What's a buddy without a friend?

As noted in a previous post, one of my favorite artists, among my most favorite of instruments, is guitarist Buddy Fite. A relative unknown that I discovered only by the chance of uncovering an 8 track tape of "Changes" sitting unappreciated in a crowded bargain bin at some department store back in the 80's. As bargain binners will sometimes find, the occasional decision to buy something based solely on the cover (and, in this case, the price), can pay off in spades, and as my earlier post and comments on "Changes" atest, Buddy, and everything he touched with a guitar, was pure gold to my ears. The album posted today is a later recording called "Buddy Fite & Friend", the friend being drummer Chick Colburn who ably assists Buddy through this collection of ten smooth tunes. With a couple of standards like "All The Things You Are" and "Don't Take Your Love From Me" along with a handful of great pop classics of the 60's like "This Guy's In Love With You", "My Cherie Amour" and "Something", Buddy accomplishes his usual uncanny transformation of these familiar songs into fresh and glowing jazz artworks. I love his bright metallic tone that rings at just the right moments and his knack for smoothly taking off on a theme effortlessly. Most of these cuts feature Buddy playing his signature comping/soloing while beautifully laying down the bass line all at the same time. Then there is usually an overlay of a second guitar track where he typically plays solos or duet parts. His music is never pretentious, sometimes quite simple and comforting, and then at times powerful and uplifting. Check out "This Guy's In Love..." and even "Something" to feel the wonderful ride he takes you on with those strings. While it would be easy to misread this by appearances considering the presence of two Beatle tunes and even, God forbid, two from the The Carpenters catalogue, trust me, Buddy brings out the best of each tune and if you ever liked these tunes at all you will love these versions. And if you didn't like them before, well, I think you're gonna change your mind here. This record just makes me wish Buddy were still alive today to make more recordings like this. I'd love to hear more. I do have another Fite LP I hope to post at a later date, as well. One odd thing I noticed is that track 4 and 5 on this LP were switched from what the cover documents, so I labeled the tracks according to how they were on the actual record, not the cover. Please excuse the quality being very much of LP origins. I did a lot of click removal here and for the most part I think it came out reasonably well, but it is not CD perfect by any means, offered here at 320 to all my blogster friends & buddies...enjoy!

Buddy

Buddy Fite - Buddy & Friend - 1970
Bell 6058 Stereo

This Guy's In Love With You
We've Only Just Begun
All The Things You Are
Didn't We
(They Long To Be) Close To You

I'll Never Fall In Love
Don't Take Your Love From Me
My Cherie Amour
Yesterdays/Yesterday
Something

Buddy Fite - guitar
Chick Colburn - drums
Bob Ascher - trombone (I'll Never Fall In Love Again)

Music to Ponder...

Scanning my record collection for the next subject to feature on the blog, I pondered numerous guitar heroes for the honor. It can be hard to find something that has preferably never been committed to CD publication. I was somewhat surprised to find, from my search of the web, that this 1976 work by Jimmy Ponder appears to fit the bill. I also could not remember when I had last listened to it so when the first couple of minutes of ripping "Funky Butt" came through I was a little dubious as to whether this was worth the effort. As much as I am a huge fan of Boogaloo Joe Jones, Grant Green, Wes Montgomery and many other soulful/pop/jazz guitarists, the late 70's era of politically correct funkified jazz transition had many disappointments in my mind. Even some of the most talented and tasteful of artists suffered through pathetic attempts to contort their natural strengths into commercial success or some failed sense of mid-life crisis. And, as if the name "Funky Butt" wasn't already a pretty good warning, the initial sound here drew a Parliamentary yawn. But slowly I took more notice of the flat out playing of the well known and respected Mr. Ponder, and then the wah-wah magic began to win me over. "Energy III" again flirts with a fusion styled disaster at first listen, but ultimately proves exciting and a nice contrast to the opener. Then the lovely "Jennifer" solidifies my contentment, and so this post makes it here for your own review and opinion. Side two, by the way, follows with a very similar formula of three contrasting songs that are full of Ponder's impressive techniques and general groove. I have to say that the last song, "Sabado Sombrero", is probably my favorite. It brings a variety of stylings where I can hear moments of Wes, Benson and even, dare I say it, Gabor Szabo! Ahhh, this is a winner after all. It also features some simply awesome bass work by the always awesome Ron Carter, relatively simple but beautiful signature playing. You will also notice a good deal of heavy duty keyboard wizardry from another of my soulful jazz favorites, Ron Foster! While on the surface this is clearly more of a contemporary sound with it's special guitar effects and mix of danceable rythms, even though it is now 33 years old, there is truly a diversified composite that includes traditional jazz, soul, funk, rock and pop, all flawless and enjoyable. I pretty much had a hard time not bopping my head throughout, but key for me is that I could really listen to the man's guitar playing, and it brings a smile.

So take the time to ponder...you should grow fonder...sorry about that...

Pondering

Jimmy Ponder - Illusions - 1976
ABC Impulse ASD 9313

Funky Butt
Energy III
Jennifer

Do It Baby
Illusions
Sabado Sombrero

Jimmy Ponder - Guitar
Eddie "Bongo" Brown - Percussion
Ron Carter - Acoustic & Electric Bass (except on Funky Butt)
Sonny Burke - Keyboard (Funky Butt)
Chuck Domanico - Electric Bass (Funky Butt)
James Gadsen - Drums (Funky Butt)
Mickey Tucker - Piano & Electric Piano (except Funky Butt & Sabado Sombrero)
Ronnie Foster - Synthesiser & Clavinet (except Funky Butt & Sabado Sombrero)
Grady Tate - Drums (Jennifer, Illusions & Do It Baby)
Brian Brake - Drums (Energy III)
Jerome Richardson - Alto Flute (Jennifer)
Esmond Edwards - Percussion (Sabado Sombrero)
Strings arranged and conducted by Johnny Pate (Jennifer, Do It Baby & Funky Butt)

Just For The Fun Of Id.....

I've done my share of combing boxes of vinyl at flea markets and tag sales and somewhere along the way I encountered this odd bit of Id. I had never heard of the album or the band and I imagine that goes for most folks out there in TV land. But the cover and backside offered a hint that this might be an obscure but entertaining collection of psychedelic grooviness that must certainly be worth 25 cents, and I believe the quarter was well invested. Surprisingly this album was apparently dedicated to CD not long ago but I think it's fair to say that obscurity remains the ultimate fate of this fun excursion. Back in the 80's when I first obtained this LP, I made a cassette copy and I have to say, some of the tunes grew on me. While it loosely fits into the "psych" category, in spots it really presents more of a pop-rock appeal than most. There is some blending of sitar and spacey vocals to help keep it unreal but it's generally pretty tame and manages to provide some memorable tunage. From the pop side I would say that "Wild Times" is the obvious keeper here though it is not entirely unlike one or two other top 40 type numbers I might have heard elsewhere over the years. Much of the rest is a little more unique and perhaps pushes the envelope a little. "Stone and Steel", "Boil The Kettle, Mother" are sure to bring a smile (or smirk) and just try making it through all ten and a half minutes of the cover tune. Someone had fun being the guru that did the monologue on that one! There's no information on the cover to tell us about these five musicians. Paul Arnold, "creator, arranger & producer" seems to take all the credit here. This is the monoraul version of the LP, but regardless, I think you will get a kick out of this little timepiece.

The Id - The Inner Sounds of The Id

The Id - The Inner Sounds of the Id - 1967
Monoraul LP - RCA LPM-3805

The Rake
Wild Times
Don't Think Twice
Stone and Steel
Baby Eyes
Boil The Kettle, Mother

Butterfly Kiss
Short Circuit
Just Who
The Inner Sound of the Id

Hot Fun...Re-Done!!

Not only have I finally gotten back to my blog, but I am finally re-posting my first significant work, Freddy Robinson's "Hot Fun in the Summertime" from 1970. And what better time than this first day of summer.

When I started doing this blog just last year, I rushed in and neglected to consider the output which was at 128 at the time. I went back and ripped another set of files at 320 and they can now be found on the original post at;

SLY

For some reason, the first side has more vinyl artifacts while side 2 was almost free of click removal, etc. Still, this should be a "bit" better than my original post for those that listen closely. It is a fun album. While "Moonglow" offers a more traditional jazz sound that showcases Freddy's tasteful skills, "I Want To Hold Your Hand" is just plain happy and swinging, and much of the rest is great groovin' with the hard workin' ladies singing some righteous background parts throughout. In short, it's hot fun anytime...enjoy!

Off To Hear The Wizard...

I haven't had much time to rip LP's the last few weeks but today I was listening to a CD I created from another one of those embarrass- ing 8-track tapes a few years back. At the time I never anticipated posting some of these rips on a blog so I listened with a discriminating ear for imperfections, track breaks, or any qualitative issues that might make me feel unhappy with posting this classic 60's blues rocker instrumental gem from Mel Brown. Eight songs later I decided it was worthy of a post until a better version comes along. With the apparent popularity of Mel Brown's 60's & 70's work I am very surprised that this album seems so hard to find. It has never been committed to commercial CD, long OOP, but with all the recognition this gritty guitarist seems to have, this LP seems unusually scarce. So I decided to add it to this blog until someone can identify a better source. I have the Chicken Fat CD and all Mel's other albums, and I think this one is easily as good or better than any of the others. It's pretty straight forward, simple and pretty raw R&B with tight horns and groovin' support throughout. There are no significant vocals, just a torent of funkified blues guitar licks firing from start to finish. This reminds me somewhat of Freddy King's "Hide Away", which is an all-time favorite. I think this is up there. Keep in mind that this was taken from the lowly 8-track tape so the order of the songs reflects what was committed to that idiom. From what I hear, they were able to divvy things up so as to avoid track change interruptions, a good thing that is greatly appreciated by those of us old school music desperados that committed so many hours of listening to this ill-fated medium. This album starts out with a lively and crisp rendering of "Ode To Billie Joe" and then just sails through one rock-blues workout after another. It's fun, it's infectious, and a great time capsule for the late 60's somewhere between Memphis and Detroit, but you're definitely not in Kansas anymore Dorothy...enjoy!

Wizzy

Mel Brown - The Wizard - 1968
Impulse (8-track: AS 9169)

Ode To Billie Joe
Swamp Fever
Blues After Hours
Miss Ann
African sweets
Stop
W-2 Withholding
Chunk-A-Funk

Mel Brown, Terry Evans (guitar)
Mack Johnston (trumpet)
Clifford Solomon (tenor sax)
unknown (piano, organ)
Ronald Brown (bass)
Paul Humphrey (drums)
Roy Brown (vocals)

Los Angeles, CA, March 21, 1968

Where the deer and the guitars play....

This post is a unique one in many ways. Offering another vinyl rip from a highly regarded jazz guitarist like Howard Roberts is no surprise, of course. But this one is actually taken from one of my old 8-track tapes, something I did a few years back when I was convinced it was the only way I could ever capture this unusual, fairly obscure recording. Going back and giving it a listen today I decided that the quality wasn't so bad and I don't see much chatter about this particular work anywhere else. The other odd aspect is the content itself. I have a lot of Howard Roberts albums, LP's, CD's, and oh yeah, the 8-track. But this recording strikes me as probably the oddest of them all, which might explain the lack of attention. I really like Howard Roberts' stuff with very little exception. For some reason I am especially taken with his pop cover material of the 60's, much of which seems to be the focus of media criticism more than praise, even though he is always acknowledged to be one of the most highly skilled guitarists of his era. I enjoy interpretations of likable and familiar tunes, pop diddies, when they are treated with subtle creativity and soulful skill as Roberts so often has done over his extensive career. Then there are the more straight ahead jazz outings where he covers more traditional creative jazz works and explores the outer stretches of that genre so impeccably. Here on "Antelope Freeway" however, Roberts really moved into something different. This sort of has a slight psychadelic edge to it with sound bites and other effects all mixed into this meandering tapestry of guitar snippets which are largely rooted in more of a rock/blues side of jazz for sure. When I first rescued this from some 88 cent bargain bin back in the 70's, I have to say I was disappointed that it wasn't more what I was used to in jazz guitar icons. But listening to it again today I have to say that it really is both daring and fairly effective. It's fun and it does contain some really clever, enjoyable music. Some of it borders on brilliant if you are open to this approach at all. But alas, it remains OOP. The track titles were difficult to apply to the recording from my original 8-track; you can't see the grooves to identify transition points and many of the cuts here simply bleed into one another. It makes for a nice overall composition and creative impression but it's hard to tell where one "song" finishes and the next one starts. As a result, I chose to simply record the whole album in two sections/tracks. Checking out references for this album I saw that many reports were similarly confused with name run-ons and differing numbers of tracks all together. Kind of funny. Basically, my first "track" includes the first five cuts from the album while my second "track" includes the last four album cuts. Be my guest if you want to try your luck at distinguishing the details, but in the end, I don't think it matters, either way, you should enjoy a listen. So go ahead and find out why those antelope are crowding the freeways to hear a guitar master having some fun....

Deer and the...

Howard Roberts - Antelope Freeway -1971
Impulse! AS-9207 (LP)

1. Antelope Freeway - Part 1
2. That's America Fer Ya
3. Dark Ominous Clouds
4. De Blooz
5. Sixteen Track Firemen

6. Ballad of Fazzio Needlepoint
7. Five Gallons of Astral Flash Could Keep You Awake For Thirteen Weeks
8. Santa Clara River Bottom
9. Roadwork

Howard Roberts - electric & acoustic guitars
Bobby Bruce - violin
Mike Deasy - electric guitar
Pete Robinson, Larry Knechtel, Mike Wofford - keyboards
Brian Garofalo, Max Bennett - Fender bass
Bob Morin, John Guerin - drums

"I Believe" I hear what you hear...

Whatever that subject line might mean, I do want to say that this is a special posting with bittersweet connotations. The fun part is that this includes the download from what I believe is a scarce record that features none other than Noel Regney conducting one of his own compositions. As explained earlier in my blog, Mr. Regney is the co-composer of "Do You Hear What I Hear", the Christmas classic that gave some inspiration for this blog. As I also said earlier, Noel was a personal friend of my parents. He attended parties at our home and I heard him perform on piano on several occasions. So when I was clearing out my parents' house in preparation for the sale of my childhood home, and I just happened upon this beat up old LP literally rotting away amidst the rubble in the garage, I was pleased with the discovery. At first I had no idea what it was, torn and tattered and covered with scribblings I did not expect the record within to be playable. But when I realized it was Noel Regney, I had to see what kind of shape it was in. The answer was, so-so, I guess. Didn't look horrible, still in the slip cover sleeve, but upon playing it I could see it might be a questionable call for posting this for the public. Click removal can be a wonderful thing, of course, but with my modest resources, it can't solve the world's problems. But then, this was something a little bit special, and as it turns out, as I hoped, and despite the fact that the classical world is probably not my greatest passion, I really liked the music. I think that it's safe to say that this work is religiously inspired with six sections that blend together quite nicely. I was truly surprised at the quality of the instrumentalists and the vocalists on this recording. Very much a professional work with beautiful results. Unfortunately the condition of this particular piece of vinyl does a pretty good job detracting from that beauty I'm afraid. I did my best, and if I didn't think it was worthy of a listen, I wouldn't post it, regardless of the Regney connection. I think it's doable. I'm sure there are some pristine copies of this LP, probably at the Westport Library or at the Unitarian Church, etc. But until I come up with one of those, this is all I got, and I'm glad to have found it. There is a heavenly pastoral feel to much of it but it also delivers some rather modern sounds in a folksy sort of way. It was more interesting to me than some of this style of music can be, very relaxed and gentle, yet compelling. That's enough of trying to describe what you are about to hear. Listen to it yourself, forgive the crackle-pop that does distract in sections. You really should enjoy it .....I Believe.

Noel_Regney-Westport_Unitarian_Church_Choir_-_I_Believe_In_Life

Noel Regney - I Believe In Life: A Cantata For Our Times - 1977

With The Westport, Connecticut Unitarian Church Choir
Tree Of Life Records (June 30th, 1977)

1 - The Lord Is In His Mansion
2 - Invocation
3 - Prayer
4 - Meditation

5 - Hope
6 - Credo

Noel Regney - conductor

Gena Rees - soprano vocal soloist
Jane Nordli - alto vocal soloist
Arthur Sjogren - tenor vocal soloist
Joel Jones - bass vocal soloist

Viviane Bertolami - violin
Toni Matts - trumpet
Harriet Salerno - piano
Stephen Anderson - organ

The Choir of the Westport, Conn. Unitarian Church - vocals

This post is specially offered in tribute to Noel Regney as friend and artist