McCoy, Freddie - Spider Man (60th Anniversary Edition)

The fact that this 1966 session from vibist, Freddie McCoy, sports one of the greatest album covers ever is only one of the many things it has going for it.

It’s a cool jazz/soul jazz classic featuring Freddie with a killer band of Steve Davis on bass, Rudy Lawless on drums, and Charlie Wilson on piano, laying down some tight grooves on such tracks as “Speak Out, Deagan!” and “Hav’ Mercy” (Freddie’s vibe tones in particular will have you, ahem, tingling). Adding to the intrigue is the copy on the back cover, which claims that Spider Man was to be the first of a series of Marvel tie-in records. That this album turned out to be the only one leads one to suspect that the deal between Marvel and the Prestige label might have been hastily arranged…after all, the original labels still had the title as Hav’ Mercy.

At any rate, it’s a bona-fide collectible and a lovely listen to boot