Touchdown is the sixth album by Bob James.
Reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | [2] |
It was a commercial breakout album for him that contained the song "Angela", the popular theme song to the 1970s television sitcom Taxi. The song was named after a guest character in the third episode of the first season ("Blind Date"), but after hearing the song, the producers made this the show's main theme, replacing their previous choice, which became this album's title track.[3] The song "Angela" is heard at the beginning of each episode as the opening credits are seen. The song plays while a yellow New York taxi drives over the Queensboro Bridge. Many taxi garages are located on the Queens side of the bridge so they'll have easy access to Midtown Manhattan.
The album's title is a reference to this being James' sixth solo album (a touchdown being worth six points in American football), a pattern also followed by his previous album Heads (featuring a five cent coin on its cover) and next album Lucky Seven.
Track listing
All songs written by Bob James
- "Angela (Theme from Taxi)" – 5:48
- "Touchdown" – 5:44
- "I Want to Thank You (Very Much)" – 7:07
- "Sun Runner" – 6:17
- "Caribbean Nights" – 8:46
Personnel
- Bob James – acoustic piano, Yamaha electric grand piano, Fender Rhodes, Oberheim Polyphonic synthesizer, arrangements and conductor
- Eric Gale – guitar solo (1), electric guitar (2, 5)
- Hiram Bullock – electric guitar (2-5), guitar solo (5), vocal solo (5)
- Earl Klugh – acoustic guitar (3, 4, 5)
- Richard Resnicoff – rhythm acoustic guitar (3)
- Gary King – electric bass (1, 2)
- Ron Carter – acoustic bass (3, 4, 5), piccolo bass solo (5)
- Idris Muhammad – drums (1)
- Steve Gadd – drums (2-5)
- Ralph MacDonald – percussion (1-4)
- Mongo Santamaria – percussion (5)
Brass and Woodwinds
- Phil Bodner – alto saxophone, flute, oboe
- Jerry Dodgion – alto saxophone, flute
- David Sanborn – alto saxophone solo (3)
- Howard Johnson – baritone saxophone, contrabass clarinet
- Harvey Estrin – tenor saxophone, clarinet, flute
- George Marge – tenor saxophone, English horn, flute, oboe, recorder
- Hubert Laws – flute solo (3, 4, 5)
- Wayne Andre – trombone
- Dave Bargeron – trombone
- Alan Raph – trombone
- Randy Brecker – trumpet
- Jon Faddis – trumpet
- Mike Lawrence – trumpet
- Ron Tooley – trumpet
Strings
- David Nadien – concertmaster
- Jonathan Abramowitz, Seymour Barab, Richard Locker and Charles McCracken – cello
- Jean Dane, Theodore Israel, Sue Pray and Emanuel Vardi – viola
- Harry Cykman, Lewis Eley, Max Ellen, Louis Gabowitz, Diana Halprin, Harold Kohon, Harry Lookofsky, John Pintavalle, Matthew Raimondi, Herbert Sorkin and Richard Sortomme – violin
Production
- Bob James – producer
- Jay Chattaway – associate producer
- Joe Jorgensen – associate producer, engineer
- Tim Bomba – assistant engineer
- Ted Bronson – assistant engineer
- Lou Jannone – assistant engineer
- Harold Tarowsky – assistant engineer
- Vlado Meller – mastering
- Marion Orr – production coordinator
- Paula Scher – art direction, design
- Buddy Endress – photography
- Studios
- Recorded at CBS Studios, Sound Mixers and A&R Recording (New York, NY).
- Remixed at Sound Mixers
- Mastered at Columbia Mastering (New York, NY).
Charts
| Chart (1978) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Billboard Pop Albums[4] | 37 |
| Billboard Top Jazz Albums[4] | 1 |
References
- ^ Henderson, Alex. Bob James: Touchdown > Review at AllMusic. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
- ^ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 111. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
- ^ Taxi at IMDb (Trivia section)
- ^ a b "Bob James US albums chart history". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2011-09-15.