Description
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. It is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, Will Fulford-Jones calling it “Basie’s last great record.”[2] It was voted number 411 in the third edition of Colin Larkin’s All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[3]
Recording
The tracks were recorded October 21–22, 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.[4]
Release
This was the first Basie album released by Roulette Records.[4]
Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic StarStarStarStarStar[5]
Disc StarStarStarStarStar[6]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music StarStarStarStarStar[7]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz StarStarStarStar[8]
The album won Best Jazz Performance, Group and Best Performance by a Dance Band awards at the 1st Annual Grammy Awards.[9] 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.”[5]
The success of the album led to Basie, Hefti and producer Teddy Reig collaborating again six months later to record Basie Plays Hefti.[4]
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)[10]
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