BFT 249 Reveal

[felser]

BFT 249 Reveal

Thanks to all who participated!

1 - Roberta Flack – “Tryin’ Times”  from ‘First Take’, 1969 Atlantic

Lots of love for this track.  Ron Carter on bass.  This album did not chart when first released, but then when Clint Eastwood used “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” from it in his movie ‘Play Misty For Me’ (which I’ve never seen, is it any good?) three years later, that song and the album both went to #1 on the pop charts.

2 - Chick Corea – “Pledge for Peace”  from ‘The Vigil’, 2013 Stretch

Corea on piano and Stanley Clarke on bass shine on their solos.   Ravi Coltrane leaves me (as always with him) and most of the rest of you who listened, cold.

3 - Wishbone Ash – “Handy” from  ‘Wishbone Ash’, 1970  Decca

British group who released two classic albums (this and ‘Argus’) in the early-70’s, and have soldiered on even to this day.  “Handy”, good as it is, only sets the stage for the track that comes after it, the incendiary “Phoenix”.  That cut, at the pinnacle of where Psych meets Prog, is one of my favorite cuts of all-time, and I still listen to it incessantly, 54 years on.  ‘Argus’, recognized as their classic, is a very different animal, with superior songwriting in a more folk/prog vein, instruments more integrated into the songs, but continued instrumental excellence.  Do give a listen if not familiar with it.

4 - McCoy Tyner – “Contemporary Focus” from ‘Today and Tomorrow’ 1964 Impulse

John Gilmore, Frank Strozier, and Thad Jones on tenor, alto, and trumpet – A much different front line than Tyner ever used otherwise.  Universal love for this track.

5 - Spirit – “Fresh Garbage” from ‘Spirit’  1968 Epic

One of my favorite groups.  Teenage guitarist Randy California had gigged with Jimi Hendrix when he was still Jimmy James, and  his stepfather, drummer Ed Cassidy, had played gigs with Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Cannonball Adderley, and other heavyweights.  Their first four albums on Epic were great.

6 - Sam Jones – “Seven Minds” from ‘Seven Minds’  1975 East Wind

Jones stretches out with band mates Walton and Higgins on this masterpiece, which inspired my “Give The Bass Player Some” title for this BFT.

7 – Gerry Mulligan/Chet Baker – “It’s Sandy at the Beach”  from ‘Carnegie Hall Concert’ 1975 CTI

An overlooked gem in the CTI catalog.  The sidemen (Bob James, Dave Samuels, John Scofield, Ron Carter, Harvey Mason) might lead you to expect something very different, but this one grooves start to finish.

8 - Flamin' Groovies – “There's a Place” from ‘Now’  1978 Sire

On here because I had two minutes of space left on the CD-R, and I love both the original (my favorite Beatles song, slight as it may seem and forgotten as it is) and this cover version, which somehow captures the absolute magic of the original recording.

9 - Lakecia Benjamin – “Liberia” from ‘Pursuance: The Coltranes’  2020 Ropeadope

Gary Bartz joins Benjamin on this semi-forgotten John Coltrane composition, and the sparks fly.

10 - Johnny Rivers – “Look to Your Soul” from ‘Realization’  1968 Imperial, also available on ‘A Touch of Gold’ 1968 Imperial

Brilliant L.A. pop from Rivers.  ‘Realization’ was a landmark album of the era.   ‘A Touch of Gold’ was a real-time summary of where he had come in the late 60’s.  Both are brilliant works.  The big hit single from ‘Realization’ was “Summer Rain”, but the album works as a united whole rather than just a collection of cuts.  ‘A Touch of Gold’ includes that and 1966’s glorious “Poor Side of Town’.  You won’t go wrong with either album, and I have always needed both.

11 - Genesis – “Aisle of Plenty” from ‘Selling England By The Pound’  1973  Charisma

This lovely snippet closes the best Genesis album ever made, completing the quartet of their greatest work that also included 1970’s ‘Trespass’, 1971’s ‘Nursery Cryme’, and especially 1972’s ‘Foxtrot’.  They (Genesis, Gabriel, Collins) were never close to this again. 

Happy New Year to all - I'm thankful to be part of this wonderful community!

[Dan Gould]

You've never seen Play Misty For Me?

You must correct that, John.  Posthaste.

[felser]

Thanks Dan, will look into it.  As fate would have it, available free right now on Amazon Prime!

Edited December 31, 2024 by felser

[Dan Gould]

It has been a long time - I might have heard about it around the time Bird came out, as an earlier effort by Eastwood that had jazz underpinnings. Almost certain I rented it on VHS, in fact, so that gives you an idea.

 

Taut, effective thriller, and IIRC, you may recognize antecedents to more recent movies like Fatal Attraction.

[mjazzg]

Another big 👍for Play Misty For Me

Thanks for another interesting selection. Hearing Wishbone Ash again after all these years was a shock I wasn't planning on having and the Johnny Rivers was the big revelation for me

And, Happy 2025 to you John and all other BFTers

[JSngry]

Live footage of Cannonball at Monterrey. But brief.

[webbcity]

Wow. Fantastic! Some really cool and fascinating reveals here.

First of all, can't believe I didn't get Roberta Flack. I used to own this record and now I'm going to buy it again!! Very intrigued by the Corea as I haven't heard much "recent" stuff of his that's sounded like this. Wishbone Ash I also should have gotten! That makes total sense now. Spirit is a band I've checked out a little bit but clearly need to investigate more. The Sam Jones record is now on my want list, and I also really dug the Mulligan/Baker and the Lakecia Benjamin.

What a great BFT. Thanks for putting this one together, John!

[T.D.]

Thanks, John. Enjoyed the BFT. Got caught up in year-end things and never made a 2nd post.

Lots of intriguing and surprising tracks. The obligatory one I own and couldn't ID (Sam Jones) and one I have to acquire (Tyner). I'm much more positive than the consensus on the Spirit selection: dig the music, but lyrics haven't aged too well. Wishbone Ash was an adventure: I really liked some passages but disliked others, could tell it was a British group with 2 lead guitars but nothing else. That band got no radio play (in my area) when I was growing up, and nobody I knew listened to them.

[felser]

On 1/4/2025 at 4:44 PM, webbcity said:

Wow. Fantastic! Some really cool and fascinating reveals here.

First of all, can't believe I didn't get Roberta Flack. I used to own this record and now I'm going to buy it again!! Very intrigued by the Corea as I haven't heard much "recent" stuff of his that's sounded like this. Wishbone Ash I also should have gotten! That makes total sense now. Spirit is a band I've checked out a little bit but clearly need to investigate more. The Sam Jones record is now on my want list, and I also really dug the Mulligan/Baker and the Lakecia Benjamin.

What a great BFT. Thanks for putting this one together, John!

Thanks Tim,  So glad you enjoyed it!  With Spirit, go to their second album, 'The Family That Plays Together' and their fourth album 'The 12 Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus' for further study!

22 hours ago, T.D. said:

Thanks, John. Enjoyed the BFT. Got caught up in year-end things and never made a 2nd post.

Lots of intriguing and surprising tracks. The obligatory one I own and couldn't ID (Sam Jones) and one I have to acquire (Tyner). I'm much more positive than the consensus on the Spirit selection: dig the music, but lyrics haven't aged too well. Wishbone Ash was an adventure: I really liked some passages but disliked others, could tell it was a British group with 2 lead guitars but nothing else. That band got no radio play (in my area) when I was growing up, and nobody I knew listened to them.

Thanks, I fully agree that lyrics to the Spirit cut have not aged well, but the music on that cut seemed the best match in their catalog for my BFT.   Wishbone Ash really didn't get much radio play that I remember here in Philly either, but I heard 'Blind Eye' from the first album on a Decca sampler and somehow ended up getting the first album.  Also heard Glass Harp with Phil Keaggy for the first time on that sampler, so that was a great 99 cent purchase!  I may have heard "Phoenix" from the first Wishbone Ash album on WEBN in Cincy, which would have hooked me  and caused immediate purchase of the first album.  And I remember a friend lending me 'Argus', which was then an auto buy.  Their remaining catalog over several decades is a relative wasteland compared to those two great albums, but they have remained a strong live band (I saw them in the 70's at the Tower Theatre in Philly in a double bill with Caravan, and in the late 2000's at the Sellersville Theatre, and they were stronger in the Sellersville show, largely because Muddy Manninen was such an improvement over Laurie Wisefield on the guitar/vocal role opposite Andy Powell.  Caravan played them off the stage at the Tower Theatre bill.)  And amazingly, they are still out on the road with Andy Powell leading, 55 years on.