The Natural Soul

The Natural Soul
Studio album by Lou Donaldson
Released	March 1963 [1]
Recorded	May 9, 1962
Studio	Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ
Genre	Jazz
Length	49:07CD reissue
Label	Blue Note BST 84108
Producer	Alfred Lion
Lou Donaldson chronology
A Man with a Horn (1961) The Natural Soul (1963) Good Gracious! (1963)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Down Beat (Original Lp release)	[2]
Allmusic	[3]
All About Jazz	(favorable) [4]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings	[5]

The Natural Soul is an album by jazz saxophonist Lou Donaldson recorded for the Blue Note label in 1962 and performed by Donaldson with Grant Green, Tommy Turrentine, Big John Patton, and Ben Dixon. ^[6]

This album marked the debut on records of organist Big John Patton, who went on to record several more albums for Blue Note both under his own name and in conjunction with other artists such as Lou Donaldson.

The album debuted on Billboard magazine's Top Monoraul LP's chart in the issue dated June 15, 1963, peaking at No. 141 during a two-week run on the chart. ^[7]

Reception

The album was awarded 4 stars in an Allmusic review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine who states "The Natural Soul finds Lou Donaldson delving deeply into soul-jazz, recording a set of funky, greasy instrumentals with only a few references to hard bop... The original compositions — which form the bulk of the album — aren't much more than blues and soul vamps, but they provide an excellent foundation for the combo to work hot grooves. And, in the end, that's what The Natural Soul is about — groove. It maintains the high standards Donaldson established with his first soul-jazz foray, Here 'Tis , and remains one of his best records in that genre". ^[8]

Track listing

All compositions by Lou Donaldson except where noted

1. "Funky Mama" (Big John Patton) - 9:08
2. "Love Walked In" (Gershwin, Gershwin) - 5:12
3. "Spaceman Twist" - 5:38
4. "Sow Belly Blues" - 10:13
5. "That's All" (Alan Brandt, Bob Haymes) - 5:36
6. "Nice 'n' Greasy" (John Adriano Acea) - 5:27
7. "People Will Say We're in Love" (Hammerstein II, Rodgers) - 7:53 Bonus track on CD

Personnel

• Lou Donaldson - alto saxophone
• Tommy Turrentine - trumpet
• Grant Green - guitar
• Big John Patton - organ
• Ben Dixon - drums

Charts

Chart (1963)	Peak position
US Billboard Top LPs (Monoraul) [7]	141

References

1. Billboard Mar 30, 1963
2. Down Beat:May 23, 1963 Vol. 30, No. 12
3. Allmusic Review
4. All About Jazz review
5. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 389. ISBN   978-0-141-03401-0.
6. Lou Donaldson discography accessed December 8, 2009.
7. Whitburn, Joel (1973). Top LPs, 1945–1972. Record Research. p. 45. Retrieved November 30, 2025.
8. Erlewine, S. T. Allmusic Review accessed December 8, 2009.