JSngry Posted September 5, 2018 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2018 And it possibly gets even weirder...Command material released on a Columbia budget label. There's one or two cuts left off, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Stryker Posted September 5, 2018 Report Share Posted September 5, 2018 (edited) I have lots of these records on LP and glad to have them -- REALLY glad to have some of them -- but, frankly, I wouldn't pay a premium for all of them in a box. Having said that, "Standing Ovation" is one of my all-time favorite Basie records. It's every bit as good as the rightly celebrated "Basie at Birdland" and "Breakfast Dance and Barbecue." Band is in great shape, repertoire is ideal, Sweets is on board and Lockjaw is ALL over it. Another worth tracking down is "The Great Concert of Count Basie" -- live concert from London, 1966. 2 LPs. More Jaws. I have it on an import label Disques Festival. Edited September 5, 2018 by Mark Stryker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted September 5, 2018 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2018 1 hour ago, Mark Stryker said: I have lots of these records on LP and glad to have them -- REALLY glad to have some of them -- but, frankly, I wouldn't pay a premium for all of them in a box. And I'm possibly on the other end of that stick - don't have that many of them, but don't really want to shell out for them individually. Or maybe I don't want any more than I already have...still trying to make up my mind, really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Stryker Posted September 5, 2018 Report Share Posted September 5, 2018 (edited) When I played in John Garvey's band at the University of Illinois from 1983-85, the Billy Byers chart on "Come Fly With Me" was our typical set opener. God knows how many times I played it, but if you're truly swinging, it's a gas every single time. There are a lot of reasons that a lot of the guys stayed in Basie's band for a long time, but one of them is that to sit in the middle of a band breathing as one while playing a chart like this embodies a real-time elation and contributing-to-something-larger-than-yourself that do not exist in many facets of life. Nothing does that like playing music. It's a drug, and the Basie high is addictive. pl Edited September 5, 2018 by Mark Stryker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted September 5, 2018 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2018 That and "All Of Me" were staples of the "entry level" lab bands back in the day. It was funny how cats would complain that they were "old-fashioned" and "corny", and yeah, if you can't play them like they were intended to be played, I can see how you might think that, but as with so many other things in live, that ain't the chart's fault... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted September 5, 2018 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2018 Here's Basie's Beat. The thing I never warmed to about the Pablo records was they were so dry, little or no reverb. Logistically, most of these LPs were pretty short, correct? Putting 2 on 1 disc would be largely do-able? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted September 6, 2018 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2018 Chico O'Farrill charts, made for the radio,with Ed Shaunessy as The Drummer (who at this point swung the band harder than Sonny Payne had gotten to) , it shouldn't work, and in some ether of esthetic, it doesn't, but otherwise, it does, depending on how much you like each individual sone, probably). These might be better than the Verves? Jaws aplenty, and Roy Eldridge here and there. Why should Fresh Sounds get all the money? Marshall Royal, y'all. Here was a baaaaaaaddddd motherfucker, make no mistake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Beat Steve Posted September 7, 2018 Report Share Posted September 7, 2018 I have originals of these two Command LPs, guess I will have to give them a closer listen again (after many years' silence) now that you plug them so incessantly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted September 7, 2018 Author Report Share Posted September 7, 2018 I like the Command stuff (in small doses) better than some of the Verves from about the same time. I'm coming to realize that Chico O'Farrill had a knack for doing the really commercially-themed albums in a way that served all purposes. Or maybe it was the way they were recorded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted September 23, 2018 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2018 Here's the Verve & Happy Tiger Beatles sets...neither are really "outstanding", but both have Jaws, and both do have their transcendent moments (I really like the Happy Tiger Fool On The Hill, and the Verve Michelle, gorgeous section playing, and Jaws on Michelle for once sounds like he DOES give a damn ). Basie is no doubt the only artist of his generation to do two full albums of Beatles covers, and it's notable, perhaps, that in both he covered period-specific songs. For the first one, that's pretty much was all that was available, but for the second one...maybe not so much. Arrangers are Chico O'Farrill for the Verve and Bob Florence for the Happy Tiger. At no time is there any doubt that you're listening to a Count Basie record. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted February 6, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2019 Pulled out my iPod for the first time in a while (don't ask) and found the Basie Command sides on it. They're a LOT more fun in a LOT more ways than I remember. Broadway gets the nod b/c Jaws + Roy Eldridge, but no worries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted August 3, 2022 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2022 Up for air. Spotify has some of this stuff, and I 'm getting a buzz just listening to Marshall Royal lead the section Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMP Posted August 9, 2022 Report Share Posted August 9, 2022 Ed Shaughnessy was a hell of a drummer, his name rarely comes up. Typical strong work on the Basie ‘Command’ albums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted August 9, 2022 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2022 I may be wrong, but I think he's on more than just those two? Apparently, he was basis choice! per Weeky: With Count Basie Basie Swingin' Voices Singin' (ABC-Paramount, 1966) with the Alan Copeland Singers Broadway Basie's...Way (Command, 1966) Hollywood...Basie's Way (Command, 1967) Basie's Beat (Verve, 1967) Half a Sixpence (Dot, 1967) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMP Posted August 10, 2022 Report Share Posted August 10, 2022 Checked the Lord discography, you’re correct. There probably should be an Ed Shaughnessy thread! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted August 10, 2022 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2022 45 minutes ago, DMP said: There probably should be an Ed Shaughnessy thread! He certainly did more than just be doc Seversen's long-sideburned medallion wearing TV drummer, that's for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted August 12, 2022 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2022 How many true big band albums did Basie do for Pablo? And has anybody put them altogether in a single package? Spotify is working in my favor here...It took me a LOT of time and a LOT of distance to not run swsy st the name "Sammy Nestico", but spotify is giving me good thereapy abotu that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr jazz Posted August 12, 2022 Report Share Posted August 12, 2022 5 hours ago, JSngry said: How many true big band albums did Basie do for Pablo? And has anybody put them altogether in a single package? Spotify is working in my favor here...It took me a LOT of time and a LOT of distance to not run swsy st the name "Sammy Nestico", but spotify is giving me good thereapy abotu that. There's a three 3 cd set of Basie's later career on Pablo,small group, vocalists and big band. I'd recommend it. Not expensive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted August 12, 2022 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2022 I have most of the small group and vocalist sides. It's really just the big band I'm wondering about at this time. Long story short - I got a severe case of Sammy Nestico Poisoning in the 70s, not by Basie, but by everybody else who played those charts (and not particularly well, give or take a band or two...no more than two, though). Did not want to hear anybody playing that stuff again, even Basie. In this town, it was ubiquitous and that was not a good thing. But today, with distance and Spotify, I can come back to it with a clear head, and it's sounding pretty darn good a lot of the time. James Leary on bass, wow, yeah! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr jazz Posted August 12, 2022 Report Share Posted August 12, 2022 4 hours ago, mr jazz said: There's a three 3 cd set of Basie's later career on Pablo,small group, vocalists and big band. I'd recommend it. Not expensive I found it 4 discs with excellent sound. Listening to the big band disc now. The Golden Years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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