Quincy Jones – Ironside
Le ‘Q’ on the cover of Smackwater Jack
Listen/Download -Quincy Jones – Ironside
Greetings all.
What is being up with you?
The ongoing Funky16Corners Record Vault project took a great leap forward yesterday with the new DJ set-up (improvements to which were financed by my slot machine winnings over vacation*) going on line. The rig was cobbled together using some donated speakers (thanks Cenzo), an old amp/tuner, my existing “good” turntable, and augmented with the new turntable and mixer. I expect that I’ll be spending some time hobbling around the old learning curve, but before long I should be cranking out some more ‘live’ mixes, as well as putting a somewhat sharper edge on my turntable skills.
In other, also important news, I’m getting upgraded to a nicer time-slot over at Viva Internet Radio, so as of next week (April 23) the Funky16Corners Radio Show will be airing at 9PM on Friday nights. This is a very groovy development, and I cab assure that with the addition of the home DJ thingy I’ll be laying down some live mixes, so fall by.
That said, the tune I bring you today is something I definitely plan on dropping in an upcoming set, Quincy Jones’s 1971 reading of the ‘Ironside’ theme.
For those of you too young to remember, ‘Ironside’ was a hit TV show (premiering in 1967) that featured Raymond Burr as a paraplegic, San Francisco police detective who went around solving crimes from the back of a specially engineered van (certainly no more ludicrous than much of what you’ll see spilling from the idiot box these days). The very groovy theme was penned by none other than the mighty Quincy Jones
The version you’re hearing this fine day appeared on Jones’s 1971 LP ‘Smackwater Jack’. I can’t say with one hundred percent certainty, but I suspect that like the version of ‘Hikky Burr’ on the same album, this take on the ‘Ironside’ theme was also re-recorded/embellished for that LP.
The whole affair manages to encapsulate a jazzy soundtrack feel, with some funky bass (Chuck Rainey), electric piano (Bob James), flute (Hubert Laws) and soprano sax (Jerome Richardson), taking the original theme and stretching it out for some solos. Jones manages to bring on the heavy brass without drowning out the rhythm section. This version starts out (like the TV theme) with something (synthesizer, I assume) imitating a police siren, with the Fender Rhodes bubbling underneath until the flute comes in to state the theme. There’s some groovy wah-wah guitar running in the background, and until the trumpet solo comes in, the feel is as much jazz rock as it is jazz. Aside from the impressive names listed above, the session was a who’s who of jazz and studio heavies, with Jones sharing producing duties with Phil Ramone and bass legend Ray Brown.
Very solid indeed.
I hope you dig it and I’ll be back on Monday.
Peace
Larry
*Only significant in that as a general rule I don’t gamble (no moral objection, I just like to spend my money on records). If you see me at the track, it’s because I like horsies. I hit the jackpot (as it was) playing the penny slots. That’s right – pennies. 30,000 of them…
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Themocracy
Good stuff Larry, It always amazed me how a man in a wheelchair could chase and apprehend a fit and healthy villain!!!!!
Did you guys ever get ‘Cannon’ or ‘Barnaby Jones’ in the UK? Almost as incomprehensible.
Don’t remember ‘Barnaby Jones’ but yes good ol’ William Conrad aka Frank Cannon was a favourite and as you say pretty incomprehensible, for a man that liked his fine foods and wine to be so mobile!!!
‘Barnaby Jones’ was played by Buddy Ebsen who had to be well into his 70s at the time. Very wise, but not the most agile private detective.
Not the most agile? Buddy Ebsen was a song and dnce man supreme; so lanky he would remind you of ‘Tommy Tune. I used to keep waiting to be surprised with Buddy breaking into a dance number as Barnaby, but no such luck. Their late-life success aside, I hate to see people give up a talent they did so well, like Artie Shaw putting down his clarinet for ever.
Artie Shaw was one of the sweetest players you could wish to hear,totaly effortless.Good call Poppa san.
Pop
I did not intend to engage in age-ism. Just mentioning the fact that Buddy wasn’t an ‘obvious’ choice for a detective show hero. I guess – hearkening back to A Conan Doyle – the only agility necessary is mental.
L
Hong Kong Fuey wasn’t the sharpest tool in the box and his Kung Fu skills were’nt too hot!!! So mental and physical attributes did not serve him too well.Thank the lord for his trusty sidekick,Spot the cat.
I love this whole album. Hikky Burr is the ringtone on my phone.
[…] When we last discussed the mighty Quincy Jones, it was almost a year ago and his groovy theme to the Ironside TV show. […]