‘Play it in octaves’. That was producer Creed Taylor’s recipe for Wes Montgomery’s commercial success in the mid-sixties. Indeed, for dilettante and purist alike, the guitar octave has become a trademark of Montgomery’s style. Adrian Ingram’s book takes pains to show that this was only one aspect of Wes’ music.
The overriding quality that emerges from the book is that of Montgomery’s humanity. First and foremost, he was interested in life, and for much of his career, regarded music as a hobby. The welfare of his family was more important to him than big musical breaks. His first proper guitar outfit was bought on impulse, after hearing Charlie Christian on record, and this rash purchase engendered a sense of guilt. He had to master the instrument to justify the reckless expense: ‘I didn’t want to be a musician, but there was all that guitar looking at me.’
Montgomery approached his guitar in an intuitive manner. He was untutored, self- taught, didn’t know the names of chords and could never read music. But he listened a great deal, had ‘big ears’ and learnt very quickly. Among his influences were Christian, any number of Indianapolis-based guitarists and, in later years, hornmen like Miles, Coltrane and Shorter. He was invited to join Trane’s band in 1961, but declined because he thought he wasn’t good enough! It seems absurd that he didn’t lead his own record date until 1959, at the age of 36.
Ingram’s book leads us through Wes’s career, quoting and citing other writers and musicians to illustrate attitudes to his work and building a lucid and coherent picture of this seminal figure. The book also has plenty of illustrations, an LP discography, list of compositions and technical tips. The design is at best workmanlike and the editing perfunctory, but the content is valuable.
Wes Montgomery, by Adrian Ingram. Published by Ashley Mark; softback, 127pp; £7.95
