Count Basie Swings - Joe Williams Sings -- CD
Count Basie Orchestra with Joe Williams
1956/1993 CLEF/Verve Records
"I Love The Blues Because It's So Natural. It's Life, Man.", September 17, 2000
By Anthony G Pizza "trivialtony" (FL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Count Basie Swings, Joe Williams Sings (Audio CD)
That quote, from Joe Williams as part of the liner notes for this remarkable re-issue, emphasizes that blues is not so much a rudimentary style as an approach to music and, especially, lyrics. It's a lesson Basie, Williams, Ray Charles, B.B. King, Bobby Bland, and a generation's country, R&B, and blues performers taught the rock and roll revolution that so quickly followed and incorporated them.
"Basie Swings - Williams Sings" joins jazz vocal panache to Basie's rollicking big-band punch. Williams sings circles around the melodies of "The Comeback," (with its stick-and-move sax punctuation) Joe Turner's "Roll 'Em Pete," (with Williams trilling "Ohwellohwellohwell..." as if he discovered a new instrument) and the huge R&B hit, "Everyday I Have The Blues" (later a B.B. King theme song). Credit Frank Foster's inventive, galloping arrangements (brought to the fore by Phil Schaap's excellent remastering) for bringing fire and funk to what otherwise would've been a swing-era holdover. On the ballad side, "In the Evening" brings flutes and clarinets into a sleepy blues tune that recalls Bland's later, "If You Could Read My Mind."
This LP and its long-running success deservedly expanded and extended Basie and Williams' careers, stretching across pop culture from Basie's three LPs with Frank Sinatra (and a band still performing Foster's arrangements today) to Williams' casting on the "Cosby Show." Most importantly, "Basie Swings - Williams Sings" redefined big band music for the post-rock and roll era, making it essential to jazz, blues, and early rock and roll fans all.
"Every Day I Have the Blues" (Memphis Slim) – 5:29
"The Come Back" (Charles Frazier) – 5:28
"Alright, Okay, You Win" (Mayme Watts, Sidney Wyche) – 3:05
"In the Evening (When the Sun Goes Down)" (Leroy Carr, Don Raye) – 3:38
"Roll 'Em Pete" (Pete Johnson, Big Joe Turner) – 3:12
"Teach Me Tonight" (Sammy Cahn, Gene DePaul) – 3:04
"My Baby Upsets Me" (Joe Williams) – 2:58
"Please Send Me Someone to Love" (Percy Mayfield) – 3:33
"Ev'ry Day" (Sammy Fain, Irving Kahal) – 3:48
"As Long as I Love You" (Bernie Moten, Henri Woode) – 3:06
"Stop! Don't!" (George Ronald Brown) – 2:36
"Too Close for Comfort" (Jerry Bock, Larry Holofcener, George David Weiss) – 2:53