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Winston Walls
Boss of the B-3, Schoolkids' Records CD SKR 1516
Two giants of the B-3 battle it out. The one you never heard
of wins.
Winston Walls wants you to know that he's the best organ player
you've never heard of. In his own words, "There's a lot of
cats who can play, but everybody's not special. I'm special-I'm
a bad dude." Having somehow managed a 30 year career behind
folks like the Pointer Sisters, Lou Donaldson and Sonny Stitt
without a single recording of his own, the self-proclaimed "Muhammad
Ali of the Hammond B-3" is finally putting his money where
his mouth is. His first outing is a live recording of two club
dates with close friend and fellow organ giant Jack McDuff. They're
backed by a very fine group of Detroit area musicians, but the
show belongs to Walls. His furious pedal work, electric solos
and energetic comping propel the band through 57 minutes of spontaneous
hard-swinging rhythm-and-blues and soul-stirring gospel. As if
that weren't enough, he handles vocal duties on a couple tunes
with a velvety rasp of a voice that charms like your favorite
pair of old slippers.
For all his signifying, this disc ends up chronicling the warm
reunion of two old buddies, their affectionate rivalry and their
mutual love for that peculiar American instrument, the Hammond
B-3 organ. The live recording gives you the feeling that you just
happen to be eavesdropping on the unrehearsed laughs, stories
and tall-tales of friends reunited after too long. They have plenty
to say to each other, and they're none too shy. It's back and
forth with "oh, yeah?," "remember this?" and
"check this out!" The sense of conversation is so real
that it's almost surprising when one of the other players steps
up to the mic for a rare turn. They may have just as much to say,
but it's definitely not their party.
About those sidemen. The sessions were apparently recorded without
rehearsal, so drummer Pistol Allen gets handed the snaky task
of trying to keep up with Walls, who sounds like he could do the
whole thing himself even without McDuff. Things sometimes get
shaky, but he hangs on for the ride, and when things finally settle
down, it's terrific. One of the highlights of the disk is tenor
sax man Gene Parker's solo on "Canadian Sunset." Parker
burns and Allen sizzles while Walls stomps out some incredible
pedal bass underneath the thickest blanket of organ comping you
can imagine. Unfortunately, guitarist Chris Buzelli gets lost
in the fray, but he does manage to peek out here and there on
a few other tunes and make his presence felt.
If you forget what you're supposed to be experiencing, the spontaneity
and the unevenness of the live recording can be distracting. McDuff's
organ is nearly lost on portions of the record, while Walls' sometimes
overwhelms, perhaps not unintentionally. It's easy to get over
this when you realize that you have two real organ guys literally
pulling out all the stops. Together they illustrate just about
every trick in the B-3 book, McDuff's single note lines bobbing
and weaving in and out of reach of Walls' big-fisted punches.
This disc is almost worth it for the liner notes alone. I won't
give it away, but Walls relates a great story about his early
rivalry with McDuff back in Pittsburgh, and their competition
for the attention of the young guitarist George Benson. Kudos
to Schoolkids' Records for getting Walls recorded. Let's hope
we hear him again before another 30 years go by. --Jason Staczek
production notes & song titles
Winston Walls, Hammond B-3 organ, foot-pedals, vocals; Jack McDuff,
Hammond B-3; Gene Parker, tenor sax; Chris Buzelli, guitar; Pistol
Allen, drums.
Produced by Stephen Bergman and Michael Lipton. Recorded live
at The SerenGeti Ballroom, Detroit, MI 10/25/93 and The Ark, Ann
Arbor, MI 10/26/93. 1995 release. (57:01)
Winston's 100 | Georgia | Rock Candy | I Want To Thank You Pretty
Baby | Canadian Sunset | Lucille's Lament | What A Difference
A Day Makes | SerenGeti Blues | How Great Thou Art
contact info
Schoolkids' Records
523 E Liberty Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
800 445-2361 or 313 994-8031
http://www.schoolkids.com/
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