Inner City Blues (Grover Washington Jr. album)

Inner City Blues
Inner City Blues
Studio album by Grover Washington Jr.
Released	1972
Recorded	September 1971
Studio	Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ
Genre	Jazz
Length	35:07
Label	Kudu; KU-03
Producer	Creed Taylor
Grover Washington Jr. chronology

Inner City Blues is the debut studio album by saxophonist Grover Washington Jr. It was recorded at the Van Gelder Studio in September 1971 and released in 1972 via Kudu Records.

Background

The title track was a cover of the recent hit by Marvin Gaye released in June 1971. The album also includes a cover of Bill Withers' hit "Ain't No Sunshine", released shortly before recording this album. In 2008, it was reissued on CD by Verve Records.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings	^[4]
Record Collector	^[2]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	^[3]

Thom Jurek of AllMusic stated: "This is an amazing debut in so many ways, and it was followed by a run of albums for the label through the end of the '70s when Washington left for Elektra. Inner City Blues remains standing today as a landmark and a turning point in jazz."^[1]

Track listing

"Inner City Blues" (Marvin Gaye, James Nyx Jr.) – 7:10
"Georgia on My Mind" (Hoagy Carmichael, Stuart Gorrell) – 4:38
"Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" (Gaye) – 5:07
"Ain't No Sunshine" (Bill Withers)/"Theme from Man and Boy" (AKA "Better Days") (J.J. Johnson) – 8:32
"Until It's Time for You to Go" (Buffy Saint-Marie) – 4:35
"I Loves You Porgy" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, DuBose Heyward) – 5:05

Personnel

Grover Washington Jr. – alto saxophone, tenor saxophone
Bob James – electric piano, arrangements and conductor
Richard Tee – organ
Eric Gale – guitars
Ron Carter – basses
Idris Muhammad – drums
Airto Moreira – percussion
Donald Ashworth – baritone saxophone
Wayne Andre – trombone
Thad Jones – trumpet, French horn
Eugene Young – trumpet, flugelhorn
Hilda Harris – vocals
Marilyn Jackson – vocals
Maeretha Stewart – vocals
Tasha Thomas – vocals

String Section

Maurice Brown, Charles McCracken, Alan Shulman and Anthony Sophos – cello
Julius Brand, Paul Gershman, Julius Held, Leo Kahn, Harry Katzman, Raoul Poliakin, Max Pollikoff and Paul Winter – violin

Production

Creed Taylor – producer
Rudy Van Gelder – engineer
Bob Ciano – album design
Steve Salmieri – photography

References

^ ^a ^b Inner City Blues at AllMusic
^ Waring, Charles. "Inner City Blues - Record Collector Magazine". Record Collector. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
^ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. pp. 203. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1468. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.

[AM-1] Inner City Blues at AllMusic

[2] Waring, Charles. "Inner City Blues - Record Collector Magazine". Record Collector. Retrieved 15 May 2019.

[RSJRG-3] Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. pp. 203. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.

[Penguin-4] Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1468. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.

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