Quincy Jones - Quincy's Got a Brand New Bag

In the 1960s, many jazz musicians put out albums of pop and R&B covers in an effort to get more airplay (in some cases any airplay at all).

Quincy Jones was no exception and in 1965 he gathered the cream of Los Angeles session players to record Quincy's Got a Brand New Bag, a collection of a dozen short, radio-friendly tracks. Bassist Carole Kaye, guitarist Rene Hall and saxophonist Jackie Kelso were some of the studio stalwarts on the date, along with big band veterans like trumpeters Joe Newman and Bobby Bryant and trombonist Urbie Green. Ray Charles played piano on some tracks.

James Brown, The Supremes and Marvin Gaye were among the artists whose hits were given the big band treatment. The leadoff track was Gaye's most recent chart record, Ain't That Peculiar. The MP3 is taken from vinyl.

Ain't That Peculiar

Best bet on getting Quincy's Got a Brand New Bag in a digital format is to opt for the download, which is easily obtained. The only CD version is an ultra-expensive Japanese import. Used vinyl copies also tend to be pricey.

Here's a rare Quincy Jones 45 from 1962, via YouTube. Slob't is a tarted up version of St. Louis Blues.

The "A" side of this record (the song Mercury Records wanted DJs to play) was something called Twistin' Chicken. I probably don't need to tell you that neither side was a hit.