Thursday, October 23, 2008

Roy Ayers - "Coffy" (1973)




I'm posting this album because :

1. I'm really excited that I'm going to see vibraphone player, singer, writer, producer and all-round-legend Roy Ayers perform live tomorrow night. (edit: review in comments)

2. I just helped out the guys over at Blaxploitation Jive/Pride with their Ayers discography, so wanted to alert you to the possibility of another 37 Roy Ayers links.

3. It's really good ...

This is a great film soundtrack that Ayers made with his Ubiquity band and special guests like Cecil Bridgewater and Dee Dee Bridgewater. Arrangements are by Ayers and his regular keyboardist Harry Whitaker (also of "Black Renaissance" fame).

Enjoy!

TRACKLIST 

01 Coffy Is The Color (2:58)
02 Priscilla's Theme (3:53)
03 King George (2:55)
04 Aragon (2:52)
05 Coffy Sauna (2:13)
06 King's Last Ride (1:05)
07 Coffy Baby (2:23)
08 Brawling Broads (2:40)
09 Escape (2:14)
10 Shining Symbol (3:49)
11 Exotic Dance (3:14)
12 Making Love (2:45)
13 Vittroni's Theme - King Is Dead (1:58)
14 End Of Sugarman (1:04)

 MUSICIANS

 Vibraphone, Vocals (1 & 3) - Roy Ayers
Acoustic and Electric Bass - Richard Davis
Drums - Dennis Davis
Flugelhorn - Cecil Bridgewater
Guitar - Billy Nichols , Bob Rose
Electric Piano, Organ, Harpsichord, Piano - Harry Whitaker
Congas, Bongos, Percussion - William King
Strings - Emanuel Vardi , Harry Lookofsky , Irving Spice , Peter Dimitriades
Trombone - Garnett Brown , Wayne Andre
Trumpet - Jon Faddis
Vocals (1 & 7) - Dee Dee (Denise) Bridgewater
Vocals (1 & 10) - Wayne Garfield 

 PRODUCTION 

Producer, conductor, composer - Roy Ayers
Lyrics to 1, 3, 10 by Carl Clay
Lyrics to 7 by Roselle Weaver
Arranged By - Harry Whitaker , Roy Ayers
Recorded at Sound Ideas Studio, NYC
Engineer and Mix Engineer - George Klabin

  POST CREDITS

CD rip by Simon666
Link in post to "Black Renaissance" @ Blog - O - Blog.


DOWNLOAD WAV - MP3
at

19 comments:

  1. DjalmaOctober 23, 2008 at 9:18 PM

    Yeah, Simon, I feel you, I saw mr. Ayers last year and I rememember how hyped up I was about it...
    A true legend indeed!


    P.S. Of course I'll re-up Kapingbdi mate, I'll try and do it today...
    Peace...





    Djalma

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  2. Simon666October 23, 2008 at 9:20 PM

    Thanks Djalma :)

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  3. makemypointOctober 23, 2008 at 10:31 PM

    Roy Ayers 70s sound is good, thank you for another great post!

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  4. ishOctober 23, 2008 at 10:38 PM

    I saw Ayers a few years ago. He was performing in a live concert version in Central Park of "Nuyorican Soul," if you remember that Little Louie Vega project. Ayers was the centerpiece of the show, and was incredible. (Also featured Jocelyn Shaw who was also great and Jody Watley who was a little meh). Have fun at the show!

    PS Coffy is a great album.

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  5. Simon666October 23, 2008 at 10:41 PM

    Thanks Ish, that must have been a great show. All reports seem to indicate that he's still on top of it, so I'm very psyched up :)

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  6. katonahOctober 24, 2008 at 2:00 AM

    have a good one simon.
    i've seen him a few times over the years, awesome stuff

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  7. Gianni aka Cesare BarbettaOctober 24, 2008 at 4:44 AM

    classic ost.
    I like this one Simon,
    so sweet so funky.
    thank you

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  8. GabrielOctober 24, 2008 at 12:41 PM

    Hey Ish, I was at that NuYorican Soul show too - that was pretty amazing. I also saw him at a free gig in Crown Heights that same year and he was great. I was less impressed with his show in Sydney last time ... but maybe I should try and rustle up a last minute ticket anyway. I'm coming off seeing Stevie last night, and the Roy gig got kinda lost in the excitement...

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  9. Simon666October 24, 2008 at 1:10 PM

    How was Stevie Yemaya ?
    I'd considered it, but I was kind of afraid he'd start to do 'Superstition' and then segue into something like 'I Just Called to Say I Love You" ....

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  10. GabrielOctober 24, 2008 at 1:19 PM

    Hahaha ... well ... No, he was ... good. I mean he wasn't great, cause arenas just kill any vibe really, and I"m used to seeing kickass 16-piece bands of top calibre musos in tiny clubs in Havana so I'm totally spoilt ... But, you know it was good. He tried to please everyone, so he really covered everything: 60s Motown, the icky ballads, the 70s funk - and he did this by playing shorter versions of almost everything. Like longer than if they were in a medley, but not as long as the original. So when the songs you liked came round, you didn't feel completely ripped off but... I don't know, you didn't feel completely satisfied either. (On the upside: the songs you DIDN'T like didn't go too long either.) But he can still sing the pants off anyone and what a body of work. He played for almost two and half hours. And it was probably my only chance to see him and he is a total legend. I'm glad I went.

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  11. taro nombeiOctober 25, 2008 at 5:10 PM

    How was the gig? I caught RA last year here in Tokyo, playing with LL Smith no less. Brilliant music, playing together but also doing solo spots. Too bad it was at Blue Note: nice and intimate but short sets, and too many people dining and wining, not enough respect). TN
    PS: Thanks for this. I've never heard the whole album.

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  12. Simon666October 25, 2008 at 7:28 PM

    I danced for two hours about 10 feet away from Roy. Fantastic band, and it was very much a band effort - particularly taken with saxophonist/keyboardist/singer Ray Gaskins , comps on the rhodes with his right hand while soloing on soprano, alto and tenor sax with the left, and sings like an angel. Also drummer Lee Pearson.

    The bad bit: Roy was playing digital control pads with his mallets, which worked on the marimba sound but had dodgy sustain on the vibraphone. Occasionally he'd dial up a synth sound and go all fusiony - he has to keep himself amused after 36 years of "Sunshya-yine", no doubt.

    BUT it was fantastic, with Roy as party MC and vocalist harnessing a fantastic bunch of musicians whose enjoyment was infectious. Stoned/drunk happy audience dancing and smiling. Some creative reinterpretations of hits.

    Fifteen minutes of "Night In Tunisia" with spectacular solos.

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  13. CalisanOctober 27, 2008 at 4:47 PM

    Hii Simon: Is there any chance to share the artwork in better resolution for details?
    Thanks for all your great work Simon!!

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  14. taro nombeiOctober 28, 2008 at 2:37 AM

    sounds like it was a great gig!
    cheers
    TN

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  15. TCOctober 28, 2008 at 5:43 AM

    Thanks for this one. Shame Roy wasn't involved with many soundtrack projects

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  16. Simon666November 1, 2008 at 2:56 PM

    Hi Calisan -

    Here is the back cover of Coffy in better resolution :

    COFFY back cover – high res

    Also guys -

    I've posted a new live Roy Ayers CD "Live at Arturo's" here

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  17. Seb PalmerJanuary 22, 2009 at 3:15 AM

    God I love Roy Ayers, I must get out to the Jazz Café next time he plays... I always miss him! Part of me wants to avoid disappointment I guess, as what I love best is what he was doing way back in the 70s...

    the goat

    http://soundsfromthefunkygoat.blogspot.com/

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  18. AnonymousOctober 11, 2010 at 3:24 PM

    Thanks for the great post!

    However, the WAV links are down. If you could re-upload them, that would be fantastic!

    :)

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  19. Bou FartettuJune 29, 2012 at 3:46 AM

    Thanks for this soundtrack. was looking for him cause of Tatantino's "Jackie Brown"-soundtrack

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