Road Song is an album by the jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery, released in 1968. It reached number one on the Billboard Jazz album chart and number 39 on the R&B chart. It also reached number 94 on the Billboard 200. It was his final recording before his death of a heart attack on June 15, 1968.
| Road Song | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 1968[1] | |||
| Recorded | May 7 – 9, 1968 | |||
| Studio | Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 29:44 | |||
| Label | A&M | |||
| Producer | Creed Taylor | |||
| Wes Montgomery chronology | ||||
| ||||
Reception edit
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings | [4] |
| The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | [3] |
In his AllMusic review, Scott Yanow wrote: "The great guitarist sticks to simple melody statements (with a lot of octaves thrown in) while backed by Don Sebesky's unimaginative arrangements for an orchestra; commercially the combination was a big success… this strictly for-the-money effort can be safely passed by."[2]
Track listing edit
- "Road Song" (Wes Montgomery) – 3:53
- "Greensleeves" (Public Domain, Traditional) – 2:04
- "Fly Me to the Moon" (Bart Howard) – 2:53
- "Yesterday" (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) – 3:26
- "I'll Be Back" (Lennon, McCartney) – 2:33
- "Scarborough Fair/Canticle" (Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Traditional) – 4:55
- "Green Leaves of Summer" (Dimitri Tiomkin, Paul Francis Webster, Montgomery) – 3:58
- "Serene" (Montgomery) – 3:10
- "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" (Pete Seeger) – 3:06
Personnel edit
Musicians
- Wes Montgomery – guitar
- Herbie Hancock – piano
- Richard Davis – bass
- Grady Tate – drums
- Ed Shaughnessy – drums
- Ray Barretto – percussion
- Jack Jennings – percussion
- Bernie Glow – trumpet
- Marvin Stamm – trumpet
- Wayne Andre – trombone
- Paul Faulise – trombone
- Donald Ashworth – flute, clarinet, oboe, recorder, English horn
- James Buffington – French horn
- Harvey Estrin – flute, recorder
- Stan Webb – flute, clarinet, oboe, recorder
- George Marge – flute, clarinet, oboe
- Don Hammond – flute, recorder
- Hank Jones – harpsichord, piano
- Walter Kane – bassoon
- Bernard Krainis – recorder
- Eric Leber – harpsichord, recorder
- Bernard Eichen – violin
- Charles Libove – violin
- Tosha Samaroff – violin
- Charles McCracken – cello
- George Ricci – cello
- Alan Shulman – cello
- Emanuel Vardi – viola
Production
- Creed Taylor – producer
- Don Sebesky – arranger, conductor
- Rudy Van Gelder – engineer
- Pete Turner – cover photo, photography
- Sam Antupit – design
Chart positions edit
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Billboard Jazz Albums | 1 |
| Billboard R&B Albums | 39 | |
| The Billboard 200 | 94 |
References edit
- ^ "Billboard". November 9, 1968.
- ^ a b Yanow, Scott. "Road Song > Review". AllMusic. Retrieved December 18, 2010.
- ^ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 147. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
- ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1028. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.