🎵 AotW AOTW: Quincy Jones - Mellow Madness (SP-4526)

[Captain Bacardi]

Quincy Jones
MELLOW MADNESS
A&M SP-4526

Released 1975

Format: Vinyl/Cassette/8-Track/CD/Quad

Produced by Quincy Jones

INTRODUCING THE BROTHERS JOHNSON AND PAULETTE MCWILLIAMS

Songs:

• 1. Is It Love That We're Missin' (George Johnson/Debbie Smith) - 3:43 (featuring George Johnson, lead vocal)
  2. Paranoid (Joe Greene) - 2:55 (featuring Leon Ware, lead vocal)
  3. Mellow Madness (Quincy Jones/Tom Bahler/Paulette McWilliams/Al Ciner) - 3:27 (featuring Paulette McWilliams, lead vocal)
  4. Beautiful Black Girl (Quincy Jones/Otis Smith) - 6:13 (featuring The Watts Prophets, poetry recitation)
  5. Listen (What It Is) (George Johnson/Louis Johnson) - 4:16 (featuring George Johnson & Paulette McWilliams, lead vocals)
  6. Just A Little Taste Of Me (George Johnson/Louis Johnson) - 3:27 (featuring George Johnson, lead vocal)
  7. My Cherie Amour (Stevie Wonder/Henry Cosby/Sylvia May) - 5:25 (featuring Hubert Laws, flute and Leon Ware, Minnie Riperton & Paulette McWilliams, lead vocals)
  8. Tryin' To Find Out About You (George Johnson/Louis Johnson) - 3:00 (featuring Harvey Mason, drums)
  9. Cry Baby (Quincy Jones/Wah Wah Watson/Robert Bryant) - 4:19 (featuring Wah Wah Watson, guitar, voice bag & lead vocal)
  10. Bluesette (Norman Gimbel/Jean "Toots" Thielemans) - 7:00 (featuring Toots Thielemans, whistling & guitar solo, and Frank Rosolino, trombone)

Arranged by Quincy Jones, with help from Tom Bahler and Paul Riser

Musicians:

GUITARS: Wah Wah Watson, George Johnson, Toots Thielemans (10), Dennis Budimir (7)
BASS: Louis Johnson, Chuck Rainey (10), Max Bennett (7)
KEYBOARDS: Don Grusin, Dave Grusin, Jerry Peters, Quincy Jones, Mike Melvoin (7)
TRUMPETS: Bill Lamb, Chuck Findley, Tom Bahler, Quincy Jones
TROMBONES: Frank Rosolino, George Bohannon
SAXOPHONES: Ernie Krivda, Sahib Shihab, Jerome Richardson
FLUTE: Hubert Laws (7)
BASS HARMONICA: Tommy Morgan (6)
DRUMS: Harvey Mason, Grady Tate (10)
CONGA & PERCUSSION: Ralph MacDonald
SYNTHESIZER PROGRAMMING: Ian Underwood
BACKGROUND VOCALS: Tom Bahler, Paulette McWilliams, Jim Gilstrap, Joe Greene, Jesse Kirkland, Myrna Matthews, Carolyn Willis, Leon Ware, Quincy Jones, Minnie Riperton (7)

Recorded at Record Plant, Los Angeles and Westlake Audio, Los Angeles
Mastered at Kendun Recorders, Burbank, California
Engineered by Phil Schier
Assisted by Joan DeCola

Art Direction: Roland Young
Album Design: Chuck Beeson
Photography: Norman Seeff


Capt. Bacardi

 

[seashorepiano]

I saw this album a while back in a used record store with a sticker reading "Warning: Provocative photo of Quincy Jones inside!" Probably explains why I haven't bought it...

 

[Captain Bacardi]

Well, don't be too alarmed. It's just a photo of Q as a baby with his bare butt showing.

This is also Quincy's first album after undergoing surgery for the brain aneurysm that he had. This may also be the last album that Quincy played trumpet on, because it created too much pressure in his head when playing.


Capt. Bacardi

 

[Dave]

My favorite Quincy Jones Project--I always had a good-playing vinyl copy, compared to the numerous copies of my 2nd favorite, Body Heat I had to buy (even one on CD) til I found one that was just right!

Here's Side-One, featuring:

1. Is It Love That We're Missin' -- "...It takes one to be alone, And it takes two to carry on, Tell me why you wanna stay, When you'll just take my love and walk away..." All-Time favorite of mine... Also available on 'Q's Double-LP compilation, I Heard That, and the numerous CD retrospectives, including his Box-Set... Sung by The Brothers' Johnson, George, and look for it to appear on their Classics-series and Universal 20th Century-Masters-series CD's, too...

2. Paranoid -- What you would expect to see as a second-track--a vocoder and Wah-Wah Watson's guitar and voice-bag are heard, as well as the able lead vocal of Leon Ware...

3. Mellow Madness -- The spooky and murky Moog synthesizers, programmed by Ian Underwood (and probably The Record Plant's T.O.N.T.O. unit, designed & built by Malcom Cecil & Robert Margouleff) take the lead here... A catchy title-track, done much like the one for Jones' previous effort, the classic, Body Heat...

4. Beautiful Black Girl -- Fell asleep while this one was playing, and...uh, well...

5. Listen (What It Is) -- ...Then woke up and... :twitchy:

Then on to Side-Two, for:

6. Just A Little Taste Of Me -- George Johnson takes the lead-vocal, presenting himself as the "Nelly of his time" with the lyrics' uncanny resembelence to what rapper/singer, Nelly's compositions would be like, years later... But with the instrumental quality being a lot better--PLAYED, NOT PROGRAMMED, than what would come!

7. My Cherie Amour -- ...With Hubert Laws on flute and Leon Ware, Minnie Riperton & Paulette McWilliams on lead vocals, this is still not your "everyday remake" of the most-covered Stevie Wonder classic... Get the others--ranging from Jazz Vibist, the late-Gary McFarland, to Movie Music Composer/Interpreter & Moog Synthesizer experimentalist, Hugo Montenegro... --And by Andy Williams, too!

8. Tryin' To Find Out About You -- A lesser-"Just A Little Taste Of Me", of which George Johnson's "pre-Nelly Posturings" really don't cut it, this time...

9. Cry Baby -- "...Baby's gone, Took my Cadillac car, Took my new--Wax Machine??!!--..." Very much like the version Wah-Wah Watson would later do on his Columbia album, Elementary--yes, the rest of the LP is really THAT GOOD!!

10. Bluesette -- Jazz/Big-Band/--even Cabaret-- Standard--listen to the version by Peggy Lee for full corallary--that you can easily hear the entire Background Vocal-ensemble of Tom Bahler, Jim Gilstrap, Joe Greene, Jesse Kirkland, Leon Ware, and even Quincy Jones singing on... A bit out-of-place, as it is nowhere near like the rest of the album, but a side-step to more-rootsier Jazz, as opposed to the Classic Soul and Early R&B, that this album devotes itself to, otherwise...

Experimental, to say the least, and good thing Capt. B. didn't wear his fingers out typing the legnthy 'Thank You's' and 'Dedications' on the back-cover, such as: ...to the Jesse Jackson-founded, Chicago-based, Operation P.U.S.H. (People United To Save Humanity) for community action... --Researching of and starting a program for victims of Brain Annurisms; ...and the doctors whose dedication to their profession was best-expressed in their dedication to saving Mr. Jones's life... ...and to Tom Bähler... --probably for the help he has long provided for Qunicy as a musician, co-worker and life-long friend, in return Tom named his son, 'Quincy', which Jones was even the godfather of--among other things, and of course..., ...Phil Schier for "taming The Westlake Audio Computer..." --which was just the new state-of-the-art recording console there...

Most listenable effort, along with the other 'Q'-efforts, before it, especially with the way Sounds...And Stuff Like That was too toned-down and what I skipped, in order to make it to the equally-good The Dude album, which followed... **** --Four Stars!


Dave

 

[A&Mguyfromwayback]

This album brings back great memories for me - my sister gave me Q's "Body Heat" for my 10th birthday, and I wore it out..so when this came out shortly after, I ran out and got it. i need to go back and listen to it as an adult to see if it's stood the test of time......

 

[Dave]

...my sister gave me 'Q's Body Heat for my 10th birthday, and I wore it out...

Yes, that must have been one of those copies, that I've had...

...when this came out shortly after, I ran out and got it...

The cover really shows 'Q's relief after this "project" was finally completed!

...need to go back and listen to it as an adult to see if it's stood the test of time...

I think it has!


Dave

 

[Captain Bacardi]

I first bought this record because I saw Frank Rosolino had a trombone solo on the record. That is still the highlight of this record for me. This is pretty much a light funk effort by Quincy, kind of a Sanford & Son r&b thing. I never really cared for the vocals on this album, but the rhythms were pretty cool, especially on songs as "Beautiful Black Girl" and "Tryin' To Find Out About You". Every time I hear Toots Thielemans whistling with his guitar solo on "Bluesette" I get more and more impressed. Today you can get a computer sample to do that, but back then Toots was on his own. Nothing overwhelming on this LP but a nice , laid-back effort. 3 stars from me.


Capt. Bacardi

 

[seashorepiano]

The theme song from Sanford and Son, "The Streetbeater," is a nice, easy song. Gives me an idea to check this album out.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

This album is all right, but a far cry from Q's all time best album THE DUDE. This one was a warm-up for that one.

Favorite song: "Is It Love That We're Missin'," which was a warm-up for the Brothers Johnson's hit album.

I admit that my fondness for THE DUDE and my lack of enthusiasm for this one probably stem from the fact that I'm more of a pop fan than a jazz fan.