[jimdgoulding]

Rip, Rip, and Panic is a good one, but what I wanna know is who has We Free Kings?  And, has anyone heard "You did it, you did it" from that album?  Holy smokes, that's the nastiest and most classic doggone blues playing I've heard in the entire solar system in any of my incarnations.  Ya'll gotta hear IT!  Absolutely must!

[srb]

Rahsaan.
 
I saw Rahsaan and his group at the Smiling Dog Saloon in Cleveland, Ohio many years ago.  It was in a pretty seedy side of town, but always had a good time and just hoped the car would still be there when the night was over.
 
Rahsaan was unique in being able to shove three saxaphones mouthpieces in is mouth at once, play a single drone note on one, and play two different intertwining melodies on the other two.  Outrageous.
 
The Smiling Dog was a beer swilling saloon and not a concert hall or a jazz club, and therefore some people talked, some listened intently and some a bit of both.  At one point Rahsaan, obviously distrubed at one table talking, stopped playing and asked the table to leave if they weren't interested in listening to the music.
 
At another point, one of the tunes took an abrubt time signature change into a swing feel, and my friend Emmet clapped and said "Yeah, Dixieland".  Again, Rahsaan just stopped playing and addressed my friend with "That is not Dixieland, that is New Orleans music".
 
Oh well, what do you expect from someone with such an enormous talent and ego who had one album titled "Prepare Thyself To Deal With A Miracle"?
 
Steve

[rockadanny]

Jim - Thanks for the recommendation. Funny, that release has been on my radar forever, yet for some reason I keep purchasing others of his. So far I have and really like these:

Kirk's Work
The Inflated Tear
Domino
I Talk With the Spirits (plays no sax, just flutes)
Blacknuss

I'll have to get my hands on Kings as well.

[DaveNote]

Rip, Rip, and Panic is a good one, but what I wanna know is who has We Free Kings?  And, has anyone heard "You did it, you did it" from that album?  Holy smokes, that's the nastiest and most classic doggone blues playing I've heard in the entire solar system in any of my incarnations.  Ya'll gotta hear IT!  Absolutely must!

Jim, not only have I heard "You did it, You did it," I am listening to it as I write this reply to you. It is on the Complete Mercury Recordings. I thought Kirk was best on the flute, and he was blowing hard on this track short.

Dave

[jimdgoulding]

Dave, I know that's right!  Danny, Domino is one of my favorites, too.

[roscoeiii]

Huge fan of I Talk With the Spirits. A stellar album. Need to move beyond it and Inflated Tear one of these days.

[jgb0194]

An album that bears mention is the 2002 retrospective release, "The Man Who Cried Fire". A sonic scrapbook of sorts, lovingly put together by Joel Dorn who'd engineered a number of Rah's studio lps. All live recordings, some exerpted, but capturing a real flavor of what his live performances were - on so many levels. For those of us blessed to have been in those clubs this album helps keep his memory alive within us. No words can express what I witnessed before and even after his return from the devastating stroke. That first show, 1972 in Boston, was a midweek night of a big snowstorm. We were one of three occupied tables - ten paying folks at most - yet he played for about 4 hours altogether, close enough to hit us with the spit from his horns. He knew the joint was nearly empty but it didn't dim his passion and unique banter one bit. Give this album a listen.

[jimdgoulding]

An album that bears mention is the 2002 retrospective release, "The Man Who Cried Fire". A sonic scrapbook of sorts, lovingly put together by Joel Dorn who'd engineered a number of Rah's studio lps. All live recordings, some exerpted, but capturing a real flavor of what his live performances were - on so many levels. For those of us blessed to have been in those clubs this album helps keep his memory alive within us. No words can express what I witnessed before and even after his return from the devastating stroke. That first show, 1972 in Boston, was a midweek night of a big snowstorm. We were one of three occupied tables - ten paying folks at most - yet he played for about 4 hours altogether, close enough to hit us with the spit from his horns. He knew the joint was nearly empty but it didn't dim his passion and unique banter one bit. Give this album a listen.

I love posts like this.  Thanks.  I can feel it.

[CSI]

Jim, not only have I heard "You did it, You did it," I am listening to it as I write this reply to you. It is on the Complete Mercury Recordings. I thought Kirk was best on the flute, and he was blowing hard on this track short.

Dave

I bought this album when it first came out way back when. It knocked me out then and it still does. Rahsaan was the first to play the flute in that amazing style - or at least the first I ever heard. The second guy to attempt it - years later - was Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull. I was sure he was trying to adapt Kirk's sound to a rock genre but, when someone finally got around to asking him if Rashaan was an influence, he swore he never heard of him. Right.

[andy_c]

I bought this album when it first came out way back when. It knocked me out then and it still does. Rahsaan was the first to play the flute in that amazing style - or at least the first I ever heard. The second guy to attempt it - years later - was Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull. I was sure he was trying to adapt Kirk's sound to a rock genre but, when someone finally got around to asking him if Rashaan was an influence, he swore he never heard of him. Right.

I'm not sure where this info came from.  The first Jethro Tull album, This Was, contains Rahsaan's famous tune Serenade to a Cuckoo.  The liner notes of This Was say it is one of the first tunes Ian Anderson learned to play on the flute.

[jostber]

I have been on a Roland Kirk kick since last year and have bought a lot of his albums. So much great and exciting music. Among my favorites is the live "Bright Moments" and the wonderful "Blacknuss".

[roscoeiii]

I think I have an extra copy of The Return of the 5000 Lb. Man on LP if anyone in this thread is interested. Shoot me a PM. Would love to have it go to an AC Kirk fan.