Smackwater Jack: Originals (Dig) [Original recording remastered]

Quincy Jones | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 11, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: A&M
• ASIN: B002GNOMLW
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #143,652 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

It's an interesting amalgam of an album, ranging from the ambitious Guitar Blues Odyssey to TV-theme fare including the themes to Ironside and The Bill Cosby Show (with humorous vocals from Cosby himself), but nonetheless worthy of anyone's Q collection. Also includes Brown Ballad; What's Going On; Cast Your Fate to the Wind ; the title track, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Among Q's Most Rewarding Records, September 30, 2009

By 

allemande (Columbia, MO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Smackwater Jack: Originals (Dig) (Audio CD)

Having read some (likely justified) complaints from reviewers here about other releases in the Universal Music Group "Originals" series, I approached this one with rather low expectations. Surprise! This really fine early-1970s recording has received an excellent transfer to CD. I was impressed with the room-shaking bass energy captured on the disc, but the bass doesn't dominate the sound or upset the overall balance. Everything that should be heard, can be heard with clarity.
For those who aren't familiar with this album, Quincy Jones assembled an amazing group of session musicians, many of them jazz giants, and presented them with arrangements of his own and other composers' works. Q had begun, by this album, to incorporate more contemporary musical influences into his sound, but there are some really good jazz moments here. And given his sensibilities for popular appeal (he produced Lesley Gore in the '60s, and Michael Jackson's biggest-selling albums of the '80s), it is hard to imagine anyone not liking at least SOMETHING here.
I impulsively bought this recording years ago, not having heard a thing on it, but hoping that the "Ironside" theme listed on the cover would be the same recording being used on the TV series (it was), and also that "The Bill Cosby Show" theme--aka "Hikky-Burr"--would be the TV version (it wasn't; more on this later). When I took the record home and listened, I was gratified to find many delights, such as a tastefully mellow arrangement of Vince Guaraldi's "Cast Your Fate to the Wind", and a multifaceted treatment of the Marvin Gaye hit "What's Going On" (some hot jazz playing in this one). Ray Brown (a co-producer of the record) contributed "Brown Ballad", very pleasant listening; and Q's own "Theme from 'The Anderson Tapes'" really swings. I hadn't counted on all the musical styles I found here, nor the virtuosity of the playing (not yet having seen the list of musicians involved).
As for "Hikky-Burr": again, it isn't the wonderful original recording used on Bill Cosby's late-60s TV show, but I have to say it has grown on me over time. There are at least a couple of places in this one that Cosby, in what I would have to call a kind of comical scat vocal, finds a good groove; they are brief moments, but they leave an impression. Cos and Q cook together.
I can't say enough how glad I am that there is finally a domestic CD release of this wonderful album. I would have been happy anyway, but having heard the high quality of the transfer to disc, I am almost beyond words. The CD may sound better than my LP did! This album represents an important phase in the long career of Quincy Jones, and if you are a fan of his at all--and don't already own this recording--you should definitely seek it out.
A word about the packaging: the CD is housed in a Digipak, evidently intended to somewhat resemble the gatefold sleeve in which the LP was released. All text and notes are reproduced to the original scale, i.e., practically unreadable without a magnifying lens. Although the packaging is not ideal, this is an essential disc for jazz lovers, and for anyone who has followed the remarkable musical odyssey of a gifted composer, producer, and arranger.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 5 stars even with Qs vocals, January 15, 2010

By 

jimac51 (Allentown, Pa United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Smackwater Jack: Originals (Dig) (Audio CD)

The important reason to jump for joy for Universal releasing this A&M gem is that the original,unedited version of "What's Goin' On" is included. Sure,it includes a lame vocal by Q,but when the band kicks in,this thing just swings like Marvin Gaye could never imagined. A true all-star effort,this includes solos by Freddy Hubbard,trumpet,Toots Thielmans tripling up on guitar,harmonica and whistling,Milt Jackson,vibes,Jim Hall,guitar,and Harry Lookofsky's strings mimicking Toot's earlier harp solo. This sucker clocks in at just under 10 minutes!
Another interesting track is the "Guitar Blues Odyssey",which is a 50 year history lesson in blues guitar condensed to 6:38 and featuring four guitarists takinbg nine solos:Jim Hall and Tooots,again,along with Eric Gale and Joe Beck-from Robert Johnson to Jimi Hendrix and into outer space...and back again to Robert Johnson,which is where the blues was headed in 1971.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What's going on?, February 8, 2010

By 

James K. Pirtle (HUNTINGTOWN, MD United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Smackwater Jack (MP3 Download)

What's going on? This is a great album, but it appears to be missing at least one tune that was on the original release. The theme from "Sanford and Son". I hate when that happens.