Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a 1964 studio album by organist Jimmy Smith, released on the Verve label. Smith is accompanied by a big band with arrangements by Oliver Nelson and Claus Ogerman.[2]
| Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | March 1964 | |||
| Recorded | January 20–21 & 27, 1964 | |||
| Studio | Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs NJ | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 35:06 | |||
| Label | Verve V6-8583 | |||
| Producer | Creed Taylor | |||
| Jimmy Smith chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| DownBeat |   [1] |
| Allmusic |  [2] |
Reception
editThe album received 4½ stars in DownBeat magazine. That review stated
Smith has been consistently paring his technique through the years, and this album has reached a zenith in his use of simplicity and taste.[1]
AllMusic reviewer Michael G. Nastos, only gave the album 2½ stars stating that:
The music tends to be corny and overly dramatic, based in soul-jazz and boogaloo; it's dated even for this time period (1964) and a bit bland... A curiosity in his discography, for some an "experiment" that never worked, and for others an interesting aside, one wonders what Smith really thought of this project after the fact, considering his far greater works.[2]
The album was Smith's third highest charting album, spending 31 weeks and charting as high as number 16 on the US Billboard 200 charts.[3]
Track listing
edit- "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" (Richard Rodgers) – 7:06
- "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Pt. 1" (Don Kirkpatrick, Keith Knox) – 4:29
- "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Pt. 2" (Kirkpatrick, Knox) – 5:00
- "John Brown's Body" (Traditional) – 5:18
- "Wives and Lovers" (Burt Bacharach, Hal David) – 3:17
- "Women of the World" (Riziero Ortolani) – 5:47
- "Bluesette" (Toots Thielemans) – 3:40
Recorded on January 20 (#1), 21 (#2-3) and January 27 (#4-7), 1964.
Personnel
editMusicians
edit- Jimmy Smith – organ
- Oliver Nelson – arranger (#1-3)
- Claus Ogerman – arranger, conductor
Technical
edit- Creed Taylor – producer
- Val Valentin – engineer
- Rudy Van Gelder – engineer
- Acy Lehman – design
- Roy De Carava – photography
- Daddio Daylie – liner notes
Chart performance
editAlbum
edit| Chart (1964) | Peak position |
Total weeks |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard 200 | 16[3] | 31 |
Single
edit| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Pt. 1" | Billboard Hot 100 | 72[4] |
References
edit- ^ a b DownBeat magazine, June 18, 1964, p. 26
- ^ a b c Allmusic review
- ^ a b "Billboard 200 - Jimmy Smith". Retrieved December 19, 2017.
- ^ "Billboard Hot 100 - Jimmy Smith". Retrieved December 19, 2017.