Studio album by Wes Montgomery
Released: 1968
Recorded: May 7 – 9, 1968 at Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
Label: A&M
Producer: Creed Taylor
Road Song is an album by guitarist Wes Montgomery, released in 1968. It reached number one on the Billboard Jazz album chart and number 39 on the R&B chart. It also reached number 94 on the Billboard 200. It was his final recording before his death of a heart attack on June 15, 1968.
In his Allmusic review, music critic Scott Yanow wrote “The great guitarist sticks to simple melody statements (with a lot of octaves thrown in) while backed by Don Sebesky’s unimaginative arrangements for an orchestra; commercially the combination was a big success… this strictly for-the-money effort can be safely passed by.”
Track listing
- “Road Song” (Wes Montgomery) – 3:53
- “Greensleeves” (Public Domain, Traditional) – 2:04
- “Fly Me to the Moon” (Bart Howard) – 2:53
- “Yesterday” (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) – 3:26
- “I’ll Be Back” (Lennon, McCartney) – 2:33
- “Scarborough Fair/Canticle” (Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Traditional) – 4:55
- “Green Leaves of Summer” (Dimitri Tiomkin, Paul Francis Webster, Montgomery) – 3:58
- “Serene” (Montgomery) – 3:10
- “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” (Pete Seeger) – 3:06
Personnel
- Wes Montgomery – guitar
- Herbie Hancock – piano
- Grady Tate – drums
- Ed Shaughnessy – drums
- Ray Barretto – percussion
- Jack Jennings – percussion
- Bernie Glow – trumpet
- Marvin Stamm – trumpet
- Wayne Andre – trombone
- Paul Faulise – trombone
- Donald Ashworth – flute, clarinet, oboe, recorder, English Horn
- James Buffington – French Horn
- Harvey Estrin – flute, recorder
- Stan Webb – flute, clarinet, oboe, recorder
- George Marge – flute, clarinet, oboe
- Don Hammond – flute, recorder
- Hank Jones – harpsichord, piano
- Walter Kane – bassoon
- Bernard Krainis – recorder
- Eric Leber – harpsichord, recorder
- Bernard Eichen – violin
- Charles Libove – violin
- Tosha Samaroff – violin
- Charles McCracken – cello
- George Ricci – cello
- Alan Shulman – cello
- Emanuel Vardi – viola
Production notes:
- Creed Taylor – producer
- Don Sebesky – arranger, conductor
- Rudy Van Gelder – engineer
- Pete Turner – cover photo, photography
- Sam Antupit – design