Rating: **** (4 stars)
Title: Coryell
Company: Vanguard Apostolic
Catalog: VSD 6547
Year: 1969
Grade (cover/record): VG/VG
Comments: original inner sleeve
Available: 1
GEMM catalog ID: 4110
Price: $20.00
Cost: $1.00
Normally I avoid jazz-rock fusion with a passion. It's not that I don't admire the technique or dedication displayed by its advocates, rather the genre typically strikes me as cold and calculated. In this instance It just so happens I was at a flea market and found a guy selling a bunch of LPs at a dollar a piece. I picked up four albums and gave the guy a $5 bill. Naturally he didn't have any change (probably BS on his part), so I ended up picking up this set out of desperation.
Darn did I luck out in this case!
I'll be the first to tell you that my knowledge of Larry Coryell is pretty limited. I've heard some of his later career jazz-rock offerings and while quite accomplished, most of it doesn't do much for me. What I didn't realize is that Coryell also had some rock roots in his past. As a teenager growing up in Washington State, he played in a number of rock bands and by the late 1960s he'd become an admirer of Cream and Jimi Hendrix.
All hyperbole aside, his second solo endeavor, 1969's "Coryell" is a guitar players dream. Produced by Danny Weiss, tracks such as "Sex" and the blazing instrumental "The Jam with Albert" serve as a wonderful showcase for Coryell's instantly recognizable playing. It's hard to describe, but he's incredibly versatile, able to effortlessly handle all types of genres. He also plays with what may be rock's most biting tones. Full of razor sharp, machine guy bursts, even at this early stage of his career, material such as "Beautiful Woman" and the pretty "Elementary Guitar Solo #5" displays a jazzy-orientation, but it's never overwhelming and never without attractive rhythms and melodies. The album also sports a couple of Coryell vocal performances. As a singer he won't shake your world, but on selections such as "No One Really Knows" he's much better than most reference works would have you believe. Besides, backed by an impressive catalog of jazz buddies, including Bernard Purdie and Chuck Rainey, this is easily the most rock-oriented effort in his catalog. Certainly not a typical Coryell offering and not meant to tell anyone to go out and buy his whole catalog, but an interesting, early career side trip.
"Coryell" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) Sex (Larry Coryell) - 3:54
2.) Beautiful Woman (Larry Coryell) - 4:36
3.) The Jam with Albert (instrumental) (Larry Coryell) - 9:19
(side 2)
1.) Elementary Guitar Solo #5 (instrumental) (Larry Coryell) - 6:52
2.) No One Really Knows (Larry Coryell) - Julie Coryell) - 5:08
3.) Morning Sickness (Larry Coryell) - 5:22
4.) Ah Wuv Ooh (instrumental) (Larry Coryell - Julie Coryell) - 4:24