Leon Spencer

[Joe]

Was just driving back from dinner and after-coffee, happened to have Melvin Sparks' rendition of Sly Stone's "Thank You [etc.]" spinning on the car stereo, and was reminded again what a unique master of the groove Spencer was (is?).

Not that I'm keeping track, but, for me, Spencer remains the trippiest / most "acid" of that third generation of Hammond B-3 players to come to notice in the mid- to late 60's. Sure, no one ever got quite as interstellar as Larry Young -- cf., LOVE CRY WANT -- but Spencer's work is pretty "spacey". To me, his solos areoften alternately menacing and blissed-out. Profoundly heavy-lidded stuff, if you know what I mean. (Finest example of this? The title track from LOUISIANA SLIM.) And it still swings, like... well, insert your analogy here.

Any other fans of Spencer's work? Any idea what happened to him after his run of Prestige sessions came to an end?

[kh1958]

I saw him live on two consecutive nights, I think in 1985--he played at the Caravan of Dreams backing up David Fathead Newman. As I recall, it was a rather terrific group.

[Joe]

  kh1958 said:

I saw him live on two consecutive nights, I think in 1985--he played at the Caravan of Dreams backing up David Fathead Newman. As I recall, it was a rather terrific group.

Killer -- that would have been not long after their opening / back when CoD actually booked live music.

Makes me wonder how "local" Spencer was at that time. Surely this was not a pick-up band?

[JSngry]

http://doodlinlounge.podomatic.com/entry/2...T15_38_23-08_00

[Jim Alfredson]

Leon is the real deal. I wish he'd record some new stuff.

[Joe]

  JSngry said:

http://doodlinlounge.podomatic.com/entry/2...T15_38_23-08_00

[kh1958]

  Joe said:

  kh1958 said:

I saw him live on two consecutive nights, I think in 1985--he played at the Caravan of Dreams backing up David Fathead Newman. As I recall, it was a rather terrific group.

Killer -- that would have been not long after their opening / back when CoD actually booked live music.

Makes me wonder how "local" Spencer was at that time. Surely this was not a pick-up band?

I believe it was a band assembled for the occasion. The first few years the Caravan was open David Newman would always play there in December--the first two times he brought in Ellis Marsalis, this was the third appearance, I think, and he featured Leon Spencer for a rather different sounding group-I think the drummer was Walter Wynn (he used to play with Marchel Ivery). I don't recall the guitarist's name (I don't think I had heard of him before). They were so good I drove to Fort Worth two nights in a row to hear four sets.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Will get to the Doodlin' Lounge later today - thanks Jim.

Leon was about the only organist who could play a proper Funk bassline. His left foot could have been in Kool & the Gang, Fatback Band, Parliament or the JBs.

Last recording Leon made, I think, was on Karl Denson's "Dance lesson #2" (Blue Note), recorded Jan/Feb 2001. Must listen to this one again later.

MG

[Michael Weiss]

Little bit of trivia: Leon is Lou Donaldson's godson

[Joe]

  The Magnificent Goldberg said:

Leon was about the only organist who could play a proper Funk bassline. His left foot could have been in Kool & the Gang, Fatback Band, Parliament or the JBs.

MG

Absolutely. Just listen to what he's doing on pedals on the rendition of "Spill The Wine" from SPARKS!

[jodigrind]

Spencer's interaction with Melvin Sparks on the title track of LD's The Scorpion is unbelievable.

[Shawn]

Leon is also one of my favorites, of all those "Legends Of Acid Jazz" discs his is probably the one I've played the most. The last time I heard he was living in Houston.