Search - Mel Brown :: Chicken Fat (Dig)

Chicken Fat (Dig)
Mel Brown
Chicken Fat (Dig)
Genres: Blues, Jazz, Pop, R&B
 
  •  Track Listings (9) - Disc #1

Mississippi-born, West Coast-based guitarist Mel Brown flexed his slinky fingers with blues god T-Bone Walker before going out on his own for this seriously funky 1967 session. The hot studio band here also includes versat...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Mel Brown
Title: Chicken Fat (Dig)
Members Wishing: 4
Total Copies: 0
Label: Impulse Records
Release Date: 3/9/2004
Album Type: Original recording remastered
Genres: Blues, Jazz, Pop, R&B
Styles: Electric Blues, Modern Blues, Soul-Jazz & Boogaloo, Funk
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPCs: 602498610473, 0602498610473

Synopsis

Album Description
Mississippi-born, West Coast-based guitarist Mel Brown flexed his slinky fingers with blues god T-Bone Walker before going out on his own for this seriously funky 1967 session. The hot studio band here also includes versatile L.A. pianist Gerald Wiggins and none other than six-string legend Herb Ellis, who dishes up fiery exchanges with Brown on the backbone-slipping "Greasy Spoon" and the Down-South, down-home title cut. In addition to handling arrangements on the date, composer supreme Oliver Nelson ("Stolen Moments") contributed two tunes; the tricky, frenetic "Anacrusis" and the wah-wah-covered "Hobo Flats." But it's the blues that form the rich and juicy marrow of Brown's soulful style, and Chicken Fat's pair of late-night, down-tempo workouts--the sultry original "Home James" and the Ellis-composed "I'm Goin' to Jackson"--will have you licking your lips with deep delight. Guitar chops meet pork chops on this gorgeous gatefold repress of the original Impulse! LP, one that's sure to water the mouths of not only jazz and blues fans but of anyone who can't get enough of that good ol' raw, funky, Booker T.-style soul. Pass the sauce!

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CD Reviews

Guitar lickin' good!
D. Chance | USA | 05/26/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)

"I'm glad to see this classic album reissued. Mel Brown is a Great! guitar player, and I hope more of his albums are reissued. These instrumentals are some fine funky licks of jazz and blues infused soul. The last person I turned on to the music of Mel Brown became obsessed to hear everything by him he could get his hands on. If you haven't heard this guitar master, do yourself a favor and pick this up. You won't be disappointed!"
Another great one
William R. Nicholas | Mahwah, NJ USA | 06/12/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Here is one with the black and orange spine that no one should miss.



Chicken Fat is basically a blues record, but Mel Brown's guitar playing lifts the album far above the ordanary. He is the polar opposite of, say, Wes Montgomery or Joe Pass. He is more akin to Zappa's axe work. His solos start out fast and hard and never relent. There are lots of loose, janglely runs and compressed little 16th notes Mel uses to get from point A to B. Everything is very detailed, and layered, but it is the type of detail that emerges in those little spontainous sounds between the music. Lots of rich texture in the guitar playing you'll slowly discover.



On one track, Mel uses a wha-wha peddle to great effect. This was 1967, and while a lot of more adventurous jazz people-say, Charles Lloyd- were putting rock inflections into their work, soul jazz was still a purist game. But Brown took a plunge that really pays off.



A good buy for jazz fans, blues buffs, and music fans."
A lost classic - Fat chicken and funky blues!
Hilton Royale | Norway | 11/08/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you're into Booker T. & The MGs, Grant Greens funkiest stuff("Alive!"), John Lee Hooker,

Lou Donaldson or just like tight and smokin' grooves, then this has more than enough fat

chicken and guitar chops on it, to keep you satisfied for weeks.



I didn't even know who Mel Brown was before I stumbled over this album, and after listening

to it a couple of times I couldn't believe that I never even heard of the man, because this

is one of those rare albums where the quality NEVER drops and the groove just keep on building.

WHY ISN'T THIS ALBUM TALKED ABOUT?!!

I just don't get it.



This could be almost anybodys bag. It's rooted in the blues, but brings R&B, funk and soul,

rock n roll, cool organ work and some incredible guitar exchanges.



Tight! Mellow! Cookin'! Raw!



I really hope that some of his other stuff from this period gets reissued, because if it brings the

same amount of juice, it needs to be squeezed."