''Push Push'' is a 1971 instrumental album by

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 m ...

flutist The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

Herbie Mann Herbert Jay Solomon (April 16, 1930 – July 1, 2003), known by his stage name Herbie Mann, was an American jazz flute player and important early practitioner of world music. Early in his career, he also played tenor saxophone and clarinet (inclu ...

, on his

Embryo Records Embryo Records was a jazz and rock record label founded by Herbie Mann as a division of Atlantic Records, itself distributed by the Atlantic subsidiary Cotillion Records Cotillion Records was a subsidiary of Atlantic Records (from 1971 part ...

label with Atlantic, which features rock guitarist

Duane Allman Howard Duane Allman (November 20, 1946 – October 29, 1971) was an American rock guitarist, session musician, and the founder and original leader of the Allman Brothers Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame i ...

. The record explored a range of popular genres, such as R&B, rock and funk music to create what

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

calls a "generally appealing, melodic and danceable" album with an "impressive crew of musicians".''Push Push'', Herbie Mann, vinyl LP, Embryo Records/Cotillion, division of Atlantic Recording Company, 1971, stereo/SD 532

Background and recording

In 1969, Mann received permission from

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 ...

, the label to which he was then signed, to form his own label, which he called

Embryo An embryo is an initial stage of development of a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male spe ...

. ''Push Push'' was among his first albums to be released on his label.

Chart performance

On the ''Billboard'' Top LPs chart dated October 30, 1971, ''Push Push'' debuted at number 178. It was deemed a "Star Performer" by the magazine, meaning it had one of the greatest increases in sales over the preceding week. On the chart dated December 4, it attained its peak of 119. It also charted on the ''Billboard'' Top R&B Albums chart, where it peaked at number 21 on the same date.

Track listing

# "Push Push" (Herbie Mann) — 9:55 # " What's Going On" (

Renaldo Benson Renaldo "Obie" Benson (June 14, 1936 – July 1, 2005) was an American soul and R&B singer and songwriter. He was best known as a founding member and the bass singer of Motown group the Four Tops, which he joined in 1953 and continued to perfo ...

, Alfred Cleveland,

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 ...

) — 4:12 # " Spirit in the Dark" (

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in '' Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". Wit ...

) — 9:25 # "Man's Hope" (Traditional, arrangement by Herbie Mann, based on "

Hatikvah Hatikvah ( he, הַתִּקְוָה, haTīqvā, ; ) is the national anthem of the State of Israel. Part of 19th-century Jewish poetry, the theme of the Romantic composition reflects the 2,000-year-old desire of the Jewish people to return t ...

") — 6:54 # " If" ( David Gates) — 4:29 # " Never Can Say Goodbye" (

Clifton Davis Clifton Duncan Davis (born October 4, 1945) is an American actor, singer, songwriter, minister, and author. Davis wrote The Jackson 5's No. 2 hit "Never Can Say Goodbye" in 1971. He appeared on Broadway in the musicals '' Two Gentlemen of Verona ...

) — 3:32 # "

What'd I Say "What'd I Say" (or "What I Say") is an American rhythm and blues song by Ray Charles, released in 1959. As a single divided into two parts, it was one of the first soul songs. The composition was improvised one evening late in 1958 when Charl ...

" (

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

) — 4:55 # " Funky Nassau" (Ray Munnings, Tyrone Fitzgerald) (CD bonus track) — 4:55

Jacket design and notes

The original cover, by

Joel Brodsky Joel Lee Brodsky (October 7, 1939 – March 1, 2007) was an American photographer, best known for his photography of musicians, particularly his iconic "Young Lion" photographs of Jim Morrison. In his lifetime, he is credited with photographing o ...

, features an apparently nude Mann from the waist up, holding a flute resting on his shoulder. The album had the second "PUSH" die cut out, with the

gatefold A gatefold cover or gatefold LP is a form of packaging for LP records that became popular in the mid-1960s. A gatefold cover, when folded, is the same size as a standard LP cover (i.e., a 12½ inch, or 32.7 centimetre square). The larger gatefo ...

featuring a textured (flocked)

duotone Duotone (sometimes also known as ''Duplex'') is a halftone reproduction of an image using the superimposition of one contrasting color halftone over another color halftone. This is most often used to bring out middle tones and highlights of an ...

orange and black print of two torsos engaged in missionary style intercourse (no explicit content). The die cut reveals a small, unrecognizable portion of the print. The album's images generated controversy at the time. Later printings excluded the gatefold print, or eliminated the gatefold format entirely. Liner notes by Mann include: "P.S., Marvin Gaye's album '' What's Going On'' is the best album of the year!"

Personnel

Adapted from

- guitar, solos *

Cornell Dupree Cornell Luther Dupree (December 19, 1942 – May 8, 2011) was an American jazz and R&B guitarist. He worked at various times with Aretha Franklin, Bill Withers, Donny Hathaway, King Curtis and Steve Gadd, appeared on David Letterman,

- guitar (1, 2, 6) *

David Spinozza David Spinozza is an American guitarist and producer. He worked with former Beatles Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and John Lennon during the 1970s, and had a long collaboration with singer-songwriter James Taylor, producing Taylor's album '' Walkin ...

- guitar (incorrectly credited as David Spinoza) (3-5, 7), solo on "Man's Hope" *Gene Bianco - harp (1, 4) *

Richard Tee Richard Edward Tee (born Richard Edward Ten Ryk; November 24, 1943 – July 21, 1993) was an American pianist, studio musician, singer and arranger, who had several hundred studio credits and played on such notable hits as "In Your Eyes", " Sl ...

- electric piano, piano (1, 2, 4, 6), organ (1, 2, 4) *

Chuck Rainey Charles Walter Rainey III (born June 17, 1940) is an American bass guitarist who has performed and recorded with many well-known acts, including Aretha Franklin, Steely Dan, and Quincy Jones. Rainey is credited for playing bass on more than 1,0 ...

- bass (1, 2, 4) * Jerry Jemmott - bass (3, 7) *

Donald "Duck" Dunn Donald "Duck" Dunn (November 24, 1941 – May 13, 2012) was an American bass guitarist, session musician, record producer, and songwriter. Dunn was notable for his 1960s recordings with Booker T. & the M.G.'s and as a session bassist for Stax ...

- bass (4, 5) *

Bernard Purdie Bernard Lee "Pretty" Purdie (born June 11, 1939) is an American drummer, and an influential R&B, soul and funk musician. He is known for his precise musical time keeping and his signature use of triplets against a half-time backbeat: the "Purdie ...

- drums (1-3, 6, 7) *

Al Jackson, Jr. Albert J. Jackson Jr. (November 27, 1935 – October 1, 1975) was an American drummer, producer, and songwriter. He was a founding member of Booker T. & the M.G.'s, a group of session musicians who worked for Stax Records and produced their ...

- drums (4, 5) *

Ralph MacDonald Ralph Anthony MacDonald (March 15, 1944 – December 18, 2011) was a Trinbagonian-American percussionist, songwriter, musical arranger, record producer, steelpan virtuoso and philanthropist. His compositions include "Where Is the Love", a Gra ...

- percussion * Arif Mardin - producer * Jimmy Douglass - engineer

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1971 albums Embryo Records albums Herbie Mann albums Albums produced by Arif Mardin Albums with cover art by Joel Brodsky