Ain't That A Kick In The Head
Vibes pilot Bobby Hutcherson recorded the first version of Joe Henderson's tune The Kicker for the eponymous [Rock Critic Vocab. Alert - Ed.] '63 album, only to see the album shelved, which I suppose wasn't uncommon in those days, in that field. Jazz cats would turn up, take off their jackets, play a session, get paid scale and heft their instruments back to the hotel room. If anything else came of it, like an album appearing in the racks, that was a plus (or likely not, musicians' royalties being more a philosophical idea than material fact). Hutcherson eventually saw it released in 1999.
Fun Foam Fact: In 1967 he lost his cabaret card and his Yellow Cab driver's license after he was busted for dope in Central Park.
Foam Favorite© Grant Green sat in on those sessions (see? you too can write boho jazz style), and later recorded his own version of The Kicker for his Solid album in 64, only to see it shelved. Are we seeing a pattern yet? It got a release in '79, shortly after he died of a heart attack, aged 43.
Dubious Foam Fact: Green got his signature tone by dialing back the treble and bass, boosting the midrange to eleven. Well, maybe. I tried this and I still sounded shit.
Horace Silver was next to cover the tune on Song For My Father in early '65, although the sessions stretched back a couple of years. Unusually, the album was not shelved, and is acclaimed by just about everybody - your Mom included - as a milestone in hard bop.
Fun Foam Fact: Yup, that's his old man.
Joe Henderson got to record his own version of the tune on his - wait for it - eponymous album from '67. The groovy cover art is as close to a concession to the times as the album makes - Henderson is one of the bristlier, bespectacled bop players. But relax - the good news is that he recorded this prior to expanding our consciousnesses - political as well as cosmic - on his challenging later releases.
Confusing Foam Fact: Henderson played The Kicker on the above Horace Silver album, too.
Four faultless, fantastic, timeless, beautiful albums, all tied together by one shared composition, and all set to become lifetime pals in your collection. Ain't that a kick in the head?
How do you thank someone who's taken you from crayons to perfume......oh, hi, Say could we have the link. I waited quite a while so some one else would be first but...
ReplyDeleteSooner or later they're going to suss that we're one and the same guy, each pretending to be someone they're not. Until then, enjoy the curse-free downloads!
DeleteThe Bobby Hutcherson is my favorite - such a summer breeze of an album.
Kick it!
Dig them craaaaazy beats.
ReplyDeleteSolid Post, Farquhar.
ReplyDeleteBought the Joe Henderson Sextet one when was released, back in my Art School days. It's been a part of the soundtrack to my life ever since.
Mom really did like the Horace one. I'm going to show great restraint and not make an Ambigram joke.
Mr. Green's effort is the sound of late night cocktails for two, here in Manhattan and what comes afterwards........
Agreed, Bobby Hutcherson's is my favorite too. I've always dug the way Bob Cranshaw and Al Harewood play off each other. Forgot how good this one is.
Very Hip.
Even without the common song these would be four compatible and welcome picks. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteAt one time, I owned on vinyl, every Horace Silver album up through the more modern, quai-religious, output (basically Blue Note and a few scattered offerings on other labels). Had over 3,000 pieces of vinyl in my collection. But, Katrina took it all. Insurance did/didn't really cover it, since they fought with me over whether it was a homeowners or a flood ins claim (flood ins carrier said homeowners, and homeowners said vice versa). This went on for about a year, and during that time, I had little to no income, a mortgage note for an uninhabitable house, and paying for three apartment rentals (my legally separated, wife, daughter in college, and one for me and my son). Finally got both carriers to fork over about half of each policy. Got the mortgage note paid off, sold the property to the government, gave half of the reminder to my ex as part of the divorce. Wound up with about 30k left, with no debt, but with zero assets (just a car and some clothes). Only thing I really miss is my damn vinyl.
ReplyDeleteAah, pmac. My story of economic woe is similar (I spent a year without keys - not one - didn't have anything to lock up). But I sold off my vinyl (same count as yours) because out here it would make no sense. I don't miss it at all. I have no music physical thing-forms, just data on a computer. The music's the same. The music will endure through whatever evolution it takes. Radio, vinyl, cassette, data file, whatever - the music is the same, and the way it affects me is the same.
DeleteFarq and FGW (is this like a religion with only two deities that morph into one, instead of the catholic three?!?) thank you for you thoughts. Music is still the same, and probably of better sound quality, given the lack of hiss and pops prevalent on vinyl. Still, I just miss the foldgate covers and extensive liner nootes, and the physical process of cuing up the vinyl.
DeleteEveryone Farquhar here............oops, FWG says what a treasure trove this is. Absolutely great riffs and these puppies can (beat me daddy eight to the bar) jam. PMam I've been there too. My 183,000 house in Berkeley is now worth 1.8 mill. My attorney told me after it was all over that the judge how told him he didn't like his client...me. Grounds for a mistrial right there. She got the house, both cars. I got screwed. I was in Florida for a few hurricanes. Now I live for fires and floods in Cali.....but I still have my tunes.....and yes I sold about 5k slabs of vinyl to get through it all.
ReplyDeleteThese are great, thanks. I knew the Horace Silver take but the others were new to me. The Grant Green version is amazing. The Kicker also shows up, oddly enough, on the new Jeff Goldblum album.
ReplyDeleteOlder readers may remember The Hugh Candyside Show, which ran for half a season on NBC radio back in the late fifties after struggling to find a sponsor. It featured the first hunchback family on radio. Hugh is currently serving out a life sentence in Biloxi Pen for Undisclosed Crimes.
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