The Atomic Mr. Basie

The Atomic Mr. Basie (originally called Basie, also known as E=MC² and reissued in 1994 as The Complete Atomic Basie) is a 1958 album by Count Basie, featuring the song arrangements of Neal Hefti and the Count Basie Orchestra. Allmusic gave it 5 stars, reviewer Bruce Eder saying: "it took Basie's core audience and a lot of other people by surprise, as a bold, forward-looking statement within the context of a big-band recording."^[2] It is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, Will Fulford-Jones calling it "Basie's last great record."^[1] It was voted number 411 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).^[7]

The Atomic Mr. Basie
Studio album by Count Basie and his orchestra
Released	January 1958 (1958)
Recorded	21–22 October 1957
Studio	Capitol[i] (New York)
Genre	Swing, big band
Length	39:30[1] 56:34 (1994 Reissue)
Label	Roulette
Producer	Teddy Reig
Count Basie and his orchestra chronology
Count Basie at Newport (1957) The Atomic Mr. Basie (1958) Count Basie Presents Eddie Davis Trio + Joe Newman (1957)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Disc	[3]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[4]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz	[5]
Tom Hull	A−[6]

Recording

The tracks were recorded 21–22 October 1957. The tracks on the original release were all composed and arranged by Hefti. Part of the second day was used for recording tracks by Jimmy Mundy - "Silks and Satins" and "Sleepwalker's Serenade". It also featured recordings of "The Late, Late Show", which had been a hit for Dakota Staton that year, also likely arranged by Mundy. These additional tracks were released in 1994 on The Complete Atomic Basie.^[8]

Release

This was the first Basie album released by Roulette Records.^[8]

Reception

The album won Best Jazz Performance, Group and Best Performance by a Dance Band awards at the 1st Annual Grammy Awards.^[9]

The success of the album led to Basie, Hefti and producer Teddy Reig collaborating together again six months later to record Basie Plays Hefti.^[8]

Track listing

All tracks composed and arranged by Neal Hefti, except where indicated.

Original Release (1958)^[10]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Kid from Red Bank"	2:38
2.	"Duet"	4:10
3.	"After Supper"	3:22
4.	"Flight of the Foo Birds"	3:21
5.	"Double-O"	2:45
6.	"Teddy the Toad"	3:40
7.	"Whirlybird"	3:46
8.	"Midnite Blue"	4:25
9.	"Splanky"	3:35
10.	"Fantail"	2:50
11.	"Li'l Darlin'"	4:47

The Complete Atomic Basie Bonus Tracks (1994)^[11]

No.	Title	Length
12.	"Silks and Satins" (Jimmy Mundy)	4:05
13.	"Sleepwalker's Serenade (Alternative Take)" (Mundy, Hefti)	3:37
14.	"Sleepwalker's Serenade" (Mundy, Hefti)	3:39
15.	"The Late, Late Show" (Roy Alfred, Murray Berlin)	2:52
16.	"The Late, Late Show (Vocal Version)" (Alfred, Berlin)	3:02

Personnel

• Wendell Culley — trumpet
• Snooky Young — trumpet
• Thad Jones — trumpet
• Joe Newman — trumpet
• Henry Coker — trombone
• Al Grey — trombone
• Benny Powell — trombone
• Marshal Royal — reeds
• Frank Wess — reeds
• Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis — reeds
• Frank Foster — reeds
• Charles Fowlkes — reeds
• Count Basie — piano
• Eddie Jones — bass
• Freddie Green — guitar
• Sonny Payne — drums
• Joe Williams — vocals (track 16)
• Neal Hefti — arrangements (tracks 1–11)
• Jimmy Mundy — arrangements (tracks 12–14)

Notes and references

Notes

1. Basie's session for the Atomic album was at Capitol Studios Studio A (Capitol Records, Inc.), located in the Theater District, Midtown Manhattan, on the first floor (one floor up) in the Eaves Building at 151 West 46th Street. The Eaves Costume Company occupied the ground floor. (The Sound Studies Reader, Jonathan Sterne, ed., Routledge, 2012, pps. 310–311; OCLC 916524063)

References

1. Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (2008). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Octopus Books, London. p. 31. ISBN 978-1-8440-3624-0.
2. Eder, Bruce. The Atomic Mr. Basie at AllMusic
3. Hall, Tony (7 June 1958). "Best Basie". Disc. No. 18. p. 14.
4. Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0857125958.
5. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2006). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. Penguin Books. pp. 91–92.
6. Hull, Tom (n.d.). "Essential Jazz Albums of the 1950s". tomhull.com. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
7. Colin Larkin, ed. (2006). All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd ed.). Virgin Books. p. 153. ISBN 0-7535-0493-6.
8. Cuscuna, Michael (1994). The Complete Atomic Basie liner notes.
9. "1958 Grammy Winners". Grammy.com. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
10. "Count Basie – The Atomic Mr. Basie (Vinyl, LP) at Discogs". Retrieved 30 June 2012.
11. "Count Basie – Count Basie – The Complete Atomic Basie (CD, Album, Mono) at Discogs". Retrieved 30 June 2012.