Before Jimmy Smith came along in the mid-1950s Wild Bill Davis (1918-1995) was considered the leading jazz organist.
Davis's original instrument was guitar and he played and arranged for the big band of Milt Larkin, a Texas aggregation that included horn players like Arnett Cobb and Illinois Jacquet. From 1937 to 1942 Davis was an integral part of Louis Jordan's band, the Tympany Five, at the height of their popularity, playing piano and arranging.
Davis switched to organ full time in the late 1940s and continued recording and performing into the early 1990s.
Free, Frantic and Funky was recorded for RCA Victor in 1965. As the title indicates it was very much in the R&B and blues vein, with titles like Hit the Road Jack, Well Git It and the standard C.C. Rider.
C.C. Rider
Besides Davis on organ the personnel on C.C. Rider includes Bob Brown on flute, Dicky Thompson on guitar and Jimmy Hopps, drums.
Free, Frantic and Funky has not received a CD or legal download release.
Here's what Wild Bill Davis sounded like when he was leading a popular organ trio in the early '50s. Things Ain't What They Used to Be was released as a two-part single (45 and 78) by Okeh in 1954.
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