A Year of Blind Spots: Back at the Chicken Shack

Joe is working through a list of albums that he considers "blind spots," i.e. albums that he's never heard but feels like he should.

Back at the Chicken Shack

Jimmy Smith

1963

What 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die has to say about Back at the Chicken Shack by Jimmy Smith:

Redolent of church pews and skating rinks, the organ was once relegated to hip-free zones, a square cousin to the autoharp and accordion. And then along came Jimmy Smith, who turned his attention to the instrument in 1954, just as the Hammond company was unveiling its relatively compact new B3 model.

Smith transformed the organ's lamentable image with his soulful synthesis of bebop, blues, and gospel, creating a powerfully grooving new sound. He spawned a new style of music—soul jazz—and a host of disciples who took up the Hammond B3 and formed combos.

Back at the Chicken Shack is arguably Smith's greatest album, relentlessly grooving, harmonically sophisticated, and earthy as the Delta mud. Recorded on April 25, 1960, it put saxophonist Stanley Turrentine on the map, but the contributions of the elegantly economical guitarist Kenny Burrell and irresistibly funky drummer Donald Bailey are just as crucial.

Whether distilling a hoary standard such as "When I Grow Too Old to Dream" down to its essential notes or surging through "Minor Chant," the quartet sounds ready for a rumble. Almost as arresting as the music is the album's cover. Instead of Reid Miles' typically moody Blue Note character studies set in his trademark uncluttered esthetic, Back at the Chicken Shack features a playful shot of Smith in a bright red shirt, seated in front of said shack with a hound dog at his feet.

What Joe has to say about Back at the Chicken Shack by Jimmy Smith:

I'm an easy mark. You tell me something is cool, and I'm probably gonna believe you. I didn't know what Jimmy Smith's deal was. I chose to explore this one based on name and album cover alone. I didn't even know it was jazz. I guess I assumed it was something like Swamp Dogg. That title is a total Swamp Dogg title, right? But it wasn't. It's jazz. Jazz that's cool, I'm told. Alright then, sure. I buy it.

The Hammond organ is certainly noticeable, the 1001 Albums blurb is not lying about that. I knew nothing about Jimmy Smith before this, and so I have no choice to believe that he was the one who made the organ cool. That one Booker T. and the M.G.s song is pretty cool... sorry, that's my go-to example of "organ song." I guess maybe "Light My Fire"? What other songs? Maybe this should be an MMM theme. In any case, I'll admit that I heard "baseball game organ" during some of these tunes. I'll also admit that I do indeed find that cool. I'd rather hear the organ player at the stadium playing a batter into the box than whatever shitty trap-beat pop song the music-averse COVID-denying baseball players are choosing.

Oh christ, where was I. Jimmy Smith! Four jazz tunes on this album. This is jazz. It definitely sounds more like a "classic" jazz album than Marshall Allen. The jazz album I listened to last week was the Dave Brubeck one, and this jazz is definitely cooler. I wouldn't be able to explain what I mean by more classic or cooler, because when it comes to jazz, I am at a loss for words. These are gut reactions. My gut reaction with Back at the Chicken Shack is that, yeah, it's cool.

"The quartet sounds ready for a rumble" is probably the coolest description of jazz music I've ever heard. Is it actually true? Does it sound like that? Who cares! Being a music writer means finding ways to describe the emotions that you're experiencing while you're listening to the music. I could totally close my eyes and picture a Sandlot—esque movie featuring a schoolyard brawl that is soundtracked to something like "Messy Bessie." The writing gets us where it needs to go.

It's cool that Smith created a genre of music. "Soul jazz." Yeah, talk about words that mean something. That fits the sound I'm hearing here. As is often the case with the book that we're following along with here, it's more like that Jimmy Smith is featured here because he was the most important jazz organist of his time, as opposed to the best. Like, this album might not actually be the best. But if I'm gonna listen to one soul jazz album BEFORE I DIE, then why not this one.

Actually, I think it's probable that Jimmy Smith is the guy in this book for this style of music because he was also the organist who played the solo on Michael Jackson's "Bad." We don't talk about that artist on this blog, and I haven't purposefully listened to "Bad" in years, so I cannot confirm with my own ears that this Hammond organ sound is on this song. I am assuming, however, that Jimmy Smith was working a paying gig, and has never, to anyone's knowledge, molested children.

Changing the subject! Jimmy Smith, a cool dude! And hey, he's from Norristown! That's pretty cool too. If you wanna listen to some cool soul jazz, then I suppose this could be the one for you.