Tale Spinnin' is the fifth studio album by Weather Report, recorded and released in 1975, featuring the addition of drummer Leon "Ndugu" Chancler, who was recruited after Josef Zawinul heard him play with Carlos Santana. Weather Report was recording in the studio next door to Ndugu, and asked him to join them for “one session”. That session ended up lasting a week and produced Tale Spinnin'. Ndugu was asked to join as a permanent member, but decided to stay with Santana.
| Tale Spinnin' | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio albumby | ||||
| Released | May 1975 | |||
| Recorded | February–April 4, 1975 | |||
| Studio | Wally Heider's Studio 3 (Hollywood) | |||
| Genre | Jazz fusion | |||
| Length | 43:01 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer | Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter | |||
| Weather Report chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | B−[2] |
| The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | [3] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings |  [4] |
Some Canadian copies of the album list a track entitled "Krampus" on the back of the sleeve. However, this track does not appear on the actual record.
In addition to the usual 2-channel stereo version the album was also released by Columbia in 1975 in 4-channel quadraphonic soundonLP record and 8-track tape. The quad LP release was encoded in the SQ matrix system. The quad mixes were performed by Bruce Botnick.
The album was reissued in the UK on the Super Audio CD format in 2018 by Dutton Vocalion. This edition contains both the stereo and quad mixes.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Man in the Green Shirt" | Zawinul | 6:29 |
| 2. | "Lusitanos" | Shorter | 7:25 |
| 3. | "Between the Thighs" | Zawinul | 9:33 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Badia" | Zawinul | 5:21 |
| 2. | "Freezing Fire" | Shorter | 7:29 |
| 3. | "Five Short Stories" | Zawinul | 6:56 |
| Total length: | 43:01 | ||
Weather Report
Production