In the Wall Street Journal last week, I interviewed Bernie Taupin for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). Bernie, of course, wrote the words to virtually all of Elton John's hits. What's more, Bernie's lyrics came first, then Elton set them to music, which is remarkable: Rocket Man, Candle in the Wind, Tiny Dancer, Bennie and the Jets and the rest. All came from the pen of Bernie, who grew up in England infatuated by the American West and country music. How Elton and Bernie came together remains one of the most fatalistic coincidences in pop music history. [Photo above of Bernie Taupin in San Diego in August by Heather Taupin]
Here's Elton John and Kiki Dee singing Don't Go Breaking My Heart, with lyrics by Bernie Taupin...
Also in the WSJ, my "Album at 50" column for the Arts in Review section was on Kool & the Gang's Wild and Peaceful (go here). And out of the blue, Robert "Kool" Bell himself wanted to thank me over the phone for the essay, which made my week. Here are the first three paragraphs:
Just before disco reached mainstream status in 1974 with the Hues Corporation’s “Rock the Boat,” live funk bands dominated at clubs in many urban markets. The bump was a dance rage, and Kool & the Gang was one of many funk-bump bands touring then.
The group’s first album, for De-Lite Records in 1969, was an instrumental, followed over the next three years by two live albums and two studio LPs. All five failed to generate much crossover heat. In 1972, “Soul Makossa” was released by Manu Dibango, a composer and saxophonist from Cameroon. The Afro-funk track reached No. 35 on the Billboard pop chart. Eager for a similar hit, De-Lite urged Kool & the Gang to cover it. As Ronald Bell recalled in a 1975 interview with the U.K.’s Blues & Soul magazine, “We figured we could come up with our own ‘Soul Makossa’ because we had always played in that funky groove.”
The result was a trio of self-produced songs with a “Soul Makossa” flavor: “Jungle Boogie,” “Funky Stuff” and “Hollywood Swinging.” All appeared on “Wild and Peaceful,” an album released 50 years ago this month that changed Kool & the Gang’s fortunes and altered the direction of jazz-funk, soul and dance in the months before and after disco’s emergence on the national stage.
Here's Kool & the Gang syncing Hollywood Swinging on Soul Train in 1973...
Soon, in paperback! Published last fall, Anatomy of 55 More Songs, will be out in paperback on December 5. To sweeten the deal, I added three songs to the new edition—including a new one that wasn't published by The Wall Street Journal. If you're looking for a gift that goes beyond the hardback out last year, this is your chance this coming holiday season. A great gift for one and all. Go here.
Horace Silver Quintet. Here's Silver in 1968 performing Nutville, with Bill Hardman (tp), Bennie Maupin (ts), Silver (p), John Williams (b) and Billy Cobham (d)...
Richard Davis. Following my two-part tribute to the late bassist Richard Davis last week, I heard from singer-songwriter and bassist Tammy Burdett:
Hi Marc. I took a close look at the cover of Richard Davis’s "One For Frederick” and noticed that his bass had a lion’s head at the top instead of a traditional scroll. On the videos you highlighted back in 2022, in which I'm playing bass with Larry Coryell, Ralph Towner and Chuck Mahaffay, my bass also had a lion’s head. This bass is a bit rare, since most are topped by a scroll. It caught my eye. My bass was made in Europe a couple of centuries ago, according to the violin maker who sold my father the bass he gave me.
It was also lighter in color and shaped very much like a violin. Most basses aren’t that detailed. I sold my bass to a member of the San Francisco Symphony some years ago. That gorgeous "lady" didn’t belong in bars and clubs. She was made for concert halls and classical music. I have to admit, I’m sorry now that I didn’t keep her, but I stopped playing acoustic bass some time ago, and instruments of this quality need to be played and heard.
Here's Tammy in action in the mid-1960s singing and playing her lion-headed bass, with Ralph Towner on piano and Chuck Mahaffay on clarinet and drums...
Carl Woideck also wrote me on Richard Davis:
Marc. thanks for two days’ worth of posts on Davis. And the way you split it up was exactly right. Between 1964-1967, I listened more to Davis than any other jazz bassist. I loved his interactive playing on those Blue Note albums. For creativity and interaction, I loved his playing on Andrew Hill's "Judgment."
My favorite swinger on the album is the title track. It shows he was in the general lineage of jazz bassists who were involved in loosening up the role of the bass in jazz (the list would include Jimmie Blanton, Israel Crosby, Charles Mingus and Scott LaFaro), Davis elects not to play a walking bass line. Instead, he chooses to be an independent voice in the group.
After a quick re-listen, I noticed two measures where Davis walks—listen for it. Davis is, by turns, spiky and buoyant, and always stimulating. Even with him departing from the rigid walking role, the group still swings powerfully.
Here's Judgment...
And here's the ballad Alfred...
Grossinger's. In my deep dive into 1960s cha-cha-cha videos, I came across this home-made documentary on Grossinger's, once a major resort in the Catskills Mountain two hours or so north of New York. [Post card above of Grossinger's Terrace Lounge]
To watch Ode to Grossinger's, go here...
Dave Thompson just left his studio on Friday and sent along his workout on Nobody Else But Me for JazzWax readers. Go here...
Beaver Cleaver, the character (played by Jerry Mathers, above) around whom the early 1960s sitcom Leave It to Beaver was built, remains with us today, sort of, in a new form. Go here to have a look...
JaRon Eames (above) has a good thing going. Each Sunday, he hosts a jazz party at his Manhattan brownstone apartment, complete with food. If you want more information or want to see about a reservation, email JaRon here: [email protected]. Here's a recent video of one of those parties, with JaRon on vocals and Les Kurtz on piano. It's a happening New York scene perfect for autumn...
And finally, what would the start of autumn be like without the Four Freshmen? Here they are in Japan in 1964...