Quincy Jones – The Dude

Album Revolution #11

Ok...I have to approach this review much differently than usual...

Why?

Well, it's 1981, and "Quincy Jones", at this point of his Career had NOTHING to prove...He was approaching his 50's, and HONESTLY, if he wanted to retire, HE COULD!!!!

But, he just finished 3 OUTSTANDING Projects...1: "Q" continued to help "The Brothers Johnson" CEMENT their Legacy, with "Light Up The Night"..2: He Composed, Arranged and Produced the Sound Score and Soundtrack to the Musical, "The Wiz"....And, 3: and MOST astonishing, after hanging out with the ONE and ONLY, "Michael Jackson", "Q" started to help "Mike" take OVER the Music World, with one of the MOST BILLIANT albums EVER in "Off The Wall"....Then on top of ALLL THAT, "Q" started his own Label, "Qwest Records", and used the Label to give Guitar GIANT, "George Benson" one of his BIGGEST albums, "Give Me The Night".....

Whew!!!! That's enough, right?!?!?! Maybe if your name wasn't "Quincy Jones"!!!!!

I started to realize that Artists like "Q" ALWAYS looked to "What Can I Do Next"? We can be thankful for that, because "Q" was about to (believe it or not) Release his BEST ALBUM EVER in , "The Dude"!!!!!!

Really???? Best EVER???? You would think that after Recording for over 30 years that "Q" would have done that....But, like I said earlier, "Q" NEVER stopped growing...We probably could have picked a HANDFULL of his albums for that Category, but once "The Dude" dropped, ALL THAT went OUT THE WINDOW!!!!

As always, "Q" would rely VERY HEAVY on his Friends, but with this Project, "Q" went past just pulling out ALL THE STOPS!!!! He RAN THROUGH the STOP SIGN!!!!!!!

Saying ALLLL of that, we start with a BLAST, with the RUMPIN', BUMPIN', "Ai No Corrida"....

Now I just had to found out what this meant....BOY!!!! It came from a Sexual Japanese Film with the English Title: "In the Realm Of The Senses".....I should have known from the Lyrics!!!!! Leave it to "Q" to get away with having us Groove to this t, with half of us not knowing what it meant (LOL!!!!)....On top of that, we have "Wattsline" alum "Charles May" and "Ms. Patti Austin" KILLING on Vocals, while "Louis Johnson" on Bass ("The Brothers Johnson"), "Herbie Hancock" on Electric Piano" and a couple of "Rufus" Fellows in "David "Hawk" Wolinski" (Clavinet), and "John Robinson" (Drums), holding the Rhythm Section DOWN!!!!

The "Title Track", Co-Written with his Buddy "Rod Temperton", is a straight "Strollin' Down The Street" t!!!! You even had "Q" ING the "Hip-Hop" Culture with his "Rhymes", while there was STRONG Vocal by: "Jim Gilstrap", "Lalomie Washburn (who Wrote "Your Smile" for "Rufus featuring Chaka Khan" from their "Rufusized" album), "Ms. Syreeta Wright", "Ms. Patti Austin" and the ONE and ONLY, soon the be "KIng of POP", "Michael Jackson".....

Besides also having the ONE and ONLY "Stevie Wonder" on the set, there was another GIFTED Brother Introduced to us on Vocals.."Mr. James Ingram"....This Brother right here could sing about a Mouse crawling on the floor and make it sound FANTASTIC!!!! I may sound a little DRAMATIC on that, but hear this Guy at the end of this t TAKE IT HOME, and You tell me....

"James Ingram" was also featured on the "Grammy Award" Winning, "Just Once"...Yes, this "Barry Mann", "Cynthia Weill" Written song may be a little sappy, but SO WHAT!!!! It is GOOD SAPPY!!!! "James" Vocals just RIPS though this very EMOTIONAL t, having ALL the Lovers get on the Dancefloor and "Slow Dance"...Hey, what can I say, this is the PERFECT t for that!!!!!

The "Stevie Wonder" Pinned, "Betcha' Wouldn't Hurt Me", has "Ms. Patti Austin" BLESSING us with her FANTASTIC Vocals...This Groovy t also will make you think twice in how a Person operates in a Relationship...PRICELESS!!!!

Side 2 starts with the Smooth and Groovy, "Somethin' Special"....Written by "Rod Temperton", "Ms. Patti Austin's" Vocals GLIDES ever so EFFORTLESSLY over this Sultry Track..."Kim Hutchcroft's" Saxophone Vibes also adds to the allure of this Smooth Jam....I just wonder if this was ANOTHER t rejected by "Heatwave"? Sorry Guys, that just REALLY BLOWS my mind!!!!!

"Razzamatazz" though.....

This is another one of those "Isaac D. Body Sway" ts that I just can't EXPLAIN why it is SO SPECIAL to me...."Ms. Austin" again, just GETS DOWN on another RUMPIN', BUMPIN' Track...My Daughters used to laugh at me when they were younger, when they used to see their Father just GO CRAZY over this....But, now, my Oldest and Middle Daughter goes around the house Singing it, and my Youngest has it on what she calls her "Daddy's Playlist"....I am a PROUD PAPA!!!!

"James Ingram" comes back to GRACE us on "One Hundred Ways"....This is another Sultry t just TURNED OUT by "James"...I can't prove it, but I believe that between this Smooth t, and "Just Once", is why "Q" signed "Ingram" to his "Qwest" Record Label...SMART CHOICE "Q"!!!!!!

Ok, "Jodeci" fans....I want you to either get out your, "The Show • The After Party • The Hotel" or "Best Of Jodeci" albums, and listen to "Get On Up"...Then, I want You Guys to check out, "Velas"...Yes, that's where that FAMOUS Sample came from!!!!! That beginning, "Toots Thielemans" Whistle, along with his Guitar and Harmonica, along with the "Louis Johnson Bass", will make you feel EVERY WAVE of "Q's" hands....Man!!!!!, this is just GENIUS!!!!!!!

"Ms. Patti Austin" comes back and helps us end this MASTERFUL album with the "Rod Templeton" pinned, "Turn On The Action"....We just have ANOTHER Groovy t, that also QUALIFIES for a Dancefloor Dream....Usually I would prefer a Slow t to end an album like this...But then again, we are talking about "Quincy Jones"....'Nuff Said!!!!!

"The Dude", this Ultimate, Ultimate, Ultimate, Ultimate, Ultimate, Ultimate Crown Jewel album, was JUST IT!!!!! It was PLAYED EVERYWHERE!!!! It won 3 Grammys, and it was (and STILL IS) one the MOST sought out albums of our time....You Guys, NAILED IT, when You called it a MASTERCLASS Album!!!!!

But now changes come....

Despite the SUCCESS of the album for "Quincy" and "A&M Records", "Q" decided not to renew with the Label...Well, that kind of makes sense, since he started "Qwest Records"...I guess "A&M" got salty about that, because they vetoed "Q" from working with various Artists on their Label, ESPECIALLY "The Brothers Johnson"....Wow...The Music Business...Well, that just made "Q" even MORE DETERMINED to make "Qwest" work, and IT DID!!!! Hey, we are talking about "Quincy Jones" here!!!!!

Well, despite any of that, "The Dude" has gone down as one of those Classic albums referred to ALL THE TIME!!!! Hey, even "A&M Records had to it that down the line...Just Sayin'

I've said elsewhere that this album is like a masterclass in Q's production technique. Having had it mothballed for many years, I've been replaying it and the album holds up really well even today. Yeah, "Just Once" might seem like it's a bit too slick but on the other hand, it shows how Q could craft what has become a timeless pop music standard for the ages.

Matrix Runout (Side 1 runout) variant on my album: A&M SP03721A-T3 T1 (T1 preceding A&M)
Matrix Runout (Side 2 runout) variant on my album: A&M SP03721B-S1 E (E opposing side of runout)

Quincy Jones - The Dude (1981), what do we want more musically. I don't know if the L.A session scene was bursting with creativity with the likes of Louis Johnson, John Robinson, Ian Underwood, Jerry Hey, Steve Lukather, Greg Philinganes and company or Mr. Jones is truly a genius himself, with no additional explanation, but one thing can affirm with precision, this album is a MASTERPIECE! A wonderful and dreamy mix of Disco-R&B-Jazz perfectly melded. And right after that, we know what happened, Michael Jackson's Thriller, and with that, no more is needed from this man.

There is no beating the master himslf, Mr.QJ! This album showcases the power of positive collaboration that only QJ's recipe can produce.Definitely a collectors item.