Few jazz records have a backstory quite like this one. When Blue Note pressed The Sidewinder in 1964, they ran off just 4,000 copies — expecting a modest release from a respected but hardly commercial trumpeter. They sold out in days. By January 1965, the album had reached No. 25 on the Billboard chart, the title track had cracked the Hot 100 as a single, and Blue Note had been pulled back from the brink of bankruptcy by a 24-bar blues that nobody saw coming.
Lee Morgan was 26 years old. The Sidewinder was his masterpiece.
The title track is the centrepiece — a soul-jazz groove so infectious it ended up soundtracking Chrysler TV ads and became one of the most recognisable themes in jazz. But the album holds up across all five tracks: Totem Pole, Gary's Notebook, Boy What a Night and Hocus-Pocus all carry the same hard bop energy, recorded live to tape at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in New Jersey with a band locked completely in the pocket.
In 2024, the Library of Congress inducted The Sidewinder into the National Recording Registry, citing its cultural and historical significance. One of 17 Essential Hard Bop Recordings according to AllMusic. A crown pick in The Penguin Guide to Jazz.
Some records belong in every collection. This is one of them.
Few jazz records have a backstory quite like this one. When Blue Note pressed The Sidewinder in 1964, they ran off just 4,000 copies — expecting a modest release from a respected but hardly commercial trumpeter. They sold out in days. By January 1965, the album had reached No. 25 on the Billboard chart, the title track had cracked the Hot 100 as a single, and Blue Note had been pulled back from the brink of bankruptcy by a 24-bar blues that nobody saw coming.
Lee Morgan was 26 years old. The Sidewinder was his masterpiece.
The title track is the centrepiece — a soul-jazz groove so infectious it ended up soundtracking Chrysler TV ads and became one of the most recognisable themes in jazz. But the album holds up across all five tracks: Totem Pole, Gary's Notebook, Boy What a Night and Hocus-Pocus all carry the same hard bop energy, recorded live to tape at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in New Jersey with a band locked completely in the pocket.
In 2024, the Library of Congress inducted The Sidewinder into the National Recording Registry, citing its cultural and historical significance. One of 17 Essential Hard Bop Recordings according to AllMusic. A crown pick in The Penguin Guide to Jazz.
Some records belong in every collection. This is one of them.
A1 The Sidewinder
A2 Totem Pole
B1 Gary’s Notebook
B2 Boy, What A Night
B3 Hocus-Pocus
Lee Morgan (Trumpet)
Barry Harris (Piano)
Bob Cranshaw (Bass)
Billy Higgins (Drums)
Joe Henderson (Tenor Saxophone)
