Odell Brown

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Odell Elliott Brown Jr. (February 2, 1940 – May 3, 2011)

with his backing band as Odell Brown & the Organ-Izers.

Biography

Brown was born in Louisville, Kentucky. He started playing the piano aged 4 as his mother was a part-time piano teacher. His father bought him a baby grand piano. After playing in various junior and senior high school bands, he went to Nashville, Tennessee and met musicians attending Tennessee State A&M. Wishing to enroll himself, his plans were soon curtailed when he was drafted into the army where he joined the Army Post Band. During this period, he gained valuable insight into arranging and orchestrating.

After leaving the army, Brown moved to Chicago where he was re-united with some of the musicians from his Nashville days. They formed a soul-jazz group, becoming known as "The Organ-izers" and within 2 years, were signed to Chess Records' jazz subsidiary label, Cadet. The band's personnel was Odell Brown, Hammond organ, Artee "Duke" Payne and Tommy Purvis, tenor saxophones, and Curtis Prince, drums.^[2] Their debut album was titled Raising The Roof in 1966 followed by their most popular record, 1967's Mellow Yellow, which reached #173 on the Billboard 200. Third album, Ducky (1967) was the last to feature the original band.

While at Chess, Brown was not only signed to the label but also worked as a staff musician playing and arranging for a wealth of other artists and gaining great insight and expertise into other styles of music. After the death of

. He went on to receive further awards recognizing his many talents, later in life.

Brown had been living in Richfield, Minnesota since the early 1990s, to stabilize his professional and personal life. He died there on May 3, 2011, at the age of 71.^[3][4]

Discography

As leader

• Raising the Roof (Cadet, 1966)
• Mellow Yellow (Cadet, 1967)
• Ducky (Cadet, 1967 [1968])
• Odell Brown Plays Otis Redding (Cadet, 1969)
• Free Delivery (Cadet, 1969 [1970])
• Odell Brown (Paula, 1974)

As sideman

With Dorothy Ashby

• Dorothy's Harp (Cadet, 1969)

With Cleveland Eaton

• Plenty Good Eaton (Black Jazz, 1975)

With Richard Evans

• Dealing with Hard Times (Atlantic, 1972)

With Marvin Gaye

• Tamla
  , 1976)
• Live at the London Palladium (Tamla, 1977)
• Here, My Dear (Tamla, 1978)
• Midnight Love (Columbia, 1982)

With Eddie Harris

• That Is Why You're Overweight (Atlantic, 1975)
• The Reason Why I'm Talking S--t (Atlantic, 1975)

With Minnie Riperton

• Perfect Angel (Epic, 1974)
• Stay in Love (Epic, 1977)

With Sonny Stitt and Bunky Green

• Soul in the Night (Cadet, 1966)^[5]

References

1. ^ "Obituary for Odell Elliott Brown". Star Tribune. 8 May 2011. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
2. Allmusic
3. ^ Odell Brown, Jazz Organist and Marvin Gaye Collaborator, Dead at 70
4. ^ Odell Brown, 'Sexual Healing' co-writer, dies in his Richfield home
5. ^ "Odell Brown | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 January 2019.

External links

• Official website
• Odell Brown discography at Discogs