I remember when I was a little boy in California, we had the Wes Montgomery album A Day In The Life, and we used to play that sucker a lot. Those Beatles covers he did earworm me even today.
Of course, that was after he sold out, turning away from his true artistic calling as a jazz guitarist. < /typical critic>
Do critics really say that about him, or are you being ironic? :)
I honestly don't know much about him other than most of what his career was comprised of was his interpretations of other people's music. I've loved everything I've heard so far. Although keep in mind this album is the only thing by him that I've ever owned.
By the time Montgomery released his first album for A&M Records, he had seemingly totally abandoned the straightforward jazz of his earlier career in favor of pop. The three albums released during his A&M period (1967-68) feature orchestral renditions of famous pop songs ("Scarborough Fair," "I Say a Little Prayer for You," "Eleanor Rigby," etc.) with Montgomery reciting the melody with his guitar. While these records were the most commercially successful of his career, they are now poorly regarded by some fans and critics. Many jazz guitarists, however, are amazed with his innovative solo riffs and creative chord comping even on the renditions of pop songs he performed later in his brief career.
The "poorly regarded" part seems to jibe with some reviews that I've read, online and in print.
And of course, I was being ironic as well. I dig what I've heard of early Wes, middle Wes and late Wes. A big tragedy losing him early, it was.
Is there anything you'd recommend by him, Greg? All I have is this record you see before you, part of the MGM Gas series so I don't think it's one of his original A&M or Verve releases. I know so little about the man other than what my jazz pal Mike schools me. I'd like your opinion as well.
I bought a great, career-spanning CD comp for my dad a couple years back, but for the life of me I can't remember the exact title and haven't yet found it on Google.
In the '70s we had A&M's "Wes Montgomery's Greatest Hits" on 8-track. This is apparently a worthy followup, with a good overview of his "pop" years.
This comp focuses more on his "jazz purist" years.
I think I actually have that second "jazz purist" disk at my store, which is great because I was thiking about picking it up since it was under $10 anyway.
Thank you so much, Greg! <3
BTW, your deathmatch disks are getting a LOT of mileage in my car player lately!
6 Comments:
I remember when I was a little boy in California, we had the Wes Montgomery album A Day In The Life, and we used to play that sucker a lot. Those Beatles covers he did earworm me even today.
Of course, that was after he sold out, turning away from his true artistic calling as a jazz guitarist. < /typical critic>
Do critics really say that about him, or are you being ironic? :)
I honestly don't know much about him other than most of what his career was comprised of was his interpretations of other people's music. I've loved everything I've heard so far. Although keep in mind this album is the only thing by him that I've ever owned.
Wikipedia sez:
By the time Montgomery released his first album for A&M Records, he had seemingly totally abandoned the straightforward jazz of his earlier career in favor of pop. The three albums released during his A&M period (1967-68) feature orchestral renditions of famous pop songs ("Scarborough Fair," "I Say a Little Prayer for You," "Eleanor Rigby," etc.) with Montgomery reciting the melody with his guitar. While these records were the most commercially successful of his career, they are now poorly regarded by some fans and critics. Many jazz guitarists, however, are amazed with his innovative solo riffs and creative chord comping even on the renditions of pop songs he performed later in his brief career.
The "poorly regarded" part seems to jibe with some reviews that I've read, online and in print.
And of course, I was being ironic as well. I dig what I've heard of early Wes, middle Wes and late Wes. A big tragedy losing him early, it was.
Is there anything you'd recommend by him, Greg? All I have is this record you see before you, part of the MGM Gas series so I don't think it's one of his original A&M or Verve releases. I know so little about the man other than what my jazz pal Mike schools me. I'd like your opinion as well.
I bought a great, career-spanning CD comp for my dad a couple years back, but for the life of me I can't remember the exact title and haven't yet found it on Google.
In the '70s we had A&M's "Wes Montgomery's Greatest Hits" on 8-track. This is apparently a worthy followup, with a good overview of his "pop" years.
This comp focuses more on his "jazz purist" years.
I think I actually have that second "jazz purist" disk at my store, which is great because I was thiking about picking it up since it was under $10 anyway.
Thank you so much, Greg! <3
BTW, your deathmatch disks are getting a LOT of mileage in my car player lately!
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