🎵 AotW AOTW: Les McCann - TALL, DARK & HANDSOME (SP-4780)

[Captain Bacardi]

Les McCann
TALL, DARK & HANDSOME
A&M SP-4780

Released 1979
Peaked at #33 on the Jazz Album chart (1979)

Format: Vinyl/8-Track/Cassette

Produced by Benny Golson for Bobby Martin Productions
Executive Producer: Bobby Martin
*Produced by Jeffrey Osborne and Johnny McGhee

Songs:

• 1. Dance Again (Jeffrey Osborne/Johnny McGhee) - 5:36*
  2. If There's Anything Better Than Love (Les McCann/Leon Ware) - 4:19
  3. They're Playing Our Song (Sam Dees) - 3:25
  4. Simply Heavenly (Sam Dees) - 3:30
  5. So Your Love Finally Ran Out For Me (Sam Dees) - 4:25
  6. I Believe The Sun Is Gonna Shine (Les McCann/Lee Hargrove) - 4:50
  7. All My Love (Sam Dees) - 4:45
  8. Trail Of Love (Sam Dees/Helen Lowe/Les McCann) - 4:54
  9. Party People (Billy Osborne) - 4:01

Musicians:
Les McCann - Keyboards, Vocals
Benny Golson - Keyboards
Ron Kersey - Keyboards
Billy Osborne - Keyboards, Percussion
Wally Ali - Guitar
Steve Erquiaga - Guitar
Johnny McGhee - Guitar
Keni Burje - Electric Bass
Freddy Washington - Electric Bass
James Gadson - Drums
Alvin Taylor - Drums
Melvin Webb - Drums
Alvino Bennett - Syndrums
Jeffrey Osborne - Percussion
Michael Boddicker - Synthesizer
Paul Shure - Strings Concertmaster
Horns: Randall Aldcroft, George Bohanon, Oscar Brashear,
Garnett Brown, Robert Bryant, Jr., Jerome Richardson, Nolan Smith, Jr.
Background Singers: Sam Dees, Alfreda James, Lorraine Johnson, Linda Lawrence, Helen Lowe, Stephanie Spruill, Jean Terrell, Julia Tillman Waters, Maxine Willard Waters, Angela Lisa Winbush

Recorded at Hollywood Sound Recorders and Total Experience Recording Studios, Hollywood.
Recorded by Tom Perry, Bob Hughes, George Sloan and Craig Widby.
Mixed by Tom Perry.
Mastered at The Mastering Lab by Mike Reese and Tom Perry.

Art Direction: Roland Young
Design: Amy Nagasawa
Photography: Claude Mougin



Capt. Bacardi

 

[Dave]

Looks like a fairly worthy effort, and especially a bit of humor for the cover concept... As for the actual finished product, it's nothing more than assembly-line concocted, coked-out producer-led, nondescript, aural wallpapered, mindless Disco...

McCann can explore a lot of more deeper and truer Jazz boundaries, like on an album such as Invitation To Openess, but with the wah-wah guitars, "lead bass", excessive keyboards, the use of syndrums, the drum-and-percussion-overload, the over-use of strings, the "choir" of background vocals, and the horns not exactly recalling be-bop, this hardly echoes like anything Les recorded earlier which was more closer to his native genre...

You're definitely getting "LESS Les right here...!!!"



Dave

 

[Captain Bacardi]

This is my nomination for the absolute worst album ever released on A&M.

This is an abomination of an album. Looking at the credits and seeing Benny Golson's name as a producer, one would have hope. But those hopes are quickly dashed. While Les McCann has a storied history of soulful funk-jazz in his repertoire, he really hit rock-bottom with this disco-ish effort. His keyboard work is virtually invisible. I can't find one single thing that's positive on this release. A total bore. Avoid at all costs. 1/2 star.



Capt. Bacardi