Al Casey - Doin' The Shotish

Back in January of 2011, when I started this blog, I posted THIS little number by legendary session guitarist, Al Casey.
The flipside has the same sound in terms of instrumentation, but is a bit more uptempo with a great organ leads dueling with the axe and sax. A shotish (or schottische) is a polka-type dance by the way.

Mongo Santamaria - "Tumba Le Le"

Back in April of 2011, I posted the B-side to this single. Here is the A, which was also on the 1962, Mongo Santamaria album, "Go Mongo."

Dion - "He'll Only Hurt You"

I posted the plug side, "Ruby Baby" a couple years ago. I never really listened to this one much as a kid. It was too slow and sappy. I think it sounds a bit like Roy Orbison. Anyway, here it is in all it's teenage heartbreak glory, "He'll Only Hurt You"

Milt Jackson - " 'Round Midnight"

Remember "Namesake"? Well, here is that A-side that I mentioned way back in May of 2011. Hard to believe it's been over three years since I started this blog.

"'Round Midnight" is a 1944 jazz standard by pianist Thelonious Monk. It is the most-recorded jazz standard composed by a jazz musician.

Hallowe'en Spooky Sounds (1962)

This record came out in 1962 and my dad would play it on the hi-fi on Halloween to spook the trick or treaters that came to the door. It's probably one of the earliest examples of a sound effects record made specifically for the holiday. It was put out by Sounds Records out of Glendale, Ca. Here is track number one which is the longest from the 45 and features all the sounds that are on the rest of the disc. Put it in on a continuous loop for your next haunted house.
Happy Halloween!

Booker T. And The M.G.s - "Behave Yourself"

Everyone knows the classic 1962 instrumental hit, "Green Onions," but have you heard the flip side of the original 45?

Jim Stewart, then president of Stax Records, wanted to release the single with the first song, titled “Behave Yourself”, as the A-side and Onions as the B-side. Steve Cropper and radio disc jockeys thought otherwise; soon, Stax released Booker T. & the M.G.'s' “Green Onions” backed with “Behave Yourself”. In conversation with BBC Radio 2's Johnnie Walker, on his show broadcast on September 7, 2008, Cropper revealed that the record became an instant success when DJ Reuben Washington, at Memphis radio station WLOK, played it four times in succession, this even before the tune or the band had an agreed-upon name.

Brother Jack McDuff - He's A Real Gone Guy

PR 45-232  Jack McDuff - He's A Real Gone Guy, Pt. 1&2

Starring Leo Wright (as) Brother Jack McDuff (org) Kenny Burrell (g) Joe Dukes (d)
Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, October 23, 1962

Milt Jackson - Namesake

Milt Jackson at Parnell's Jazz Club, Seattle, WA, circa 1980
Photo by Steven M. O'Kelly


"Namesake" is the B-side of Riverside Records 45 R45479 'Round Midnight was the A-side, but dad marked the index card with the B-side cut because that was the song he bought the record for.
This NYC session from July 5, 1962 featured Ernie Royal, Clark Terry, Snooky Young (tp) Melba Liston, Tom McIntosh (tb) Willie Ruff (frh) Earl Warren (as) James Moody (ts) Jerome Richardson (ts, fl) Tate Houston (bars) Milt Jackson (vib) Hank Jones (p) Ron Carter (b) Connie Kay (d) Ernie Wilkins (arr, cond)

Charlie Byrd - Samba De Uma Nota So / O Pato

Charlie Byrd's versions of the One Note Samba and The Duck were recorded and released a couple years before the Bossa craze hit the U.S. in 1964 with The Girl From Ipanema. This 45 has songs from Byrd's Jazz Samba album, which also featured the late great Stan Getz. They were joined by two bassists (Keter Betts and Charlie's brother Gene (Joe) Byrd), and two drummers (Buddy Deppenschmidt and Bill Reichenbach) for the recording at All Souls Church, Unitarian in Washington, DC on 13 February 1962, and it was released on 20 April 1962.

Jimmy McGriff - MG Blues

Organ master Jimmy McGriff may have studied formally at Juilliard and at Philadelphia's Combe College of Music, but there's nothing fancy about his music. It's basic to the bone, always swinging and steeped in blues and gospel. McGriff's brand of jazz is about feeling. "That's the most important thing," he says.
In 1962, Sue Records released the single "All ABout My Girl", but it was the B-side that my dad played the  most and with "MG Blues", the organist staked out a musical turf all his own, somewhere between the jazz of Jimmy Smith and the r&b of Booker T. & the MGs.

Al Casey - Jivin' Around

Al Casey was a member of L.A.'s "Wrecking Crew," a group of studio session musicians who played on countless hit records in the 1960s.
This record from 1962, the year of my birth, was my introduction to the Al Casey sound.




“Al Casey, at 21, is regarded in the music trade as one of the best guitar players in the country.” 
-- The Arizona Republic, June 1, 1958.