line up 1 (1967)

- Willie Bobo (aka William Correa) (Rip 1983) -- timbales

  supporting musicians (1967)

- Bobby Brown -- sax

- Clarence "Sonny" Henry -- guitar

- Melvin Lastie -- cornet

- Rene Block and His Big Latin Band

- Willie Bobo & His Orchestra

- Willie Bobob & the Bo Gents

- CBS Jazz All-Stars

- Leonard Feather All-Stars

- The Chico Hamilton Sextet

- The Killer Joe Orchestra

- Tito Puente Band

- Tito Rodriguez & His Orchestra

- Mongo Santamaria Y Suis Ritmos Afro Cubanos

- Mongo Santamaria Orchestra

- George Shearing Band

- Cal Tjader Sextet

Genre: Latin jazz

Rating: 3 stars ***

Title:  Juicy

Company: Verve

Catalog: V-8695
Year: 1967

Country/State: Puerto Rico

Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+

Comments: --

Available: 1

Catalog ID: --

Price: $40.00

1967's "Juicy" was William Bobo's seventh studio album in four years and the constant pressure for new material began to show itself.  Co-produced by Reddy Reig and Pete Spargo, the album found Bobo and company relying on a series of popular soul and pop covers.  As on earlier material, tracks like Eddie Floyd's 'Knock on Wood', The Temptations' 'Ain't Too Proud to Beg' and The Bb Crewe Generation's 'Music to Watch Girls By' were redone staying true to the original melodies and arrangements, but with the addition if Latin percussion and horns.  Bobo had good taste in his covers and the performances were uniformly good, but if you're like me, you found yourself caught in a bind - I grew up with many of the originals and Bobo's arrangements just didn't add all that much to the end results.  Flavorings, rather than core ingredients ...  That wasn't true for some of the original material.  The album's funkiest performance; built on a nifty Clarence Henry guitar figure,  'La Descarga del Bobo' could easily have been mistaken for a mid-'70s Fela Kuti performance. Clearly written with a commercial audience in mind, 'Shing-a-Ling Baby' offered up a classic slice of "dance" music, complete with one of the album's only vocals - Bobo and company adding Spanish and English spoken word commentary throughout the track.   Even though I'm not a big jazz aficionado, I also liked the album's jazzier efforts - the instrumentals 'Felicidad' and 'Dreams' 

Always wondered - is this what it felt like to be a '60s hipster?  

By the way, offering up a classic slice of '60s "hipsterism", Acy Rudy Lehman's cover art is great.

"Juicy" track listing:
(side 1)

1.) Knock on Wood (instrumental) (Steve Cropper - Eddie Floyd) - 2:40 rating: *** stars

Setting the style for the rest of the album, Bobo's instrumental cover of Eddie Floyd's 'Knock on Wood' did nothing to disturb the original melody.  The Stax original was actually pretty funky so the addition of Latin percussion and horns hardly improved on the original.  Extra star for having such good taste in terms of cover material.  The track was tapped as the album's second single:

- 1967's 'Knock on Wood' b/w 'Ain;t Too Proud To Beg' (Verve catalog number VK 10518)

2.) Mating Call (instrumental) (Bert Keyes) - 3:03 rating: *** stars

At least to my ears a track like the funky 'Mating Call' is what I think of when someone asks me about '60s Latin jazz.  I'm not a big dancer, but this one could at least get me to slink my way out to the dance floor.  Extra star for Bobby Brown's sax solo. 

3.) Mercy, Mercy, Mercy (instrumental) (Joe Zawinul) - 2:33  rating: *** stars

I'm not a big jazz aficionado, but at one time I owned a copy of Cannonball Adderley's album "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy! Live at "The Club" so this one was familiar to me. Joe Zawinul's tune is one of those classic songs - hear it once and it'll stick with you.  Once again Bobo's arrangement merely sprinkled a touch of Latin percussion on the original.  Hardly a breakthrough.

4.) Felicidad (instrumental) (Sonny Henry) - 3:17  rating: **** stars

Penned by guitarist Sonny Henry, the instrumental 'Felicidad' was one of the album's four original tunes.  Shifting the focus to Bobo's jazz orientation, Bobby Brown's sax provided the song's highlights.

5.) La Descarga del Bobo (instrumental) (Willie Bobo) - 5:38  rating: **** stars

Opening up with a stark bass pattern, followed by Bob's timbales and Henry's jazzy guitar, 'La Descarga del Bob' was the album's funkiest and most intriguing number.  This one would easily have fit on a 1970s album form Fela Kuti.

(side 2)
1.) Juicy (Mike Stoller) - 3:26  rating: **** stars

Penned by the legendary Mike Stoller, the title track was one of the album's standout performances.  Thank Stoller for the "ear candy" melody that was made even stronger by Bobby Brown's sax work.  Bobo's percussion work also stepped into the spotlight. Technically this one was one of two vocal performances with Bobo and company chanting the title over and over.  Funny to hear it come out as "oh so usie".   Verve should have tapped this one as a single.

2.) Ain't Too Proud to Beg (instrumental) (Norman Whitfield, - Edward Holland, Jr.) - 2:42 rating: ** stars

Bobo's cover of The Temptation's 'Ain't Too Proud to Beg' was the perfect example of my doubts about the collection.  Yeah Henry's solos were tasty, but overall what was the point of this cover?

3.) Music to Watch Girls By (instrumental) (Sid Ramin) - 2:18  rating: *** stars

Funny The Bob Crewe Generation's 'Music to Watch Girls By' is one of my first musical memories ...  Bobo's cover stays pretty true to the original with the emphasis on the horns and a touch of bossa-nova added.  Good thing.

4.) Dreams (instrumental) (Val Valentín) - 3:24  rating: *** stars

To my ears 'Dreams' was easily the album's most jazzy performance.  As you'd expect, the focus was again on Brown's extended, multi-tracked sax solos. 

5.) Dis-Advantages (instrumental) (Mitch Leigh) - 2:01  rating: *** stars 

One of the album's dance-ready performances, 'Dis-Advantages' upped the Latin flavor with nice results.  Mambo anyone?  

6.) Roots (instrumental) (Sonny Henry) - 3:13  rating: *** star

The second Henry original, 'Roots' sounded like it had been written for a television theme song.  Another one with the Latin flavor pushed up front.   

7.) Shing-a-Ling Baby (Val Valentín - Willie Bobo) - 3:04  rating: **** stars

Co-written by Bobo and sessions engineer Val Valentin (I think the English voice you hear on the track is Valentin), with it's "dance craze" structure and the crazy half-Spanish/half English lyrics, it's easy to see why this one was on the album and why Verve tapped it as  the album's leadoff single:

- 1967's 'Shing-a-Ling Baby' b/w 'Juicy' (Verve catalog number VK-10482)