Inner City Blues (Grover Washington Jr. album)

Last updated
Inner City Blues
Inner City Blues (Grover Washington, Jr. album).jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedJanuary 25, 1972 [1]
RecordedSeptember 1971
Studio Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ
Genre Jazz fusion, smooth jazz
Length35:07
Label Kudu Records
KU-03
Producer Creed Taylor
Grover Washington Jr. chronology
Inner City Blues
(1972)
All the King's Horses
(1972)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [2]
Record Collector Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [3]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [4]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [5]

Inner City Blues is the debut studio album by saxophonist Grover Washington Jr. [6] It was recorded at the Van Gelder Studio in September 1971 and released in 1972 via Kudu Records label. [7]

Contents

Background

The title track was a cover of the recent hit by Marvin Gaye released in June 1971. The album also includes a cover of Bill Withers' hit "Ain't No Sunshine", released shortly before recording this album. In 2008, it was reissued on CD by Verve Records.

Reception

Thom Jurek of AllMusic stated "This is an amazing debut in so many ways, and it was followed by a run of albums for the label through the end of the '70s when Washington left for Elektra. Inner City Blues remains standing today as a landmark and a turning point in jazz". [2]

Track listing

  1. "Inner City Blues" (Marvin Gaye, James Nyx Jr.) – 7:10
  2. "Georgia on My Mind" (Hoagy Carmichael, Stuart Gorrell) – 4:38
  3. "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" (Gaye) – 5:07
  4. "Ain't No Sunshine" (Bill Withers)/"Theme from Man and Boy" (AKA "Better Days") (J.J. Johnson) – 8:32
  5. "Until It's Time for You to Go" (Buffy Saint-Marie) – 4:35
  6. "I Loves You Porgy" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, DuBose Heyward) – 5:05

Personnel

String Section

Production

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References

  1. https://www.dougpayne.com/ctid7072.htm#innercity
  2. 1 2 Inner City Blues at AllMusic
  3. Waring, Charles. "Inner City Blues - Record Collector Magazine". Record Collector . Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  4. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide . USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. pp.  203. ISBN   0-394-72643-X.
  5. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1468. ISBN   978-0-141-03401-0.
  6. "Grover Washington, Jr. – Inner City Blues". Discogs . Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  7. Payne, Doug. "Kudu Records Catalogue" . Retrieved 30 October 2018.