Jimmy McGriff
Biography
One of the all-time giants of the Hammond B-3, Jimmy McGriff sometimes gets lost amid all the great soul-jazz organists from his hometown of Philadelphia. He was almost certainly the bluesiest of the major soul-jazz pioneers, and indeed, he often insisted that he was more of a blues musician than a jazz artist; nonetheless, he remained eclectic enough to blur the lines of classification. His sound — deep, down-to-earth grooves drenched in blues and gospel feeling — made him quite popular with R&B audiences, even more so than some of his peers; what was more, he was able to condense those charms into concise, funky, jukebox-ready singles that often did surprisingly well on the R&B charts. His rearrangement of Ray Charles' "I Got a Woman" was a Top Five R&B hit in 1962, and further hits like "All About My Girl," "Kiko," and "The Worm" followed over the course of the '60s. McGriff spent much of the '70s trying to keep pace with the fusion movement, switching to various electric keyboards and adopting an increasingly smooth, polished style. As the '80s dawned, McGriff gave up trying to sound contemporary and returned to his classic organ-trio sound; as luck would have it, vintage soul-jazz soon came back into vogue with a devoted cult of fans and critics, and McGriff was able to recover his creative vitality and take his place as one of the genre's elder statesmen.. One of the all-time giants of the Hammond B-3, Jimmy McGriff sometimes gets lost amid all the great soul-jazz organists from his hometown of Philadelphia. He was almost certainly the bluesiest of the major soul-jazz pioneers, and indeed, he often insisted that he was more of a blues musician than a jazz artist; nonetheless, he remained eclectic enough to blur the lines of classification. His sound — deep, down-to-earth grooves drenched in blues and gospel feeling — made him quite popular with R&B audiences, even more so than some of his peers; what was more, he was able to condense those charms into concise, funky, jukebox-ready singles that often did surprisingly well on the R&B charts. His rearrangement of Ray Charles' "I Got a Woman" was a Top Five R&B hit in 1962, and further hits like "All About My Girl," "Kiko," and "The Worm" followed over the course of the '60s. McGriff spent much of the '70s trying to keep pace with the fusion movement, switching to various electric keyboards and adopting an increasingly smooth, polished style. As the '80s dawned, McGriff gave up trying to sound contemporary and returned to his classic organ-trio sound; as luck would have it, vintage soul-jazz soon came back into vogue with a devoted cult of fans and critics, and McGriff was able to recover his creative vitality and take his place as one of the genre's elder statesmen.
Top Albums |
1. Fly Dude
| 2. Groove Greas..
| 3. The Best of ..
| 4. The Best of ..
| 5. McGriff Aven..
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6. Let's Stay T..
| 7. Greatest Hit..
| 8. Crunch Time
| 9. 100% Pure Fu..
| 10. McGriff's Ho..
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11. The All Star..
| 12. Road Tested
| 13. Christmas Wi..
| 14. Soul Survivo..
| 15. On the Blue ..
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16. Tailgunner
| 17. Main Squeeze
| 18. Blue to the ..
| 19. Let's Stay T..
| 20. Fly Dude
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Top Songs |
| Name | Album | Time | Price | |
1. | Lift Every Voice and Sing | Best of Hank Crawford &.. | 6:03 | $0.99 | |
2. | Red Top | Kickin' the 3 - The Bes.. | 4:17 | $0.99 | |
3. | Jingle Bells | Holiday Organ Classics | 3:34 | $0.99 | |
4. | Worm | Blue Break Beats - 50 Of th.. | 3:23 | $1.29 | |
5. | Blue Juice | Blue Break Beats - 50 Of th.. | 5:03 | $1.29 | |
6. | Funky Junk | Best of B3 Organ | 3:45 | $0.99 | |
7. | Blues For Mr. Jimmy | Hammond Organ Soul | 4:57 | $0.99 | |
8. | All About My Girl | Hammond Organ Soul | 3:57 | $0.99 | |
9. | Funky Junk | Hammond Organ Soul | 3:45 | $0.99 | |
10. | Discotheque U.S.A. | Hammond Organ Soul | 3:24 | $0.99 | |
11. | Fat Cakes | Greatest Hits | 3:19 | $1.29 | |
12. | Ain't It Funky Now | Greatest Hits | 3:38 | $1.29 | |
13. | South Wes | Greatest Hits | 3:35 | $1.29 | |
14. | Blue Juice | Greatest Hits | 5:00 | $1.29 | |
15. | Last Minute | Greatest Hits | 4:17 | $1.29 | |
16. | Where It's At | Greatest Hits | 4:45 | $1.29 | |
17. | Cash Box | Greatest Hits | 3:41 | $1.29 | |
18. | See the Rider | Greatest Hits | 4:23 | $1.29 | |
19. | Kiko | Greatest Hits | 2:44 | $1.29 | |
20. | Discotheque | Greatest Hits | 3:24 | $1.29 | |
21. | I've Got a Woman | Greatest Hits | 4:34 | $1.29 | |
22. | All About My Girl | Greatest Hits | 3:56 | $1.29 | |
23. | Blue Juice | Worm | 4:59 | $1.29 | |
24. | Lock It Up | Worm | 5:13 | $1.29 | |
25. | Worm | Worm | 3:20 | $1.29 | |