A Day In The Life

Performer: Wes Montgomery
Artist: Herbie Hancock; Ray Barretto
Engineer: Rudy Van Gelder
Producer: Creed Taylor
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Personnel includes: Wes Montgomery (guitar); Don Sebesky (arranger, conductor); Herbie Hancock (piano); Ron Carter (bass); Grady Tate (drums); Ray Baretto (percussion). Recorded at Van Gelder Studios, Englewood Cliffs, New Jeresey on June 6-8 & 26, 1967. Personnel: Wes Montgomery (vocals); Margaret Ross (harp); Harry Glickman, Lewis Eley, Julius Brand, Harry Urbont, Tosha Samaroff, Leo Krucczek, Sylvan Shulman, Peter Buonconsigilio, Mac Ceppos, Jack Zayde, Harry Katzman, Gene Orloff (violin); Harold Coletta, Emanuel Vardi (viola); Stanley Webb (bass flute, woodwinds); George Marge, Joe Soldo, Romeo Penque (bass flute); Phil Bodner (woodwinds); Ray Alonge (French horn); Herbie Hancock (piano); Grady Tate (drums); Jack Jennings, Joe Wohletz, Ray Barretto (percussion). Liner Note Author: Johnny Mangus. Recording information: Van Gelder Studios, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (06/06/1967-06/26/1967). By the time Wes Montgomery recorded this album (his debut for A&M), he was a major name in the pop world. Montgomery's melodic renditions of current pop hits caught on and were played regularly on Top 40 radio. In most cases the guitarist did little more than play the melody, using his distinctive octaves, and it was enough to make him saleable. Of his three A&M recordings, A Day in the Life (the first one) was by far the best and, although the jazz content is almost nil, the results are pleasing as background music. "Windy" was a bit of a hit; the other selections (which find Montgomery backed by muzaky strings arranged by Don Sebesky) include "Watch What Happens," "California Nights," "Eleanor Rigby" and the title cut. ~ Scott Yanow As is usual on Wes Montgomery's later recordings, underneath all the orchestrated strings, horns, and windwinds, there's a killer rhythm section hard at work, and A DAY IN THE LIFE is no exception, with Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Grady Tate holding everything together. It's hard not to measure everything Montgomery did after 1963 against the four years of cooking, small-group albums he made for Riverside starting in 1959; the later, more arranged material is certainly less pure in terms of jazz content. But the Verve and A&M albums were conscious attempts to market the guitarist to a wider audience, and as successful pop records, they gave Montgomery some degree of financial security after years of struggling to support a family of six on a jazzman's income. What's remarkable in retrospect is the amount of blowing that does occur here. On "Eleanor Rigby," of all places, the band lays down a groove for Wes to riff over before the strings come cascading back in, and good things happen also on the two standards, "Watch What Happens," and "Willow Weep For Me."

Wes Montgomery's warm sound and hard-driving swing are, for many listeners, the epitome of jazz guitar. Rising from relative obscurity in the late 1950s, he became a huge sensation in the '60s, to the point that his recording career veered increasingly into commercial realms. Montgomery could tear off exhilarating solos with effortless grace, and in his relatively brief career he left an enduring legacy of brilliant playing.

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