Prayer Meetin'

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Prayer Meetin'
5:41
Jimmy Smith

I Almost Lost My Mind
9:23
Ivory Joe Hunter

Stone Cold Dead In The Market
3:42
Wilmoth Houdini

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When The Saints Go Marching In
6:10
Traditional

Red Top
7:34
Gene Ammons

Picknickin'
6:27
Jimmy Smith

recording dates

studio

label

cat no.

08/02/63

Manhattan Towers

Blue Note

BST 84141

Stanley Turrentine (Tenor)

Donald Bailey

with extra tracks (recorded 13/06/60):
Lonesome Road *
(8:50)
(N. Shilkret / G. Austin)

Smith Walk *
(7:13)
(Jimmy Smith)

REVIEW

on 16/12/05
by Craig
(RVG edition)

Prayer Meetin' is typical Blue Note era Jimmy, but with a less serious tone than on albums such as The Sermon, and a better realised organ sound than on some of his earlier works. In keeping with the end-of-contract timing of these albums, there is a jam session feel to the recordings – the players were in there to have a bit of fun and make a few dollars, and that sense of fun really shines through. The addition of tenor sax, here Stanley Turrentine, adds vital colour to the date.

The track Can Heat is a stand out. Its loose, laid-back funkiness was good enough to see it included on the Blue Note compilation So Blue, So Funky – Heroes of the Hammond, Vol. 2.

It's also worth mentioning the quality of the production – which i'm sure is at least in part owing to the recent remaster. The audio quality of all of the RVG editions i've had the pleasure of hearing is uniformly excellent. This particular CD issue also brings in a couple of tracks from a 1960's session – also featuring Turrentine ('Lonesome Road' and 'Smith Walk') which share a similar feel of relaxed funkiness to the main LP. The audio is a bit less good though, and Smith still has some of that seaside Wurlitzer sound that makes some of his early LP's so unappealing.

This is an edited version. The full review can be found here.