🎷 AotW: CTI Fats Theus: Black Out (CTI Records CTI 1005)

Fats Theus: Black Out

CTI Records CTI 1005
Released 1970

• A1 - Black Out 5:15
• A2 - Light Sings 3:15
• A3 - Bed Of Nails 6:30
• B1 - Stone Flower 5:45
• B2 - Moonlight In Vermont 3:30
• B3 - Check It Out 5:45

Bass – Chuck Rainey, Jimmy Lewis
Design – Hess and/or Antupit
Drums – Idris Muhammad
Engineer – Rudy Van Gelder
Guitar – Grant Green
Lacquer Cut By – VAN GELDER
Organ – Clarence Palmer (A1), Hilton Felton
Photography By – Pete Turner (4)
Producer – Creed Taylor
Saw – Eddie Moore
Tenor Saxophone – Fats Theus

Recorded July 16 and 22, 1970
Recorded At – Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey



Amazon product ASIN B01N6DKDTN

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Fats Theus - Black Out

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[Rudy]

Compared to the other 1000-series albums, I really like this one. It would have been at home on the Kudu label as there is some greazy funk jazz being laid down here, and is probably the most representative of Taylor's production style of others in the series. There are notable sidemen here also--Idris Muhammad, Grant Green, Chuck Rainey, and Clarence Palmer. Interesting twist to Jobim's "Stone Flower" here, and check out the introduction to "Bed of Nails." Fun!

There isn't much known about Arthur "Fats" Theus, other than as a sideman on a handful of recordings. This article has a few notes about Theus:

Fats Theus <i>Black Out</i> (CTI 1970)

A deviation from the polished jazz catalogue of Creed Taylor’s CTI label, saxophonist Fats Theus’ Black Out is a gritty funk jazz session with the overpowering presence of hard bop and funk jazz heavyweights Grant Green and Idris Muhammad. footnote of the soul and funk jazz era, the life story...

flophousemagazine.com

...as does this one by @4mc at his site CT Produced:

CT 508

CT 508 – Black Out Parts 1 & 2 – Fats Theus Side A: Black Out (part 1)Side B: Black Out (part 2)(from Black Out)Fats TheusIssues: CTI CT 508 [45]Master No.:&nbsp…

www.ctproduced.com

This is the last album in the 1000 series. And despite flying under the radar, Sony Legacy saw fit to keep this in print and even offer it as a high-res title, as they have done with very many of the CTI and Kudu titles, I've found.

 

[JOv2]

Touche`!

Solid LP (with a couple cool twists). Can't help but wonder about Theus. I mean, the cat's good. Really good. Looks like this is the only LP he cut... Am sure glad we have it and thanks, Rudy, for spotlighting this fine artist. I'll be soon adding this one.

 

[JOv2]

...and another fine CTI added to the library ~

 

[Rudy]

I might have to pause the series for "economic recovery."

 

[4mc]

See also this post which has a review by Doug. I was also able to find out what happened to Fats. It also has a review by Doug Payne.

On This Day: Black Out

(You can play Black Out while you read, via one of these streaming services. Youtube Music is free, but is ad-supported) My enthusiasm for CTI, and all things Creed Taylor was driven by two amazing…

www.ctproduced.com

 

[JOv2]

See also this post which has a review by Doug. I was also able to find out what happened to Fats. It also has a review by Doug Payne.

On This Day: Black Out

(You can play Black Out while you read, via one of these streaming services. Youtube Music is free, but is ad-supported) My enthusiasm for CTI, and all things Creed Taylor was driven by two amazing…

www.ctproduced.com

Thanks, 4mc. I regularly reference Doug Payne's site and particularly enjoyed his in-depth expose on Theus.

(The following line was notable: "...Grant Green, who had recently returned to the scene after several years of demon battling..." Historically, this opens a can of worms: it's common knowledge that Grant was a continuous heroin user throughout the 1960s. Until Al Lion left the label in 1967, Grant cut numerous dates for Blue Note that were never issued. In fact, Grant cut far too many dates that could have ever been issued in a normal release fashion. Given Al paid for rehearsals up front, in retrospect, conjecture tells us that this was an example of Grant needing money for his habit and coming to Al for some quid pro quo action: Grant gets rehearsal money for an LP that most likely will not see an immediate release date; and Al gets a viable master tape for potential later issue. Lee Morgan and Hank Mobley, two other known heroin users at Blue Note, were also very much over recorded. Meanwhile, the non-junkies at Blue Note (e.g., Horace Silver, Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Hutcherson, Blue Mitchell) had for all intents and purposes no unreleased dates in the can yet, were as popular or -- as in the case of Horace -- definitely outsold Grant and Lee.)