Inner City Blues (Grover Washington Jr. album)

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Allmusic
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide

Inner City Blues is the debut album by saxophonist Grover Washington Jr. It was recorded at the Van Gelder Studio in September 1971 and released in 1972. The title track was a cover of the recent hit by Marvin Gaye released in June 1971. The album also includes a cover of Bill Withers' hit "Ain't No Sunshine", released shortly before recording this album. In 2008, it was reissued on CD by Verve Records.

Track listing

1. "Inner City Blues" (Marvin Gaye, James Nyx Jr.) – 7:10
2. "Georgia on My Mind" (Hoagy Carmichael, Stuart Gorrell) – 4:38
3. "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" (Gaye) – 5:07
4. "Ain't No Sunshine" (Bill Withers)/"Theme from Man and Boy" (AKA "Better Days") (J.J. Johnson) – 8:32
5. "Until It's Time for You to Go" (Buffy Saint-Marie) – 4:35
6. "I Loves You Porgy" (Gershwin, Gershwin, DuBose Heyward) – 5:05

Personnel

• Grover Washington Jr. – tenor saxophone, alto saxophone
• Eugene Young, Thad Jones – trumpet, flugelhorn
• Wayne Andre – trombone
• Don Ashworth – baritone saxophone
• Bob James – electric piano, arranger, conductor
• Richard Tee – organ
• Eric Gale – guitar
• Ron Carter – bass, electric bass
• Idris Muhammad – drums
• Airto Moreira – percussion
• Hilda Harris, Marilyn Jackson, Maretha Stewart, Tasha Thomas – vocals

Strings

• Julius Brand
• Paul Gershman
• Julius Held
• Leo Kahn
• Harry Katzman
• Raoul Poliakin
• Max Pollikoff – violin
• Paul Winter – violin
• Anthony Sophos – cello
• Alan Shulman – cello
• Maurice Brown
• Charles McCracken

References

• CTI/Kudu Discography at Doug Payne.com