Mr. Gone

chronology
Mr. Gone
Weather Report studio album
Publication ; (s)	1978
Label (s)	Columbia Records
Format (s)	CD, LP
Genre (s)	Fusion jazz , funk
Title (number)	8th
running time	37:15
occupation	Joe Zawinul : keyboards , synthesizers , percussion , voice; Wayne Shorter : soprano saxophone , tenor and alto saxophone , voice; Jaco Pastorius : electric bass , percussion, voice; Peter Erskine : drums (only on 1 and 7, hi-hat on 3), voice;
production	Joe Zawinul, Jaco Pastorius
Studio (s)	Devonshire Sound Studios, North Hollywood

Mr. Gone is an album by Weather Report released in September 1978 . The follow-up album to the very successful Heavy Weather album was quickly awarded gold.

General

The album was also known for its one-star negative rating from Down Beat magazine . The influence of Wayne Shorter had continued to decline, and the Pastorius title River People in particular was repeatedly devalued as too commercial and disco music.
Band leader Joe Zawinul said:

“There is no way in the world that a shot like this could get a one star rating. I've seen a lot of reviews of this recording. People like Conrad Silvert, Len Lyons, Robert Palmer , Ken Anderson, Bob Blumenthal all thought it would be a great album. … We played very well and worked hard for this record. Anyone who gives this recording a star must be crazy "

- Zawinul

Track list

Weather Report 1980

The Pursuit of the Woman with the Feathered Hat (Zawinul) - 5:03
River People (Pastorius) - 4:50
Young and Fine (Zawinul) - 6:55
The Elders (Shorter, arranged by Zawinul) - 4:21
Mr. Gone (Zawinul) - 5:26
Punk Jazz (Pastorius) - 5:09
Pinocchio (Shorter) - 2:26
And Then (Zawinul (music), Sam Guest (text)) - 3:22

Guest musician

Tony Williams - drums (tracks 5 and 6)
Steve Gadd - drums (tracks 3 and 8)
Manolo Badrena - voice (track 1)
Jon Lucien - voice (track 1)
Deniece Williams - voice (track 8)
Maurice White - vocals (track 8)

reception

The Down Beat gave the worst possible rating of one star:

"Zawinul, Shorter, etc. made ... a commercial product, unfortunately ... Weather Report over-orchestrated its sound."

- Down beat

Richard S. Ginell from Allmusic awarded two out of five stars and wrote:

“On Mr. Gone Weather Report becomes the code name for a jazz / rock / funk record production by Joe Zawinul and Jaco Pastorius, ... This album was denounced as a sell-out at the time, probably because of Jaco's vibrant River People , the Weather Report is closer than ever to Brought disco. ... "

- Richard S. Ginell

The critics Richard Cook & Brian Morton only gave the album 2½ stars (out of four) in The Penguin Guide to Jazz ; for them it's "the band's worst album".

Web links

Individual evidence

^ Birnbaum, Larry, "Weather Report Answers Its Critics," Down Beat, Feb. 8, 1979, pp. 14-16, 44-45
↑ Less, David, Mr. Gone Review, Down Beat, Jan. 11, 1979, p. 22
↑ allmusic.com: Mr. Gone
^ Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD . 6th edition. Penguin, London 2002, ISBN 0-14-051521-6 , p. 1528.

[1] Birnbaum, Larry, "Weather Report Answers Its Critics," Down Beat, Feb. 8, 1979, pp. 14-16, 44-45

[2] Less, David, Mr. Gone Review, Down Beat, Jan. 11, 1979, p. 22

[3] usic.com: Mr. Gone

[4] Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD . 6th edition. Penguin, London 2002, ISBN 0-14-051521-6 , p. 1528.