Tiny Grimes

[Tom 1960]

I'm presently enjoying some of his work on the album The Prestige Blues Swingers, Outskirts Of Town. Very nice bluesy sound. I did a search and was surprised to see litttle discussion of him here previously. Anyone here also enjoy his work and willing to offer up a few thoughts, recommendations?

[paul secor]

Callin' the Blues (Prestige/OJC) is a fine Tiny Grimes record.

[Cliff Englewood]

Didn't he record with Bird a few times, or was it Bird recording with him??? Either way, I love all of the early electric guitarists I've heard, something about the tone they got from the very basic equipment they were using or maybe it was just down to the way it was recorded, but it's a fantastic sound.

[Big Beat Steve]

"Callin' The Blues" is very nice but I am not familiar with all of Tiny Grimes' late 50s/early 60s "Mainstream" records so I cannot say how it rates compared to his other recordings from that period.

Beyond that, it all depends how you like your small-group guitar swing. Tiny Grimes' career has several distinct periods.

His 1944 small group sessions (often reissued due to the presence of Bird on some them) are definitely worth listening not only for Bird, and those who dismiss those tunes (including Tiny's singing) as "flash-in-the-pan" ditties (if it weren't for the presence of Bird) are rather high-brow snobs! And he did not do badly at all at those mid-40s Art Tatum Trio sessions either.

And for those who like their small groups with a fair more bit of grits and steam, his recordings from 1947 for Atlantic, Gotham, etc. (fittingly often billed as "Tiny Grimes & His Rocking Highlanders") are all-plugs-pulled R&B with tight interplay between his well-amplified guitar and the tenor sax and pure energy that clearly show that rock'n'roll as "invented" by the Whites (???) in 1954 must have been old hat to the ears of quite a few. Even his slows have a very intense atmospheric after-hours quality. And those groups gave John Hardee, Red Prysock and Benny Golson some early exposure.

And then there was his late 50s "Mainstream" period (see above), and all three have their merits in their own right IMHO.

Edited August 1, 2009 by Big Beat Steve

[mjzee]

I've liked everything I've heard from Tiny Grimes, and I can actually say that about very few artists.

There are the 4 Bird tracks on Savoy, important because the b-sides were the first true inklings of the mature Bird sound on record: Tiny's Tempo and Red Cross. Tiny's sound is very pleasing, and compliments Bird well.

The 3 OJCs under his name are all wonderful: Blues Groove, Callin' The Blues, and Tiny In Swingville.

I also have 2 Black and Blues from late in his career: Food For Thought and Some Groovy Fours. Pure party music; a lot of fun.

Finally, I have some odds and ends in my collection: 3 tracks on The Blue Note Swingtets (2 under his name, and 1 with Ike Quebec), a track called Hot In Harlem from 1948, and his sextet backing Billie Holiday on Blue Turning Grey Over You, on Aladdin.

[Tom in RI]

Like Big Beat Steve I like his RnB sides from the late 40's. Another date he is on that I like is the Coleman Hawkins record, Blues Groove on Swingville. Not sure what its current status is but I would imagine it has been reissued in some by Prestige and is probably available cheap somewhere.

Edit: I see the post above mine notes that Blue Groove is now out under Tiny Grimes name, the lp issue I have has Coleman Haqwkins as the leader.

Edited August 1, 2009 by Tom in RI

[mikeweil]

I cherish my LP of "Callin' The Blues" - I'll buy a CD reissue only if they add the two tracks from the session that were released on some Prestige compilation LP. These are missing on the OJC CD.

[Jim R]

For anyone who may not be aware, Tiny played tenor (4-string) guitar, which some would view as a limited instrument, but which sets the stage for Tiny's distinctive sound and approach. And yes, as Cliff alludes to, Tiny's tone was akin to that of other early electric standouts, in that his tenor guitar featured a smaller version of the classic "Charlie Christian" pickup (seminal pickup design, which used cobalt in the magnets, which became rare and expensive, etc).

I think I first really noticed Tiny via a Tatum Trio LP. I had probably heard those few Savoys with Bird already, but his playing with Tatum really made me turn my head. Not long after, I bought an import LP called "Rockin' And Sockin'" (Oldie Blues, Holland), which included various tracks from his R&B sessions. That thing knocked me out completely. One thing that Tiny was doing long before most other players was adjusting his volume control (on the guitar) mid-flight, to great effect. The drama he created with that technique on some of those R&B recordings is irresistible. I think all of that stuff can now be found on CD in the Chronological Classics series.

Re his 70's work, in addition to "Some Groovy Fours", there was an LP called "Profoundly Blue" (Muse, 1973) that I used to enjoy a lot.

[kh1958]

Didn't he record with Bird a few times, or was it Bird recording with him??? Either way, I love all of the early electric guitarists I've heard, something about the tone they got from the very basic equipment they were using or maybe it was just down to the way it was recorded, but it's a fantastic sound.

Charlie Parker was a sideman on a Tiny Grimes Savoy date from late 1944.

[Shawn]

I love Tiny Grimes, the album you have is one of my favorites (Prestige Blues Swingers).

My second favorite is the already mentioned:

I discovered both of these albums when I was on my "Jerome Richardson kick" several years ago...which was great because I discovered Tiny in the process.

[Cliff Englewood]

For anyone who may not be aware, Tiny played tenor (4-string) guitar, which some would view as a limited instrument, but which sets the stage for Tiny's distinctive sound and approach. And yes, as Cliff alludes to, Tiny's tone was akin to that of other early electric standouts, in that his tenor guitar featured a smaller version of the classic "Charlie Christian" pickup (seminal pickup design, which used cobalt in the magnets, which became rare and expensive, etc).

I think I first really noticed Tiny via a Tatum Trio LP. I had probably heard those few Savoys with Bird already, but his playing with Tatum really made me turn my head. Not long after, I bought an import LP called "Rockin' And Sockin'" (Oldie Blues, Holland), which included various tracks from his R&B sessions. That thing knocked me out completely. One thing that Tiny was doing long before most other players was adjusting his volume control (on the guitar) mid-flight, to great effect. The drama he created with that technique on some of those R&B recordings is irresistible. I think all of that stuff can now be found on CD in the Chronological Classics series.

Re his 70's work, in addition to "Some Groovy Fours", there was an LP called "Profoundly Blue" (Muse, 1973) that I used to enjoy a lot.

Looks like I'm going to have to get myself some Tiny Grimes, nice description Jim.

Here's an Amazon link with a small photo and a few small sound clips of what Jim was talking about.

Edited August 2, 2009 by Cliff Englewood

[JSngry]

I love Tiny Grimes, the album you have is one of my favorites (Prestige Blues Swingers).

My second favorite is the already mentioned:

I discovered both of these albums when I was on my "Jerome Richardson kick" several years ago...which was great because I discovered Tiny in the process.

Yeah, and it was you who hipped me to that early 70s Columbia thing called The Guitar Album, which has some live Grimes from the time that is....heavy.

[Tom 1960]

The 3 OJCs under his name are all wonderful: Blues Groove, Callin' The Blues, and Tiny In Swingville.

I had the opportunity to sample all 3 of the above OJC titles and that was enough to convince me to purchase them. The date with Coleman Hawkins sounded the most interesting. Man, I have to stop hanging around this place. I'm going to get myself into serious trouble.

Edited August 2, 2009 by Tom 1960

[AllenLowe]

I saw Tiny at the West End in NYC, probably circa 1979, though I could be wrong about the date - it was a lucky time to be in NY, as a lot of great musicians, in their last active years, were still performing wonderfully (Al Casey was another great guitarist I saw at the West End about that time). I don't know what equipment he was using, but he still had that nice boom of a sound, just on the edge of distortion, like a lot of the classic jazz and blues guitarists. It's a function of low power tube amps and alnico pickups that are usually not as strong as current-day pickups, maybe 6-8 ohms, I would bet (though the Charlie Christians may have been higher power; they had more of a p90-ish sound). Also old-style alnico speakers, which break up more easily than ceramic magnet ones. He played great.

The reason that lower ohm alnico pickups are important is that modern day ceramics and high power pickups tend to overwhelm a low-power amp

Edited August 2, 2009 by AllenLowe

[fasstrack]

I'm presently enjoying some of his work on the album The Prestige Blues Swingers, Outskirts Of Town. Very nice bluesy sound. I did a search and was surprised to see litttle discussion of him here previously. Anyone here also enjoy his work and willing to offer up a few thoughts, recommendations?

I like Tiny. He's cool. The best kept secret among the guitarists of that period, though, is IMO Teddy Bunn. But Tiny was a pro and knew what he was doing. He worked a long time and could entertain, not just play. He sounds like he took some things from Charlie Christian, but you would have had to be on the scene right there to know what exactly was going on. There was a lot more sharing among musicians than nowadays. But if he did steal from Christian he had as good taste as Barney Kessel----and anyone else with any sense.

If anyone runs into James Chirillo, he worked with Tiny at the West End in NY just before I came on the scene. He could tell you about Tiny. I think Tiny played one gig at the Jazz Cultural Theater that I heard, but I can't recall what he sounded like. The drummer was banging---according to him b/c Tiny asked him to (maybe he was losing his hearing) and the bass player that night----I'm pretty sure it was Hal Dotson---was real drug with the drummer also and not enjoying the gig.

There are some good records, I'm sure. He always recorded with good people. Try to get stuff with Tatum, if only to hear how a guitar player keeps from getting rolled over. The stuff with Bird is good. I used to see trio records in the 70s. Don't have any names, sorry.

Edited August 8, 2009 by fasstrack

[JohnS]

I've always enjoyed Callin The Blues. The other Prestige dates didn't really do it for me.

[Swinging Swede]

Classics has released Tiny Grimes's complete 1944-1954 recordings on three CDs. It's in their Blues & Rhythm series though.

By the way, Grimes's 1962 United Artists album which never has been on CD (and probably never will) recently appeared on a blog. I haven't listened to it yet, but I have liked all other Grimes I have heard.

[king ubu]

Got those three OJCs last year, in one of my far too many OJC/Fantasy buying panick attacks... three enjoyable albums! Some great blowing by Hawkins... First heard Tiny on that date w/Bird, when I got the Bird Savoy LP set (still cherished, although I have the Savoy/Dial CD set as well by now). Still have to check out that Tatum trio...

[Brownian Motion]

Got those three OJCs last year, in one of my far too many OJC/Fantasy buying panick attacks... three enjoyable albums! Some great blowing by Hawkins... First heard Tiny on that date w/Bird, when I got the Bird Savoy LP set (still cherished, although I have the Savoy/Dial CD set as well by now). Still have to check out that Tatum trio...

I've prized the trio sides Tiny did with Tatum, ever since first hearing a few of them them on a Jazztone LP I purchased many years ago. These sides have usually been dismissed by jazz writers, but to me they are perfection itself. Tiny is an incredibly lyrical improviser, a perfect foil for Art's occasional forays into technique for technique's sake, and the other trio member, Slam Stewart, is his usual incomparable self. These sides are worth hearing and having.

[Enterprise Server]

Classics has released Tiny Grimes's complete 1944-1954 recordings on three CDs. It's in their Blues & Rhythm series though.

That's a very nice set. I'm I've heard it and I'm thinking about getting it.

[king ubu]

Got those three OJCs last year, in one of my far too many OJC/Fantasy buying panick attacks... three enjoyable albums! Some great blowing by Hawkins... First heard Tiny on that date w/Bird, when I got the Bird Savoy LP set (still cherished, although I have the Savoy/Dial CD set as well by now). Still have to check out that Tatum trio...

I've prized the trio sides Tiny did with Tatum, ever since first hearing a few of them them on a Jazztone LP I purchased many years ago. These sides have usually been dismissed by jazz writers, but to me they are perfection itself. Tiny is an incredibly lyrical improviser, a perfect foil for Art's occasional forays into technique for technique's sake, and the other trio member, Slam Stewart, is his usual incomparable self. These sides are worth hearing and having.

Thanks for the heads up... I remembered I have a Definitve complete Decca Tatum set lying around somewhere. I think that should cover quite some of that territory. Also, I do know the Capitol 2CDset for years (though there's not that much with the trio there) but haven't played it for a long time. In fact, Tatum's music isn't played that often here... I guess it would be wiser to play small doses more often, but I usually go for big loads (like three or four discs from the Solo Masterpieces sessions in one go) and then take long breaks...

[jeffcrom]

I'm listening to a very cool Tiny Grimes set from The Guitar Album - a Columbia double LP from a 1971 concert at Town Hall. Grimes plays a strong, bluesy set with a hip rhythm section: Larry Ridley and Al Harewood. He even uses a wah-wah pedal on "Watermelon Man."

It's a pretty interesting album. The other guitarists featured are Charlie Byrd, Joe Beck, Bucky Pizzarelli, George Barnes, Chuck Wayne, and John McLaughlin. The album has a few "Age of Aquarius" touches (Byrd plays "You've Got a Friend," Pizzarelli and Barnes do the "Love Story" theme), but that's part of the charm.

[Chuck Nessa]

Charm, that's the ticket.

[marcello]

I'm listening to a very cool Tiny Grimes set from The Guitar Album - a Columbia double LP from a 1971 concert at Town Hall. Grimes plays a strong, bluesy set with a hip rhythm section: Larry Ridley and Al Harewood. He even uses a wah-wah pedal on "Watermelon Man."

It's a pretty interesting album. The other guitarists featured are Charlie Byrd, Joe Beck, Bucky Pizzarelli, George Barnes, Chuck Wayne, and John McLaughlin. The album has a few "Age of Aquarius" touches (Byrd plays "You've Got a Friend," Pizzarelli and Barnes do the "Love Story" theme), but that's part of the charm.

I used to have that one. The Chuck Wayne set is nice.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

I've yet to find a copy of Tiny's Muse LP. It looks interesting.