cohesive , unified album could have been constructed from them will likely remain unknown , given that those tracks are presumably victims of Atlantic's infamous vault fire . Of course lack of cohesion itself isn't what makes this album a one-track pony for me , but rather , that four of the album's five tracks simply don't reach me in any way ( whether or not they are good exemplars of their respective stylistic niches I wouldn't venture to say ) . However , the fifth and album-closing track , Anticipation , is something special . Its bright , lilting melody propelled along with an infectious swing as the solo baton is passed around from Pike to Konitz to Daniels to Friedman to Israels . The continuity of swing in the performance aided in no small measure by some very hip drumming by the only no-name in the band , Arnie Wise . Me , I like to swing , so this is the only track that gets me moving and the only track I listen to . Happily , it's also the longest track on the album .

I will add to this thread as I uncover more one-track ponies . Don't think I've too many , but perhaps enough so that one day I'll put together a decent odds and sods compilation and clear up some shelf space for albums with less chaff .

Edited June 24, 2008 by Chas

[Guest Bill Barton]

The recent Ray Brown, Jr. Friends and Family CD inspired this thread.

I received this one through the online promotion company Radio DirectX. They have selected tracks for preview on their website. I took one listen to the version of Mose Allison's "Everybody's Cryin' Mercy" with Dr. Lonnie Smith on organ and second vocal and immediately ordered the CD. It's a killer track.

The rest, well... Most of it is painfully awful, some just over-produced and boring. It definitely shows that over-production and gimmickry are not exclusive to "major labels." And it manages to completely waste the talents of the estimable James Moody and Terry Gibbs. Don't even think about listening to the version of "How High the Moon" where Brown sings "with" his dad and Ella Fitzgerald; it's scarily atrocious. Some of the other folks who take part in the destruction include Freda Payne, Dionne Warwick, Maria Muldaur, Sally Kellerman, Sophie B. Hawkins and Jane Monheit.

Are there other nominations for albums or CDs where one track is "killer" and the rest "filler"?

[Jazzmoose]

I assume you mean in jazz; rock is full of this sort of thing...

[Guest Bill Barton]

I assume you mean in jazz; rock is full of this sort of thing...

Short answer: yes!

Here's the cover art. It's apropos that he's offering you a drink. You'll need one after listening to this...

Edited November 17, 2008 by Bill Barton

[Chas]

What , my thread on this topic wasn't good enough ?

http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=44461

[Guest Bill Barton]

What , my thread on this topic wasn't good enough ?

http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=44461

Oops

I tried searching the board but this one didn't come up... Maybe the mods can merge 'em.

[Aggie87]

Haven't heard it, but it sounds like the new Kenny Garrett live disc may fit this bill.

[Big Beat Steve]

Would albums that duplicate others in one's collection except for one (or at most two) tracks and that you keep for this one track anyway also qualify for this thread?

[king ubu]

Hm, definitely not a one-trick pony, but Johnny Griffin's "The Congregation" longtime had such an effect on me... his solo on the opening track has such drive, such momentum, so much joyful exuberance, in short, it may be the only Griffin solo I could almost sing along from beginning to end... after that, all that came on the album seemed rather lame and tame by comparison.

As I said, not at all a one-trick pony in my current assessment, but back when I got it (on Conn vinyl originally, in the 90s) and had much less jazz experience, it seemed to be...

[Niko]

Would albums that duplicate others in one's collection except for one (or at most two) tracks and that you keep for this one track anyway also qualify for this thread?

did you know that every time i buy this sort of thing i think of you by now; you've posted this dozens of times and i agree it's so annoying there's not really a reason to stop posting... (ditto for the ethical divide between proper and lonehill)

[mikeweil]

Tom Scott's debut on Impulse, "The Honeysuckle Breeze" - lots of late 1960's pop-oriented tyring-hard-to-be-hip stuff, and one hard swinging tune among it. Well, he was 17 at the time he recorded it .... his next for Impulse, "Rural Still Life", is great.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Would albums that duplicate others in one's collection except for one (or at most two) tracks and that you keep for this one track anyway also qualify for this thread?

I've got quite a few of those. But I don't think so - basically, that other material is good (or you wouldn't have two or more copies, would you?).

I have quite a lot of LPs that I keep for only one side, because the other side is, to use a technical term, shitty. But if we're talkking about items we keep for only one track, I can't think of any of those LPs that qualify.

However, I've got a few that I only bought because so and so played on one or two tracks (sometimes not even terribly audibly) and I think these qualify, so I'll list them.

Bruce Fisher - Red hot - Mercury (Charles Earland is on two tracks of this, but it's rubbish all the way through from what I can remember)

Roy Nathanson - Fire at Keaton's Bar & Grill - 6 Degrees (Earland is on a couple of these tracks, too)

Saka Acquaye - Gold Coast Saturday night - Elektra (Earland on tenor sax)

Case - Personal conversation - Def Soul (Mel Sparks is on one track)

Bobbi Humphrey - City beat - Malaco Jazz (Gloria Coleman on one track)

Various Artists - Kairo: songs of the Gambia - Kerewan Sounds (one track is by a friend, Sambou Susso, who is a great singer)

MG

[Big Beat Steve]

Would albums that duplicate others in one's collection except for one (or at most two) tracks and that you keep for this one track anyway also qualify for this thread?

did you know that every time i buy this sort of thing i think of you by now; you've posted this dozens of times and i agree it's so annoying there's not really a reason to stop posting... (ditto for the ethical divide between proper and lonehill)

You know actually in most cases I am well aware beforehand of records that I now buy for only one or two tracks (because I WANT those tracks AND because those records are dirt cheap to begin with) but the ones I was thinking of within this thread are others:

I.e. those records you once bought in your earlier collecting days and then, later on, you "upgraded" to other pressings/issues that are more comprehensive and more methodically organized and STILL when you do a track-by-track comparison you find there STILL are one or two tracks on this record that you DON'T have on others so you still cannot dump this LP and relegate it to the fleamarket/swap meet box (at least not until you've found those remaining tracks on other discs that fill this and other voids in a better way in your collection!

Happened to me a couple of times last week when I brought home a huge stack of 2nd hand vinyl so the question came to mind here ...

And no doubt it's a dilemma faced by many other collectors too.

[Niko]

Would albums that duplicate others in one's collection except for one (or at most two) tracks and that you keep for this one track anyway also qualify for this thread?

did you know that every time i buy this sort of thing i think of you by now; you've posted this dozens of times and i agree it's so annoying there's not really a reason to stop posting... (ditto for the ethical divide between proper and lonehill)

You know actually in most cases I am well aware beforehand of records that I now buy for only one or two tracks (because I WANT those tracks AND because those records are dirt cheap to begin with) but the ones I was thinking of within this thread are others:

I.e. those records you once bought in your earlier collecting days and then, later on, you "upgraded" to other pressings/issues that are more comprehensive and more methodically organized and STILL when you do a track-by-track comparison you find there STILL are one or two tracks on this record that you DON'T have on others so you still cannot dump this LP and relegate it to the fleamarket/swap meet box (at least not until you've found those remaining tracks on other discs that fill this and other voids in a better way in your collection!

Happened to me a couple of times last week when I brought home a huge stack of 2nd hand vinyl so the question came to mind here ...

And no doubt it's a dilemma faced by many other collectors too.

it definitely is a dilemma... the invention of the album has helped a bit though...

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Oh, and I thought about posting this in the "Least favourite Mosaic" thread, but decided it goes in here better. I only bought the Joe Pass Mosaic box to get the two albums (and bonus tracks) by Les McCann - "On time" and "Soul hits" - on CD. The other three and a half discs have only been played once.

Signed

A Philistine

[felser]

Norman Connors - Slewfoot. For the incredible "Mother of the Future". The rest is dreck.

[carnivore]

Nothing on 'Blue Train' matches up to the title track. Own up: when you had the LP how often did you play the B side?

[king ubu]

Nothing on 'Blue Train' matches up to the title track. Own up: when you had the LP how often did you play the B side?

I strongly disagree. Of course the title track is terrific, but for me, all four originals are classics!

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Nothing on 'Blue Train' matches up to the title track. Own up: when you had the LP how often did you play the B side?

I strongly disagree. Of course the title track is terrific, but for me, all four originals are classics!

I also like "I'm old fashioned". How many jazz versions of that do you know?

MG

[Dan Gould]

I totally agree with Ubu. All of the originals are strong, with Moment's Notice being at least on a par with the title track. And the ballad ain't too bad either.

[BruceH]

I assume you mean in jazz; rock is full of this sort of thing...

So much so that it comes close to being the norm.

[king ubu]

I like the ballad as well, MG! And Dan, I considered singling out "Moment's Notice"... but then "Lazy Bird" is great, too, and so is "Locomotion"...

[BillF]

Nothing on 'Blue Train' matches up to the title track. Own up: when you had the LP how often did you play the B side?

Being a bopper at heart, I'm happier with "Moment's Notice" and "Lazy Bird".

[carnivore]

On 'Pithecanthropus' I really only want to hear 'Love Chant' and 'Portait of Jackie' these days.

[Chas]

Tom Scott's debut on Impulse, "The Honeysuckle Breeze" - lots of late 1960's pop-oriented tyring-hard-to-be-hip stuff, and one hard swinging tune among it. Well, he was 17 at the time he recorded it .... his next for Impulse, "Rural Still Life", is great.

You didn't say , but I'm betting you think the "one hard swinging tune" on Honeysuckle Breeze is Emil Richard's Blues For Hari . If so , I agree that it's the best thing on the album , but since I also like the version of Naima , this album doesn't strictly speaking fit in this thread for me . Rural Still Life is better than Honeysuckle Breeze insofar as it avoids the Gary McFarland-like pop pandering , but for me it's pretty close to fitting this thread as well . I think With Respect To Coltrane is the best thing on it , and the version of Body and Soul is decent , but after that you've got four 'originals' ( including one inspired by Freedom Jazz Dance and one by Maiden Voyage ) that don't do anything for me .