picture of Odell Brown
Odell Brown
Brown was born in Louisville, Kentucky. He started playing the piano aged 4 as his mother was a part-time piano teacher. His father bought him a baby grand piano. After playing in various junior and senior high school bands, he went to Nashville, Tennessee and met musicians attending Tennessee State A&M. Wishing to enroll himself, his plans were soon curtailed when he was drafted into the army where he joined the Army Post Band. During this period, he gained valuable insight into arranging and orchestrating.
 
After leaving the army, Brown moved to Chicago where he was re-united with some of the musicians from his Nashville days. They formed a band becoming known as "The Organ-Izers" and within two years, were signed to Chess Records' jazz subsidiary label, Cadet. The band's personnel was O'Dell Brown, organ, Artee "Duke" Payne and Tommy Purvis, tenor saxophones, Curtis Prince, drums. Their debut album was titled 'Raising The Roof' in 1966 followed by their most popular record, 1967's 'Mellow Yellow', which reached #173 on the Billboard 200. Third album, 'Ducky' was the last to feature the band.
 
While at Chess, Brown was not only signed to the label but also worked as a staff musician playing and arranging for a wealth of other artists and gaining great insight and expertise into other styles of music. After the death of Leonard Chess in 1969, Brown decided not to re-sign with the label and during the 1970s, pursued a solo career as an independent arranger, producer and studio musician. During this period, he worked with artists such as Minnie Ripperton, Curtis Mayfield, Johnny Nash and Marvin Gaye. He went on to receive further awards recognising his many talents, later in life.
 
Brown had been living in Richfield, Minnesota since the early 1990s, to stabilize his professional and personal life. He died there on May 3, 2011.
 
source: Wikipedia
contact:
homepage: www.odellbrown.com

 

Discography
Soul In The Night
Cadet LPS-770
released 1966
recorded April 1966 in Chicago, IL/USA
Sonny Stitt, alto sax
Bunky Green, alto sax
Odell Brown, organ
Bryce Roberson, guitar
Maurice White, drums
Raising The Roof
Cadet LPS-775
released 1966
recorded July 1966 in Chicago, IL/USA
Odell Brown, organ
Artee Payne, alto sax, tenor sax
Thomas Purvis, tenor sax
Curtis Prince, drums
Mellow Yellow
Cadet LPS-788
released 1967
recorded January 1967 in Chicago, IL/USA
Odell Brown, organ
Tommy Purvis, tenor saxes
Artee Payne, tenor sax
Louis Satterfield, bass
Curtis Prince, drums
Henry Gibson, congas
Ducky
Cadet LPS-800
released 1967
Odell Brown, organ
Artee Payne, flute, alto sax, tenor sax
Tommy Purvis, tenor sax
Phil Upchurch, bass
Curtis Prince, drums
Henry Gibson, congas
Plays Otis Redding
Cadet LPS-823
released 1969
Odell Brown, organ
Gene Barge, sax
big band c/ Gene Barge
Free Delivery
Cadet LPS-800
released 1970
Odell Brown, organ
Phil Upchurch, guitar
Louis Satterfield, bass
Cash McCall, guitar
Morris Jennings, drums
Henry Gibson, percussion
Gene Barge, alto sax
John Board, baritone sax
Donald Myrick, tenor sax
Johnny Cameron, tenor sax
Morris Ellis, trombone
Burgess Gardner, trumpet
Maury Watson, trumpet
Paul Serrano, trumpet
Odell Brown
Paula Records LPS 4005
released 1974
Odell Brown, Fender Rhodes
Plenty Good Eaton
Black Jazz Records BJQD/20
released 1975
recorded July 1974 in Chicago, IL/USA
Cleveland Eaton, bass, vocals
Arie Brown, tenor sax
Edwin Daugherty, tenor sax, flute
Artee "Duke" Payne, tenor sax, flute
John Watson, trombone
Steve Galloway, bass trombone
Derf Raheen, flute, congas
Ernest Johnson, guitar
Odell Brown, organ, piano
Kenneth Prince, piano
Bobby Christian, vibes
Ed Greene, violin, viola
Morris Jennings, percussion
That Is Why You're Overweight
Atlantic SD 1683
released 1976
Eddie Harris, sax, synthesizer, vocals
Delbert Hill, tenor sax, baritone sax, oboe
Willie Henderson, baritone sax
Steve Halloway, trombone
All Hall jr., trombone
Maurice Spears, trombone, bass trombone
Burgess Gardner, trumpet
Lou Gonzales, trumpet, flugelhorn
Frank Gordon, trumpet
Joe Romano, trumpet, flugelhorn
Ronald Muldrow, guitar, vocals
Richard Abrams, piano
Odell Brown, organ
Bob Ramey, synthesizer, vocals
Bradley Bobo, synthesizer, bass, vocals
string section
Allen Jackson, bass
Don Pate, bass
Rufus Reid, bass
Calvin Barnes, drums, percussion, vocals
Paul Humphrey, drums
Ralph Penland, drums
Terry Thompson, drums
William Clarke, percussion
Marshall Thompson, percussion
Karen Patterson, vocals
Stephana Loeb, vocals
Nancy Shanks, vocals
The Reason Why I'm Talking S--t
Atlantic SD 18165
released 1976
recorded 1975
Eddie Harris, tenor sax
Bradley Bobo, bass
Paul Humphrey, drums
Ronald Muldrow, guitar
Odell Brown, organ
Calvin Barnes, percussion

 
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