In today's VINYL VIBRATIONS podcast, I continue to tour early vinyl records that showcase JAZZ GUITARIST GREAT WES MONTGOMERY. The recording presented in this podcast are a compilation from my own LP collection - - from the golden age of vinyl. I heard these Montgomery Brothers LPs during my childhood. These records were a frequent play on my parent’s Hi-Fi record player – you could stack up to 10 records, and Wes Montgomery was a regular in that record stack.Today, I will pick more of Wes Montgomerys best recordings, made between 1961 and 1968, In those years Wes would have been between the ages of 38 and 45.
Love For Sale (Cole Porter 1930 ) Rec Oct 9, 1961, Buddy Montgomery vibes, George Shearing piano, Monk Montgomery electric bass, Walter Perkins drums, WES and FRIENDS, Milestone 1973 remaster 3:32 from the musical The New Yorkers The song is written from the viewpoint of a prostitute advertising various kinds of "love for sale": "Old love, new love, every love but true love".
No Hard Feelings (Buddy Montgomery) Rec Oct 9, 1961, Buddy Montgomery vibes, George Shearing piano, Monk Montgomery electric bass, Walter Perkins drums, WES and FRIENDS, Milestone 1973 remaster 3:45
Born To Be Blue (Mel Torme) Rec Apr 22 1963 Wes Montgomery guitar, Mel Rhyne organ Jimmy Cobb drums The Alternative Wes Montgomery Milestone Records 1963 Produced Orrin Keepnews 7:23 I can hear contemporary Pat Martino through this Wes Montgomery guitar part.
Fried Pies (Wes Montgomery) Rec Apr 22 1963 Wes Montgomery guitar, Mel Rhyne organ Jimmy Cobb drums The Alternative Wes Montgomery Milestone Records 1963 Produced Orrin Keepnews 6:34 awesome thumb pluck technique half way into song
Besame Mucho take 2 (Consuelo Velazquez 1940) Rec Apr 22 1963 Mel Rhyne organ Jimmy Cobb drums The Alternative Wes Montgomery Milestone Records 1963 Produced Orrin Keepnews 6:24 An exceptional improviser the likes of Joe Pass guitar and Oscar Peterson piano improvisation. The content is massive, each listen draws out another impressive sound. The story goes that WM was often not satisfied with his recordings. That;s\\’s nothing unusual for a god musician. Sure there are musicians that sit once and nail the take. Peter Keepnews was WM’s producer during the Riverside Records years. These tracks are WM’s rejects, and they sound so very good. This song used in the 1987 Brazilian film Besame Mucho.
I’ll Be Back, (Lennon-McCartney) Recorded May 7, 1968, “Road Song”, A&M Records, 2:30 Herbie Hancock piano, Richard Davis Bass, Grady Tate drums, and a cast of many in the orchestra.goes back and forth from major to minor.
Road Song (Wes Montgomery) rec May 8,1968 “Road Song”, A&M Records, 3:50 Herbie Hancock Piano , Richard Davis Bass, Ed Shaughnessy drumsalso flute oboe recorder bassoon trumpet clarinet trombone french horn violin viola cello harpsicord and percussion parts..,. final recording before his death on June 15, 1968. A lot of Octave playing in this song.
First let’s recap what we learned about Wes in Part 1
He was born in 1923 in Indianapolis INDIANA,
Wes has two musician brothers - Monk Montgomery on bass and Buddy Montgomery on piano and vibes
They recorded as the Montgomery Brothers in the 1950s
Wes recorded with Pacific Jazz in the 1950s and then Riverside Records 1959-1963, and also VERVE and A&M records from 1964 to 1968
The music style, it is jazz guitar, bebop
An Original technique: Wes ‘plucks’ the guitar string with his thumb – not a guitar pick
Guitar solos used three-tier approach: 1 single notes 2 octave notes 3 block chord melodies
That octave string sound became known as “THE NAPTOWN SOUND” , naptown being Indianapolis
Wes was a self-taught musician !!
He learned Charlie Christian songs note-for-note by listening to records,
Lionel Hampton hired Wes for that reason, Wes then toured for 1-1/2 years with Lionel
He preferred to play in a jazz trio, quartet or quintet format,