BLP 4164

Jimmy Smith - Prayer Meetin'

Released - June 1964

Recording and Session Information

Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, February 8, 1963
Stanley Turrentine, tenor sax; Jimmy Smith, organ; Quentin Warren, guitar; Donald Bailey, drums.

tk.4 Stone Cold Dead In The Market
tk.7 Picnickin'
tk.8 Prayer Meetin'
tk.10 I Almost Lost My Mind
tk.11 When The Saints Go Marching In
tk.13 Red Top

Session Photos

Photos: Francis Wolff

Track Listing

Side One
Title	Author	Recording Date
Prayer Meetin'	Jimmy Smith	08 February 1963
I Almost Lost My Mind	Ivory Joe Hunter	08 February 1963
Stone Cold Dead In The Market	Wilmouth Houdini	08 February 1963
Side Two
When the Saints Go Marching In	Traditional	08 February 1963
Red Top	Gene Ammons	08 February 1963
Picknickin'	Jimmy Smith	08 February 1963

Liner Notes

By now the popularity of Jimmy Smith is such a definitely assured factor that there must be countless people who will need no further information than that there is a new Jimmy Smith LP available. It goes, or should go, without saying that there are not very many jazzmen who command that kind of following, and that Jimmy Smith should be one of them, especially in a time when the radical avant-garde commands an increasing proportion of critical attention, is a circumstance worthy of some note.

Because Mr. Smith, for those few of you who may still be unfamiliar with his work, is an organ player. You might as well call him Mr. Organ, because the rising popularity of that instrument is directly traceable to him, and he is by far its most popular player. By the simple expedient of playing his kind of music as well as he can, and having it wildly applauded by an ever-growing circle of fans, he has practically single-handedly elevated the organ to equal footing in the hierarchy of jazz instruments. This year, Down Beat magazine, from whence the jazz word is given, will have an "organ" category in its International Critics' Poll, and those of you who follow the correspondence columns in that journal will recall what a battle took place before that particular bit of recognition was accomplished, as several critics would have preferred to believe that the organ did not exist.

In a way, one could compare Jimmy Smith's accomplishment to that of John Sebastian in classical music. Mr. Sebastian amazes his concert audiences by making beautiful music on the harmonica — which he, handily for my purposes, calls a mouth organ. Most jazz fans abhor anything square, and before the arrival of Jimmy Smith, there was surely nothing more square than the electric organ, with its built-in memories of organ records at the skating rink.

Such is very definitely not the case with Jimmy Smith. It might prove interesting to try roller skating to his records, but that is not why they were made. More than anything else, Jimmy Smith is an "excitement merchant." I have seen people dead set against jazz organ change their minds completely after listening to one of his LPs, and it is not at all difficult to understand why. If you are open to direct, basic emotion, you will be open to the music of Jimmy Smith. One of his albums is called House Party (BLP4002), and he somehow seems to conjure up that image every time he plays. Or, to put it another way, there are some records that seem designed to be listened to when you are alone — a ballad set, for example, which can summon up all sorts of A.M. memories — and others which are unbeatable for putting a roomful of friends in a happy, relaxed frame of mind. If anyone remains glum and morose while Jimmy Smith is on the phonograph, you might just as well ask him to leave, because his presence is obviously not going to contribute anything to the proceedings.

The format Jimmy Smith uses on this, his latest LP, is one he has made quite familiar by now, and one you will find imitated in small lounges all across the country. Besides an organ, the instrumentation consists of tenor sax, drums, and guitar. As usual, there is no bass, because Smith creates his own bass lines with the foot pedals of the organ, and to have a bass duplicating those lines or playing different ones would be more of a hindrance than a help. Two of the other members of the quartet are Jimmy Smith regulars. Drummer Donald Bailey was an original member of the Jimmy Smith Trio, which was formed in Philadelphia in 1955. The guitarist, Quentin Warren, has been with Smith since 1959. The remaining member of the group, saxophonist Stanley Turrentine, is certainly no stranger to organ combos, having made albums with Jimmy on Blue Note (Midnight Special 4078; Back At The Chicken Shack 4117) and with Shirley Scott. To my mind, Turrentine is one of the most consistently underrated saxophonists currently at work. Further, he is a distinct change from the kind of saxophonist one tends to associate with organ groups. The image" is of a stomping, honking shouter, holding one note interminably, perhaps even lying on his back or jumping up in the air. Nothing could be further removed from the Turrentine style. A quiet, gentle, insinuating player, he makes his points through musicianship rather than flash. His work does not reach out and startle you like that of some other players; he seems to ask that you come to him. His work is valuable everywhere on this album, but if I may list a personal favorite, I would suggest that you pay special attention to his moving solo on "I Almost Lost My Mind.

Like all the other tunes on this LP, "I Almost Lost My Mind" is in the Jimmy Smith tradition. It is associated, you will recall, with the great blues shouter, Ivory Joe Hunter. Likewise "Red Top," which is by Gene Ammons, a saxophonist who can fit in brilliantly with an organ. And then there are two more of the funky originals for which Jimmy Smith has become almost as well known as for his organ playing: they bear the self-explanatory titles "Prayer Meetin'" and "Picnickin'." The final two numbers are less expected, but are further evidence of Smith's ability to turn all kinds of material to his purposes. They are "When The Saints Go Marching In," and the old Louis Jordan-Ella Fitzgerald calypso special, "Stone Cold Dead In The Market."

They all add up to a Jimmy Smith Prayer Meetin' and when he holds a prayer meetin' everyone is in attendance.

—Joe Goldberg

RVG CD Reissue Liner Notes

A NEW LOOK AT PRAYER MEETIN '

The phrase "organ group" can conjure a variety of instrumentations, but the prototype is generally considered to be a quartet with tenor sax, guitar and drums in addition to the Hammond B-3. Ask musicians and listeners to name a specific example of such a group, and odds are that Jimmy Smith, Stanley Turrentine and perennial Smith sideman Donald Bailey will come to mind. Smith and Turrentine in tandem would also be popular choices when the subject turns to legendary Blue Note partnerships.

Given that the organist and saxophonist were such a potent combination when they recorded for the label in the early '60s, it is somewhat startling to realize the modesty of their shared discography during the period. Turrentine, who did most of his live and recorded work in those years with his wife Shirley Scott, only joined Smith at Rudy Van Gelder's on three occasions under the organist's leadership and Alfred Lion's direction. This disc contains the second and third of those meetings.

The first time Smith and Turrentine got together (April 25, 1960) was the tenor saxophonist's first triumphal appearance on Blue Note. (Turrentine had appeared three weeks earlier on a Dizzy Reece quintet session, but those recordings were not released until 1999 as part of the Reece CD Comin' On). With Kenny Burrell playing guitar at the April 1960 date and Turrentine supplying some of the compositions as well as horn solos that truly preached, the prolific Smith produced more than enough music for two classic albums, Midnight Special and Back at the Chicken Shack. Turrentine's own debut as a leader would follow in June, five days after the Smith/Turrentine reunion that produced this collection's two bonus tracks.

Only two releasable titles emerged on that occasion, despite the talent involved, yet "Lonesome Road" and "Smith Walk" are welcome additions to the organist's discography as they represent the only Smith recordings on Blue Note with a bass player present. Joe Goldberg's point regarding the redundancy a bass would create in a Smith combo was not made in reference to the June 1960 tracks, and is accurate as a general proposition, but does not really apply here given the choice of walking tempos and the presence of the always reliable Sam Jones. "Smith Walk" is an intriguing effort with its strange harmonic motion and atmospheric organ stops, and the band's audible uncertainty only adds to the eccentric mood. "Lonesome Road" sounds like everyone was more comfortable, and the relaxed pace inspires the primary players. It is a shame that this date did not yield more music.

The next studio meeting of Smith and Turrentine took place two-and-a-half years later, and yielded the original Prayer Meetin' LP. This was the fourth and final album that Smith had produced in little more than a week, as he concluded his Blue Note obligations and transferred his recording activity to Verve. Like its quartet companion from the day before, Rockin' the Boat, the program includes a couple of change-of-pace selections that sound a bit half-hearted next to the meatier material at the heart of the album. "Stone Cold Dead," with Bailey stroking an almost reluctant bossa nova beat, may be the clearest sign that Smith needed a bit of filler after taping so much music in so few days. That hoariest of jazz chestnuts, "The Saints," is notably better, and the other four titles remind us why the organist and saxophonist were such ideal partners. "I Almost Lost My Mind," Gene Ammons' "Red Top" and the two Smith originals are each distinct takes on the blues, and each produces results that are intense without turning overbearing. Credit is also due the rhythm section, which serves the primary soloists selflessly. Quentin Warren, who drew little attention to himself, clearly knew how to make Smith comfortable, and can be heard on what remain two of Smith's very best trio albums, Crazy! Baby from 1960 and Plays Fats Waller from 1962.

A tambourine can be heard on "The Saints" and the title track. It is assumed to be played by Smith's fellow organist John Patton, whose similar contribution to Rockin' the Boat the day before is confirmed by studio records that are silent as to the identity of the present added percussionist. And if Goldberg had written his original liner notes a few years later, he surely would have noted that the classical virtuoso he mentions had a harmonica-playing son, also named John Sebastian, who reached the top of the pop charts with his band The Lovin' Spoonful.

— Bob Blumenthal, 2003