The pianist Les McCann, who died Dec. 29 at the age of 88, was known for his song “Compared to What.” But he had a long and celebrated expansive career that preceded — and followed — that hit.
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Not every jazz musician, even the most successful, has a song that hits the pop charts. The pianist Les McCann, who died last Friday at the age of 88, had a big one.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “COMPARED TO WHAT”)
LES MCCANN: (Singing) Everybody now – trying to make it real compared to what? Come on, baby.
SUMMERS: That is McCann’s 1969 live recording of “Compared To What,” a song that became his signature. But he had a long and celebrated career that preceded that hit and followed it. We’re joined now by musician and broadcaster Greg Bryant of WRTI-FM in Philadelphia. Greg, welcome.
GREG BRYANT, BYLINE: Thank you so much, Juana, it’s great to be here.
SUMMERS: Greg, tell us, if you can, how McCann came to record this somewhat unlikely hit and just how popular it was.
BRYANT: Oh, my goodness. Well, Les McCann and his buddy Eddie Harris, the saxophonist, were invited to perform at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. They got there a couple of days before, but their band didn’t arrive. So the day of the show, the bassist, Leroy Vinnegar, gets there. The drummer, Donald Dean, he gets there, but there’s no time to rehearse. So there’s this brief soundcheck where Les shows Eddie at the piano two of the songs, and then they have to go on. So essentially, “Compared To What” was this tune that Les knew from the songwriter Eugene McDaniels. It was kind of in the air. It was kind of going around in their particular musician circles. Somehow, it wasn’t a train wreck.
SUMMERS: (Laughter).
BRYANT: Although they both thought that the performance was so rough around the edges it would never pass as an album.
SUMMERS: What about his other hits? How did he follow that incredible signature song up?
BRYANT: Well, Juana, his opus…
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