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Beta Simp Guitar Legend Wes Montgomery Cucked Into Playing Boring Pop Tunes (2007 NPR Jazz Profile)

259 views · Published 5 July 2017 · 2:38 · Indexed 17 October 2026

Channel: art/research · 2017 · Music

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"I told him: listen, man, if you don't play somethin' that women, the kids can pat their feet and their hands and dance by or somethin', you gon' starve us to death! You gon' have to play somethin' WE like, because he was playin' music that I told him I wouldn't buy it. I said 'cause I don't understand what are you doin'. Now bluesy, I liked it. I said why don't you play a pretty blues, you know you can play pretty. I said if you gonna feed me and my kids, you gon' have to stop playin' the straight jazz, so that's what he did."
- Wes Montgomery's widow Serene

After his first big-time gig, touring with Lionel Hampton's band, Wes returned home to Indianapolis, where he worked days to support his growing family and played guitar in local bars all night. 

When Riverside Records went bankrupt, Creed Taylor of Verve Records signed the acclaimed guitarist, steering his career in a different direction. Although Wes recorded a few straight jazz albums with Verve, including his triumphant Smokin' at the Half Note, Taylor sought to bring Wes' music to a broader audience, convincing him to cover the R&B hit, "Goin' Out of My Head." The album, which earned Wes a Grammy Award, was his ticket to "crossing over" and made a name for him on the pop scene, enabling him to support his wife and seven children.

Wes Montgomery: 'The Unmistakable Jazz Guitar' (2007) -- http://www.npr.org/2007/09/26/14687657/wes-montgomery-the-unmistakable-jazz-guitar
http://www.npr.org/2007/09/26/14687657/wes-montgomery-the-unmistakable-jazz-guitar

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