Jump to content

Time Life - Giants of Jazz


charlesp

Recommended Posts

chuck nessa: what do u mean about unhappy w/ the outcome? what should of been different? the discographys are always complete n stuff....i just dont like that stupid cartoon photo that comes w/ it and that stupid letter from time/life.

Some were unhappy about the selections and some bitched about editing done without consultation. I must say at least one was clueless. John McDonough (spelling might be wrong), author of the Hawkins book, claimed ignorance when I bitched about the omission of Hawk's "The Man I Love". He didn't even know the damn recording.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 54
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

John McDonough (spelling might be wrong), author of the Hawkins book, claimed ignorance when I bitched about the omission of Hawk's "The Man I Love". He didn't even know the damn recording.

Get outta here! No shit? :wacko::wacko::wacko::blink::blink::blink:

I guess not, but damn, that's one of the fundamentals, especially for somebody his age & proclaimed area of "specialization"...

A major omission to be sure, but I already had it when I got the box, so I didn't mind. (Still, hard to believe that an "expert" would be unaware of this stellar session.)

It should also be remembered that when these boxes were released, much of the music on them was unavailable on domestic issues of any kind. Plus they included things that had never legally been issued in this country before. These sets aren't perfect, but they are damn good, and at the time they first came out they were revelatory for some of us "youngsters."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 11 months later...

Here's a list of all of them, more details here.

  • STL-J01 - Louis Armstrong [1978]
  • STL-J02 - Duke Ellington [1978]
  • STL-J03 - Billie Holiday [1978]
  • STL-J04 - Bix Beiderbecke [1979]
  • STL-J05 - Benny Goodman [1979]
  • STL-J06 - Coleman Hawkins [1979]
  • STL-J07 - Jelly Roll Morton [1979]
  • STL-J08 - Jack Teagarden [1979]
  • STL-J09 - Sidney Bechet [1980]
  • STL-J10 - Benny Carter [1980]
  • STL-J11 - Earl Hines [1980]
  • STL-J12 - The Guitarists - Various Artists [1980]
  • STL-J13 - Lester Young [1980]
  • STL-J14 - Red Norvo [1980]
  • STL-J15 - Fats Waller [1981]
  • STL-J16 - Henry "Red" Allen [1981]
  • STL-J17 - Pee Wee Russell [1981]
  • STL-J18 - James P. Johnson [1981]
  • STL-J19 - Johnny Hodges [1981]
  • STL-J20 - Teddy Wilson [1981]
  • STL-J21 - Ben Webster [1982]
  • STL-J22 - Count Basie [1982]
  • STL-J23 - Frank Teschenmacher [1982]
  • STL-J24 - Art Tatum [1982]
  • STL-J25 - Bunny Berrigan [1982]
  • STL-J26 - Johnny Dodds [1982]
  • STL-J27 - Joe Sullivan [1982]
  • STL-J28 - Bessie Smith [1983]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 8 months later...

Here's a list of all of them, more details here.

  • STL-J01 - Louis Armstrong [1978]
  • STL-J02 - Duke Ellington [1978]
  • STL-J03 - Billie Holiday [1978]
  • STL-J04 - Bix Beiderbecke [1979]
  • STL-J05 - Benny Goodman [1979]
  • STL-J06 - Coleman Hawkins [1979]
  • STL-J07 - Jelly Roll Morton [1979]
  • STL-J08 - Jack Teagarden [1979]
  • STL-J09 - Sidney Bechet [1980]
  • STL-J10 - Benny Carter [1980]
  • STL-J11 - Earl Hines [1980]
  • STL-J12 - The Guitarists - Various Artists [1980]
  • STL-J13 - Lester Young [1980]
  • STL-J14 - Red Norvo [1980]
  • STL-J15 - Fats Waller [1981]
  • STL-J16 - Henry "Red" Allen [1981]
  • STL-J17 - Pee Wee Russell [1981]
  • STL-J18 - James P. Johnson [1981]
  • STL-J19 - Johnny Hodges [1981]
  • STL-J20 - Teddy Wilson [1981]
  • STL-J21 - Ben Webster [1982]
  • STL-J22 - Count Basie [1982]
  • STL-J23 - Frank Teschenmacher [1982]
  • STL-J24 - Art Tatum [1982]
  • STL-J25 - Bunny Berrigan [1982]
  • STL-J26 - Johnny Dodds [1982]
  • STL-J27 - Joe Sullivan [1982]
  • STL-J28 - Bessie Smith [1983]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's a list of all of them, more details here.

  • STL-J01 - Louis Armstrong [1978]
  • STL-J02 - Duke Ellington [1978]
  • STL-J03 - Billie Holiday [1978]
  • STL-J04 - Bix Beiderbecke [1979]
  • STL-J05 - Benny Goodman [1979]
  • STL-J06 - Coleman Hawkins [1979]
  • STL-J07 - Jelly Roll Morton [1979]
  • STL-J08 - Jack Teagarden [1979]
  • STL-J09 - Sidney Bechet [1980]
  • STL-J10 - Benny Carter [1980]
  • STL-J11 - Earl Hines [1980]
  • STL-J12 - The Guitarists - Various Artists [1980]
  • STL-J13 - Lester Young [1980]
  • STL-J14 - Red Norvo [1980]
  • STL-J15 - Fats Waller [1981]
  • STL-J16 - Henry "Red" Allen [1981]
  • STL-J17 - Pee Wee Russell [1981]
  • STL-J18 - James P. Johnson [1981]
  • STL-J19 - Johnny Hodges [1981]
  • STL-J20 - Teddy Wilson [1981]
  • STL-J21 - Ben Webster [1982]
  • STL-J22 - Count Basie [1982]
  • STL-J23 - Frank Teschenmacher [1982]
  • STL-J24 - Art Tatum [1982]
  • STL-J25 - Bunny Berrigan [1982]
  • STL-J26 - Johnny Dodds [1982]
  • STL-J27 - Joe Sullivan [1982]
  • STL-J28 - Bessie Smith [1983]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 years later...

Hm... silly me didn't take any notes... saw a series (5 boxes) of 3LP sets dedicated to the big band era today, could pick them up very cheaply (about 30$ for all of them, maybe 35$ now that the $ is worth shit). Anyone knows more about these sets? Each of them covers two years... didn't yet have a closer look... went to the used bookstore, then to watch the damsels of Rochefort (lovely!) and in the meantime forgot what these darn boxes were called exactly... rings a bell with anyone? Recommended?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hm... silly me didn't take any notes... saw a series (5 boxes) of 3LP sets dedicated to the big band era today, could pick them up very cheaply (about 30$ for all of them, maybe 35$ now that the $ is worth shit). Anyone knows more about these sets? Each of them covers two years... didn't yet have a closer look... went to the used bookstore, then to watch the damsels of Rochefort (lovely!) and in the meantime forgot what these darn boxes were called exactly... rings a bell with anyone? Recommended?

Are those the ones in brown-ish tan boxes with an illustration of the musician (i.e., not a photo but a sort of color drawing)? They are about half the thickness of the Time-Life boxes, which are silver. If the same, they can be found very cheaply here. I've picked up some for a dollar a box.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not sure... I'm totally unfamiliar with Time Life, sorry.

Might be these:

http://www.bsnpubs.com/warner/time-life/04swing/04swing.html

So they'd be re-recordings... didn't have enough time to really read anything, but the booklets had portraits of two artists each (bandleaders), then there was a track-by-track part, which upon quick glance looked like it was all different bands, but it always said "xxx version" after the track title, so it wasn't the original tune but rather someone's version... and to note that would make lots of sense if it was indeed the Billy May re-recordings.

And 1930-1936 is definitely missing - each 3LP box covers two years.

(I mean: missing in the used book store where I saw them.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not sure... I'm totally unfamiliar with Time Life, sorry.

Might be these:

http://www.bsnpubs.com/warner/time-life/04swing/04swing.html

So they'd be re-recordings... didn't have enough time to really read anything, but the booklets had portraits of two artists each (bandleaders), then there was a track-by-track part, which upon quick glance looked like it was all different bands, but it always said "xxx version" after the track title, so it wasn't the original tune but rather someone's version... and to note that would make lots of sense if it was indeed the Billy May re-recordings.

And 1930-1936 is definitely missing - each 3LP box covers two years.

(I mean: missing in the used book store where I saw them.)

No, the one's Leeway means were not the re-recordings you linked to but the Time-Life Giants of Jazz series, nicely put together collections of the artists' representative work with in many cases superb booklets (at times of more than 50 pages) that were alone worth the price. Think I've bought every one I've run across -- Teschemacher (notes by Marty Grosz), Red Allen (Dick Sudhalter), Benny Goodman (George T. Simon), Teagarden (John S. Wilson), Joe Sullivan (Richard Hadlock), Benny Carter (Ed Berger), Johnny Dodds (Bob Wilber), James P. Johnson (Dick Wellstood). Really sorry my Red Norvo set, with notes by the late Don DeMichael, has vanished. IIRC, the Joe Sullivan set was especially valuable because Sullivan collections don't lie thick upon the ground.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had several of the Giants of Jazz series, and agree that they were excellently done. I got rid of most of them as the material became redundant in my collection. The only one I still have is the Frank Teschmacher, which I consider indispensable - it contains his complete recorded works, along with some recordings on which his participation is uncertain.

Edited by jeffcrom
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had several of the Giants of Jazz series, and agree that they were excellently done. I got rid of most of them as the material became redundant in my collection. The only one I still have is the Frank Teschmacher, which I consider indispensable - it contains his complete recorded works, along with some recordings on which his participation is uncertain.

I still have that one also. Great set and a plus for the sound.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can't tell you how many times I've passed on getting armloads' worth of these releases for short dough. They are usually in pristine shape. I've seen them numerous times for $5 a throw and under. I should really investigate some of these.

Truth is - and this may sound silly - I have some sort of a mental block with box sets. I just don't think of putting them on as often as I think about single LPs or single CDs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Truth is - and this may sound silly - I have some sort of a mental block with box sets. I just don't think of putting them on as often as I think about single LPs or single CDs.

Me too.

Re the Time-Life research department aiding the annotators: For the Lester Young box, their lawyers used the Freedom Of Information Act to gather the testimony at Young's Army court-martial. McDonough reprinted that material in Down Beat and the booklet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...