The story behind puzzle No. 45
Jimmy Smith · Back at the Chicken Shack · Blue Note · 1960 (released 1963)
Organ, tenor saxophone, guitar and drums, and a groove that feels like Saturday night. Jimmy Smith's title track became one of Blue Note's best sellers.
Jimmy Smith recorded Back at the Chicken Shack on April 25, 1960, at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Blue Note held it for almost three years and released the album in February 1963.
Smith wrote the title track. The band is Stanley Turrentine on tenor saxophone, Kenny Burrell on guitar and Donald Bailey on drums.
The album is credited with helping launch soul jazz, the bluesy, gospel-tinged style that grew popular in the 1960s, and it became one of Blue Note's biggest sellers.
It is also listed in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
There's no bass player. Smith covers the bass line himself on the organ while his right hand plays the melody and solos.
Listen to how Turrentine and Burrell take their time, leaning on the blues rather than showing off speed.
Who's on it
Keep listening
Turrentine and Burrell both have their own puzzles: Sugar (No. 36) and Chitlins con Carne (No. 37).
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