Jimmy Smith - Got My Mojo Working

ORIGINATION Got My Mojo Workin'
LAST LISTENED TO the other night
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT always good
RATING

Well, it's about time! Long time readers will by now have noticed my liking for Jimmy Smith and right here is my all-time favourite Jimmy Smith track (or it is most days). It was recorded 17th December 1965 and was the first song that he sang on! This at the time came as quite a surprise and it's no wonder as he had been putting out albums for nine years by this point, with not one vocal sound on any of them (my estimate makes it around 33 albums). His voice is rich and bluesy and he went on to use it many times.

However, it is not Jimmy's voice that is the centre of attention here. It is his organ again. As usual. For over four minutes, making up the biggest part of the song, there is in my opinion simply the best organ solo you will ever hear. Anywhere. Ever. Ever. I don't have the technical music ability to describe it accurately. In fact, even laying aside any accurate descriptions, i don't think i could possibly do it any justice with any combination of words. For me it is the quintessential Jimmy Smith solo. It begins up high and mostly stays there, using repeated phrases endlessly, at other times hanging onto single notes for long periods. It's blue. It's funky. It moves me. It's perfect. If you don't like it i may never speak to you again.

Goldfingers

This morning found me waking to a combination of several versions of John Barry's main theme from the film Goldfinger. So, in roughly the order that they appeared in:

Jimmy Smith - Goldfinger (Part I)
ORIGINATION Monster
LAST LISTENED TO last night
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT good, but
RATING

There are two things that make this my favourite version of the Goldfinger theme. Firstly, of course, is the fabulous Mr. Smith and his mighty organ. It is a fact that no one beats Jimmy Smith for organ satisfaction, even here where he hardly appears, that is still the case.

The tune has a long introduction, making for a great, teasing beginning to the Monster album. A third of the way in, Jimmy plays some melody and vocal lines, forming the middle section. He only begins to solo in the last 45 seconds and it's a typically great Jimmy Smith solo, coming in on the high notes and working it's way down, repeating phrases all the way. Blue and soulful.

The secondly reason for my love of this version is Oliver Nelson's arrangement, which brings in further elements of the Goldfinger score. In particularly, the first minute is largely taken from Dawn Raid Over Fort Knox, which is the dramatic highlight of the original Goldfinger soundtrack.


John Barry - Goldfinger (Instrumental Version)
ORIGINATION Goldfinger OST
LAST LISTENED TO November
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT good, by association
RATING

Not the best known version on the original album, but for me the better of the two. It is more forceful, with a greater variety in textures and features a Beat-sounding guitar part instead of the vocals, which hints at Barry's earlier work. This version also throws in elements from other parts of the score, in manner that clearly inspired Nelson's arrangement for Jimmy Smith.

John Barry - Main Title: Goldfinger (Sung By Shirley Bassey)
ORIGINATION Goldfinger OST
LAST LISTENED TO November
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT good, by association
RATING

The famous one. It's a great moment in pop history and, whilst it's not a song that i'd ever write anything bad about, it's doesn't have Jimmy Smith on it. It does, however, have a great crescendo and some lovely little Bond-theme moments.

Ray Barretto - Goldfinger
ORIGINATION Señor 007
LAST LISTENED TO January
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT good, by association
RATING

Take a top latin-percussionist, add a whole load of Bond tunes and shake (not stir) well. Viola, a great party album. The version of Goldfinger is sadly not the best thing on this album, but it's great fun and more parpy than any other version of the tune. The atmosphere is also really quite different.

And finally…
There were sadly a couple of version of Goldfinger that didn't make it into my head this morning, but i feel deserve an honourable mention. Firstly, there are several more by Jimmy Smith, starting with the Part II Version from Monster, which sounds similar to Part I, only a good bit faster and with much more of Jimmy soloing. There are also two live versions, which may be in fact one version edited differently. Next comes Beatle-fave Billy Preston's, which has something of a Booker T. & The MG's feel. Unfortunately, he set his organ for a very rinky-dink sound, which is a fairly pants organ sound. Lastly comes Count Basie and HIs Orchestra, giving it a smooth, bit band setting. This is from his album Basie Meets Bond, which is well worth tracking down.

Aretha Franklin - Rock Steady

ORIGINATION 7"
LAST LISTENED TO a few months ago
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT pretty low
RATING

Aretha does funky soul for dancing to. It's very good. I am not good today, so that's all you're getting.

Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes - Don't Leave Me This Way

ORIGINATION 7"
LAST LISTENED TO no idea
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT low
RATING

Yes, yes, yes. I love it when that weird lump of grey stuff pulls a beauty from the past that i had forgotten.

Many people have had a go at this tune and many of them have made good versions (i grew up with Jimmy Somerville's, for which i have a particular soft spot). However, the original version is about as good as it gets. It was recorded for Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff's Philidelphia International label in '75, when they had become the biggest names in soul music.

Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes had been around since the '50s. They found a place at Philly International early on, primarily because of the talents of their lead singer. By this point in their career, however, Melvin had taken a back seat and was no longer the lead singer. Instead it was their one-time drummer, Teddy Pendergrass.

Don't Leave Me This Way begins with some delicate electric piano and percussion, before slowly building into a smooth mid-tempo piece of '70s soul. The lush sounds of Gamble & Huff underpinning it are unmistakable and gorgeous. The crowning glory of the song is the chorus. Pendergrass' testifying over one of the greatest build-ups in soul pulls together the best of both gospel and secular music. Only those with no soul could fail to be moved by it.

Such a lovely way to celebrate 200 posts!

Another fine monday morning mess

Luckily this morning i'm too tired to have much concern about what follows, although i probably should. Both this lack of concern and what follows are the result of being wrenched out of an odd dream by a nasty, nasty alarm clock.

So, it starts with fragments of Anthrax's Making Me Laugh bouncing around inside my head. This is itself a quite unwelcome beginning to a monday. Not entirely because of it being a harsh piece of '80s thrash, but mostly because it is not a particularly good piece of '80s thrash. In fact i can hardly remember it, which is enough reason for the slight dislike. Naturally, if it had been good, i'd have made more of an effort to keep a copy of it. Since i have no copy of it these days, it must be bad. Yes?

Anyway, after a few minutes of that, i find to my surprise that it has been joined by the Fairy Liquid jingle (the one involving hands and dishes). This, i hardly need point out, is much less welcome then my first guest and is much more bizzare in occurance. It's really quite horrid, in fact and i quickly wish that it would stop.

Handily, the Maiden burst in not long after the soapy nonsense, with a lovely rendition of their signature song (you can find out more about that here) which wiped the floor with the early imposters. I spit on them. Ptooey.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Little Miss Strange

ORIGINATION Electric Ladyland
LAST LISTENED TO during the week
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT poor
RATING

Little Miss Strange is my least liked Hendrix track bar none. This is mostly because it sounds nothing like a Hendrix tune, for which there is a very good reason: Noel Redding.

Redding was the bass player for the Experience. By '68, he was not happy with his place in the band, especially with the erratic schedule, party atmosphere and multiple takes involved in the recording of Electric Ladyland. Hendrix would often vanish for days on end, when he was supposed to be in the studio and it was during one of these occasions that Redding brought in Little Miss Strange. It became the only new composition on the album that was not written by Hendrix. Further, Redding not only wrote the song and played the bass on it, but he also sings and plays the guitar, with Hendrix's only apparent input was some overdubs on the near-complete track. Consequently, the song stands out nastily on this great album and is the only part that really shows its age.

In the mid '90s, a documentary about the making of this album laid bare much of this. It also shows that Redding still has an axe to grind. He only ever refers to Jimi as 'Hendrix' and he insists that their version of All Along The Watchtower is not as good as Dylan's original (even though i am pretty sure that Dylan himself doesn't). Little Miss Strange was, apparently, only included on the album as a sop to the disgruntled bass player. I am sure i'm not the only one who wishes it hadn't been.

It's a tune that the skip button on CD players was invented for and is lucky to get two stars.

The Rolling Stones - All Down The Line

ORIGINATION Exile On Main Street
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT pretty good
RATING

It's quite a good song, isn't it? And the album is, of course, rather good too. Famously so. The thing here, though, is that i have never listened to any of the tracks individually. I've only ever listened to the album as a whole. A bit odd, but that's just how it is. Which means for me that, due to the overall high quality of all the tunes, no one stands out above the others. Bits of tunes stand out, sometimes. This is the case for All Down The Line. It has some nice backing vocals and good brass support. Which is all i remember about the song. It's good, but it's not great. Am i being unfair? I hope not.

Boney M - Brown Girl In The Ring

ORIGINATION hell
LAST LISTENED TO not even once
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT awful
RATING

I thought i had no song this morning. It was a bit odd. But no, just as i was making my packed lunch, this crap started up and it just won't let go. I'd really like it to stop now, so i shall never mention it ever again. Does anyone have the number for a good exorcist?