The Golden Age Of American Popular Music: The Jazz Hits Various Artists (Golden Age of American Popular Music)

£11.70

Genre:
Modern Jazz
Label:
Ace Records
Format:
CD
Catalogue Id:
CDCHD 1188

The Golden Age Of American Popular Music is fast-becoming as successful series as our Golden Age of American Rock’n’Roll. This spin-off from the main series is a collection of Jazz Hits from the core years of 1958-1966. We’ve slightly widened the brief to include some hits from Billboard’s “Bubbling Under” chart that was published as an adjunct to the Hot 100 in these years.

Although some of the titles will be known by pop fans, as ever these are leavened by the much less familiar and sometimes quite rare. We’ve also insisted on the single versions of the tracks, which haven’t been available elsewhere, such as ‘Watermelon Man’ and ‘The Sidewinder’.

Perhaps the most striking characteristic of the Golden Age of American Popular Music was the sheer diversity of the charts. At any given time, Billboard’s Hot 100 might contain a range of musical styles that is impossible to envisage in today’s market. Billboard’s editorial would frequently identify trends based on the perceived popularity of certain idioms which fell outside normal pop categorisation. In 1961, when three jazz singles – Brubeck’s ‘Take Five’, ‘Exodus’ by Eddie Harris and ‘African Waltz’ by Cannonball Adderley – broke into the pop charts more or less simultaneously, Billboard ran a story headlined: Indie Labels Alerted As Jazz Crashes “Hot 100”.

By 1962, as soul-based jazz grew in popularity, organ players such as Jimmy Smith, Jimmy McGriff and Hank Marr began showing up on the pop charts. Pianists such as Vince Guaraldi, Les McCann and later, Ramsey Lewis, also scored, the latter most spectacularly with ‘The “In” Crowd’, a live recording which marked commercial the peak of jazz in the swinging 60s.

1962 also saw Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd kick off America’s love affair with Brazil’s bossa nova with their left-field hit, ‘Desafinado’. Getz would follow through with the equally impressive ‘The Girl From Ipanema’ featuring Astrud Gilberto in 1964. Ray Barretto (‘El Watusi’) and Mongo Santamaria (‘Watermelon Man’) demonstrated the irresistible danceability of latin-jazz in the pop market.

The best part is that nobody sold out. Virtually every record on this set became a hit through circumstance rather than design. For these artists it was business as usual but with the greater rewards and exposure that a hit can bring.

Looking as good as it sounds, “The Jazz Hits” comes in an illustrious package designed to stimulate the listener almost as much as the audio itself.

By Rob Finnis

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Track listing

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Side 1

  • 01 Preview Watermelon Man (Single version) - Herbie Hancock

  • 02 Preview Yeh- Yeh! (Single version) - Mongo Santamaria Orchestra

  • 03 Preview Comin' Home Baby - Mel Torme

  • 04 Preview Desafinado - Stan Getz & Charlie Byrd

  • 05 Preview Soul Sauce (Guachi Guaro) - Cal Tjader

  • 06 Preview Like Young - Andre Previn with David Rose

  • 07 Preview Walk On The Wild Side Parts 1 & 2 - Jimmy Smith & the Big Band

  • 08 Preview Take Five - The Dave Brubeck Quartet

  • 09 Preview The Sidewinder Part 1 - Lee Morgan

  • 10 Preview The Swingin' Shepherd Blues - The Moe Koffman Quartette

  • 11 Preview The "In" Crowd - The Ramsey Lewis Trio

  • 12 Preview Cast Your Fate To The Wind - The Vince Guaraldi Trio

  • 13 Preview African Waltz - Johnny Dankworth

  • 14 Preview The Girl From Ipanema - Stan Getz with Astrud Gilberto

  • 15 Preview Misty - Richard "Groove" Holmes

  • 16 Preview Shake A Lady - Ray Bryant

  • 17 Preview Exodus - Eddie Harris

  • 18 Preview Wack Wack - The Young Holt Trio

  • 19 Preview The Shampoo - Les McCann

  • 20 Preview The Greasy Spoon - Hank Marr

  • 21 Preview The Loop - Johnny Lytle

  • 22 Preview I've Got A Woman Part 1 - Jimmy McGriff

  • 23 Preview Mercy, Mercy, Mercy (Single version) - Cannonball Adderley

  • 24 Preview A Taste Of Honey - The Victor Feldman Quartet

  • 25 Preview Dawn - The David Rockingham Trio

  • 26 Preview El Watusi - Ray Barretto Y Su Charanga Moderna

  • 27 Preview Topsy II - Cozy Cole

  • 28 Preview Route 66 Theme - Nelson Riddle

Delivery & Returns

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We offer free P&P to UK addresses. For all other territories packaging is free and postage is charged on a weight basis.

We use Royal Mail First Class for UK deliveries and standard Air Mail for all other territories, very large orders will usually be sent via parcelforce. You may cancel your order at any time prior to your order being dispatched by emailing us at orders@acerecords.com ensuring that you quote your name, address and order reference number or by telephoning +44 (0) 208 453 1311 between 9am and 5pm GMT/BST, Monday to Friday. Please note: As music downloads are dispatched immediately after purchase, there is no possibility of cancelling these orders.

In the event that any products supplied to you by us are damaged or defective, we agree to replace or repair the damaged or defective products or refund the amount you paid for such goods (including postage & packaging) providing you notify us (either via post at or e-mail: orders@acerecords.com ) and return the goods within 28 days of purchase. Physical goods should be sent back to us in the same condition you received them to: “Returns” Ace Records, Such Close, Letchworth Garden City SG6 1JF, United Kingdom. Music downloads should be returned to us via the e-mail address above including a copy of your notification.

You have the right to cancel your order within seven days of purchase, or seven days of receipt of the goods (whichever is the longer). If you choose to cancel your order, full payment will be returned to you. Returned items should be sent to: “Returns” c/o Ace Records, Such Close, Letchworth Garden City SG6 1JF, United Kingdom. Music downloads should be returned to us via the email address: orders@acerecords.com including a copy of your notice of cancellation and order number.

Press quotes

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Flawless...100 percent killer-diller. ★★★★★

Mojo

All classics. ★★★★

Record Collector

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