Only the Blues

1957 studio album by Sonny Stitt

Only the Blues

Studio album by

Sonny Stitt

Released

1957

Recorded

October 11, 1957

Genre

Jazz

Length

75:03

Label

Verve

Producer

Norman Granz

Sonny Stitt chronology

Sonny Stitt with the New Yorkers
(1957)

Only the Blues
(1957)

Sonny Side Up
(1957)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[1]

Only the Blues is a 1957 album by Sonny Stitt, accompanied by Roy Eldridge and Oscar Peterson.^[2]

Track listing

"The String (The Eternal Triangle)" (Sonny Stitt) – 10:01
"Cleveland Blues" (Stitt) – 12:02
"B.W. Blues (Boogie Woogie Blues)" (Stitt) – 11:35
"Blues for Bags" (Stitt) – 10:39
Studio outtakes included on the CD reissue:
"I Didn't Know What Time It Was" (Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers) – 3:31
"I Remember You" (Johnny Mercer, Victor Schertzinger) – 3:54
"I Know That You Know" (Anne Caldwell, Vincent Youmans) – 4:39
"I Know That You Know" (False Start) – 4:55
"I Know That You Know" – 4:47
"I Know That You Know" (Coda Rehearsal) – 3:19
"I Know That You Know" (Composite Master Take) – 4:43

A subsequent Fresh Sound CD issue gives tracks 5 and 6 plus I Know That You Know with only 1 alternate take.

Personnel

Performance

References

^ Allmusic review
^ Only the Blues at AllMusic

Oscar Peterson

Years given are for the recording(s), not first release. Note: All-Star albums feature sideman who are not necessarily listed while titles which include "Oscar Peterson" or the OP Trio are usually shortened.

As
leader
or
co-leader

Plays series	Duke Ellington (1952) George Gershwin (1952) Harold Arlen (1954) Count Basie (1955)
1955–58	In a Romantic Mood (with Russ Garcia, 1955) At the Stratford Shakespearean Festival (1956) At the Concertgebouw (1957) Soft Sands (with Buddy Bregman, 1957) Trio with Sonny Stitt, Roy Eldridge and Jo Jones at Newport (1957) My Fair Lady (1958) On the Town (1958) A Jazz Portrait of Frank Sinatra (1959) The Jazz Soul (1959) Swinging Brass (with Russ Garcia, 1959) Fiorello! (1960)
Plays the Songbook (1959)	Cole Porter Duke Ellington George Gershwin Harold Arlen Jerome Kern Richard Rodgers Porgy & Bess
The London House Sessions (1961)	Put On a Happy Face Something Warm The Sound of the Trio The Trio (Verve)
Trio & Guests	Very Tall (with Milt Jackson, 1961) Affinity (1962) Bursting Out with the All-Star Big Band! (1962) Night Train (1962) West Side Story (1962) And Nelson Riddle (1963) Canadiana Suite (1964) Plays (1964) + One (with Clark Terry, 1964) We Get Requests (1964) Eloquence (1965) I/We Had a Ball (multiple groups, 1965) With Respect to Nat (1965) Blues Etude (1966) Soul Español (1966) The Greatest Jazz Concert in the World (multiple groups, 1967)
Exclusively for My Friends	Action (1963–64) Girl Talk (1965–68) The Way I Really Play (1967) The Lost Tapes (1967–68) Mellow Mood (1968) My Favorite Instrument (1968) Travelin' On (1968)
1969–79	Hello Herbie (1969) Motions and Emotions (with Claus Ogerman, 1969) Another Day (1970) Tracks (1970) Tristeza on Piano (1970) Walking the Line (1970) Great Connection (1971) In Tune (and The Singers Unlimited, 1971) Reunion Blues (and Milt Jackson, 1971) In Tokyo (1972) Solo (1972) The History of an Artist, Vol. 1 (1972) The History of an Artist, Vol. 2 (1972) The trio (Pablo, 1973) In Russia (1974) The Giants (1974) The Good Life (1974) Oscar Peterson et Joe Pass à Salle Pleyel (1975) Porgy and Bess (and Joe Pass, 1975) The Oscar Peterson Big 6 at Montreux (1975) The Tenor Giants (and Zoot Sims and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, 1975) And the Bassists – Montreux '77 (and Ray Brown & Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, 1977) Jam – Montreux '77 (1977) The London Concert (1978) The Paris Concert (1978) Digital at Montreux (1979) Night Child (1979) Skol (with Stéphane Grappelli, 1979)
With The Trumpet Kings	Roy Eldridge (1974) Dizzy Gillespie (1974) Jousts (1974) Harry Edison (1974) Clark Terry (1975) Jon Faddis (1975) At Montreux '75 (Eldridge, Gillespie & Terry, 1975) The Trumpet Summit Meets the Oscar Peterson Big 4 (with Gillespie, Hubbard & Terry, 1980) The Alternate Blues (with Gillespie, Hubbard & Terry, 1980)
1980–2004	Live at the North Sea Jazz Festival, 1980 (1980) The Personal Touch (1980) A Royal Wedding Suite (1981) Nigerian Marketplace (1981) Face to Face (with Freddie Hubbard, 1982) Freedom Song (1982) A Tribute to My Friends (1983) If You Could See Me Now (1983) Jazz at the Philharmonic – Yoyogi National Stadium, Tokyo 1983: Return to Happiness (multiple groups, 1983) Two of the Few (with Milt Jackson, 1983) Live! (1986) Time After Time (1986) Live at the Blue Note (1990) Saturday Night at the Blue Note (1991) Last Call at the Blue Note (1992) Encore at the Blue Note (1993) Side by Side (with Itzhak Perlman, 1994) The More I See You (1995) An Oscar Peterson Christmas (1995) A Tribute to Oscar Peterson – Live at the Town Hall (1996) Oscar in Paris (1996) Meets Roy Hargrove and Ralph Moore (1996) Oscar and Benny (with Benny Green, 1998) Summer Night in Munich (1998) Trail of Dreams: A Canadian Suite (2000) A Night in Vienna (2004)

With
Count
Basie
or
alumni

Lester Young with the Oscar Peterson Trio (1952)
Basie Jazz (Count Basie, 1952)
Pres and Sweets (Lester Young and Harry Edison, 1955)
Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You (Harry Edison, 1957)
Going for Myself (Lester Young & Harry Edison, 1957)
Jazz Giants '58 (Stan Getz, Gerry Mulligan & Harry Edison, 1958)
Satch and Josh (and Count Basie, 1974)
Satch and Josh...Again (and Count Basie, 1977)
Night Rider (and Count Basie, 1978)
The Timekeepers (and Count Basie, 1978)
Yessir, That's My Baby (and Count Basie, 1978)
Oscar Peterson + Harry Edison + Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson (1986)

With
Benny
Carter

Alone Together (1952)
Cosmopolite (1952–54)
Plays Pretty (1954)
New Jazz Sounds (with Bill Harris & Dizzy Gillespie, 1954)
Benny Carter Meets Oscar Peterson (1986)

With
Roy
Eldridge

Rockin' Chair (with Roy Eldridge, 1951–52)
Dale's Wail (Eldridge, 1953)
Little Jazz (Eldridge, 1954)
Roy and Diz (Eldridge and Dizzy Gillespie, 1954)
Happy Time (Eldridge, 1974)
Jazz Maturity...Where It's Coming From (and Gillespie, 1975)
Roy Eldridge 4 – Montreux '77 (1977)

With
Ella
Fitzgerald

At the Opera House (1957)
Ella and Louis (and Louis Armstrong, 1956)
Ella and Louis Again (and Louis Armstrong, 1957)
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Song Book (1957)
Ella in Rome: The Birthday Concert (1958)
Jazz at Santa Monica Civic '72 (1972)
Ella and Oscar (1975)

Coleman
Hawkins
and/or Ben
Webster

Coleman Hawkins and Confrères (with Roy Eldridge & Webster, 1957)
Coleman Hawkins Encounters Ben Webster (1957)
The Genius of Coleman Hawkins (1957)
Soulville (with Webster, 1957)
Ben Webster Meets Oscar Peterson (with Webster, 1959)

With
Buddy
Rich

The Drum Battle (and Gene Krupa, 1952)
Sing and Swing (1955)
The Wailing Buddy Rich (1955)
Krupa and Rich (1955)

With
others

The Astaire Story (Fred Astaire, 1952)
Buddy DeFranco and Oscar Peterson Play George Gershwin (1954)
Ellis in Wonderland (Herb Ellis, 1955–56)
Toni (Toni Harper, 1955–56)
Louis Armstrong Meets Oscar Peterson (1957)
Anita Sings the Most (Anita O'Day, 1957)
Only the Blues (Sonny Stitt, 1957)
Stan Getz and J. J. Johnson at the Opera House (1957)
Stan Getz and the Oscar Peterson Trio (1957)
This Is Ray Brown (Roy Brown, 1958)
Sonny Stitt Sits in (1959)
Bill Henderson with (1963)
Zoot Sims and the Gershwin Brothers (1975)
The Milt Jackson Big 4 (1975)
Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis 4 – Montreux '77 (1977)
How Long Has This Been Going On? (Sarah Vaughan, 1978)
Linger Awhile (Sarah Vaughan, 1978)
Ain't Misbehavin' (Clark Terry, 1978)
Ain't But a Few of Us Left (Milt Jackson, 1981)
Hark (Buddy DeFranco, 1985)
Some of My Best Friends Are...The Piano Players (Ray Brown, 1994)

Film
soundtracks

The Silent Partner (1978)

v t e Sonny Stitt
Years given are for the recording(s), not first release.
As leader or co-leader	Sonny Stitt/Bud Powell/J. J. Johnson (1949–50) Stitt's Bits (1950) Kaleidoscope (1950–52) Jazz at the Hi-Hat (1954) The Battle of Birdland (and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, 1954) Sonny Stitt Plays Arrangements from the Pen of Quincy Jones (1955) Sonny Stitt Plays (1955) New York Jazz (1956) For Musicians Only (with Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Getz, 1956) 37 Minutes and 48 Seconds with Sonny Stitt (c.1956/57) Only the Blues (1957) Personal Appearance (1957) Sonny Stitt with the New Yorkers (1957) Burnin' (1958) Sonny Stitt (1958) The Saxophones of Sonny Stitt (1958) A Little Bit of Stitt (1959) Saxophone Supremacy (1959) Sonny Stitt Blows the Blues (1959) Sonny Stitt Plays Jimmy Giuffre Arrangements (1959) Sonny Stitt Sits in with the Oscar Peterson Trio (1959) Sonny Side Up (with Dizzy Gillespie and Sonny Rollins, Verve, 1959) Sonny Stitt Swings the Most (1959) The Hard Swing (1959) The Sonny Side of Stitt (1959) Previously Unreleased Recordings (1960) Sonny Side Up (Roost, 1960) Stittsville (1960) Stitt in Orbit (1960–62) Sonny Stitt at the D. J. Lounge (1961) The Sensual Sound of Sonny Stitt (1961) Feelin's (1962) Low Flame (1962) Rearin' Back (1962) Sonny Stitt & the Top Brass (1962) Stitt Meets Brother Jack (with "Brother" Jack McDuff, 1962) Move on Over (1963) My Mother's Eyes (1963) Now! (1963) Primitivo Soul! (1963) Salt and Pepper (and Paul Gonsalves, 1963) Soul Shack (with "Brother" Jack McDuff, 1963) Stitt Goes Latin (1963) Stitt Plays Bird (1963) My Main Man (and Bennie Green, 1964) Shangri-La (with Don Patterson, 1964) Sax Expressions (1965) Sonny Stitt / Live at Ronnie Scott's (with Dick Morrissey, 1965) Soul People (with Booker Ervin and Don Patterson, 1964–69) Broadway Soul (1965) Inter-Action (and Zoot Sims, 1965) Night Crawler (with Don Patterson, 1965) Pow! (with Bennie Green, 1965) The Matadors Meet the Bull (1965) Deuces Wild (1966) I Keep Comin' Back! (1966) Soul in the Night (and Bunky Green, 1966) What's New!!! (1966) Parallel-a-Stitt (1967) Little Green Apples (1968) Soul Electricity! (1968) Come Hither (1969) Night Letter (1969) Black Vibrations (1971) Turn It On! (1971) 12! (1972) Constellation (1972) Goin' Down Slow (1972) Tune-Up! (1972) Mr. Bojangles (1973) The Champ (1973) Satan (1974) Blues for Duke (1975) Dumpy Mama (1975) Mellow (1975) My Buddy: Sonny Stitt Plays for Gene Ammons (1975) Forecast: Sonny & Red (with Red Holloway, 1976) I Remember Bird (1978) Stomp Off Let's Go (1976) Sonny Stitt with Strings: A Tribute to Duke Ellington (1977) In Style (1981) The Last Sessions (1982)
And Gene Ammons	All Star Sessions (1950–55) Dig Him! (1961) Boss Tenors (1961) Boss Tenors in Orbit! (1962) Soul Summit (with "Brother"Jack McDuff, 1962) You Talk That Talk! (1971) God Bless Jug and Sonny (1973) Left Bank Encores (1973) Together Again for the Last Time (1973)
With Dizzy Gillespie	The Modern Jazz Sextet (1956) Duets (1957) The Giants of Jazz (with Art Blakey, Thelonious Monk, Kai Winding, 1971) The Bop Session (1975)
With Don Patterson	Patterson's People (1964) Tune Up! (1964–69) The Boss Men (1965) Funk You! (1968) Brothers-4 (1969) Donny Brook (1969)
With others	A Jazz Message (with Art Blakey, 1963) In Walked Sonny (with Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers, 1975) The Oscar Peterson Trio with Sonny Stitt, Roy Eldridge and Jo Jones at Newport (1957)