Quincy Jones

David S

Well-Known Member
Have been spinning up the albums The Dude and Back on the Block - I was a big fan of the former but like both. Didn’t realize that Caiphus Semenya was a writer on some of the latter’s tunes. This got me wondering, as The Dude was distributed by A&M, did Mr Jones and Herb Alpert ever record together?

Also got to thinking that Ai No Corrida might be a very interesting cover by Mr Alpert.
 
Other than Quincy arranging "Last Tango in Paris," I can't think of anything else where Quincy and Herb were directly involved in recording or production. Quincy has worked with so many artists throughout his career that even if he didn't work with them directly, he touched them in some way or another.

It would have made for an interesting choice to have Quincy produce Herb for one of his 80s solo albums.
 
Other than Quincy arranging "Last Tango in Paris," I can't think of anything else where Quincy and Herb were directly involved in recording or production. Quincy has worked with so many artists throughout his career that even if he didn't work with them directly, he touched them in some way or another.

It would have made for an interesting choice to have Quincy produce Herb for one of his 80s solo albums.
Would quite agree.
 
I've not been much of a Quincy Jones fan over the years, but I do have two CDs. The first is YOU'VE GOT IT BAD, GIRL that I bought for the track "Chump Change" which has memories for me from its use on a radio station.

I also have the purple CLASSICS VOL. 3, mostly as part of an attempt to have more of that series in my collection. (I'm now up to 14 of the 27 - still missing Vannelli, Baez, Atlantic Starr, Brothers Johnson, Frampton, Lofgren, Humble Pie, Nazareth, Procol Harum, Armatrading, and the last three, Squeeze, Pablo, and LTD.)
 
Last edited:
I've not been much of a Quincy Jones fan over the years, but I do have two CDs. The first is YOU'VE GOT IT BAD, GIRL that I bought for the track "Chump Change" which has memories for me from its use on a radio station.

I also have the purple CLASSICS VOL. 3, mostly as part of an attempt to have more of that series in my collection. (I'm now up to 14 of the 27 - still missing Vannelli, Baez, Atlantic Starr, Brothers Johnson, Frampton, Lofgren, Humble Pie, Nazareth, Procol Harum, Armatrading, and the last three, Squeeze, Pablo, and LTD.)
Hmm, didn’t know there was a Classics for him. Will have to fish for that. Thanks for the idea.
 
Mi04ODM3LmpwZWc.jpeg

OTItMzc3NC5qcGVn.jpeg

 
Quincy Jones, now there's a guy whose recordings are all over the place. From smooth R&B to deep funk to solid jazz. The You've Got It Bad Girl album is probably his most uneven, but has a lot of really cool songs on it. I was first intrigued by it due to its odd package -- the opening for the LP jacket was on the top instead of on the side. (This proves how big of a packaging nerd I am, if there was any doubt.)

The Smackwater Jack album was the first one of his that I heard, but it never became a favorite. It was a curiousity for me because of the Bill Cosby theme song on it ("Hikky-Burr") which has the oddest "vocals" on it that you'll probably ever hear -- by Cosby himself. The rest of the album was kinda forgettable, or at least I've forgotten most of it.

His other A&M records after Smackwater Jack were sort of in the pop/jazz mode, but didn't really do anything for me. I liked the contributions of the Brothers Johnson, who went on to make a number of great singles and albums on their own.

His best album, or at least his most pop-oriented, was The Dude, which introduced the world to James Ingram, spun off several hit singles, and basically didn't have a bad track on it. It came out around the same time as his work with Michael Jackson put him into the big spotlight -- in fact, it was pretty much a Michael Jackson album without Michael Jackson on it, considering it used a lot of the same musicians and songwriters who contributed to Thriller. I don't think Quincy got enough credit for his work with MJ -- just listen to how much different his later records sound compared to his work with Jones. I've always wondered how differently his sound would have evolved if he'd kept working with Quincy.

But hip-hop music was becoming a dominant force by the time Jones got around to making another solo album, and his next record, which was Back on the Block, instead of continuing in the pop vein he'd mined on The Dude, went more into the heavy R&B/rap track, which wasn't quite as accessible. Thus, his "solo" recording career stalled after that album.
 
Quincy Jones, now there's a guy whose recordings are all over the place. From smooth R&B to deep funk to solid jazz. The You've Got It Bad Girl album is probably his most uneven, but has a lot of really cool songs on it. I was first intrigued by it due to its odd package -- the opening for the LP jacket was on the top instead of on the side. (This proves how big of a packaging nerd I am, if there was any doubt.)

The Smackwater Jack album was the first one of his that I heard, but it never became a favorite. It was a curiousity for me because of the Bill Cosby theme song on it ("Hikky-Burr") which has the oddest "vocals" on it that you'll probably ever hear -- by Cosby himself. The rest of the album was kinda forgettable, or at least I've forgotten most of it.

His other A&M records after Smackwater Jack were sort of in the pop/jazz mode, but didn't really do anything for me. I liked the contributions of the Brothers Johnson, who went on to make a number of great singles and albums on their own.

His best album, or at least his most pop-oriented, was The Dude, which introduced the world to James Ingram, spun off several hit singles, and basically didn't have a bad track on it. It came out around the same time as his work with Michael Jackson put him into the big spotlight -- in fact, it was pretty much a Michael Jackson album without Michael Jackson on it, considering it used a lot of the same musicians and songwriters who contributed to Thriller. I don't think Quincy got enough credit for his work with MJ -- just listen to how much different his later records sound compared to his work with Jones. I've always wondered how differently his sound would have evolved if he'd kept working with Quincy.

But hip-hop music was becoming a dominant force by the time Jones got around to making another solo album, and his next record, which was Back on the Block, instead of continuing in the pop vein he'd mined on The Dude, went more into the heavy R&B/rap track, which wasn't quite as accessible. Thus, his "solo" recording career stalled after that album.
Quincy Jones produced both “Thriller” and Lesley Gore’s “It’s My Party (And I’ll Cry If I Want To)”.

Talk about range.
 
His best album, or at least his most pop-oriented, was The Dude, which introduced the world to James Ingram, spun off several hit singles, and basically didn't have a bad track on it. It came out around the same time as his work with Michael Jackson put him into the big spotlight .........
There was a notable group of pop records produced around and after the time The Dude was released, with a similar production style--that record was an excellent sampler of his production style during that era. He worked with George Benson (Give Me The Night), Donna Summer (self-titled), Patti Austin, James Ingram, and even a couple of the Brothers Johnson albums had some production values that predated The Dude, like the track "Strawberry Letter #23"--there's no mistaking that for anything but Quincy's production. He produced a lot of earlier records stretching back into his jazz days, but back then, his arranging skills were what stood out more, especially with the big bands. (The dude's done everything. 😁)

I don't think Quincy got enough credit for his work with MJ -- just listen to how much different his later records sound compared to his work with Jones. I've always wondered how differently his sound would have evolved if he'd kept working with Quincy.
He does get a lot of recognition for those records, and for sure, I think MJ's records would have been better with Quincy or at least another well-known producer at the helm--Quincy provided a "glue" that held those albums together. I remember hearing Dangerous and nothing grabbed me--it just reminded me of noisy pop funk that didn't stand out from what was on the radio at the time, vs. being something with a distinctive sound.

Steve Lukather, I believe, pointed out Quincy for being someone who was a master at knowing how to pull together the exact talent he wanted to produce the sound he was looking for. That would explain why, unlike many "band" albums of the era, the personnel on each track can be different. I also feel that a composer like Rod Temperton brought something unique to the sound also--he has a composing style that is recognizable, and Quincy used him often. They might not always be the hits, but even if they were filler, they were darn good filler.

Interesting thought. What if Nile Rodgers had produced MJ's next album after Thriller? He certainly was versatile enough (David Bowie, B-52s, Madonna, Al Jarreau, Mick Jagger, Jeff Beck, Thompson Twins, The Vaughan Brothers {Stevie Ray and Jimmie}, and many others), and he had a recognizable style also.
 
I wonder if Quincy's style of having his preferred musicians on every song might have influenced Sergio Mendes. When his second A&M run began, that's the way his records were made, too -- he wouldn't even appear on some of the tracks!
 
I wonder if Quincy's style of having his preferred musicians on every song might have influenced Sergio Mendes.
I would say indirectly, for sure. And in a sense, if you look at some of Quincy's recordings from the late 70s onward, he doesn't appear on many of them either. I feel with both, on their own albums, it had more with stepping into a role as a producer and releasing their productions under their own names, vs. having them released under the lead vocalists' names, for instance.
 
Quincy Jones, now there's a guy whose recordings are all over the place. From smooth R&B to deep funk to solid jazz. The You've Got It Bad Girl album is probably his most uneven, but has a lot of really cool songs on it. I was first intrigued by it due to its odd package -- the opening for the LP jacket was on the top instead of on the side. (This proves how big of a packaging nerd I am, if there was any doubt.)

The Smackwater Jack album was the first one of his that I heard, but it never became a favorite. It was a curiousity for me because of the Bill Cosby theme song on it ("Hikky-Burr") which has the oddest "vocals" on it that you'll probably ever hear -- by Cosby himself. The rest of the album was kinda forgettable, or at least I've forgotten most of it.

His other A&M records after Smackwater Jack were sort of in the pop/jazz mode, but didn't really do anything for me. I liked the contributions of the Brothers Johnson, who went on to make a number of great singles and albums on their own.

His best album, or at least his most pop-oriented, was The Dude, which introduced the world to James Ingram, spun off several hit singles, and basically didn't have a bad track on it. It came out around the same time as his work with Michael Jackson put him into the big spotlight -- in fact, it was pretty much a Michael Jackson album without Michael Jackson on it, considering it used a lot of the same musicians and songwriters who contributed to Thriller. I don't think Quincy got enough credit for his work with MJ -- just listen to how much different his later records sound compared to his work with Jones. I've always wondered how differently his sound would have evolved if he'd kept working with Quincy.

But hip-hop music was becoming a dominant force by the time Jones got around to making another solo album, and his next record, which was Back on the Block, instead of continuing in the pop vein he'd mined on The Dude, went more into the heavy R&B/rap track, which wasn't quite as accessible. Thus, his "solo" recording career stalled after that album.
Have really been enjoying spinning up The Dude the past few days. Good stuff.
 
I will say The Dude is my Favorite Quincy jones Album the title song alone to me along with the hits and everything else are standouts after my Daughter heard the song The Dude she called it "Early Rap". From the late 70s early 80s. I got a chuckle out of that and she's turning 24 very soon
 
Other than Quincy arranging "Last Tango in Paris," I can't think of anything else where Quincy and Herb were directly involved in recording or production. Quincy has worked with so many artists throughout his career that even if he didn't work with them directly, he touched them in some way or another.

It would have made for an interesting choice to have Quincy produce Herb for one of his 80s solo albums.
A few days ago, whilst exploring the web for some music-related information (regarding Bruce Springsteen and a connection to Manfred Mann ...) I ended up downloading a PDF of an archived edition of 'Record World' magazine, a publication "Dedicated to the needs of the Music/Record industry". The magazine edition is dated 10th March 1973 and, quite by accident, within the magazine I found the full page ad you see here.

I find it quite nostalgic to see an ad like this, as it is seems so evocative of another time ...... which, I suppose, it is. I post the image here merely for the interest of Herb and TJB fans.

Screenshot_20230506_091822_Xodo.jpg

If you are interested in more information about where I uncovered the remarkable online archive of 'Record World' and other music industry magazines, please see my posting elsewhere on these forums:

 
Back
Top Bottom