Wes Montgomery: Watch What Happens

By 1967, Pop Jazz was staler than last night's butts, as shown by an ashtray's contents on this track's close-up album photo. Sure enough, that musty aroma emanated from jazz's grandest guitarist, who squandered the mid-'60s covering, with all the chintzy blandishments of elevator music, hits by such bantamweights as The Association, Kingston Trio, and Brothers Four. We can 't begrudge success to someone who worked hard, waited years for recognition, and gave more to music than he ever got back. But 12 months after sleepwalking through this Muzakical morass, that man was dead at 45. Wes, we hardly knew ye.