Road Song
Encyclopedia
Road Song is an album by guitar
ist 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.
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."
Production notes:
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist Wes Montgomery
Wes Montgomery
John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery was an American jazz guitarist. He is widely considered one of the major jazz guitarists, emerging after such seminal figures as Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian and influencing countless others, including Pat Martino, George Benson, Russell Malone, Emily...
, released in 1968. It reached number one on the Billboard
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
Jazz album chart and number 39 on the R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
chart. It also reached number 94 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
. It was his final recording before his death of a heart attack on June 15, 1968.
Reception
In his Allmusic review, music critic Scott YanowScott Yanow
Scott Yanow is an American jazz commentator, known for many contributions to the Allmusic website, for writing ten books on jazz and for reviewing jazz recordings for over 30 years.-Biography:...
wrote "The great guitarist sticks to simple melody statements (with a lot of octaves thrown in) while backed by Don Sebesky
Don Sebesky
Don Sebesky is an American jazz trombonist and arranger.-Biography:Sebesky trained in trombone at the Manhattan School of Music; in his early career, he played with Kai Winding, Claude Thornhill, Tommy Dorsey, Warren Covington, Maynard Ferguson and Stan Kenton...
's unimaginative arrangements for an orchestra; commercially the combination was a big success… this strictly for-the-money effort can be safely passed by."
Track listing
- "Road Song" (Wes Montgomery) – 3:53
- "GreensleevesGreensleeves"Greensleeves" is a traditional English folk song and tune, a ground of the form called a romanesca.A broadside ballad by this name was registered at the London Stationer's Company in September 1580 as "A New Northern Dittye of the Lady Greene Sleeves". It then appears in the surviving A Handful of...
" (Public Domain, Traditional) – 2:04 - "Fly Me to the MoonFly Me to the Moon"Fly Me to the Moon" is a popular standard song written by Bart Howard in 1954. It was originally titled "In Other Words", and was introduced by Felicia Sanders in cabarets...
" (Bart HowardBart HowardBart Howard was the composer and writer of the famous jazz standard "Fly Me To The Moon", which has been performed by singers Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Wilson, Della Reese, Diana Krall, June Christy and Astrud Gilberto...
) – 2:53 - "YesterdayYesterday (song)"Yesterday" is a song originally recorded by The Beatles for their 1965 album Help!. The song first hit the United Kingdom top 10 three months after the release of Help!. The song remains popular today with more than 1,600 cover versions, one of the most covered songs in the history of recorded...
" (John LennonJohn LennonJohn Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
, Paul McCartneyPaul McCartneySir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
) – 3:26 - "I'll Be BackI'll Be Back (song)"I'll Be Back" is a John Lennon composition credited to Lennon–McCartney, and recorded by The Beatles for the soundtrack LP to their film "A Hard Day's Night"...
" (Lennon, McCartney) – 2:33 - "Scarborough Fair/CanticleScarborough Fair"Scarborough Fair" is a traditional ballad of the United Kingdom.The song tells the tale of a young man, who tells the listener to ask his former lover to perform for him a series of impossible tasks, such as making him a shirt without a seam and then washing it in a dry well, adding that if she...
" (Paul SimonPaul SimonPaul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
, Art GarfunkelArt GarfunkelArthur Ira "Art" Garfunkel is an American singer-songwriter, poet, and actor, best known as being a member of the folk duo Simon & Garfunkel...
, Traditional) – 4:55 - "Green Leaves of Summer" (Dimitri TiomkinDimitri TiomkinDimitri Zinovievich Tiomkin was a Russian-born Hollywood film score composer and conductor. He is considered "one of the giants of Hollywood movie music." Musically trained in Russia, he is best known for his westerns, "where his expansive, muscular style had its greatest impact." Tiomkin...
, Paul Francis WebsterPaul Francis WebsterPaul Francis Webster was an American lyricist who won three Academy Awards for Best Song and was nominated sixteen times for the award.-Biography:...
, Montgomery) – 3:58 - "Serene" (Montgomery) – 3:10
- "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?Where Have All the Flowers Gone?"Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" is a folk song. The first three verses were written by Pete Seeger in 1955, and published in Sing Out! magazine...
" (Pete SeegerPete SeegerPeter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
) – 3:06
Personnel
- Wes MontgomeryWes MontgomeryJohn Leslie "Wes" Montgomery was an American jazz guitarist. He is widely considered one of the major jazz guitarists, emerging after such seminal figures as Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian and influencing countless others, including Pat Martino, George Benson, Russell Malone, Emily...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Herbie HancockHerbie HancockHerbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
– piano - Grady TateGrady TateGrady Tate, , is a hard bop and soul-jazz drummer and singer.He has played with Lional Hampton, Jimmy Smith, Grant Green, Lena Horne, Astrud Gilberto, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Blossom Dearie, Chris Connor, Sarah Vaughan, Ray Charles, Cal Tjader, Peggy Lee, Bill Evans, Duke Ellington, Count...
– drums - Ed Shaughnessy – drums
- Ray BarrettoRay BarrettoRay Barretto was a Grammy Award-winning Puerto Rican jazz musician.-Early years:Barretto was born in New York City of Puerto Rican descent...
– percussion - Jack Jennings – percussion
- Bernie Glow – trumpet
- Marvin Stamm – trumpet
- Wayne AndreWayne AndreWayne Andre was an American jazz trombonist, best known for his work as a session musician.Andre's father was a saxophonist, and he took private music lessons from age 15. He played with Charlie Spivak in the early 1950s before spending some time in the U.S. Air Force...
– 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 notes:
- Creed TaylorCreed TaylorCreed Taylor is an American record producer, best known for his work with CTI Records, which he founded in 1968. Taylor’s career also included work at Bethlehem Records, ABC-Paramount, Verve, and A&M Records...
– producer - Don SebeskyDon SebeskyDon Sebesky is an American jazz trombonist and arranger.-Biography:Sebesky trained in trombone at the Manhattan School of Music; in his early career, he played with Kai Winding, Claude Thornhill, Tommy Dorsey, Warren Covington, Maynard Ferguson and Stan Kenton...
– arranger, conductor - Rudy Van GelderRudy Van GelderRudy Van Gelder is an American recording engineer specializing in jazz.Often regarded as one of the most important recording engineers in music history, Van Gelder has recorded several thousand jazz sessions, including many widely recognized as classics, in a career spanning more than half a century...
– engineer - Pete Turner – cover photo, photography
- Sam Antupit – design
Chart positions
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Billboard Jazz Albums | 1 |
| Billboard R&B Albums | 39 | |
| The Billboard 200 | 94 | |