The Complete Verve Singles (Remastered) Jimmy Smith

• 1 Ol' Man River 02:52
• 2 Bashin' 02:39
• 3 Step Right Up (Pt. 1 & Pt. 2) 04:14
• 4 Walk On The Wild Side (Pt. 1) 02:37
• 5 Walk On The Wild Side (Pt. 2) 03:38
• 6 Walk Right In 02:17
• 7 Blueberry Hill 02:14
• 8 Hobo Flats (Pt. 1) 02:38
• 9 Hobo Flats (Pt. 2) 02:37
• 10 Theme From Any Number Can Win 02:12
• 11 What I'd Say (Single Version) 02:31
• 12 Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf (Pt. 1) 02:38
• 13 Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf (Pt. 2) 02:32
• 14 The Cat 02:57
• 15 Basin Street Blues 02:40
• 16 Goldfinger (Pt. 1) 02:48
• 17 Goldfinger (Pt. 2) 02:54
• 18 Organ Grinder Swing (Single Version) 02:17
• 19 I'll Close My Eyes (Single Version) 03:24
• 20 Got My Mojo Workin' (Pt. 1) 03:00
• 21 Got My Mojo Workin' (Pt. 2) 02:41
• 22 Love Theme From "Where The Spies Are" (Single Version) 02:56
• 23 Slow Theme From 'Where The Spies Are' (Single Version) 02:38
• 24 Title No. 1 (Single Version) 04:26
• 25 Boom Boom 03:47
• 26 Hoochie Coochie Man (Pt. 1) 02:58
• 27 Hoochie Coochie Man (Pt. 2) 03:14
• 28 Who Do I Love (Pt. 1) 03:06
• 29 Who Do I Love (Single Edit) 02:43
• 30 Cat In A Tree (Pt. 1) 02:59
• 31 Cat In A Tree (Pt. 2) 02:23
• 32 Funky Broadway 02:30
• 33 Respect 02:18
• 34 Mickey Mouse 03:22
• 35 T - Bone Steak 04:58
• 36 Chain Of Fools (Pt. 1) 02:37
• 37 Chain Of Fools (Pt. 2/Single Edit) 02:35
• 38 Mission Impossible (Single Version) 02:53
• 39 The Gentle Rain 02:41
• 40 By The Time I Get To Phoenix (Single Version) 02:57
• 41 Groove Drops 04:16
• 42 Theme From "The Night Visitor" 02:59
• 43 One Bad Apple (Single Version) 02:24
• 44 Ain't Too Proud To Beg (Single Version) 03:10
• 45 Jimmy Smith Is A Midnight Cowboy (Single Version) 03:33
• 46 Recession Or Depression (Single Edit) 02:09
• 47 Sagg Shootin' His Arrow (Single Version) 02:58
• 48 For Everyone Under The Sun (Single Version) 03:02
• 49 Lolita (Single Version) 04:22
• 50 Straight Ahead (Single Version) 03:26
• 51 And I Love You So (Single Version) 04:09
• 52 Ritual (Funky 5/4) 03:57
• Total Runtime 02:36:46

Info for The Complete Verve Singles (Remastered)

Jazz is not normally associated with hit singles, or even singles. The album, the long playing record and latterly the CD have been the preferred medium for jazz musicians to stretch out and produce some of their finest work.

Releasing singles back when impresario and entrepreneur Norman Granz started Clef Records in the late 1940s and later Norgran and Verve was all about gaining exposure through radio plays and on the juke boxes that were keen to swallow up dimes in bars – or anywhere and everywhere that people gathered. By 1956 there were 750,000 juke boxes in America; 1956 was the year that Verve Records was founded.

Jimmy Smith introduced more people to jazz than just about any of his contemporaries. He had hit singles on the Billboard charts and his hip Hammond B3 organ was ubiquitous during the 1970s. His was accessible jazz, the kind that was easy to get ‘into’, yet it was complex and challenging too, offering endless hours of enjoyment. His back catalogue is full of wonderful albums and if you are looking for a place to start check out The Cat from 1964 which has also recently been reissued on vinyl.

“I am the innovator. that’s it. period! I’m the guy that made it.” – Jimmy Smith Jimmy Smith’s father had a song-and-dance act in the local clubs, so it was perhaps no surprise that as a young boy he took to the stage at six years old. Less usual though was that by the age twelve, he had taught himself, with occasional guidance from Bud Powell who lived nearby, to be an accomplished “Harlem Stride” pianist. He won local talent contests with his boogie-woogie piano playing and his future seemed set, but his father became increasingly unable to play and turned to manual labour for income. Smith left school to help support the family and joined the Navy when he was fifteen years old.

With financial assistance from the G.I. Bill of Rights, set up in 1944 to support Second World War veterans rehabilitate, Smith was able to return to school in 1948, this time studying bass at the Hamilton School of Music in Philadelphia, and a year later, piano, theory and harmony at the Leo Ornstein School of Music. At this point he was juggling school with working with his father and playing piano with several different R&B groups. It was in 1953 while playing piano with Don Gardener’s Sonotones that Smith heard Wild Bill Davis playing a Hammond organ and was inspired to switch to the electric organ.

His timing could not have been more perfect. As a kickback against the cool school, jazz was returning to its roots, leaning heavily on the blues and gospel that infused Smith’s upbringing. At the time, Laurens Hammond was improving his Hammond organ model A first introduced in 1935 by refining the specifications and downsizing it from two keyboards and an excess of foot pedals and drawbars, to the sleeker, more sophisticated B3 design. Smith got his first B3 in 1953 and soon devised ways to navigate the complex machine: ‘When I finally got enough money for a down payment on my own organ I put it in a warehouse and took a big sheet of paper and drew a floor plan of the pedals. Anytime I wanted to gauge the spaces and where to drop my foot down on which pedal, I’d look at the chart. Sometimes I would stay there four hours or maybe all day long if I’d luck up on something and get some new ideas using different stops.’

Developing his playing style independent from any outside influence, by cutting himself off from the outside world for three months, was perhaps the key to his singular success. His technique, steeped in the gospel tradition, with rapid runs across the keyboard using the palm of his hand and quirky use of the pedals to punch out entire bass lines, was like nothing ever heard before; there is not a single organist since that does not acknowledge a debt to the incredible Jimmy Smith.

Smith began playing Philadelphia clubs in that same year, taking in a young John Coltrane for a short two-week stint at Spider Kelly’s. Coltrane remembers: ‘It was Jimmy Smith for about a couple of weeks before I went with Miles – the organist. Wow! I’d wake up in the middle of the night, man, hearing that organ. Yeah, those chords screaming at me.’ Shortly afterwards, Smith left Philly behind, heading for his debut on the New York scene. From his first gig in Harlem, it was patently obvious that this was something quite new, and it was not long before his novelty was attracting considerable attention, not least from the Blue Note label owner Alfred Lion, who had no hesitation in offering him a record deal. Smith recorded his own organ trio for Blue Note that very same year, scoring an instant success with the presciently titled A New Sound… A New Star…. This launched Smith’s hugely successful career, and gave Blue Note a much-needed income from a steady stream of albums over the next seven years.

Smith’s Blue Note sessions partnered him with Kenny Burrell, Art Blakey, Lee Morgan, Lou Donaldson, Stanley Turrentine, Jackie McLean and many others, on albums such as, Jimmy Smith at the Organ, Volume 1 in 1956, followed by Volume 2 the same year. Other highlights of his time with the label included Groovin’ at Small’s Paradise (1957), Back At The Chicken Shack (1960) and Prayer Meetin’ (1963).

Jimmy Smith moved to Verve in 1962 where he immediately released a critical and commercial success in the form of Bashin’: The Unpredictable Jimmy Smith, which included the hit track “Walk On The Wild Side”. A song written by Elmer Bernstein, it was the title track to a movie. The album benefited greatly from the arranging skills of Oliver Nelson and “Walk On The Wild Side” made No. 21 on the Billboard pop chart and was the biggest hit of his career.

Bashin’… made No. 10 in the album charts, and for the next four years his albums rarely failed to chart. Among his biggest successes were Hobo Flats (1964), Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf (1964), The Cat (1964), Organ Grinder Swing (1965) and Jimmy & Wes – The Dynamic Duo (1967).

Following the last of a series of European tours in 1966, 1972 and 1975, rather than continuing to travel to play, Smith chose to settle down with his wife in the mid-1970s and run a supper club in California’s San Fernando Valley. Despite his regular performances, the club failed after only a few years, forcing a return to recording and frequent festival appearances, albeit not to the kind of acclaim that he had received previously. In fact, it wasn’t until the late 1980s that Smith produced several well-reviewed albums. He also received recognition for a series of live performances with fellow organ virtuoso Joey DeFrancesco, and his reinvigorated profile even led producer Quincy Jones to invite him to play on the sessions for Michael Jackson’s album Bad in 1987; Smith plays the funky B3 solo on the title track. At the other end of the pop spectrum, he played on Frank Sinatra’s L.A. Is My Lady album in 1984 produced by Quincy Jones.

As his reputation grew again, Smith toured afar, playing with small groups in Japan, Europe and the United States, helped by hip-hop DJs spreading his name by sampling Smith’s funky organ grooves, exposing him to a new generation of fans through the Beastie Boys, Nas, Gang Starr, Kool G Rap and DJ Shadow. Returning to Verve in 1995, Smith recorded the albums Damn! (1995) and Dot Com Blues in 2000, featuring legendary R&B stars, including Etta James, B. B. King, Keb’ Mo’, and Dr. John.

After moving to Scottsdale, Arizona, Smith died in 2005, less than a year after his wife. His final recording, Legacy with Joey DeFrancesco, was released posthumously. DeFrancesco dedicated the album, ‘To the master, Jimmy Smith—One of the greatest and most innovative musicians of all time.’ It’s time for a reappraisal of The Incredible Jimmy Smith who did as much to popularize jazz as almost any of his contemporaries. He broke down the barriers between the genres to get people listening.

Jimmy Smith
It is one of the classic injustices of the music business that credit is not always given where credit is due. The past few years have seen a huge resurgence in the popularity of the Hammond B3 organ. Artists like Medeski, Martin and Wood are now bringing the B3 back into the public eye especially to a younger audience. A mass of wood, pedals, stops and keys, the B3 is not an easy instrument to play but its sweet distinct sound is unmistakable. Not surprisingly, many listeners are unaware of the man who is truly the master of the B3: Jimmy Smith. Smith has not received the attention that his legacy and talents so richly deserve. Until now.

Dot Com Blues (Blue Thumb) is the new album by the supreme organist in music today. Featuring an all-star cast of supporting musicians including B.B. King, Etta James, Taj Mahal, Dr. John, and Keb Mo, Dot Com Blues proves that though Smith is often thought off as only a jazz organist, he can play the blues with the best of them, which he does literally on this album!

'When we speak about the Hammond B3,' states Ron Goldstein, President of The Verve Music Group who worked closely with Smith on Dot Com Blues, 'there is nobody better than Jimmy. Though the organ faded into obscurity for a while, now it's on everybody's records! I thought, 'why should the man who is the master remain in obscurity?' I figured the best way to swing the spotlight back around to Jimmy was to have him cut something outside of the jazz marketplace. Why not the blues?'

Goldstein brought in friend and producer John Porter, who has worked behind the boards with an eclectic range of musical acts, from The Smiths to The Go-Go's to John Lee Hooker & Eric Clapton. He's produced five GRAMMY -winning albums, and has also graced several breakthrough crossover blues albums; most notably Taj Mahal's acclaimed Phantom Blues and B.B. King's award-winning, all-star project, Deuces Wild. The result is an extra special, well-rounded, bluesy 11-song Jimmy Smith album that definitely stands up to his finest works.

Each and every track on Dot Com Blues sparkles with the spontaneity and chemistry that filled the studio. Gathering all this talent in the same recording studio was a rare feat. (Don Was and Bette Midler, who were cutting a record next door, stopped by just to watch.) A man of few words, Smith succinctly, but jokingly, described Etta as 'fun,' Taj as 'crazy,' and Dr. John as 'a mess.' With Smith on organ, Harvey Mason on drums, Verve labelmate Russell Malone on guitar, and Reggie McBride on bass, the core band sounds as if they've been playing together for years.

The album kicks off with 'Only In It for the Money,' featuring the inimitable Dr. John on vocals and piano. Smith opens the up-tempo shuffle with his trademark blazing organ licks. Next up is the organist's own tune, the funky instrumental '8 Counts for Rita,' which has standout solos from Smith and Malone, along with the added flavor of Lenny Castro's percussion.

Taj Mahal delivers a scintillating performance on his composition 'Strut.' Comping tastefully behind Taj and Smith for most of the tune, Malone steps to the forefront for a searing solo that is one of the album's high points. Smith grabs the spotlight on the next track, the blues perennial 'C.C. Rider.'

In a true meeting of legends, Etta James offers up a smoldering vocal on Willie Dixon's 'I Just Wanna Make Love To You,' confirming that her vocal chords are clearly as strong as ever. Smith's spry playing on this track is ably assisted by the Texicali Horns and Was (Not Was) vocalists Sir Harry Bowens and Sweet Pea Atkinson.

The tone of the album shifts wonderfully for the next track to Duke Ellington's 'Mood Indigo'. While listening to playbacks during the session, Smith dozed off momentarily and when he awoke, he immediately corralled the other musicians (including the fabulous John Clayton on upright bass) back into the studio to cut a strong, spontaneous version of this standard.

Contemporary blues star Keb Mo, a longtime Smith fan, was thrilled to contribute his vocals and guitar licks to Smith's lowdown rendition of Keb's newly-penned 'Over and Over.' B.B. King was also happy to team up with Smith, and their collaboration, 'Three O'Clock Blues,' finds the old friends reuniting and proving why they are living legends.

The disc's title track, 'Dot Com Blues,' is inspired by Jimmy's observations on the troubles our high-tech world has created. It not only features classic Smith organ work, but another stand-out solo by Malone as well. This track is followed by the funky instrumental 'Mr. Johnson' which again pairs Smith with Dr. John. The latter's influence is clear as the tune features a classic New Orleans vibe.

Dot Com Blues concludes, fittingly, with 'Tuition Blues,' a slow blues and showcase for Smith's peerless organ prowess; he's still capable of stunning listeners.

Switching into a blues gear in the new millenium, Smith makes the jump to the Verve Music Group's eclectic Blue Thumb label for this new record. By showcasing his enormous talents and including a few old friends, Jimmy Smith's Dot Com Blues should finally bring this master musician the recognition he deserves.

This album contains no booklet.