Dick Morrissey: It’s Morrissey, MAN! (1961) Fontana

 

Selection B2: Happy Feet (Yellen, Ager) 3:05

.  .  .

Selection A2: Cherry Blue (Bill Le Sage) 3:21

.  .  .

Track List

A1. St. Thomas (Rollins)  3:51
A2. Cherry Blue (B Le Sage)  3:21
A3. A Bench In The Park (Yellen, Ager) 3:05
A4. Sancticity (Coleman Hawkins) 3:23
A5. Mildew (Johnny Griffin) 2:57
A5. Puffing Billy (Stan Jones) 2:46
B1. Gurney Was Here – aka Blue Waltz (Stan Jones) 4:22
B2. Happy Feet (Yellen, Ager) 3:05
B3. Where Is Love (Lionel Bart) 3:55
B4. Dancing In The Dark (Schwartz, Deitz) 3:35
B5. Willow, Weep For Me (Ann Ronell) 4:47
B6. Jellyroll (Mingus) 2:59

Artists

Dick Morrissey, tenor saxophone; Stan Jones, piano; Malcolm Cecil, bass; Colin Barnes, drums.; recorded in London, 27th April 1961.

Music 

Jazz Journal review  (December 1961 edition):

“The most immediately striking thing about Dick Morrissey’s tenor playing is its tremendous swing. It is no exaggera­tion to say that the music on this record swings as much as any British jazz ever did. The fact that Morrissey shows no great originality (a point which Benny Green makes at length in his liner note) is of comparatively little importance; the way he approaches a tune is particularly impressive, and brings to mind Johnny Griffin. Morrissey is young, and will undoubtedly develop his own musical personality. His playing already has an impressive aura of conviction and as­surance.

 

With the exception of “Willow”, which features Jones and the rhythm section, all the tracks have lengthy solos by Morrissey, brief solos by Jones, and sometimes bass or drums. Morrissey is well able to sustain interest over several choruses, and builds his solos excellent­ly. Jones is far less impressive, and his solos are almost invariably an anti­-climax. Cecil and Barnes work together well, and provide a driving beat.

 

Morrissey is undoubtedly one of the best British musicians to appear in good many years, and Fontana are to be congratulated on their courage in re­cording such a relative unknown.”

Fontana STFL 568; 12in LP;  rrp 37s. 2d. (a pricey £35 in today’s money)

I endorse the comment on Stan Jones lacklustre piano performance, brutally honest. (Jones was replaced by Harry South on piano on Morrissey’s next three albums)  The Morrissey performance is hard-swinging and sheer pleasure, twist and turn acrobatics, unpredictable rests , backflips and rapid fire sorties, all with indefatigable swing. What a fantastic start to a jazz career, his first solo album at the age of only 21.

Characteristically short tracks, and a potpourri of compositions – some popular tunes from the 1920/30s, Broadway show tunes, and covers of jazz heroes Rollins, Hawkins, Griffin, and Mingus. Ann Ronell’s Willow Weep for Me (her other best known song “Who’s Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf?” How did anyone get to write lyrics like this?)  Morrissey’s  tone in ballads is full, and his speed  can match Johnny Griffin (Mildew).

Morrissey plaudits from jazz critics selected from his  obituary (year 2000, age 60):

“Morrissey’s command of the tenor saxophone was masterly, but it was the unforced fluency of his playing, expressed in a characteristically broad and sweeping tone, that attracted the greatest admiration.  Despite the sophistication of his ideas there was often a down-home quality to his punchy and hard swinging solos. He was a lightning improviser and the flood of his inventions flew through his fingers with ease, a masterful player.”

Vinyl: Fontana TFL 5149 –   680 955 TL, mono, white label test pressing 

No purchase tax code stamped by the spindle hole as it would be on the commercial pressing (W/T or O/T at this time), text “not for sale”, thus no tax due.

Conventionally, I was told,  around a dozen sample copies of a record would be pressed and provided to the recording artists, producer, and label executives to sign-off before large scale production commenced, and likely remained in their possession. This was a different purpose to US  white label promos, distributed to hundreds of commercial radio stations. At this time the UK had just BBC radio, a virtual monopoly until the mid 1960s. though promo copies may have been distributed to the music press, and some taken home by staff at the pressing plant, I have heard anecdotes regarding Decca at New Malden. 

The first Fontana test pressing  I have seen. Shame about writing on the label, but it’s well intentioned. The TP has all the qualities I expect from first off the stamper pressing, sharp bright fresh presentation.

Art Director’s Tea Break:

The cover is a joy, iconic photo, quartet walking along the railway tracks with steep embankment, could be sub-titled “Points failure at Thames Ditton“, leaving the band to complete their journey to Surbiton on foot, instruments in tow. Walking order miss-step: horn leader, piano, drums and bass, should be bass then drums at the back, but aesthetically bass at the back works better. Typography hat-tip to America beat-speak: MAN! capitalised emphasis with shriek-mark. 1961: years of the suit, long before sportswear conquered the globe. No ingratiating smiles for the camera. Of its time, a period work of art. Could this photo have been taken today?

Collector’s Corner

Once again it’s our friends in Japan who have the only alternative vinyl reissue, one of the inscrutably titled  フォンタナ フィリップス幻の名盤 Fontana Firippusu Maboroshi-no Meiban / en: “Fontana And Philips marvelous and rare masterpieces” (hat-tip Clive D for brushing up the Discogs translation)  / brown on yellow logo. UCJU-90##: 44 to 57.

The Popsike history of the original is interesting for the absence of auction copies (in top condition) in recent years. Two copies in 2017, one copy in 2019, none since in the last two years, I guess that qualifies as “rare”.

If an original is rare, a test pressing the rarest of the rare, I had to have it, and dig deep. 

More British jazz another day, got other places to go.

LJC 

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