"The Preacher" is a composition by jazz pianist Horace Silver. The original version was recorded by Silver's quintet on February 6, 1955. It was soon covered by other musicians, including with lyrics added by Babs Gonzales. It has become a jazz standard."Horace Silver / Horace Silver & the Jazz Messengers – Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers". AllMusic. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
Composition "The Preacher" is based on the chords of "Show Me the Way to Go Home","Horace Silver – Obituary". (June 19, 2014). The Daily Telegraph. which Silver often used to end his concerts. He wrote it in the Arlington Hotel on Twenty-Fifth Street in New York City, where he lived for four years from 1954.
Original recording The original version featured Silver on piano, with Hank Mobley (tenor saxophone), Kenny Dorham (trumpet), Doug Watkins (bass), and Art Blakey (drums). "Fired by the song's rocking beat, Dorham and Mobley soar into blues-drenched, vocally inflected solos. Silver follows with a typically stripped-down statement, built around first a two-chord percussive figure and then a descending run, each repeated. Before taking the tune out, the band riffs behind his funky noodling in classic call-and-response fashion."Rosenthal, David H. (1993) Hard Bop: Jazz and Black Music, 1955–1965. Oxford University Press. p. 38. "The gospel influence of 'The Preacher' was achieved subtly [...] with a melody and associated riffs which had a natural, built-in back-beat."Carr, Ian; Fairweather, Digby; Priestley, Brian (2004) "The Rough Guide to Jazz" (3rd ed.). Rough Guides. p. 730.
It was almost rejected by producer Alfred Lion, who thought it was "too old-timey", but it was retained at the insistence of Blakey and Silver, who threatened to cancel the session until Silver had written another tune to record in its place if it was not included.Silver, Horace (2007) Let's Get to the Nitty Gritty – The Autobiography of Horace Silver. University of California Press.
"The Preacher" was released as a single along with "Doodlin'; the pairing "might be the first example of a jazz hit single going on to boost sales of its source album – or, as here, albums".Cook, Richard (2004) Blue Note Records – The Biography. Justin, Charles & Co. p. 74. It was Silver's first hit.Shoemaker, Bill (November 1999) "Horace Silver – The Horace Silver Retrospective". JazzTimes. The track helped trigger interest in hard bop among other musicians.Gioia, Ted (2011) The History of Jazz. Oxford University Press. p. 288.
Later versions The song was soon covered by other musicians, including organist Jimmy Smith (on At Club Baby Grand, Volume 1, 1956)Leggett, Steve "Jimmy Smith – The Incredible Jimmy Smith at Club Baby Grand, Vol. 1". AllMusic. Retrieved September 13, 2015. and trombonist Kai Winding (on Trombone Panorama, 1956)."Kai Winding – Trombone Panorama". AllMusic. Retrieved September 13, 2015. Babs Gonzales added lyrics for his version."Sunday Afternoon with Babs Gonzales at Small's Paradise – Babs Gonzales". Fresh Sound Records. Retrieved September 13, 2015. As of 2014, more than 220 versions of the song have been recorded.McDonough, John (September 2014) "Horace Silver". Down Beat p. 49.
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