At the 9th Annual GRAMMY Awards (1966), presented on March 2nd, 1967, Wes Montgomery won the grammy for BEST INSTRUMENTAL JAZZ PERFORMANCE – GROUP OR SOLOIST WITH GROUP for Goin’ Out Of My Head.
Goin’ Out of My Head was producer Creed Taylor’s idea that Montgomery should do a cover of the title song, a 1964 hit by Little Anthony and the Imperials.
“If you take away the R&B performance and just look at that song, it’s an absolutely marvelous song to improvise on.” “I can remember to this day when I brought that record to him,” Taylor says. “He was actually at the Half Note, in the West Village. He was there with Wynton Kelly and that group. I brought the record by and said, ‘Listen to it. Oliver Nelson is going to write the chart for this, and Oliver can take any kind of a song and mold it into a context that you’re going to be very happy with.’ So he decided, ‘OK, whatever you say,’ more or less.
Wes Montgomery: The Softer Side of Genius – Josef Woodard, jazztimes.com
TO READ
Discogs [Wes Montgomerys artist page and discography]
grammy.com [Wes Montgomery’s Grammy Nominations and wins]
jazztimes.com [Wes Montgomery: The Softer Side of Genius, Josef Woodward]
TO LISTEN
Going’ Out Of MY Head [Full album – music.youtube [free]]