Backgrounder: Leon Spencer - Bad Walking Woman

After reviewing Wonderful!, Mike LeDonne's new organ jazz album yesterday, I was drawn to my favorites from the late 1960s and early 1970s. To give you a feel of this jazz period, I thought I'd select a few lesser-known gems. Today, I'm featuring Leon Spencer Jr.'s Bad Walking Woman. Recorded in 1972, this LP was Spencer's third studio album as a leader.

The compositions, all by Spencer:

• Hip Shaker
• Down on Dowling Street
• In Search of Love
• If You Were Me and I Were You
• Bad Walking Woman
• When My Love Has Gone
• When Dreams Start to Fade 

The album featured Spencer (above) and the best of Prestige's soul-groove stars, with terrific arrangements by Billy VerPlanck:

• Leon Spencer Jr. – organ, vocals
• Virgil Jones – trumpet (track 5)
• Hubert Laws – flute, piccolo flute (tracks 3, 4, 6 & 7)
• Buzz Brauer – flute, English horn, oboe (tracks 3, 4, 6 & 7)
• Sonny Fortune – alto saxophone (track 5)
• Dave Hubbard – tenor saxophone (tracks 1 & 5)
• Melvin Sparks (tracks 1, 2, 4 & 5), Joe Beck (tracks 3, 6 & 7) – guitar
• Idris Muhammad – drums
• Buddy Caldwell – congas (tracks 4, 5 & 6)
• Billy VerPlanck – arranger (tracks 3, 4, 6 & 7)

Here's the complete Bad Walking Woman without ad interruptions...