Friday, May 7, 2010

John Gregory : Six Million Dollar Man

The problem with John Gregory, aside from his having two first names, is that there are a lot of them out there. There are all sorts of John Gregorys and a bunch of them are musicians. But the John Gregory I'm talking about is the British composer and arranger from the 60's and 70's who also recorded albums under the pseudonym "Chaquito". And man, could this guy arrange the heck out of a tune.

Like most 70's cop and action TV themes, Oliver Nelson's theme for The Six Million Dollar Man is a tiny little gem of orchestral funk.  It's great listening in its own right (especially if the six million dollar sound effects are included). John takes this already fabulous tune and cranks the knob to eleven to create a rip-roaring brass-fueled musical adventure.

It starts with these crazy horn runs that swing back and forth between the speakers. Then the backbeat starts and the horns go to work on the main theme, but the flutes and other winds are still flurrying around the stereo spectrum. This little, almost disconcerting motif continues throughout the entire tune. Somewhere in the middle the band drops out and we get a nice drum and bongo solo. Then the band jumps back in and hits the theme again with even more gusto than before, if such a thing is possible.

It's a whirlwind of a piece and if you're lucky you can find it on John's 1976 release on Pye Records, The Detectives, which is, as it sounds, an entire record of funkified brass-driven detective themes. Yes, this album is awesome, and you should own it. I don't actually have the vinyl, but I do have Six Million Dollar TV Themes which is a compilation that includes this album, plus other cop show themes from other albums, almost all of which are just as awesome. Definitely worth grabbing.

[You can listen to John Gregory's "Six Million Dollar Man" by navigating to the post "Song090" and clicking or right-clicking on the title or the link.]


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