Charlie Parker - The Happy Bird

I recently found myself on the wrong side of a discussion about Blue Note records. Everyone on the message board had been fawning over records that I had been listening to for years. Or rather, not been listening to for years because I felt over familiar with them.

Did this make them bad records? Of course not. But it also led me to thinking "Why don't I ever listen to those bebop records that turned me on so long ago?" I mean those records turned me on my ear at one time. I couldn't get enough of the slurred notes, that blistering pace, all the while sounding perfectly natural to me. Not a hint of anything "outside" no matter how wild they may have been in their time.

I have spent the last couple of weeks revisiting some of those records. I'm thinking I may like to share a few with you all.

And why not start with the master himself? A posthumous release on the label named after the man himself. I love the fact that this recording is less than perfect. I can only imagine what a live Parker performance must have been.

While those live performances have been documented extensively, unless you are a completest, there are plenty that slip by. Here's one I really like.

Charlie Parker
The Happy Bird

1. Happy Bird Blues
2. Scrapple From The Apple
3. I Remember April
4. I May Be Wrong

There are no liner credits on my lp, but I am sure someone will be along shortly to fill us in. And I mean that in the nicest way.


PLP-404

* a bit of research tells me this MAY have been recorded 4/12/51.