Odell Elliott Brown Jr. (February 2, 1940 – May 3, 2011)
was an American
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
organist. He was active in the late 1960s and early 1970s, playing
soul jazz
Soul jazz or funky jazz is a subgenre of jazz that incorporates strong influences from hard bop, blues, soul, gospel and rhythm and blues. Soul jazz is often characterized by organ trios featuring the Hammond organ and small combos including ten ...
and
jazz funk
Jazz-funk is a subgenre of jazz music characterized by a strong back beat (groove), electrified sounds, and an early prevalence of analog synthesizers. The integration of funk, soul, and R&B music and styles into jazz resulted in the creati ...
with his backing band as Odell Brown & the Organ-Izers.
Biography
Brown was born in
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
. He started playing the piano aged 4 as his mother was a part-time piano teacher. His father bought him a baby grand piano. After playing in various junior and senior high school bands, he went to Nashville, Tennessee and met musicians attending Tennessee State A&M. Wishing to enroll himself, his plans were soon curtailed when he was drafted into the army where he joined the Army Post Band. During this period, he gained valuable insight into arranging and orchestrating.
After leaving the army, Brown moved to Chicago where he was re-united with some of the musicians from his Nashville days. They formed a soul-jazz group, becoming known as "The Organ-izers" and within 2 years, were signed to
Chess Records
Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock and roll ...
' jazz subsidiary label,
Cadet
A cadet is an officer trainee or candidate. The term is frequently used to refer to those training to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. Its meaning may vary between countries which can include youths in ...
. The band's personnel was Odell Brown, Hammond organ, Artee "Duke" Payne and Tommy Purvis, tenor saxophones, and Curtis Prince, drums. Their debut album was titled ''Raising The Roof'' in 1966 followed by their most popular record, 1967's ''Mellow Yellow'', which reached #173 on the
''Billboard'' 200. Third album, ''Ducky'' (1967) was the last to feature the original band.
While at Chess, Brown was not only signed to the label but also worked as a staff musician playing and arranging for a wealth of other artists and gaining great insight and expertise into other styles of music. After the death of
Leonard Chess
Lejzor Szmuel Czyż (March 12, 1917 – October 16, 1969), best known as Leonard Sam Chess, was a Polish-American record company executive and the co-founder of Chess Records. He was influential in the development of electric blues, Chicago blu ...
in 1969, Brown decided not to re-sign with the label and during the 1970s, pursued a solo career as an independent arranger, producer and studio musician. During this period, he worked with artists such as
Minnie Riperton
Minnie Julia Riperton Rudolph (November 8, 1947 – July 12, 1979)
was an American singer-songwriter best known for her 1975 single "Lovin' You" and her four octave D3 to F7 coloratura soprano range. She is also widely known for her use o ...
(with whom he arranged and conducted an album on Epic Records),
Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, and one of the most influential musicians behind soul and politically conscious African-American music. ,
Johnny Nash
John Lester Nash Jr. (August 19, 1940October 6, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter, best known in the United States for his 1972 hit " I Can See Clearly Now". Primarily a reggae and pop singer, he was one of the first non-Jamaican artists ...
, and
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...
(both live and in the studio). Brown also co-wrote Gaye's hit single "
Sexual Healing
"Sexual Healing" is a song recorded by American singer Marvin Gaye from his seventeenth and final studio album, ''Midnight Love'' (1982). It was his first single since his exit from his long-term record label Motown earlier in the year, followin ...
" winning two
Grammy award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
s. He went on to receive further awards recognizing his many talents, later in life.
Brown had been living in
Richfield, Minnesota
Richfield is a suburban city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States near the confluence of the Mississippi River and the Minnesota River at Fort Snelling. An inner ring suburb of Minneapolis, it is bordered by Minneapolis to the north, Minn ...
since the early 1990s, to stabilize his professional and personal life. He died there on May 3, 2011, at the age of 71.
Odell Brown, 'Sexual Healing' co-writer, dies in his Richfield home
/ref>
Discography
As leader
* ''Raising the Roof'' (Cadet
A cadet is an officer trainee or candidate. The term is frequently used to refer to those training to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. Its meaning may vary between countries which can include youths in ...
, 1966)
* ''Mellow Yellow'' (Cadet, 1967)
* ''Ducky'' (Cadet, 1967 968
Year 968 ( CMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place Byzantine Empire
* Emperor Nikephoros II receives a Bulgarian embassy led by Prince Boris (th ...
* ''Odell Brown Plays Otis Redding'' (Cadet, 1969)
* ''Free Delivery'' (Cadet, 1969 970
Year 970 ( CMLXX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar, the 970th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' designations, the 970th year of the 1st millennium, the 70th yea ...
* ''Odell Brown'' (Paula, 1974)
As sideman
With Dorothy Ashby
Dorothy Jeanne Thompson (August 6, 1932 – April 13, 1986), better known as Dorothy Ashby, was an American jazz harpist, singer and composer. Hailed as one of the most "unjustly under loved jazz greats of the 1950s" and the "most accomplished ...
*''Dorothy's Harp
''Dorothy's Harp'' is a studio album by jazz harpist Dorothy Ashby released in 1969 via the Cadet label. A few years after releasing ''Dorothy’s Harp'', she started working with Stevie Wonder. The record includes two Brazilian-touched compositio ...
'' (Cadet, 1969)
With Cleveland Eaton
Cleveland Josephus Eaton II (August 31, 1939July 5, 2020) was an American jazz double bassist, producer, arranger, composer, publisher, and head of his own record company in Fairfield, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham. His most famous accompl ...
*''Plenty Good Eaton'' ( Black Jazz, 1975)
With Richard Evans
* ''Dealing with Hard Times'' (Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
, 1972)
With Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...
* ''Marvin Gaye Live!
''Marvin Gaye Live!'' is the second live album issued by soul musician Marvin Gaye, released on June 19, 1974, by Tamla Records.
Overview Returning to live performances
In 1973, Gaye released his greatest-selling album, ''Let's Get It On'', which ...
'' (Tamla
Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...
, 1976)
* ''Live at the London Palladium
''Live at the London Palladium'' is a live double album by soul musician Marvin Gaye, released March 15, 1977, on Tamla Records. Recording sessions took place live at several concerts at the London Palladium in London, England, in October 1976, ...
'' (Tamla, 1977)
* ''Here, My Dear'' (Tamla, 1978)
* ''Midnight Love
''Midnight Love'' is the seventeenth studio album by Marvin Gaye and the final album to be released before his death 17 months later. He signed with the label Columbia in March 1982 following his exit from Motown.
The disc was certified tr ...
'' ( Columbia, 1982)
With Eddie Harris
Eddie Harris (October 20, 1934 – November 5, 1996) was an American jazz musician, best known for playing tenor saxophone and for introducing the electrically amplified saxophone. He was also fluent on the electric piano and organ. His best-k ...
* ''That Is Why You're Overweight
''That Is Why You're Overweight'' is an album by American jazz saxophonist Eddie Harris recorded in 1975 and released on the Atlantic Records, Atlantic label. '' (Atlantic, 1975)
* ''The Reason Why I'm Talking S--t
''The Reason Why I'm Talking S—t'' is an album by American jazz saxophonist Eddie Harris recorded in 1975 and released on the Atlantic label. '' (Atlantic, 1975)
With Minnie Riperton
Minnie Julia Riperton Rudolph (November 8, 1947 – July 12, 1979)
was an American singer-songwriter best known for her 1975 single "Lovin' You" and her four octave D3 to F7 coloratura soprano range. She is also widely known for her use o ...
* ''Perfect Angel'' ( Epic, 1974)
* '' Stay in Love'' (Epic, 1977)
With Sonny Stitt
Edward Hammond Boatner Jr. (February 2, 1924 – July 22, 1982), known professionally as Sonny Stitt, was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. Known for his warm tone, he was one of the best-documented saxophonists of his ...
and Bunky Green
Vernice "Bunky" Green (born April 23, 1935) is an American jazz alto saxophonist and educator.
Biography
Green was raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he played the alto saxophone, mainly at a local club called "The Brass Rail".
Green's fir ...
* ''Soul in the Night
''Soul in the Night'' is an album by saxophonists Sonny Stitt and Bunky Green recorded in Chicago in 1966 and released on the Cadet label. '' (Cadet, 1966)
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Odell
1940 births
2011 deaths
American jazz organists
American male organists
Musicians from Louisville, Kentucky
Jazz musicians from Kentucky
American male jazz musicians