I was a publicity agent for bands in London in the 1970s (Kaygee Publicity, Denmark St) and we represented Eddie Harris when he came and recorded the London sessions. He was a lovely guy and when I was given a copy of Swiss Movement I immediately knew this song was THE stand-out track, brilliant in every way, from the great, joyful ensemble playing to those fantastic truth-filled words from Gene McDaniels. We have to look at what's happened since and coming now and admit: compared to the days of Compared To What, we're in a very deep rut indeed.
When I was 14, my Dad took me to the coast for a Jazz concert, and at that concert I saw Eddie Harris and Les McCann perform this song. It changed my life, I fell in love with Jazz. It was one of the best gifts he ever shared with me. Thanks Dad....
Lucky you. I only had the original album to listen to -- with my friend in Chicago -- back in the day, 1969, I believe. I've been listening to this ever since and it is as fresh as when I first heard it. Unfortunately, I'm not. Oh well. Tomorrow is another day. No -- check that! Tomorrow is NOT just another day! Tomorrow we excise this deep deep wound from our body politic in the name of Donald J. Trump and we welcome the duo of Biden and Harris. As Etta James would say: "At last."
It's been a couple of months over 50 years, that my dad turned me to this song and started me out on the road to becoming a man,I am now a grandfather with 3 grandsons, their dad knows this song and now the 14 and 12 year Olds know this song also, 50 years since I first heard it, now my grandsons know it,music It's eternal.
Yeah, I can play it over and over Heard it years ago somehow and then picked it up again in the last couple years. Lyrics still ring true. Shared with sax player and pianist friends of mine It should be higher up on the lists
“Goddammit! Tryin to make it real compared to what!?” Such a raw and real and memorable piece. I haven’t heard or seen this in a long ass time. I’ve been humming it to myself for about 50 years. Love it!
@@michaelwoodward9894 I don't know about "always", and while I understand your point, black anger, be it this piece, James Baldwin, or Nina Simone, is black anger. (A white Canadian's perspective)
The great Les McCann with the late great Eddie Harris playing Try To Make It Real Compared To What... I'm not that old but I have always loved jazz! They don't have the Jazz Clubs like they used to RIP LES❣️
I remember one cold night in Anchorage Alaska, when had just got here,Sept 1971,my dad was sitting on the couch drinking Johnny Walker Red,he said here boy ,listen to this,I was 16,I'm 65 now,and my dad had passed but I still love this song and still love him for turning me on to it.
Tommy Brown... I can relate. My dad played this album wen I was a kid. He passed in 2012, I'm pushin 60, and this is STILL one of my all-time favorite jazz cuts.
You have a wonderful father. I remember my father taking me to see Dave Brubeck at Arie Crown Theater in 1974 and the warm up was Herbie Mann after his Push Push album was released. I've never been the same since. Peace.
Your father deemed you mature enough and ready for "the talk"! It's here, in the mix with a virtual lifetime of spiritual truth. These men join with every other human, joining their voices to speak the truth, from their oppressed perspective. From slave quarters to gulags to a corner of the West Wing, people will and MUST talk. Enough is enough. Nothing gets changed until SOMEONE gets mad enough to do something about it. Period.
Same here. In my early teens I first heard this song playing in a record store in Harvard Square... (Cambridge, MA in the early 1970's, Atlantic Records). I bought the album and wore it out and always wished I could have seen the live performance! Amazing to watch!!!
A revelation to me too! Stumbled across it by accident--no, this was no accident! My dad played this to death! Heard it a million times, never SAW this!!! THANK YOU FATHER!
OMG. I knew "Compared to What" with Les and Eddie. The video started playing and I immediately exclaimed "I have this album". My goodness I must have purchased this when it was 1st released and it is in pristine condition. It was great seeing the actual performance of the recording. I cranked it up to push the sound through my very capable computer speaker system. I played it again, and again. Then my wife left to run an errand so I went down to the theater sound system and pushed it though that. Whew! Now at 78, the good old days revisited.
R.I.P. Les McCann, please spread some love and heartfelt condolences to his family. The Kentucky native joined the West Coast jazz scene, but his performance of "Compared to What" at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1968 transcended geography.
Like. I said 1 guy on a mixer and 100 thousand dollars worth of equipment will never ever ever compare to what 6 guys with real lifetime experience bringing their own mix to the magic is priceless I've listen to this literally 1000's of times still in awe 9-3 2020
This album was in a lot of households in the neighborhood when it came out and you knew it was Friday or Saturday night when your folks played this joint. 9 years old when this came out!! As kids, we couldn’t wait til Les cussed in the break!! The band was cooking on this!!
Yes, we are in a deep, deep rut. (When I canvassed for Obama, I said I hoped he would help " get us out of the toilet.") I am thinking this time around, I might work for Cornel West, a contributor to the volume 'The 60's Without Apology'.
I laughed a little when they used it for Coca-Cola commercials a few years back. It's a pretty satirical song for that. Technically they used a song, "Real Compared to What," which samples the original, but somehow I can't see Coke executives in Atlanta saying "Church on Sunday, sleep and nod, trying to duck the wrath of God!"
Enjoying it May 2024. A friend played this in 71? and I was hooked on jazz. Still sounds great and is still relevant 55 yrs later! This was the FIRST TIME this song was played!! Virtuoso musicians!!!!
He performed this song in the later months of 1969. I didn’t know Roberta Flack sang the same song in the early months of 1969. So I guess people like the second version of this song. The second artist who performed this song in 1969 is forever attached to the song
First time I heard this I walked in the house back in winter of 1984 and I heard my father singing along to it in the den. I’m a hardcore rap fan EPMD, Nas, Mobb Deep, Goodie Mobb and NWA but this is the hardest I ever heard. As a young 10 year old I listened to the song over and over and understood the man my father was. A Great Man. Rest in Peace Mr. McCann.
Profound. Something to Say, Something to Hear, Something to Watch, Something to Appreciate, Something to Admire, Something to Aspire to, Something to Teach, Something to Celebrate. ~with Gratitude to Les McCann, Eddie Harris and this entire group!
OMG What a beautifully written statement which covers everything about this amazing tune. BRAVO HASHACHAR 70 Thank you - it is truly the best comment I believe I ever read and you hit every aspect of this amazing song. PROFOUND INDEED.
50 years ago this was the song that opened the door to the world of jazz for me…. Man this was smoking we’d slide the needle back to hear a great piano run a second and third time some of them were so good… talk about soul… this was the epitome of soul jazz!
THE actual performance that's on the album ... I was so totally jazzed when I found this video ... I played the record so many times since I first heard it in 1971 that I know every note → and knew instantly this was the real deal ... Amazing how fresh it still sounds ...
Man!! This is one cold piece, and it just makes me smile everytime i hear this masterpiece, just like the 😃 smile i have on my face now. PEACE and LOVE EVERYONE.
Great jam. Still have the vinyl but grooves are a bit deeper. The Euro folks let it all out by unison stompin'/applause. They know what's happenin'. Rick
WOW! How is it that nothing just spontaneously burst into flames on that stage, this was so hot! What musicianship, and what a GREAT song! The lyrics are so relevant *now*! Also, how is Les McCann not a household name?
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LOLZ. Pop music is always shit. The 60s probably had the most exceptions to that, but this was not "pop". The ARCHIES were 60s pop. They're not bad as pop goes, but they're still pop. You have to search out good music in any era.
Saw them in concert at Kool Jazz Festival 1970 hosted by Ramsey Lewis....Mind Blowing ...now as a 69 year old this tune has been flowing through my mind. A mantra for our lives in America
In the sixties when I was a kid until. I move out on my home every Saturday my dad would play his albums an this was one of the songs he would play now when I listen to the words , I realize my dad was very aware of the message an how the music motivated him , how life was for a black man , I miss those Saturday mornings an my dad 💔💖💗💙💚💛🧡💜
chicken feathers without one nut obediently waiting in line to have God-knows-what injected into our bodies, as usual assuming what preachers and other authorities tell us must be true. i have always wanted to hear a version by the composer along with his comments on the lyrics. i don't get the thing about King Tut.
The song itself, written by Eugene Daniels speaks to the American condition. Then, and now. Totally awesome performances by 5 artists who must of known they were creating a moment that would never be forgotten. The one person that needs wider recognition is Benny Bailey!!
I've got this on vinyl. Only came here as I wanted to share with a friend. What I am saying is that many more people love this than the 4k figure suggests. Some people who grew up with it don't even know youtube! ;o)
I had no idea this was filmed!! I had a cassette copy when I was in school and found a vinyl copy a few years later in a second hand shop. Two incredible musicians here! I had the pleasure of meeting Eddie Harris in the jazz cafe in London back in the 90s - very warm person.
Always loved this tune. Read somewhere where these cats hadn't performed this song prior to this event. Shows you what kind of professionals these musicians be. 🎼
Tremendous, Les McCann is a genius, miss the bit where he introduces the band, "Benny Bailey ... Eddie Harris". Live at Montreaux, we were younger then
A classic performance of a classic song! Les McCann's playing and his vocals are out of this world!! These brothers are cooking!!! I just love seeing this performance, and I'm so glad and thankful that it was captured on video.
Eddie Harris love being in East Lansing. He tore the place up at the stables and walked out into the parking lot while playing this song. The crowd went crazy. 3:07
Hot damn, this is so fly. Les McCann was The Man. I was reading yesterday about his passing a few days ago on Dec. 29, 2023, and found an interview in which he revealed smoking hash for the first time immediately before hitting the stage for this concert at the legendary Montreux Jazz Festival. Said he didn't know where he was or what he was doing. His band said, "Play, man." And so he did. Wish I could deliver a performance like this while baked off my ass on hash. I say again, hot damn. Scorsese got some mileage out of this tune for the Casino (1995) soundtrack. Marty has impeccable musical taste. RIP, Les.
I love that moment when Benny Bailey steps up to solo, but Eddie wants to take one more round. A beautiful moment of improvisational chaos and recovery. His big smile says it all, "Take it, brother!"
Eddie was on a roll, it was the right move, even if a little disrespectful... but the horn player made up for it at his turn! Man, he blasted his way in!
1969 and I was in 7th grade. By some miracle I found this album and bought it. It became a central element of my core jazz collection and influenced my early jazz appreciation as much as, or more than any other except Miles and Bill. I might have been a weird teenager, but I was cool! My parents tolerated it, for which I am forever grateful!
Met these guys at a jazz club in Denver 1973. Parking lot, pot smoke everywhere, break between sets. They were pretty cool to let a youngster like me hang, chill and smoke out. Dig it, man.
I love this song. The message is the same today in 2020 as it was, when it came out 50 plus years ago. People in power feel they are better than everybody else. We can't quit till we get our share, that the system should have for the rest of all of us.
I've lived with, and loved this LP since 1972, which means, as I write this, for over 45 years. In my mind, "Live at Montreux" meant some huge outdoor venue, with the players up on stage and the huge crowd digging these guys, down below... ...and now, having recently found this footage, which I had no idea existed, I find that this epochal performance was executed in what was almost an intimate Jazz-club setting. (My mind now successfully sustains my fanciful original images, and the cinema verite images here.) Benny Bailey's trumpet playing is incredibly soulful, all chitlins over McCann's churchified piano, and, because I knew that he was part of this session, I always assumed that the extremely tight 2-horn lines I heard on this track were played by he and EH, but I now know that I was mistaken: Those "2-horn" lines are by Eddie Harris himself, singing through his mouthpiece in unison with what he's playing on tenor. This 1969 LP was a game-changer for the Jazz audience, and the Jazz musicians themselves, and we are all the richer for it.
Just as relevant now in 2022 as it was in 1970! Sometimes you just have to admit that you are angry about what is taking place in the world and the unreality of it, in order to move forward, or transcend it, and this song has a wild energy that many have lost to help in that movement.
Like everybody else who has weighed in, I simply love this song, the musicians and the performance, and always will. And the lyrics? Still as topical today as the year they were written. A masterpiece.
This was the first jazz album I ever owned. 1969, Swiss Movement. The second, Kind of Blue. Bought them together. They were my intro to jazz. Must have been great intuition.
Wow, what a blast seeing this video for the first time. I fell in love with this take when I heard it in 1969 and have played it every year since then. Timeless and awesome. Les McCann passed away on Friday. RIP to him and to Eddie Harris and Benny Bailey. I'm sure they are jamming in Glory!
When I was little child in the 60's my late Brother Mike RIP would have this album cover out, we use to ask him to play this so we can hear Les sing "Got damnit" LMBO
The best use of Make it real I've ever heard in the song.... Man was I ever born in the wrong area... jamming on the drums for 40 years but I would have given to sit in with these cats
One night I heard a sound on sound mix on WWRL consisting of TheStaple Singers " you gonna make me cry " & Eddie Harris ' " more soul than soulful " That was 1966 , now this compilation. Been loving them forever ❤ 🤗💯
It was asked earlier ho are the players during this session? They are listed below. Eddie Harris - tenor saxophone Les McCann - piano, vocals on "Compared to What" Benny Bailey - trumpet Leroy Vinnegar - bass Donald Dean - drums This is a classic performance and I am so glad that it was captured on film. The guys "kicked ass" on this one.
I just saw another classic performance with Marcus king and billy strings at the rooster walk music festival in which m.king sang a version of compared to what.21 yo blew me away.
Everyone has a Compared To What story, here's mine. I used to live in Louisville, KY and the black radio station, WLOU, played all the black RnB hits through the daylight hours but they signed off at 12 Midnight. The last song they played was Compared To What, it was jazz and I'm sure gave whoever was the last DJ and engineer a chance to get everything ready for the next day. I just happened to catch the song one night and that was all it took. Since there was no DJ to announce who the artist was and it was jazz, it took me a minute to track the info down. Then when I did, the album I got had the same parts censored as the radio version that I had heard. But I still got the album. Decades later, when I worked at Best Buy and they sold music, I spotted Atlantic Jazz Soul, a complication that had the uncensored live cut. I was in Paradise. Now I am trying to find a replacement for the CD that I played to death. This song never gets old and the words and meaning are still relevant today. Wow!!
Kareen Abdul Jabbar just posted this on his substack in honor of Les McCann's passing -- and I realized it's been like a year since I listened to it. What was I thinking?! This jam NEVER gets old, and I'm gonna keep playing it for the rest of my life! Thank you, Les and Eddie and Benny! And thanks to Kareem for reminding me. (If you want to read a quality 'newsletter/life musing' journal, subscribe to Kareem's!)
