Sunday, April 3, 2011

Freddie McCoy - Listen Here



Freddie McCoy - Listen Here - Prestige PR 7582 - Prestige Original Pressing, Stereo, Blue Trident Label

Freddie McCoy - Vibes

+A1, B2 only -

Eddie Williams - Trumpet
Dud Bascomb - Trumpet
Melba Liston - Trombone
Quentin Jackson - Trombone
Jo Anne Brackeen - Electric Piano, Organ
Wally Richardson - Guitar
Jimmy Lewis - Fender Bass
Bernard Purdie - Drums
Montego Joe - Conga Drums

+rest of the sides -

Gene Walker - Varitone
Jo Anne Brackeen - Electric Piano
Ray McKinney - Bass
Al Drears - Drums

Arranged and Conducted by Dave Blume

Recorded- [not listed on sleeve, but according to major Prestige discographies - June 10, 1968, New York City or Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ?]

Produced by Cal Lampley
Recording by Rudy Van Gelder
Cover Design - Don Schlitten
Cover Art - Jo Schwalbach

Released - November 23, 1968

I'll finally be wrapping up my ongoing series on the 'missing links' of the Prestige soul jazz discography with a focus on perhaps the ultimate lost soul jazz artist in the catalog: the vibes player Freddie McCoy! McCoy recorded prolifically for Prestige during the day, cutting 7 separate sides for the label from 1965-68, but his work is mostly forgotten these days, remaining largely unissued on CD, and quite difficult to track down on the original vinyl. I guess the hard bop hegemony/jazz purist gatekeepers decided that McCoy didn't deserve the "hallowed jazz reissue treatment"! No matter....McCoy who passed away in Morocco in 2009 however, has received some good buzz on some prominent funk orientated blogs, but I think it'd be more useful to reassess McCoy's music and legacy from a predominately straight ahead (open minded of course ) perspective/jazz blog orientation.

This is McCoy's seventh and final side on Prestige - 1968's Listen Here! McCoy's nice tone/touch with his Deagan is really in evidence here... This side overall is a engaging listen, split between two 8 piece/big band pieces (drums by legendary funk drummer Bernard Purdie!) nicely arranged by longtime McCoy associate Dave Blume, and four quintet sides. Jo Anne Brackeen on piano/electric piano was a prominent member of McCoy's working group at the time and she provides nice support here, along with the interesting player Gene Walker on the Varitone! The jazz-pop covers are executed well, but they are certainly of their time and have their limitations (this is more a problem of McCoy's earlier sides, stay tuned for that)- I'd much rather prefer more McCoy originals. Solid fidelity off the original and quite scarce Prestige stereo vinyl.

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12 comments:

  1. BillApril 3, 2011 at 6:52 AM

    This is the STUFF! Thank you!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. BillApril 3, 2011 at 7:19 AM

    Had to comment again, GREAT!

    ReplyDelete
  3. chuApril 3, 2011 at 11:16 AM

    Freddie McCoy - Listen Here

    Wow! I was actually thinking of suggesting Freddie McCoy since he has been so overlooked, but here it turns out that you had already thought the same thing! Many thanks!

    There are however some other Prestige soul jazz albums that either have not come out on CD at all, or only in incomplete fashion, that you could pursue if you feel so inclined. Here is the list I have of Prestige albums never on CDs *nor* on blogs.

    PRLP 7264 Willis Jackson - Neapolitan Nights (12/19/62) [3 of 6 tracks missing]
    PRLP 7339 Gildo Mahones - The Great Gildo (2/4/63, 8/15/63, 9/3/63, 6/4/64) [2-LP set]
    PR 7395 Freddie McCoy - Lonely Avenue (1/25/65, 2/16/65)
    PR 7414 Bobby Timmons - Holiday Soul (11/24/64)
    - there was a blog rip of this but it was so excruciatingly bad that it can't be counted!
    PR 7430 Don Patterson - Satisfaction! (7/19/65)
    PR 7470 Freddie McCoy - Funk Drops (6/21/66, 6/22/66)
    PR 7517 Houston Person - Chocomotive (6/14/67) [2 tracks missing]
    PR 7525 Buddy Terry - Electric Soul! (2/23/67)
    PR 7528 Pucho And The Latin Soul Brothers - Shuckin' And Jivin' (8/9/67) [3 tracks missing]
    PR 7541 Buddy Terry - Natural Soul (11/15/67)
    PR 7542 Freddie McCoy - Beans And Greens (10/2/67, 10/4/67)
    PR 7543 Richard "Groove" Holmes - Soul Power! (12/19/67) [1 track missing]
    PR 7555 Pucho And The Latin Soul Brothers - Big Stick (12/5/67) [1 track missing]
    PR 7569 Wally Richardson - Soul Guru (2/5/68, 2/7/68)
    PR 7602 Willis Jackson - Swivel Hips (9/9/68)
    PR 7666 Brother Jack McDuff - Steppin' Out (7/14/61, 1/8/63, 2/26/63, 7/64, early 1965, 2/66) [1 track missing]
    PR 7791 Various Artists - The Soul Giants (9/12/58, 5/62, 1/2/63, 2/6-7/64, 6/18/64, 3/15/66, 10/20/67)
    - note: this is an important album since it is drawn from outtakes not included elsewhere
    PR 7852 Don Patterson - Tune Up! (7/10/64, 6/2/69, 9/15/69) [1 track missing]
    PR 7862 Gene Ammons - Night Lights (2/2/70) [3 of 6 tracks missing]
    PR 10002 Johnny "Hammond" Smith - Here It 'Tis (9/21/70)
    P 10100 Gene Ammons/Sonny Stitt - Together Again For The Last Time (11/20/73, 11/21/73, 12/10/73)

    Prestige MPP series:
    MPP 2514 Gene Ammons - Blue Groove (4/27/62)

    Prestige 16000 series:
    PR 16003 Ahmed Abdul-Malik - Eastern Moods (6/13/63)
    PR 16004 Gildo Mahones - I'm Shooting High (2/4/63, 8/15/63, 9/3/63)

    New Jazz/Status series:
    ST 8303 Ahmed Abdul-Malik - Spellbound (3/12/64)

    Prestige Moodsville series:
    MVLP 4 Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis With Shirley Scott (1/31/60) [1 track missing]
    MVLP 12 The Al Casey Quartet (11/10/60)
    MVLP 24 Sam The Man Taylor - The Bad And The Beautiful (2/20/62)
    MVLP 30 Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis - Misty (12/4/59, 4/12/60) [2 tracks missing]
    MVLP 36 Dave Pike Plays The Jazz Version Of Oliver! (12/28/62)

    Prestige 10" series:
    PRLP 152 Al Vega Piano Solos with Bongos (1/23/53)
    PRLP 163 New Sounds From Rochester With The Contemporary Jazz Ensemble (6/53)
    PRLP 213 Jim Chapin Sextet (7/55)

    ReplyDelete
  4. BacosoApril 3, 2011 at 12:48 PM

    Nice post liking this - cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  5. steveApril 3, 2011 at 2:34 PM

    You go to much trouble and effort to share these precious prestige sides! Your love
    of the music and mankind is commendable.
    Many, Many Thanks!!!! Steve in Texas

    ReplyDelete
  6. PhiloApril 3, 2011 at 6:26 PM

    Freddie McCoy - Listen Here (1968)

    Nice work on the digital transfer!


    This music is a lot of fun.

    I love the sound of the varitone. I went back and compared Gene Walker's performance on "Listen Here" with Eddie Harris playing the same tune. Sounds like Walker is playing an alto sax while Harris is definitely using a tenor sax.

    These is a brief discussion of the varitone technology here:
    http://www.saxophone.org/varitone.html

    ReplyDelete
  7. Ian GApril 6, 2011 at 7:18 AM

    Cool drop! Just back from travels overseas & this is by far the pick of the posts I missed over the last couple of weeks. Perhaps the slickest Freddie McCoy I've yet heard?! And that varitone? A real gone Groove!

    ReplyDelete
  8. NH manApril 7, 2011 at 6:33 PM

    Again... Thank-you!

    ReplyDelete
  9. NickApril 9, 2011 at 11:31 PM

    Nice one. Thank you for this!

    ReplyDelete
  10. PhillipApril 10, 2011 at 8:02 PM

    Tremendous! Many, Many thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  11. motown_jazzApril 14, 2011 at 1:10 PM

    Hey Preston,

    You post some bad stuff. I enjoy what you post. I was looking over you list and I can post Houston Person's Chocomotive. I will send it to you when I get home from work tonight.

    ReplyDelete
  12. PrestontwApril 14, 2011 at 5:26 PM

    thanks motown jazz. Looking forward to it!

    ReplyDelete

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