Maps of Music

Walking in Space (1969)

Where the lyrics of Walking in Space take you, and where it was really made.

A Quincy Jones album whose title track comes from the rock musical Hair, with Valerie Simpson on the vocal solo.

Key places

Van Gelder Studios sessions (1969)

Recording site Van Gelder Studios — The album was recorded at Van Gelder Studios in Englewood Cliffs on June 18 and 19, 1969. Rudy Van Gelder is credited as engineer. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Walking in Space: 1969 studio album by Quincy Jones
• Released by A&M
• Six tracks; the title track runs 12:06
• Track list: Dead End, Walking in Space, Killer Joe, Love and Peace, I Never Told You, Oh Happy Day
• Cover photo of Jones taken by Pete Turner
• Recorded at Van Gelder Studios, June 18 and 19, 1969
• Engineer: Rudy Van Gelder

Background

• Album recorded for A&M
• Dead End and the title track come from the rock musical Hair
• The title track is an arrangement of a song from the hit rock musical Hair
• Valerie Simpson sings the vocal solo on the title track
• Killer Joe was written by Benny Golson
• Love and Peace was written by Arthur Adams; I Never Told You by Arthur Hamilton and Johnny Mandel; Oh Happy Day by Edwin Hawkins

Recording

• Quincy Jones handled conducting and arranging
• Large horn section: trumpets Freddie Hubbard, Snooky Young, Marvin Stamm; trombones J.J. Johnson and Kai Winding
• Ray Brown plays bass on Killer Joe; Grady Tate plays drums on Killer Joe
• Chuck Rainey plays bass on Love and Peace
• Toots Thielemans plays guitar and harmonica
• Vocalists include Hilda Harris, Marilyn Jackson and Maretha Stewart

Cover

• Cover photo of Jones by Pete Turner

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

• Born March 14, 1933 in Chicago; died November 3, 2024 in Los Angeles at age 91.
• American record producer, musician and composer; a career spanning seven decades.
• Received 28 Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Tony Award; seven Academy Award nominations.
• Began as a jazz arranger and conductor in the 1950s, touring with Lionel Hampton and Dizzy Gillespie.
• Produced all four million-selling singles for Lesley Gore in the early-to-mid 1960s, including "It's My Party".
• Arranged and conducted for Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and others.
• Scored The Pawnbroker, In the Heat of the Night, The Italian Job and The Color Purple.
• Produced Michael Jackson's Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad.
• Produced and conducted "We Are the World" (1985) to raise famine relief for Ethiopia.
• Founded Qwest Productions and later Qwest TV, a jazz subscription video service.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• A&M released the album with a cover photo of Jones taken by Pete Turner
• Track lengths: Dead End 4:05, Walking in Space 12:06, Killer Joe 5:12, Love and Peace 5:48, I Never Told You 4:18, Oh Happy Day 3:37
• Dead End and Walking in Space are credited to Galt MacDermot, James Rado and Gerome Ragni
• Valerie Simpson is credited with the vocal solo on Walking in Space
• Vocalists Maretha Stewart, Hilda Harris and Marilyn Jackson are listed in the personnel credits
• Chuck Rainey is credited with bass on Love and Peace
• The Discogs release notes credit Rudy Van Gelder as engineer
• The recording date is given as June 18 and 19, 1969

Reappraisal

• The AllMusic page for the album is linked from the Italian Wikipedia article, with a review by Richard S. Ginell

Sources: it.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The title track is an arrangement of a song from the rock musical Hair, with Valerie Simpson on the vocal solo.
• Dead End and Walking in Space both come from Hair.
• Killer Joe features Ray Brown on bass and Grady Tate on drums.
• The album was recorded at Van Gelder Studios in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
• Pete Turner took the photograph used on the cover.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Maps of Ages ↗ (mapsofages.com)

Privacy · Contact