Well, well, well… I’m just beginning to realise that I love the music of Grover Washington Jr.
I had Mr Magic and Feels So Good on vinyl, since my teens. And I loved both albums. But I never took that interest any further.
What kind of fool am I? What glorious sounds I’ve been missing out on. Currently playing on the car stereo, is 1976 recording A Secret Place. And, by gum, it’s reet good!
All killer, no filler would be about right. Or just what it says on the cover of this excellent two-fer: ‘Two All Time Great Classic Albums’. For once the hype is right.
To my ears A Secret Place could be a pitch perfect dictionary definition of the phrase ‘make a joyous sound’. It makes me smile, glad to be alive.
As track three, ‘Not Yet’, a Grover original, neared its end, I was typing the ‘all killer no filler’ bit, above, and hoping fervently that the final fourth track wouldn’t let the team down.
‘Love Makes It Better’, which closes out this extraordinarily good recording, turns out to be an original by drummer, Harvey Mason. And it certainly doesn’t disappoint.
What a dream team they put together for this album. It’s utterly wonderful, from start to finish. And damn hard to follow…
I think I’ll re-listen to all of the tracks on this CD, before coming back to write up anything on All The King’s Horses. Rather oddly they’ve put the four tracks of later 1976 release, Secret Place, first.
This is as good a place as any to make a list of Grover albums I’m interested in:
Inner City Blues, 1972 (Kudu)
All The Kings Horses, 1972 (Kudu)
Soul Box, 1973 (Kudu)
Mr Magic, 1975 (Kudu)
Feels So Good, 1975 (Kudu)
A Secret Place, 1976 (Kudu)
Live At The Bijou, 1977 (Kudu)
Reed Seed, 1978 (Motown)
Paradise, 1979 (Elektra)
Skylarkin’, 1980 (Motown)
Winelight, 1980 (Elektra)
I’d like to have all his Kudu releases – I’m only missing Feels So Good and Live At The Bijou – and perhaps Winelight? Reed Seed, Paradise and Skylarkin’ I’m less fussed about.