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Lyman Woodard - R.I.P.

motorcityfunkmotorcityfunk 128 Posts
edited February 2009 in Strut Central
Damn. http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090226/ENT04/902260485Longtime Detroit musician Lyman Woodard, a master of the Hammond B3 organ, died Tuesday in his hometown of Owosso. "Lyman was a great B3 organist in the style of Jimmy Smith," said guitarist Dennis Coffey. "I first played with Lyman at the Frolic Showbar on the Lodge Service Drive by Clairmount in Detroit. Melvin Davis was the drummer." Later, the trio performed at Morrie Baker's jazz club on Livernois Avenue in Detroit. Woodard, 66, had emphysema and was ailing after a fall he suffered several months ago. Back in 1995, Woodard told The Detroit News what happened when he first heard Jimmy Smith on the radio. "It was 1961, and I was going to Flint Junior College, driving from Flint to my home in Owosso," Woodard said. "I was listening to this radio show in the car. That's when I heard my first Jimmy Smith song on the radio. The station was so small that I knew if I drove any further I'd lose the signal. So I pulled over, off the road, to listen to the rest of it." Although Woodard grew up in Owosso and returned there a decade ago, he spent much of his young adult life as a working musician, hauling his massive Hammond B3 around Detroit. After his stint with Coffey and Davis, Woodard performed as the Lyman Woodard Organization with Ron English and Leonard King, doing many gigs at Cobb's Corner in Detroit, and played for about six years with the Sun Messengers. He also taught and mentored several generations of organ players. His roots were in jazz, and although his style evolved over the years, Woodard's band was seriously funky. Fans still recall his potent version of James Brown's "Sex Machine" when Regina Carter was in the group. Woodard is survived by a son, Lyman III, and two sisters. Funeral arrangements are pending. A tribute jam session arranged by King and R.J. Spangler will take place at a future date at Cliff Bell's jazz club in Detroit. It was at Cliff Bell's in late November that Woodard last played, at a CD release party for the Lyman Woodard Organization's "Live At J.J.'s Lounge, 1974," on Uuquipleu Records (recorded at Detroit's Fort Shelby Hotel). "I was really glad Lyman was able to be there and play," said King, his longtime friend and drummer.
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  Comments

  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    damn, only 66!
  • dayday 9,611 Posts
    no!

    This really hit me. First Ian Carr and now Lyman Woodard.

  • discos_almadiscos_alma discos_alma 2,164 Posts
    RIP.

    Right before his joint drops on Wax Poetics records, too.
  • inVrsinVrs 687 Posts
    no!

    This really hit me. First Ian Carr and now Lyman Woodard.


    ian carr as well? when???
  • JazzsuckaJazzsucka 720 Posts
    Damn,

    Saturday Night Special is one of my all-time favourite LP's.
  • stop_33stop_33 365 Posts
    R.I.P.
  • OkemOkem 4,617 Posts
    no!

    This really hit me. First Ian Carr and now Lyman Woodard.


    Seems 2009 is going to be a bad year for our heros / but I guess it's something we should expect/accept.
  • LoopDreamsLoopDreams 1,195 Posts
    RIP Lyman, you created one of the greatest odes to the decay of the industrial nation, and to the resilience of the human spirit....
  • eetzeetz 53 Posts
    Damn, RIP Lyman
  • tripledoubletripledouble 7,636 Posts
    RIP
    oddly enough, i pulled out saturday night special and listened to it about 5 times since wednesday.hadnt listened to it in several years. i was struck more than ever by how gorgeous it is...all sunshine and melancholy
  • Jonny_PaycheckJonny_Paycheck 17,825 Posts
    Right as his record was about to drop too. Really sad.

    R.I.P.
  • spelunkspelunk 3,400 Posts
    Man, that's awful with the timing. Kept playing right up until the end though.

    Rest in peace.
  • pabloscooterpabloscooter 370 Posts
    Have a really great memory of seeing him play at the DIA a couple of years back.

    RIP
  • davidwingatedavidwingate 748 Posts
    i feel even more sad because i got to know lyman really well...i will never forget going to meet him for the first time...we (Ron English, Lyman, Josh D, Robbie Busch, and I ) met at a local bar in the D and before I could even get close to him he was like 'Amir man how r u?' Mind you we had never met before but somehow he knew it was me. The man was sippin on Jameison the whole time...real classy dude! Incredible stories and and just an all out good person. So glad that I was able to contact him and get the rights to Sat. Night Special for Wax PO! R.I.P.

    amir
  • PABLOPABLO 1,921 Posts
    Damn, Saturday Night Special is one of my favorite albums of all time.
    Amazing Detroit player.
    Far too young.
    RIP
  • unityunity 179 Posts
    I was at that last show he played, and he looked pretty frail. I think he only played one song with the group and sat out the rest. Dang. R.I.P.
  • tripledoubletripledouble 7,636 Posts
    whoa. just read some obits and never realized that lyman woodard was white. not that it matters, but ive always pictured a charles earland looking alike and probably imagined i saw a pic of him lookinglike that.

    again, R.I.P.

    its a good thing that his music will be remembered for a loooooong time.
  • CosmoCosmo 9,768 Posts
    I've actually never heard Saturday Night Special. I bough the repress a long time ago and it got lost in my stacks. Never bothered buying another one, and never came across an OG, so it just fell by the wayside... seems like now would be the time to find it, or look for a digital copy online.
  • marumaru 1,450 Posts
    I've actually never heard Saturday Night Special. I bough the repress a long time ago and it got lost in my stacks. Never bothered buying another one, and never came across an OG, so it just fell by the wayside... seems like now would be the time to find it, or look for a digital copy online.

    waxpoetics is set to re-release this next month. it's a double LP so it's unclear whether there's unreleased material on there as well. does anybody know?
  • CosmoCosmo 9,768 Posts
    I've actually never heard Saturday Night Special. I bough the repress a long time ago and it got lost in my stacks. Never bothered buying another one, and never came across an OG, so it just fell by the wayside... seems like now would be the time to find it, or look for a digital copy online.

    waxpoetics is set to re-release this next month. it's a double LP so it's unclear whether there's unreleased material on there as well. does anybody know?

    Yeah I saw that. I assume it will have bonus material.
  • PABLOPABLO 1,921 Posts
    waxpoetics is set to re-release this next month. it's a double LP so it's unclear whether there's unreleased material on there as well.

    Oh shit, for real? What's the scoop? I shall copp.
  • troublemantroubleman 1,928 Posts
    R.I.P.

    I love that album too. Been trying for an OG copy for a loooong time now. Wonderful music to drive around aimlessly to.
  • davidwingatedavidwingate 748 Posts
    yo, cosmo there was only one unreleased joint on the og master tapes so that will be on the re-release...please everyone cop this joint...it's digitally remastered from the og tapes and the money is going to the family. this was planned before his death.

    amir
  • PABLOPABLO 1,921 Posts
    Was the low level distortion or whatever it was throughout the album a mastering mistake or is it on the tapes due to a recording error?
    Basically I wanna know is the album "clean" now?
    In depth story/interviews coming up?
  • LoopDreamsLoopDreams 1,195 Posts
    I bough the repress a long time ago and it got lost in my stacks.

    Anyone who owns that old re-ish should frisbee it and pony up... it was a shitpoor boot that did NO justice to the music or the man.
  • Options
    Unknown

    My eyes went big when I first heard "Creative Musicians" for the first time about 8 years ago. I played it 4 times in a row and felt like an obsessed weirdo, but the sound took me to another time and place...it's just such an ill little track and that organ is just perfect.
  • AserAser 2,351 Posts
    I thought I heard the master tapes were lost for good. This is some mighty good news as Sat Night Special is one of my all time faves. How is the audio quality on the tapes Amir?

    At the same time, that raw garage-esque recording makes me love it even more.

    RIP, this dude is a legend to me.

    bonus question: I found a cover of "girl from ipanema" by him on mp3 from the old audiogalaxy days. I have yet to find any info on this, it's a beautiful rendition. The recording as to be expected is messed up, mostly panned to one channel.
  • LoopDreamsLoopDreams 1,195 Posts
    At the same time, that raw garage-esque recording makes me love it even more.

    Yes

    Lyman's in full effect on this Detroit Classic as well:



    he had a very compelling style
  • davidwingatedavidwingate 748 Posts
    the low end distortion has been 'cleaned up' as much as possible due to the poor equipment and recording session, but this re release will sound great due to the remastering and it's on 180 gram double vinyl. there is/are extra interviews and photos never seen before. it's on sale march 23rd.

    amir
  • AserAser 2,351 Posts
    http://www.filesend.net/download.php?f=5da195d0060d808ef9cd6ba9a475b38d

    that's the cover of "Girl From Ipanema" I was talking about
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