Jimmy McGriff - Greatest Hits

Good jazz CD

Old school music/jazz.

For years I was looking for the organ background music which you can hear while watching TV series or movies from the sixties. Now I have found it. If you like music for dancing and if you like the Hammond organ, then this CD is an absolute must for you! No doubt, five stars!

Though these recordings have been around for decades Jimmy McGriff is a new discovery for me. This has become one of my favorite albums of all time.

The 17 tracks are: 1. All About My Girl; 2. I've Got A Woman (Parts 1 & 2); 3. Discotheque U.S.A.; 4. Kiko; 5. See See Rider; 6. Cash Box; 7. Gospel Time; 8. Where It's At; 9. The Last Minute; 10. Blue Juice; 11. Step One; 12. Chris Cross; 13. South Wes; 14. Black Pearl; 15. The Worm; 16. Ain't It Funky Now; 17. Fat Cakes.For a "greatest hits" album this one, like so many others teasing us with that title, falls well short of a 5-star rating by omitting four nationally-charting sides from among the nine registered between 1962 and 1968, along with 5 of their non-charting B-sides, and providing nothing in the way of substantial liner notes and discography/sessionography. Under any other title I would rate this as a 4-star representation of his instrumental Jazz/Soul music, but the misleading title reduces it to 3 stars in my humble opinion.A trained classical violinist, Jimmy's interest in Jazz and the organ began while attending Temple University in Philadelphia where, so the story goes, a future comedian named Bill Cosby helped arrange some local gigs. At those he met - and learned from - the great Jimmy Smith and Milt Buckner and in 1962 secured a recording contract with the New York City-based Sue Records, first launched in 1957 by Henry "Juggy" Murray. That October he hit the national charts with the Ray Charles classic I've Got A Woman Part I, which rose to # 5 R&B/# 20 Hot 100 in Oct-Nov on Sue 770 b/w Part II.He followed that in Jan-Feb 1963 with the # 12 R&B/# 50 Hot 100 All About My Girl on Sue 777, with the B-side, M.G. Blues, also charting at # 95 Hot 100 in February - and that's one of the four charting sides excluded here. A few months later, in June, the self-penned The Last Minute Pt. I peaked at # 99 Hot 100 b/w Pt. II on Sue 786. Later that year, and throughout all of 1964, the R&B charts were suspended by Billboard and that, coupled with the debilitating effects on many North American artists by the British Invasion, made it extremely difficult for those concentrating on instrumental Soul-Jazz to gain national attention with their singles. As a consequence, none among these releases made the national listings: One Of Mine/Broadway (Sue 791) and Lonely Avenue Part 1/Part 2 (Sue 802), both in 1963, and in early 1964, Winter With McGriff Part 1/Part 2 (Sue 804). None of those sides are here either.In May 1964, the quirky Kiko did manage a # 79 Hot 100 b/w the old standard, Jumpin' At The Woodside on Sue 10-001, but that last is also excluded here as are all sides but one of his next five Sue singles which, except for one Hot 100 Bubble Under entry, also failed to chart in 1964/65: Hello Betty/Close Your Eyes (Sue 105), All Day Long/When You're Smiling (Sue 110) and, in Nov 1964, Topkapi, a # 133 Hot 100 Bubble Under on Sue 112 b/w Theme From "The Man With The Golden Arm", followed in 1965 by Sho Nuff/ Bilbo (Sue 120), Discotheque U.S.A. (the one exception that IS here) b/w People (Sue 123), and Turn Blue/ Bump De Bump (Sue 128).In 1966 he moved over to Solid State Records, a Jazz label formed that year by Sonny Lester and Phil Ramone, and in September had a # 135 Hot 100 Bubble Under with I Cover The Waterfront on Solid State 2501 b/w Slow But Sure and, in May 1967 in a case of "if you can't beat `em, join `em" covered The Rolling Stones' I Can't Get No Satisfaction, which also missed the Hot 100 by finishing at # 130 Hot 100 Bubble Under on Solid State 2510 b/w the old standard I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby. Not one of those sides is here but you do get The Worm which became his lasted nationally-charting side when it finished at # 28 R&B/# 97 Hot 100 in Dec 1968-Jan 1969 on Solid State 2524 b/w Keep Loose (yet another omission).Where the remaining sides here are concerned, track 5 is from the 1966 LP "A Bag Full Of Soul" (Solid State 18002), track 6 is from the 1965 LP "Blues For Mister Jimmy" (Sue STLP-1039), track 7 is from the 1963 LP "One Of Mine" (Sue STLP-1013), track 8 is from the 1965 LP "Live Where The Action's At" (Veep VPS-16515), track 10 is from the 1968 LP "The Worm" (Solid State 18045), tracks 11 & 13 are from the 1969 LP "Step One" (Solid State 18053), track 12 is from the 1970 LP "Electrik Funk" (Blue Note BST-84350), track 14 is from the 1971 LP "Black Pearl" (Blue Note BST-84374), and tracks 16 & 17 are from the 1971 "Soul Sugar" (Capitol ST-00616). Nice representations of his style but to list them as among his "greatest hits" has no basis in fact other than the personal opinion of the compiler of the album.

The very knowledgeable reviews here give a good overview of this release. No surprises if you're familiar with McGriff, but well worth picking up (and if you've never heard him, a no-brainer). McGriff made an early splash with his Sue singles, and they actually sound even better today than when they were first released! I pretty much dismissed McGriff in those days - sort of corny, compared to Jimmy Smith, and my impression was only reinforced by several live performances in the late 1960's - his bands were fun, but pretty loose and undisciplined (as compared to, say, Jack McDuff's tight and well rehearsed outfits, or those Lou Donaldson groups with Lonnie Smith or Charles Earland). (Odean Pope was a sideman, but he was pretty much under wraps.) 45 years later it all sounds good! My only reservation - and it's no deal-breaker - is that everything is all cut from the same cloth - short, funky numbers with a shuffle beat - you won't find any real stretching out, as in his later Milestone albums. "Blue Juice" is sort-of a lazy "Hi-Heel Sneakers," but features a nice Blue Mitchell solo (Mitchell himself recorded an actual version of the tune a couple of years earlier on Blue Note - it's on "Down With It" -and THAT one smokes!! One of the best of those funky lead-off numbers that seemed to be on every Blue Note LP following "The Sidewinder"). (But I digress.) Can't imagine anyone not enjoying this.

I first came across Jimmy McGriff in the 1960's. His swinging soul style of playing was popular in the dance clubs of the time. I bought the original recording of 'I've gotta woman', on the Sue label, after hearing it in the'Roaring Twenties' night club in Carnaby St. in London.As an artist McGriff is comparable with the best, Jimmy Smith, Shirley Scott, Booker T etc. but his style is different. He was never to bothered about the opinions of the jazz critics and did things his own way.Over the years his style has progressed from the early days Blues orientated tracks to the later soul-jazz recordings and even to funk.Listen to the infectious sounds of 'All about my girl', 'I've gotta woman, 'Fat cakes', 'see see rider'. The straight forward R&B of 'kiko'. Religion as expressed in 'the last minute' and 'gospel time'.I could comment on all the tracks, but I'd imagine that would become boring, so my advice is listen to the album and then buy it. You won't regret it.Jimmy McGriffs music is as relevant today as the day he recorded it.

Heard Blue Juice on the Jazz station on DAB and purchased a copy of this CD on the strength of that track. Not so keen on the earlier tracks but from Track 7 onwards this is a thoroughly enjoyable listen. Well worth a purchase if like me the jazz hammond is one of your things!

Un bon best of de Jimmy McGriff. Ce n'est pas un jazz "intellectuel", mais on l'écoute avec plaisir pour son groove omniprésent qui invite à bouger.

Arrived in just two days. A superb buy. Not exactly what I was looking for. The album I wanted was not available but this is an excellent alternative>

Great Hammond sounds !