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Ramsey Lewis: The In Crowd

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This week marks the 50th anniversary of Ramsey Lewis's The In Crowd peaking on the Billboard pop chart at #5. The album of the same name went to #2 in early November 1965, and it remained on the chart for 47 weeks. What's particularly astounding about The In Crowd LP reaching #2 are the other albums on the chart. Above Ramsey's album at #1 was the Beatles' Help! Directly below at #3 was Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited. On down the list was the Sound of Music, Sonny & Cher's Look at Us, the Tijuana Brass's Whipped Cream & Other Delights, the Rolling Stones' Out of Our Heads, Mary Poppins, Herman Hermits on Tour and Barbra Streisand's My Name Is Barbra. A stunning achievement for a jazz trio and something of a music demarcation. The album marked the start of soul-jazz—the recording of pop hits of the day.

So last Saturday, I flew down to Nashville for the Wall Street Journal to hear Ramsey perform at the James K. Polk Theater—a beautiful modern space in the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. To read my article on The In Crowd, Ramsey's concert and why the recording is so important, go here.

Ramsey, 80, is one of jazz's most powerful living jazz pianists and can be compared only to Ahmad Jamal for his tender keyboard attack and powerful, eclectic technique. Ramsey began formal training on the piano at age 4. By age 9 he was playing piano in the family church in Chicago. By 15 he was in a jazz septet. The trio—with Ramsey, Eldee Young and Redd Holt—was formed in the mid-1950s, and the group became the house band for Chicago's Argo label. By the late '50s, the Ramsey Lewis Trio was recording on its own.

In May 1965, Ramsey, Eldee and Redd were at a coffee shop in Washington, D.C., trying to figure out which song they should adapt for their next live album at the Bohemian Caverns. The album was due to be recorded in just a few days. The waitress overheard them going back and forth and asked if they had heard Dobie Gray's The In Crowd. They hadn't, so she put it on the jukebox. Ramsey told me he knew instantly what he wanted to do with it. [Pictured, clockwise from front, right, Ramsey Lewis, Eldee Young and Redd Holt]

But the trio was skittish to play it during the first two sets on a Thursday night. The audience was a bit stiff. By the third set, at 1 a.m., the crowd that had come in and was loose. So the trio launched into The In Crowd and the audience began clapping immediately. To the this day, the song compels you to clap, and that's exactly what the audience in Nashville did on Saturday night.

I've seen many pianists in my time, so I don't say this lightly: Ramsey is incredible. His hushed style makes you lean in to hear him, but he slips in glissandos and other power touches to mix up the dynamics. His quartet was a trip as well—guitarist Henry Johnson, bassist Joshua Ramos and drummer Charles Heath.

I asked Ramsey about his love for Ahmad. Here's what he said:

“Ahmad and I were both on the same label—Argo. In the 1950s, Eldee, Redd and I used to go hear him play at Chicago's Pershing Hotel. It was one of the most exciting experiences to hear the Ahmad Jamal Trio live. It was almost embarrassing for me, he was that good. At one point, we played the Cloister Inn club at Chicago’s Maryland Hotel. We learned one of Ahamd's arrangements, but when we started to play it on stage, we fell apart. We had to go into something else. All I remember from that night is when we came off the stage, there was Ahmad. He had come to hear us and just laughed. He was glad to see us, and I was glad to see him. I butchered the song and he knew it. The point is his arrangements were much more difficult than they sounded, which is why no one sounds like him."

JazzWax tracks: You'll find the Ramsey Lewis Trio's The In Crowd here.

JazzWax clips: Here's Dobie Gray's 1964 version of The In Crowd...



Here's the Ramsey Lewis Trio's The In Crowd in 1965...

 

And here are the Mamas and the Papas in 1966...

 

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This story appears courtesy of JazzWax by Marc Myers.
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Album information

Title: The In Crowd | Year Released: 1965 | Record Label: Milestone

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