Little Friend

Booker Little - Booker Little & Friend +2 (1961) {2012 Japan Bethlehem Album Collection 1000 CDSOL-6003}
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© 1961, 2012 Solid Records Japan / Bethlehem | CDSOL-6146 | LP BCP-6029
Jazz / Hard Bop / Trumpet

A fantastic sextet session recorded in 1961, shortly before Booker Little's death – and filled with all the promise and power he ever packed into his playing! There's a sharp, angular groove to many of the numbers here – that mix of modern and hardbop that was cresting best in the early 60s Blue Note generation – and which echoes some of the work that Little had done with Max Roach in the years before this date. The lineup's filled with great players to help Book realize his strongest musical vision – Julian Priester on trombone, George Coleman on tenor, Don Friedman on piano, Reggie Workman on bass, and Pete LaRoca on drums – and although the set's issued on the sometimes-staid Bethlehem label, it's got all the sharper edges of an early 60s date on a label like Impulse or Candid! Titles include "Matilde", "Booker's Blues", "Forward Flight", and "Victory and Sorrow". CD features two bonus tracks – alternate versions of "Looking Ahead".

Friend Of Mine (1976). Recorded in the wake of the collapse of Stax Records in 1976, Friend of Mine brushed up against a long fallow period in Little Milton's recorded output, and was also unavailable for many years, thus making it one of his least-known albums. Produced by Milton for Henry Stone's TK Records and issued on the Glades Records imprint, this is a soulful blues workout drenched in sweaty vocals and long, sustained performances, of which perhaps the best is the five-and-a-half-minute "You're Gonna Make Me Cry," which also includes some impressive guitar. The record's strongest body of songs are the smooth soul ballads such as "Baby It Ain't No Way," the rousing "Don't Turn Away" (a song that one wishes Elvis Presley could have discovered and considered covering)…

The release of Good Time Warrior by Lucifer's Friend saw the departure of legendary rock vocalist John Lawton (who exited for a stint as Uriah Heep vocalist) and the entrance of another English talent Mike Starrs. The album also marked a change of direction for the group. Earlier albums like Mind Exploding and Where the Groupies Killed the Blues demonstrated the German groups flair for progressive and experimental rock,while Good Time Warrior contained a more straight ahead rock sound. Such tracks as "Old Man Roller" and "Sweet Little Lady" demonstrate this the best and pave the way for future band releases such as Sneak Me In and Sumo Grip. The albums last cut "Warriors" is a lengthy and moody piece which harkens to the groups earlier sound while providing a solid platfrom for Starrs' vocals.