1963 · Album
Blues For Lou
Recorded 1963 · Blue Note (1999 release) · Produced by Alfred Lion
The Organ's Shadow: Big John Patton's Blues
Big John Patton's organ defines this album—soulful, grounded, the real engine beneath Grant Green's guitar.
What makes Blues for Lou distinctive is Big John Patton on organ. Green was a prolific guitarist who recorded steadily, and this album—drawn from sessions in 1963—sits comfortably in his mid-career work. But Patton isn't just accompaniment here. His organ grounds every track with a soulful, bluesy pocket that transforms what could have been straightforward soul-jazz into something with real weight. Patton had a gift for finding the exact space where soul music and hard bop met, and on these recordings he anchors Green's playing with a kind of churchy, deliberate swing. The title track, named for saxophonist Lou Donaldson, signals the album's DNA—this is blues-inflected organ-combo jazz, the kind of thing that worked in clubs and churches alike. The sessions paired Green and Patton with drummer Ben Dixon, and together they created recordings that were solid, unpretentious, and deeply committed to the blues. AllMusic reviewer Ken Dryden acknowledged that while the material may not have cleared producer Alfred Lion's notoriously exacting standards, these performances were honest and worthwhile. The album sat unreleased for decades before emerging in 1999, which tells you something: it wasn't forgotten because it was bad, but simply because timing and circumstances moved on. This isn't a turning point in Green's career or a must-hear starter album. But if you already know Green's work and want to hear him in a setting where the organ player is driving the conversation, this one rewards the listen.
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