Added: 3 years ago
From: simonj50
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  • "...my dad, the man..." LOVE and Miss you Vernon, Sr.!!! Thank you Leon, Lonnie, Richard D., Cecil, Roy, Richard L., James, and Pharoah...and of course to Horace for the original.

  • when i imagined the lyrics of this song after playing the instrumental many times i always thought of lyrics more like "papa was a rolling stone" by the Temptations. just what the song sounds like to me

  • penso che se dio avesse voce, forse sarebbe così

  • This is such a great song either side of the Warbling,

    You could play this at a fathers funeral but then have to shrug your shoulders and apologise for Leon Thomas`s warble lol

  • 1.02 Come on you Spurs !!!

  • I love this version but also I Iove the Horace silver version just as much. Great song about being a good father. There simply aren't enough (songs about fathers) these days. I hope one day my son feel the same way about me.

  • My Dad passed away this past summer June'11. He was 80 years old. I remember he would listen to jazz, play chess and smoke his marijuana. He was Generous, Gracious & Good. he was a KING. I loved him very much. Thank you for posting. Great Memories and Loving Times.......

  • oh yeah

  • The most beautiful Jazzsong ever!! Leon Thomas is great

  • I love this song. My father died in 2006. This song describes my dad. He was a great man!

  • I have loved the unique and powerful sound of Leon Thomas for forty years. His was a rare gift. This song touches my soul as I remember my own father who was my great inspiration as a man of strength, integrity and faith.

  • Leon Thomas (October 4, 1937 – May 8, 1999)

  • My father pass in 1973...i met him when i was 12 yrs. He would sit and play jazz on this old time radio recordplayer...we would talk some, but listen mostly to music...so when i hear this song by Leon or Horace Silver, i remember all the times we had to gather...He was only 48 when he past...work for the Gov. making ammo for the G.I.s...got lead poison. Miss you dad.

  • my dad passed away a few days ago -a beautiful man , a beautiful song.

  • I've loved Leon Thomas' version since I first heard it. My father passed away 1/10/07 and I miss him so very much. Leon Thomas' redention is magical for me. It's a very personal song for me because my relationship with my father didn't begin in earnest until I was 25 yrs old ('76). My parents divorced when I was 5. I visited him in San FrancIsco & he treated me to a Leon Thomas concert & he performed this song. When I think of my dad I listen to Leon Thomas' version & I cry tears of joy.

  • mhuummhummmhu

  • Thanks for posting this; I've been searching for this version for a while!

  • Well done, but I do prefer the original version :)

  • great song but i think the info is wrong. Horace Silver recorded this song in 1965.

  • @QuestionYourThoughts I think simonj50 is referring to the date this version was recorded.

  • I miss my dad sooooo much. I try not to think about him because I can't be with him. He's missed. This song takes me to the time when I learned about jazz, pot, and the guy who was the wind beneath my wings.

    Thanks L. Thomas. You make him so real ... 

  • My Dad died when I was 3 in 1956. My Mom never remarried and raised 3 boys mostly by herself in Baltimore, Md. This song ... alwayz takes me. Leon Thomas' interpretation is the one for me. His voice is such an instrument in and of itself. The instrumentalists are of the supreme type as well.

  • I understand all the people who don't like his technique or his supposed dissing of the original. They're all wrong. He is the quintessential jazz singer. His technique is fantastic and covers the best material. I love the originals his songs are based on just as much as his. Just like John Hendricks an other masters willing to take risks, add lyrics and annoy the so called traditional jazz fan. Go listen to something else and keep your narrow minded, false traditionalist opinions.

  • @detredlaw Good comment... articulate. Lyrics are a funny thing, some jazz cats are instrumental all the way, others are open to vocalists, acknowledging that the pipes/vocal chords are indeed an instrument. Certainly a good vocalist can dance around a melody and chord progression as good as a horn player. I dig Leon's voice, his range, his style. For him to sing that yodel/throat singing is fresh and very alive. I can imagine this also sung in French or Spanish, maybe Portugese, too.

    cheers

  • classic

  • I just can't take that god damn vocal solo seriously

  • @JazzNick67 - try and sing it. I never heard anything like this. And as a singer, I can tell you, this shit he's doing here ain't no joke. The vocal chords don't naturally perform that way. The dude's right on pitch and in the pocket. I been singing all my life and I can't even touch this technique yet. To me, this is jazz.

  • @MattieSongbird Check out Peter Rowan singing Land of the Navajo with Old And In The Way. This is the closest I've heard to Leon Thomas. watch?v=YW8CboRmNwU

    This is a reunion, but if you ever get a chance to hear the original, check it out.

  • @MattieSongbird amen.

  • @MattieSongbird Well said my dear, well said.

  • @JazzNick67 the voice is the first instrument. check out some african vocals for the use of the voice as an instrument. Leon is right in the pocket on this as well as others. sorry you don't get it.

    love me some leon thomas and andy bey.

  • My Dad died when I was three. He once saved me from drowning in about seven feet of water. He could not swim. He jumped in the water and held me above the surface til someone could save me. If there was ever a man who was gracious and good ...

  • first of all this is the original sung version... Stanley's not a proper version, its a reference/take. It starts with improv and finishes with improv. so clearly its not even the same song.

  • it's a good version, but i agree with prospectus91

  • Hands Down this version is by far the best, a fabulous tribute to any true Father, id love for my kids view me in these terms, and Leon song it magnificently in my humble opinion

  • stanley jordan's version's better!

  • This is a beautiful versionj by the great LEON THOMAS. R.I.P.

  • nice ! ですね.

  • love it both ways didn't know horace silver was so tremendous they will be doing a tribute to him at this years' 2010 Detroit Jazz Festival ! I love the Detroit Jazz Festival it is priceless thanks to MACK AVENUE RECORDS HEIRESS OF CARHARTT FOR SAVING IT! MACK AVE IS A STREET IN DETROIT!

  • I love my earthly and heavenly Fathers!

  • @TheCalebson I haven't heard this version in years!! I have the instrumental version by Horace Silver!! Thanks Jeri!!

  • very nicely done thanks you for a wonderful post. great photos to a terrific song Happy Fathers Day. jimmymac

  • I love this song, want to download it and can't find it....

  • leon thomas and this vocal version of a music icon, without doubt is the greastest, whether you appreciate jazz and vocalees or not. young folk who studying vocal take a listen and learn. alhumdiallah P.B.U.H. Leon Thomas

  • Wonderful Leon thomas, quiet and deep, one of my best at all, thank you.

  • Leon Thomas is incomparable. Beautiful. Thank you.

  • man i miss this song from the days of Detroit's WJZZ jazz radio

  • Loved this song when I first heard the Horace Silver version in '69. I always think of my dad when I hea this song. Just heard the lyrics for the first time, lost my Dad 1/10/07, and the words made me cry. The words and pictures made me feel his presence. I wonder about my son and what he thinks of me. Happy to say that I have tried to be to him what my father was to me and more. Dad rest in peace and Stephen I will always love you and be there for you son. Thanks for the post..

  • a dear friend posted this to his facebook page which is how I heard it for the 1st time. It is an absolutely amazing composure. I have played it about 10times and can't get enough. Leon's vocals, the piano, the flute and the congas are a dynamic combo. I've never known my dad but this song describes how I would dream of him being. Thanks for posting and thanx IVY for introducing it to me!! =) Lv ya!!

  • long time since Ive heard this a bit weird  but

    BEAUTIFUL

  • i grew up listening to the instrumental. never heard the words. Now that i have, i like the song even more. Even that tremolo thing he does is cool, very original. It has a sort of "tribal" feel to it.

  • Yo know It's so nice to see all these comments and not a hateful one in the lot...

    I love this song.

  • My DAD, Horace Silvers' great musical arrangement and lyrics with no one better to sing it than Leon Thomas  - about your DAD and my DAD, 'the man'...

  • Thanx. My father passed away 24 hours ago. The lyrics describe him to a tee.

    Thank you.

  • Great song....Richie Pablo Landrum on the congas....lol...That was one of the greates congo players ever!..

  • I wouldn't have been the man i am now, if it wasn't for my DAD.

    I love this song.

  • Still one of my favorite versions! I dedicaed this song to my dad years ago. Leon's warble used to drive him crazy! LOL :) But, he got into the groove :) and the bass :)

  • Sorry, but I much prefer the instrumental version of this song. To each their own.

  • respect

  • thanks. same to you.

  • i have to agree with you there but this is still rather nice

  • @prospectus91

    first of all this is the original sung version... Stanley's not a proper version, its a reference/take. It starts with improv and finishes with improv. so clearly its not even the same song.

  • @prospectus91 You're missing the point.

  • @bsauce420 LOL! And it only took 365 days for you to point it out.

  • @prospectus91 Sorry alright. Sorry that I had to read this inane post. I'd prefer that you STFU.

  • Comment removed

  • @JustJake57 LOL! Ah, those darn kids.

  • i was a kid half asleep and this song came on the radio. simple lyrics got me. the yodeling pulled out a deep yearning for my father. i woke up crying. classic.

  • very nice video

  • a Horace Silver original enhanced by Amos Leon Thomas....c'est magnifique!

  • I am speechless! Thanks for posting this.

  • I have been looking for this. See my playlist ... I listed the Deedee Bridgewater version.

    @

  • This was beautiful. My dad passed away 9 years ago this month, so this really touched me. Thank you.

  • i cant hear pharoah sanders

  • Me neither, now you mention it, but he is credited as "Little Rock ( Pharoah Sanders)" on the track notes, on the "Anthology" CD. Hmmmmm ?

  • The images of fatherhood really help bring the feelings out in the song.

    Thank you for taking the time.

    Dad's out there should be proud

    They really do matter.

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