Lou Donaldson - Mr. Shing-A-Ling LP (Tone Poet Series)

Mr. Shing-A-Ling, has long been considered the best of Lou Donaldson’s funk/soul albums from the late-60s, & includes a who’s who of great soul jazz players including Blue Mitchell,  Jimmy “Fats” Ponder & Leo Smith. Donaldson’s funky version of “Ode to Billie Joe” is the most sampled track in Blue Note history, with artists including A Tribe Called Quest, Kanye West, Drake, Lauryn Hill, Mary J Blige, J Dilla, De La Soul, Eminem, and many more using the track for inspiration. 

Blue Note Tone Poet Series

The Blue Note Tone Poet Series was born out of Blue Note President Don Was’ admiration for the exceptional audiophile Blue Note LP reissues presented by Music Matters. Was brought Joe Harley (from Music Matters), a.k.a. the “Tone Poet,” on board to curate and supervise a series of reissues from the Blue Note family of labels.

Extreme attention to detail has been paid to getting these right in every conceivable way, from the jacket graphics and printing quality to superior LP mastering (direct from the master tapes) by Kevin Gray to superb 180 gm audiophile LP pressings by Record Technology Inc. Every aspect of these Blue Note/Tone Poet releases is done to the highest possible standard. It means that you will never find a superior version. This is IT.

Blue Note Records’ Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series is produced by Joe Harley and features all-analog, mastered-from-the-original-master-tape 180g audiophile vinyl reissues in deluxe gatefold packaging. Mastering is by Kevin Gray (Cohearent Audio) and vinyl is manufactured at Record Technology Incorporated (RTI).

Tracklist:

A1: Ode To Billie Joe
A2: The Humpback
A3: The Shadow Of Your Smile