Wes Montgomery

Released: 1968

Recorded: May 7 – 9, 1968 at Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey

Label:  A&M

Producer:  Creed Taylor

Road Song is an album by guitarist Wes Montgomery, released in 1968. It reached number one on the Billboard Jazz album chart and number 39 on the R&B chart. It also reached number 94 on the Billboard 200. It was his final recording before his death of a heart attack on June 15, 1968.

In his Allmusic review, music critic Scott Yanow wrote “The great guitarist sticks to simple melody statements (with a lot of octaves thrown in) while backed by Don Sebesky’s unimaginative arrangements for an orchestra; commercially the combination was a big success… this strictly for-the-money effort can be safely passed by.”

1. “Road Song” (Wes Montgomery) – 3:53
2. “Greensleeves” (Public Domain, Traditional) – 2:04
3. “Fly Me to the Moon” (Bart Howard) – 2:53
4. “Yesterday” (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) – 3:26
5. “I’ll Be Back” (Lennon, McCartney) – 2:33
6. “Scarborough Fair/Canticle” (Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Traditional) – 4:55
7. “Green Leaves of Summer” (Dimitri Tiomkin, Paul Francis Webster, Montgomery) – 3:58
8. “Serene” (Montgomery) – 3:10
9. “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” (Pete Seeger) – 3:06

• Wes Montgomery – guitar
• Herbie Hancock – piano
• Grady Tate – drums
• Ed Shaughnessy – drums
• Ray Barretto – percussion
• Jack Jennings – percussion
• Bernie Glow – trumpet
• Marvin Stamm – trumpet
• Wayne Andre – trombone
• Paul Faulise – trombone
• Donald Ashworth – flute, clarinet, oboe, recorder, English Horn
• James Buffington – French Horn
• Harvey Estrin – flute, recorder
• Stan Webb – flute, clarinet, oboe, recorder
• George Marge – flute, clarinet, oboe
• Don Hammond – flute, recorder
• Hank Jones – harpsichord, piano
• Walter Kane – bassoon
• Bernard Krainis – recorder
• Eric Leber – harpsichord, recorder
• Bernard Eichen – violin
• Charles Libove – violin
• Tosha Samaroff – violin
• Charles McCracken – cello
• George Ricci – cello
• Alan Shulman – cello
• Emanuel Vardi – viola

Production notes:

• Creed Taylor – producer
• Don Sebesky – arranger, conductor
• Rudy Van Gelder – engineer
• Pete Turner – cover photo, photography
• Sam Antupit – design