js Released in 1970, MGM’s “Jimmy Smith Golden Archive Series” is an LP that features a collection of tunes Smith recorded in the mid 60s on the Verve label. Although much of Smith’s output over the years involved mixing blues with jazz, the resultant music he created covered a wide variety within that blues/jazz language. Whereas Jimmy’s classic Blue Note recordings were dry pure distilled blues-hard bop with no frills and usually recorded with small combos, his recordings with Verve had much more production, quite often a backing big band and included some pop tunes of the day along with the blues. The presence of some sugar coating and pop melodies though does not mean that these songs are overly commercial sellouts. This is still a solid jazz record and not near as commercial as some of the discofied music Smith and other B3 players would put out in the 70s and 80s.

The sound and production on this album is excellent and if you are looking for some mid-60s Jimmy Smith on vinyl, this collection goes for much cheaper than the albums these songs were originally pulled from. Most of the tunes on here are good, but one highlight, if you like good Hammond cheeze, is Jimmy’s melodic remake of the ultra-catchy pop classic “1-2-3”. One classic Smith Verve song that is missing from this collection is “The Cat”, one of his best known songs from that era.