If Lou Donaldson Musty Rusty had been recorded on Blue Note

[Dan Gould]

1. It would be recognized as one of his all-time bests of the kind, right up there with Alligator Boogaloo and The Natural Soul and Midnight Creeper.

2. It would be much easier to obtain because it would have been released multiple times ... Rare Groove, RVG. Hell it might still be in print.

Lou, Bill Hardman and Grant Green never sounded better, and I was shocked to realize its Billy Gardiner on organ, I was sure it was Big John. Gardiner kicks butt!

I'd normally say "YMMV" but if you've heard it, your mileage can't vary. This is classic soul jazz of an extremely high order.

Who is with me?

[mjzee]

He shouldn't have left Blue Note!

I've never even heard of this album; just looked it up on Wikipedia.

[Dan Gould]

There was an issue of dubious legality/quality a few years back, runs about $40 nowadays on Amazon Marketplace. It's odd because some of his other Cadet/Argo releases aren't so tough to find on vinyl but this seems to be pretty rare.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

It was always hard to get when it was new. I never saw a copy, new or second hand, except my mate's copy (and 'At his best'), both of which I taped, until I got the twofer issued on Jazzbeat, not too many years ago. And there's not a lot got past me back in the day.

Cadet was always a HARD label to get over here. The Andorrans, I believe, have a good grasp on what's likely to sell in Europe in the way of soul jazz.

Both those albums are superb. The substitution of Calvin Newborn for Grant Green and Grady Tate for Ben Dixon brought no deterioration whatever in the music - in fact, Newborn is a more interesting guitarist than GG (though GG is my favourite) and made relatively few appearances on jazz LPs back in those days, so his work was greatly sought after by soul jazz fans.

MG

[JSngry]

I concur about the badass excellence of this collection of recorded performances!

[Chuck Nessa]

Probably depended where you lived - in the center of the country the Argo/Cadet records dominated. I don't want to get into the "quality" discussion.

[mjzee]

There would be a good Mosaic in collecting Lou's Chess/Argo material.

[John L]

I never knew that Midnight Creeper and Natural Soul were more appreciated than Musty Rusty. Alligator Boogaloo - well, yea.

Edited June 21, 2014 by John L

[etherbored]

'cole slaw' is one from this period I've never heard. how's it?

[Shawn]

All of Lou's Argo/Cadet releases are worth checking out.

Edited June 21, 2014 by Shawn

[sonnymax]

Musty Rusty/At His Best is available for download from iTunes, courtesy of the Andorrans.

[mjzee]

There would be a good Mosaic in collecting Lou's Chess/Argo material.

Per Wikipedia, the suggested Mosaic would contain the following:

Signifyin' (7/17/63)

Possum Head (1/28/64)

Cole Slaw (6/19/64)

Rough House Blues (12/64)

Musty Rusty (6/3/65)

Fried Buzzard (8/6 & 7/65)

Blowing In The Wind (8/30/66)

At His Best (8/30/66)

I'd imagine it would fit on 4 CDs. Maybe that's the problem: not large enough for Mosaic.

[etherbored]

didn't stop them with the 3 disc chet baker set (although that has been some years ago)...

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

'cole slaw' is one from this period I've never heard. how's it?

Anything by Lou with the one and only Herman Foster on it is wonderful. The other on Cadet is 'Blowing in the wind'. Herman was the most kickass pianist in Christendom.

MG

[etherbored]

high praise indeed, however, how about catholocism or maybe judaism? in any case, i'm off to seek out some 'cole slaw' to accompany my barbeque...

[JSngry]

I've never eaten possum (much less possum head), but my mom did as a kid, and she said it was good, but just ridiculously greasy. So against my personal tastes, I would advise vinegar dressing for the coleslaw instead of creamy.