Possibly the best known of Strata’s releases, The Lyman Woodard Organization’s ‘Saturday Night Special’ is rightly heralded as a jazz fusion classic. Recorded in 1975, ‘Saturday Night Special’ features organ, electric piano and Mellotron by bandleader Lyman Woodard alongside guitar and bass by Ron English, with drums and percussion by Leonard King, Bud Spangler & Lorenzo "Mr. Rhythm" Brown respectively. Despite the fairly sparse instrumentation, ‘Saturday Night Special’ lays down an impressive wall of sound, powerfully atmospheric in its almost low-fi aesthetic. Hinting at more traditional jazz, rhythm & blues, afrocuban styles and more, the uniqueness of this album is surely in its feel: summoning up images of a vast industrial landscape, assembly lines and urban decay. In other words, this record sounds like Detroit.
TRACK LISTING
Side 1
1. Saturday Night Special
2. Belle Isle Daze
3. Saturday Night Special (Alternative Take)
4. Joy Road
Side 2
1. On Your Mind
2. Creative Musicians
3. Help Me Get Away
4. Cheeba
5. Saturday Night Special (Lost Alternate Mix)
6. Allen Barnes
7. Belle Isle Daze (Lost Alternate Mix)