Eddie Harris – Sham Time (1968) (recorded March 20, 1967)
Written by Harris for his breakthrough LP The Electrifying Eddie Harris, this red hot sax jam featured legends King Curtis, David "Fathead" Newman and Ray Barretto.
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Eddie Harris was a jazz innovator who designed his own instruments and memorably recorded “Compared To What” with Les McCann and his solo hit “Listen Here.”
On March 20, 1967, Harris was in New York City recording his breakthrough soul jazz LP The Electrifying Eddie Harris.
When released the following year in 1968, the LP hit #2 on the R&B album charts. Its single “Listen Here” was a #11 R&B hit, crossed over to #45 on the Billboard Hot 100, and became one of Harris’ signature songs.
The album’s masterpiece was arguably the red hot workout “Sham Time,” which opened Side Two. Its special guests were the legendary saxophonists King Curtis (playing tenor) and David "Fathead" Newman on baritone sax. There was also another baritone sax player, Haywood Henry from Alabama. He famously played on over 1,000 rock’n’roll records in the fifties and sixties, often anonymously.
Harris himself played electric tenor sax, equipped with a Varitone pickup and effects unit, which allowed it to be amplified without microphones and added various electronic effects. The Varitone was first sold in 1967 by the Selmer Instrument Company of Elkhart, Indiana, and this LP marked one of the first studio recordings it was used on.
The overall result was four times more funky saxes on this cut than any normal track had a right to feature, and a jam for the ages. If “Sham Time” has never been certified by medical professionals as impossible to sit still to, it should be.
“Sham Time” also featured Melvin Jackson on bass, Ray Barretto on percussion, and a pair of New Orleans trumpeters, Melvin Lastie and Joe Newman, who was not related to David “Fathead” Newman, although David did have Joe play on his classic Bigger & Better LP released the following year in 1968.
Further info:
“Eddie Harris and Me…,” Vinyl-Magic.com, June 27, 2021
#soul #jazz #funk #KingCurtis #DavidFatheadNewman #EddieHarris
YES! Eddie Harris!! Of all the jazz I own, I have more Eddie Harris (& Hugh Masekela) records than any other jazz musician. I absolutely love Eddie and his colorful and diverse jazz career that begins with the incredible Hard Bop of 'Exodus To Jazz,' he soars high with the free jazz of 'Electrifying' and 'Silver Cycles' and eventually gets down and funky with a lot of his early to mid-'70s output.
Sadly, he is often a forgotten man in Jazz circles. Despite being one of the great tenor sax players, Jazz purists often dismissed his later work due to his electrified sax in the late '60s and '70s. As you hinted in your piece, he took a turn for the unexpected and became the jazz version of Peter Frampton by creatively singing through his sax. It’s a weird and unforgettable sound, but you have to love and admire him for trying! I also love his singing voice - it's full of emotion. His 1972 album, "Sings The Blues" features both it and his singing through the sax and is a really great, but totally ignored gem in his discography.
You're right, tho, Harris will probably always be forever remembered for that 'Swiss Movement' LP with Les, but if people dive deeper they will be richly rewarded. His albums are also still pretty cheap and easy to find.