Grant Green

Listen/Download Grant Green – Never Can Say Goodbye

Greetings all.

I should start off by reminding you that the Funky16Corners Radio Show returns to the airwaves of the interwebs this Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. If you can’t join us at airtime, make sure to fall by the blog and pick yourself up an MP3 of the show (or dip into the extensive Radio Show archives with almost 100 past episodes).

I should also mention that I’ll be joining the HPRS vinyl collective to sell some records this Saturday 3/31. The sale runs from 11-5 at 960 Green Street in Iselin, NJ (not too far off of Rt1). I’ll have a couple of boxes of LPs (lots of soul jazz and 60s rock) as well as a few boxes of 45s (funk, soul, jazz, rock etc) and some ephemera. If you’re in the area and have a taste for records come by and sample the wares.

The tune I bring you today is a stellar cover of what in unquestionably one of my all time favorite songs.

When I was a kid, Clifton Davis was famous as an actor, which is why I was shocked years later to discover that he was responsible for composing ‘Never Can Say Goodbye’.

Whether it is in the original hit version by the Jackson Five (1971), the epic disco reading by Gloria Gaynor (1974) or even in the slow burn by Isaac Hayes, the song has a remarkably powerful melody that has drilled itself deep into my brain.

I pick up covers of the song wherever I find them, which is why I grabbed (first) the 45 of Grant Green’s version, and then years later the LP from which it was pulled, 1971’s ‘Visions’ (which is where this recording is from).

Green takes a slow, late-night approach to the tune with some very nice soloing, but the real key to why this particular arrangement resonates with me is Billy Wooten’s vibes.

Known to crate diggers and collectors as the man behind the Wooden Glass (a group that also included pianist Emmanuel Riggins, who also joined Wooten in Green’s band and plays on this date), Wooten also contributed to a few albums by the Soulful Strings and Richard Evans.

Wooten’s vibes add a ringing counterpoint to the guitar and electric piano, bouncing between the right and left channels, becoming in many ways the heart of the record.

It’s a wonderful interpretation of the song and one of my faves.

I hope you dig it too, and I’ll see you all next week.

 

Peace

Larry

 

 

 

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2 Responses to “Grant Green – Never Can Say Goodbye”

1. JJ says:

   March 31, 2012 at 8:56 am

   There are some great cuts on this album (my favorites are We’ve Only Just Begun and the Mozart joint). The Nineteenth Whole is smokin’. My copy is scratchy as shit though.

2. JJ says:

   March 31, 2012 at 9:00 am

   Agreed about the vibes. If you listen closely on Just Begun, the vibes trigger some fat sympathetic resonance in one of Grant’s strings. Sounds real thick and groovy.