Archie Shepp's MAMA TOO TIGHT was the first piece of "outside" music I'd ever purchased as a very impressionable 16 yr.old. I'd just gotten turned on to Trane's "tamer" Impulse stuff & Rahsaan's VOLUNTEER SLAVERY. I'd never heard a note of Shepp's & bought the album because I'd seen or heard his name mentioned in association with Trane, & because I thought the cover design was pretty cool. Man, I'd never heard anything like it. I was both fascinated and frightened by the intensity on that record.
31 years later, I still consider this an all-time favorite piece of music. "A Portrait Of Robert Thompson" is an amazing musical journey travelled in a mere 19 minutes. The ramshackle swing of "Mama...." is as compelling to me now as ever. "Theme For Ernie" is one of the sweetest examples of avantgarde balladry I'll ever hear, and then the rhythmic variations & passioned intensity of "Basheer" are the closing knockout punch.
This is an incredible piece of music that rarely is ever mentioned, and damn, it sure took long enough to finally get this reissued to cd.
I'd love to hear any impressions of MAMA... or discussion of other Shepp favorites. Thanks......

I really enjoyed "Live In San Francisco" although I found the spoken word parts a little melodramatic, and in a couple of instances, unintentionally funny. A personal favorite is "Steam" and two LPs (duets) he did wit Horace Parlan.

I owned the LP of Mama since I was about 16 too (1972), and recently bought the CD. I find it one of the most brilliant of Shepp's albums--ambitious, beautiful, diverse, and very "postmodern" in it's mixture of genres. I find it anticipates a lot of more recent "avant", like Threadgill's "Very Very Circus".

Along with the above, I dig the Cecil Taylor Candid sides that Shepp appeared on. I will have to listen to Mama today and try and make the Very Very Circus connection.

I'm really partial to the two Live at Montreux records on Arista/Freedom from, I think, 1975. Not as out as the 60's things but not as bland as later works, they're simply wonderful tunes, soulfully and imaginatively performed. Special contributions from Charles Majeed Greenlee and the perennially underrated Dave Burrell.

Also greatly enjoy his duets with Horace Parlan and Abdullah Ibrahim.

Anyone know the connection (if any) to Shepp's title and a character named Mama Too Tight in Ed Bullins' 1969 play, Goin'a Buffalo: A Tragifantasy? Much of the play's built around the Clifford Brown/Max Roach recording of "Delilah"--but I was curious if there's any direct Shepp connection, besides a likely common political bent and a definite avant garde sensibility.

speaking of Max Roach, I was able to pick up The Long March on lp for dirt cheap. All of it doesn't get me excited but there are parts that do. I need to check it out some more though.

I've been checking out Shepp's THE WAY AHEAD & FIRE MUSIC. Both possess some pretty damn intense playing. Now it looks as though I gotta pick up MAMA...
Shepp doing "The Girl From Ipanema"? Too cool!

" On this Night" and "Things have got to Change" (with the eternal Money Blues and two Cal Massey tunes) have to be mentioned among Shepp *classics*. And the Magic of JuJu had it's spell on me (but have not heard for a long time and only reissue seems to be on some hard to get Japanese imports)

Yes, "Mama Too Tight" is one hell of a recording. And I also remember catching the Shepp group of that period twice in concert - what an experience! One concert of that particular tour was recorded by MPS, by the way, and produced a beautiful live album, "Life (sic!) in Donaueschingen". Give this a listen as well - if you can find it.

I remember having that LIFE IN... lp. Remember getting it for 99cents in a cutout bin. Couldnt listen to the first few minutes of it 'cause the thing was warped & skipped, but enjoyed what non-skip portions of it I could.
Although I love all of Archie's music, the late 60's stuff,
MAMA...LIVE IN SF...FIRE...THE WAY...FOUR FOR TRANE
are definitely my favorites