In a roomful of music majors (U of H) in Houston, many, many moons ago, the television appearence of Pete on Johnny Carson's show had them turning to me in AMAZEMENT..."HOW does he play like that?" they asked. "Gifted and Blessed" would be my answer now, but back then I just laughed.
When I first started playing drums I used to play to this song / album mainly on speed 16 because I couldn't keep up with Jack Sperling. Amazing but a "vastly under rated" drummer.
My dads poor album was full of ticks and scratches from playing over and over so many times during my practices!
What a nice touch he added.
The coolest thing is Jack flew in to N.O. from LA and never rehearsed. This whole live album was played right from the heart / soul!
Great stuff.
RIP Jack!
There's an incredibly good sounding version of this song on Decca's "Best Of Pete Fountain" CD - very lively, sparkling and exciting. Amazon also has it as an MP3.
I was given the Plenty of Pete Album in 1964 and absolutely went crazy listening to him. Couldn't come anywhere near his tone or playing but Pete was a great inspiration in my teenage years. Switched to piano later. Easier on the mouth.
When I was 14 yo I had already bought 14 Pete Fountain albums.
Jazz wise this was the best he ever made. There is more music from this concert that was never released. A university in LA has the tapes.
Don't know who has the rights to this music but it might explain why this concert has never been released on CD.
Of all the old LP's my parents owned this album is the only one I've kept...mostly because I fell in love with it back in college (I smuggeled it out of the house and my roomates and I played the crap out of it...still love it today..thanks for posting because i was wondering if these old recordings were lost...awsome to hear it on YT :)
Hey, I was about 13 when I bought this incredible album. Just loved all the cuts, so tight and together. The collaboration of these gifted musicians speaks for itself! And Jack Sperling's driving pace particularly on China Boy--- that amazing high-hat work moving the group along with unusual energy, almost seeming like he's hurrying the quintet but that's his magic. And the dual bass drums on his solo! Pow! This album screams to be re-released!!!!
This is one of my Favorite jazz albums, I have 2 copy's of this record it is a shame that it never was made in CD format. I burned my own copy of this to preserve the vinyl record from wear and tear. Thanks for sharing this great treasure .
