Bill for Bennie (By David Fathead Newman, Ray Charles On Piano)

Album: Fathead, Atlantic 1304, 1960.

Recorded on November 5, 1958 at the Atlantic Recording Studio, New York.

Ray Charles (p), David Newman (as), Marcus Belgrave (tp); Hank Crawford (bs), Edgar Willis (b), Milt Turner (ds). Arranged by Hank Crawford. Recording engineer: Tom Dowd.

Fathead (By David Fathead Newman, Ray Charles On Piano)

Album3: Fathead, Atlantic 1304, 1960.

Recording date: November 5, 1958 at Atlantic Recording Studio, New York.

Ray Charles (p), David Newman (as), Marcus Belgrave (tp); Hank Crawford (bs), Edgar Willis (b), Milt Turner (ds). Arranged by Hank Crawford. Recording engineer: Tom Dowd.

Hard Times (By David Fathead Newman, Ray Charles On Piano)

Album3: Fathead, Atlantic 1304, November 1958 (1960).
Single (A, Part 1; B, Part 2): Atlantic 5002, 1960.

Soul jazz pur sang.

Recorded on November 5, 1958 at Atlantic Recording Studios, New York.

David Newman - alto saxophone; Ray Charles - piano; Marcus Belgrave - trumpet; Hank Crawford - baritone saxophone; Edgar Willis - bass; Milt Turner - drums. Arranged by by Hank Crawford. Engineer: Tom Dowd.

Mean to Me (By David Fathead Newman, Ray Charles On Piano)

Album3: Fathead, Atlantic 1304, 1960.

Recording Date: November 5, 1958 at the Atlantic Recording Studio, in New York.

Ray Charles (p), David Newman (as), Marcus Belgrave (tp); Hank Crawford (bs), Edgar Willis (b), Milt Turner (ds). Arranged by Hank Crawford.

Sweet Eyes (With David Fathead Newman)

Album: Fathead, Atlantic 1304, 1960.

Recording date: November 5, 1958 at Atlantic Recording Studio, New York.

Ray Charles (p), David Newman (as), Marcus Belgrave (tp); Hank Crawford (bs), Edgar Willis (b), Milt Turner (ds). Arranged by Hank Crawford. Recording engineer: Tom Dowd.

Tin Tin Deo (With David Fathead Newman)

Album: Fathead, Atlantic 1304, 1960.

Recording date: November 5, 1958 at Atlantic Recording Studio, New York.

Ray Charles (p), David Newman (ts), Marcus Belgrave (tp); Hank Crawford (bs), Edgar Willis (b), Milt Turner (ds). Arranged by Hank Crawford. Recording engineer: Tom Dowd.

Audio here.

Weird Beard (With David Fathead Newman)

Album3: Fathead, Atlantic 1304, 1960.

Recording date: November 5, 1958 at Atlantic Recording Studio, New York.

Ray Charles (p), David Newman (ts), Marcus Belgrave (tp); Hank Crawford (bs), Edgar Willis (b), Milt Turner (ds). Arranged by Hank Crawford. Recording engineer: Tom Dowd.

Willow Weep For Me (With David Fathead Newman, Ray Charles On Piano)

Album: Fathead, Atlantic 1304, 1960 (November 1958).
Album (DVD): Ray Charles à Montreux 1978, S.p., S.a.

Recording Date: November 5, 1958 at Atlantic Recording Studios, New York.

Ray Charles (p), David Newman (as), Marcus Belgrave (tp); Hank Crawford (bs), Edgar Willis (b), Milt Turner (ds). Arranged by Hank Crawford. Recording engineer: Tom Dowd.



Live:
Twenty years later the Montreux Jazz Festival reunited Ray with Fathead and Hank, and combined them with a combo led by Dizzy Gillespie. They took the Willow arrangement from '58, but this time Crawford played alto himself. Ray played his electric piano (and scatted a little in the end), but the main merit of the clip below is that Ray and Hank turned it into a true masterclass (giving the poor rhythm section a very hard time...).

Subject: keep it slooooooooooooooooooooooooow.

With Hank Crawford (as) and David Newman (ts), Dizzy Gillespie (tp), Ray Charles (el.p., voc), Mickey Roker (ds), Kenny Burrel (g), George Duvivier (b).

Fathead (Ray Charles Presents David Fathead Newman)

1. Hard Times
2. Weird Beard
3. Willow Weep for Me
4. Bill for Bennie
5. Sweet Eyes
6. Fathead
7. Mean to Me
8. Tin Tin Deo

By 1958 the "Ray Charles Sextet" (as it was sometimes announced) sounded at least as good as any of the other well known bands of the era - the Horace Silver group, the Art Blakey group, Cannonball's groups, or the Blue Note groups with Kenny Dorham and Joe Henderson. Ray Charles concluded that his 'small big band' was ready for a jazz album. David Newman's soloing took it to an even higher level.

The title Weird Beard was a reference to Marcus Belgrave's goatee.

Personnel:
David Newman - tenor saxophone (tracks 2, 4, 5, 6, 8), alto saxophone (tracks 1, 3, 7); Ray Charles - piano; Marcus Belgrave - trumpet; Bennie (Hank) Crawford - baritone saxophone; Edgar Willis - bass; Milt Turner - drums. Arranged by by Hank Crawford.
Recording Engineer: Tom Dowd. Recording Date: November 5, 1958 at Atlantic Recording Studios, New York.
Album: Atlantic 1304, January 1960.

Hard Times (from a Fathead gig at Fort Worth, in 2007):












Tin Tin Deo: audio here.