Search - Wes Montgomery :: Wes Montgomery - Greatest Hits

The bonus tracks make this one worthwhile

J. B Brent | Oak Ridge, Tennessee USA | 09/21/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When Wes Montgomery's GREATEST HITS was released as A&M SP 4247 on vinyl in 1970, it contained only 10 tracks. It was expanded to a 20-song set with the CD release of CLASSICS in 1987. This remastered GREATEST HITS contains the same tracks as CLASSICS. Fifteen of the tunes come from Wes' three A&M albums, A DAY IN THE LIFE, DOWN HERE ON THE GROUND and ROAD SONG. There are 5 titles not featured on these albums: "Pata Pata," "Butterfly," "Hello Young Lovers," "My Favorite Things" and "Switchin." Because these songs demonstrate Wes' improvisational talents, this set is worth having even if you already own the other 3 albums."

Wes' "Greatest Hits"? - well, yes, "hits"..

Douglasnegley | Pittsburgh, Pa. | 07/05/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"It is nice to see people digging Wes - no matter what the venue. Popular songs made Wes accessable to a larger audience, and it made him some well deserved bread in the process. His style became defined (some might say diluted as well) and, much like with Antonio Carlos Jobim, the style that was boiled down from this genius CREATED the genre now known as "elevator/dentist office music". That said, it doesn't mean his 'greatest hits' is his greatest work. It emphatically is not...in my opinion. If you dig this CD you may or may not dig "Smokin' at the Half Note", or "Boss Guitar". But I'll bet you will, and you owe it to yourself and to Wes to check them out along with his debut LP entitled "The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery". All in all, again, I love to see people loving Wes Montgomery under any and all banners - be they 'pop hits' or jazz classics."

Good, but nowhere close to Wes' best

Ben | Columbia, MO | 12/03/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"If you're buying this to introduce yourself to Wes' playing, do yourself a favor and pick up Incredible Jazz Guitar, Full House, and Smokin' at the Half Note. These albums are much more exciting, and they give Wes space to strech out while improvising. This greatest hits collection from his time with A&M is more pop-oriented, and, as another reviewer said, much of the material sounds like elevator music. Wes was, IMHO, the greatest jazz guitarist ever, and all of his recordings are worth listening to, but there are better albums to have."