Don Patterson (organist)
Don Patterson (July 22, 1936, Columbus, Ohio - February 10, 1988, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was an American jazz organist.
Patterson played piano from childhood and was heavily influenced by Erroll Garner in his youth. In 1956, he switched to organ after hearing Jimmy Smith play the instrument. In the early 1960s, he began playing regularly with Sonny Stitt, and he began releasing material as a leader on Prestige Records from 1964 (with Pat Martino and Billy James as sidemen). His most commercially successful album was 1964's Holiday Soul, which reached #85 on the Billboard 200 in 1967.[1] Patterson's troubles with drug addiction hobbled his career in the 1970s, during which he occasionally recorded for Muse Records and lived in Gary, Indiana.[2] In the 1980s he moved to Philadelphia and made a small comeback, but his health deteriorated over the course of the decade, and he died there in 1988.
Discography
As leader
- Goin' Down Home (Cadet, 1963 [rel. 1966]) -with Paul Weeden, Billy James
- The Exciting New Organ of Don Patterson (Prestige, 1964) -with Booker Ervin
- Hip Cake Walk (Prestige, 1964) -with Booker Ervin [note: reissued on CD in 2010 by Groove Hut (#66708) Records]
- Patterson's People (Prestige, 1964) -with Sonny Stitt, Booker Ervin
- Holiday Soul (Prestige, 1964) -with Pat Martino
- Satisfaction! (Prestige, 1965) -with Jerry Byrd
- The Boss Men (Prestige, 1965) -with Sonny Stitt, Billy James
- Soul Happening! (Prestige, 1966) -with Vincent Corrao, Billy James
- Mellow Soul (Prestige, 1967) -with David "Fathead" Newman
- Four Dimensions (Prestige, 1967) -with Houston Person, Pat Martino, Billy James
- Boppin' & Burnin' (Prestige, 1968) -with Howard McGhee, Charles McPherson
- Opus De Don (Prestige, 1968) -with Blue Mitchell, Junior Cook, Pat Martino, Billy James
- Funk You! (Prestige, 1968) -with Sonny Stitt, Charles McPherson, Pat Martino, Billy James
- Oh Happy Day (Prestige, 1969) -with Virgil Jones, Houston Person, George Coleman
- Brothers-4 (Prestige, 1969) -with Sonny Stitt, Grant Green, Billy James
- Donny Brook (Prestige, 1969) -with Sonny Stitt, Grant Green, Billy James
- Tune Up! (Prestige, 1964 and 1969 [rel. 1971])
- The Return of Don Patterson (Muse, 1972 [rel. 1974]) [note: reissued on CD in 1991 as The Genius Of The B-3]
- These Are Soulful Days (Muse, 1973 [rel. 1974]) -with Jimmy Heath, Pat Martino, Albert Heath
- Movin' Up! (Muse, 1977) -with Richie Cole, Vic Juris, Billy James
- Why Not... (Muse, 1978) -with Virgil Jones, Bootsie Barnes, Eddie McFadden, Idris Muhammad
LP/CD compilations
- The Best Of Don Patterson (Prestige 7704, 1969)
- The Best Of Don Patterson & The Jazz Giants (Prestige 7772, 1969)
- Dem New York Dues (Prestige, 1995) (compilation of Opus De Don + Oh Happy Day)
- Legends Of Acid Jazz: Don Patterson/Booker Ervin (Prestige, 1996) (compilation of The Exciting New Organ Of Don Patterson + 1 track from Hip Cake Walk, and 1 track from Patterson's People)
- Steady Comin' At 'Ya (32 Jazz, 1998) [note: all Muse material]
- Legends of Acid Jazz: Sonny Stitt/Don Patterson, Vol. 2 (Prestige, 1999) (compilation of Soul Electricity! + Funk You!)
- Legends Of Acid Jazz: Don Patterson/Booker Ervin/Houston Person - Just Friends (Prestige, 1999) (compilation of Hip Cake Walk, Patterson's People, Four Dimensions, + 1 track from Tune Up!)
- The Boss Men (Prestige, 2001) (compilation of Night Crawler, The Boss Men + 2 tracks from Patterson's People)
- Brothers 4 (Prestige, 2001) (compilation of Brothers-4, Donny Brook + 1 track from Tune Up!)
As sideman
With Gene Ammons
- Legends Of Acid Jazz: Gene Ammons (Prestige, 1997) (compilation of The Black Cat + As You Talk That Talk; also included is the single, "I Can't Stop Loving You" b/w "My Babe", recorded in 1962 by the Gene Ammons/Don Patterson quartet, and originally released on the various artists compilation The Soul Jazz Giants [Prestige 7791] in 1971)
- I Only Have Eyes for You (Prestige, 1962) -with Paul Weeden Trio [note: reissued on Groove Hut (#66720) in 2014]
- Trackin' (Prestige, 1962) -with Paul Weeden, George Duvivier, Billy James [note: reissued on Groove Hut (#66720) in 2014]
With Eric Kloss
- Introducing Eric Kloss (Prestige, 1965)
- Love and All That Jazz (Prestige, 1966)
With Sonny Stitt
- Boss Tenors in Orbit! (Verve, 1962) -with Gene Ammons
- Feelin's... (Roost, 1962) [note: reissued on CD in 2013 by Essential Jazz Classics]
- Low Flame (Jazzland, 1962) [note: reissued on CD in 2013 by Essential Jazz Classics]
- My Mother's Eyes (Pacific Jazz, 1963) -with Charles Kynard [note: reissued on Groove Hut (#66705) in 2007; this CD reissue has added as a bonus, 4 previously unreleased tracks (the complete session) that Stitt recorded with Patterson on September 11, 1966 in New York]
- Shangri-La (Prestige, 1964)
- Soul People (Prestige, 1964) -with Booker Ervin
- Night Crawler (Prestige, 1965)
- Parallel-a-Stitt: Sonny Stitt On The Varitone (Roulette, 1967)
- Soul Electricity! (Prestige, 1968) -with Billy Butler
- Black Vibrations (Prestige, 1971) -with Melvin Sparks