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What 78 are you spinning right now ?


Clunky

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7 hours ago, medjuck said:

Was it originally on 78? 

Yes - six 12-inch vinyl (rather than shellac) 78s in a deluxe album with lots of well-printed Gjon Milli photographs. That's it in the picture (not mine) with one of the records.It cost $25 at the time, which is equivalent to $267 today. It didn't come out on LP until about five years later.

Maybe if I get ambitious today I'll take some pictures of my set to try to convey what an impressive production it was.

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I no idea there was such a thing as 78 rpm vinyl.  I assumed that all 78s were made of shellac and that vinyl only began to be used when LPs were introduced.

Huh. Learned something new today. 😁 👍

 

8 hours ago, medjuck said:

Ahhh. It was they "vinyl" that confused me.  (I'm often confused.) 

You aren't the only one! 😋

Edited by HutchFan
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22 minutes ago, HutchFan said:

I no idea there was such a thing as 78 rpm vinyl.  I assumed that all 78s were made of shellac and that vinyl only began to be used when LPs were introduced.

Huh. Learned something new today. 😁 👍

 

Your assumption is generally correct - most 78s were made of shellac or a similar compound into the 1950s, even after vinyl LPs were introduced. But starting around the end of World War II, some 78s were pressed on vinyl for better sound quality. Bill Russell's American Music label used vinyl at first, although whatever gains made in surface noise reduction were offset by the generally lousy recording quality. Based on what I've found "in the wild," it looks like some labels pressed their promo/DJ 78 records on vinyl while using shellac for the general public.

Anyway, a deluxe production like The Jazz Scene was the perfect candidate for vinyl pressings. And the records really do sound magnificent.

 

 

Edited by jeffcrom
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Since I started collecting 78s, I had planned to eventually get the complete recordings of the Varsity Seven, an all-star recording band that has not been well served by reissues. It wasn't hard - the records are not rare or expensive, but I just got around to getting all four of them. It really is a great band, with a front line of Benny Carter (as "Billy Carton" on the labels, and mostly on trumpet), clarinetist Danny Polo, and Coleman Hawkins. Joe Sullivan on piano is pretty wonderful, too. They made two sessions - December, 1939 and January, 1940; Big Joe Turner sings on two of the 1940 sides.

Scratch My Back / Save It, Pretty Mama (Varsity 8135)
Easy Rider / It's Tight Like That (Varsity 8147)
How Long, How Long Blues / Pom Pom (Varsity 8173)
Shake It and Break It / A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody (Varsity 8179)

 

Edited by jeffcrom
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Planning to change the turntable over to play LPs for a week or so tomorrow, so I spun some of my real 78 treasures (all from 1923-25) tonight:

The Wolverines with Bix Beiderbecke (as The Jazz Harmonizers) - Riverboat Shuffle / Susie (Claxtonola)

New Orleans Rhythm Kings - Milenberg Joys / King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band - Sugar Foot Stomp (Gennett). This is the only one of Oliver's sides ever reissued by Gennett; it's "Dippermouth Blues," issued two years after the 1923 original to capitalize on the fact that the same tune had become a hit as "Sugar Foot Stomp" by Fletcher Henderson and other bands.

King Oliver's Jazz Band - Jazzin' Babies Blues / Clarence Williams' Blue Five - New Orleans Hop Scop Blues (Okeh). One of the greatest "split singles" of all time!

Clarence Williams' Blue Five - Everybody Loves My Baby / Of All the Wrongs You've Done to Me (Okeh). With young Louis Armstrong.

Sara Martin with Clarence Williams' Blue Five - Atlanta Blues / Blind Man Blues (Okeh). This is one of my favorite records, period. Bechet!

I hope it's not corny to say that I feel privileged to be the current caretaker of these records; I wish them a long life after I'm gone.

Edited by jeffcrom
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Honolulu Serenaders - Honolulu Stomp / Mele of Hawaii (Victor). I was going to leave my turntable set up for LPs for about a week, but I went to an estate sale today and brought home some 78s. The winner was this lively little number on side A of only record ever made by the Honolulu Serenaders. Hawaiian music and hot jazz were both popular in the 1920s, and sometimes they overlapped, like there. I know from elsewhere on the internet that there is a community which collects "hot Hawaiian," and is as rabid about it as I am about King Oliver. The flip side is a typicall Hawaiian waltz which does little for me.

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7 minutes ago, jeffcrom said:

. Hawaiian music and hot jazz were both popular in the 1920s, and sometimes they overlapped, like there. I know from elsewhere on the internet that there is a community which collects "hot Hawaiian," and is as rabid about it as I am about King Oliver.

I got a wedding gig in Hawaii a whilke back and was there for a little less than 72 hours, but packed all the walking around I could into it. There was a street fair or something that had a live band, sorta of a "tourist" band, maybe(?) and they played a few tunes like this, "hot Hawaiian". It was pretty cool, and put me in mind of Dan Hicks with lap guitars, which was not at all a bad thing to be put in mind of.

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s-l500.jpg  8691be028fa9fae9b75695c2c0a9adce.jpg

Mary Lou and calypso tonight:

Mary Lou Williams - Blues at Mary Lou's / Rumba Bebop (Continental)
Mary Lou Williams - Humoresque / Waltz Boogie (RCA Victor)
Mary Lou Williams - Oo-Bla-Dee / Knowledge (King)

Duke of Iron - One Gone / Big Bamboo (Monogram)
Duke of Iron - Coldest Woman / Sally Waters (Monogram)
King Flash - Confusion Calypso / Black Bird (Monogram)
Gerald Clark and his Original Calypsos featuring MacBeth the Great ;- Man Smart, Woman Smarter / My Donkey Want Water (Guild). The great Gregory Felix is on C clarinet on this one.
Russell Henderson and his Orchestra featuring Syl Dopson on his Clarinet - In Ah Calabash / Ju-C Jingle (Sagomes)
King Radio - Brown Skin Girl / Fitzroy Alexander "Melody" - McDonald Almanac (Sagomes)
Mighty Spitfire - Post! Post! / Pounding Rice Fine (Sagomes)
Casablanca Steel Orchestra - Last Train to San Fernando / A Theme for Steel (Sagomes)

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On 9/17/2018 at 8:39 PM, jeffcrom said:

R-11398732-1515627535-1271.jpeg.jpg

Since I started collecting 78s, I had planned to eventually get the complete recordings of the Varsity Seven, an all-star recording band that has not been well served by reissues. It wasn't hard - the records are not rare or expensive, but I just got around to getting all four of them. It really is a great band, with a front line of Benny Carter (as "Billy Carton" on the labels, and mostly on trumpet), clarinetist Danny Polo, and Coleman Hawkins. Joe Sullivan on piano is pretty wonderful, too. They made two sessions - December, 1939 and January, 1940; Big Joe Turner sings on two of the 1940 sides.

Scratch My Back / Save It, Pretty Mama (Varsity 8135)
Easy Rider / It's Tight Like That (Varsity 8147)
How Long, How Long Blues / Pom Pom (Varsity 8173)
Shake It and Break It / A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody (Varsity 8179)

 

I just returned from a trip and am only now catching up. I've never heard of the "Varsity Seven." Who owns the Varsity stuff now? Jog my poor memory--didn't some of the Big Bands record for the label? And were there other hidden treasures?

 

 

gregmo

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Varsity was one of Eli Oberstein's many labels - Crown and Royale were others. Oberstein had a long career in the discount-label record business. I also have Varsity 78s by the Les Hite big band and Jess Stacy with a small band. Jack Teagarden's big band recorded for them for awhile and some Harry James records ended up on Varsity, but I'm not sure how that happened. I'm not sure who owns the label now. The Varsity Seven sides are hard to come by on reissues, which is why I decided to go ahead and seek them out on 78.

I have a Varsity/Royale catalog, but I'm not sure about the vintage. I'm guessing that it's earlier than the Varsity Seven, since they're not listed. There's lots of light classical and diposable pop stuff; not much jazz. There are some Fletcher Hendersons that were originally on Crown. But the most interesting section of the catalog is the short "race" section. All the artists are given pseudonyms. I don't know who everyone is, but the "Harlem Wildcats" are Joel Shaw's white big band, again, I think, from the Crown catalog. But some of these are reissues from Paramount - legit or not, I don't know. 6002, by "Billy James and Orchestra" is in fact a Blind Blake record - just guitar and vocal. 6010, by the "Down South Boys," is a rare one, by the elusive bluesman King Solomon Hill.

 

Image%2B%252824%2529.jpg  Image%2B%252825%2529.jpg

Edited by jeffcrom
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On 9/27/2018 at 11:05 AM, jeffcrom said:

Varsity was one of Eli Oberstein's many labels - Crown and Royale were others. Oberstein had a long career in the discount-label record business. I also have Varsity 78s by the Les Hite big band and Jess Stacy with a small band. Jack Teagarden's big band recorded for them for awhile and some Harry James records ended up on Varsity, but I'm not sure how that happened. I'm not sure who owns the label now. The Varsity Seven sides are hard to come by on reissues, which is why I decided to go ahead and seek them out on 78.

I have a Varsity/Royale catalog, but I'm not sure about the vintage. I'm guessing that it's earlier than the Varsity Seven, since they're not listed. There's lots of light classical and diposable pop stuff; not much jazz. There are some Fletcher Hendersons that were originally on Crown. But the most interesting section of the catalog is the short "race" section. All the artists are given pseudonyms. I don't know who everyone is, but the "Harlem Wildcats" are Joel Shaw's white big band, again, I think, from the Crown catalog. But some of these are reissues from Paramount - legit or not, I don't know. 6002, by "Billy James and Orchestra" is in fact a Blind Blake record - just guitar and vocal. 6010, by the "Down South Boys," is a rare one, by the elusive bluesman King Solomon Hill.

 

Image%2B%252824%2529.jpg  Image%2B%252825%2529.jpg

Soooo, a fun detective story! As I read your post, I did remember that Teagarden and James recorded for the label (those have been reissued). So, none of those Varsity 7s were reissued on Classics, huh?  I love this obscure label stuff. Thanks for the response!

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1 hour ago, gmonahan said:

Soooo, a fun detective story! As I read your post, I did remember that Teagarden and James recorded for the label (those have been reissued). So, none of those Varsity 7s were reissued on Classics, huh?  I love this obscure label stuff. Thanks for the response!

I didn't mean to imply that the Varsity Seven sides had never been reissued - I believe that they are included in the Classics Coleman Hawkins series. But those are hard to come by now if you don't want the more recent CDr versions.

27 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Did Prestige put out some Henderson Varsity on this one?

https://www.discogs.com/Various-The-Big-Bands1933/release/6861713

Not Varsity - English Columbia, I think,

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  • 2 weeks later...

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Lots of archaic music over the past couple of days, but here are two highlights (both from 1924) that I don't think I've mentioned before. The Doc Cook record is a recent acquisition; the Creath disc was in the first box of 78s my grandmother gave me when I was 15.

Chas. Creath's Jazz-o-Maniacs - Pleasure Mad / Market Street Blues (Okeh). Really nice St. Louis jazz. "Pleasure Mad" is a Sidney Bechet composition; if I remember correctly, Bechet didn't record it himself until after he had moved to France.

Doc Cook's Dreamland Orchestra - Moanful Man / Lonely Little Wallflower (Gennett). Side one is excellent, with Jimmie Noone and Freddie Keppard. The tune is the same as "My Daddy Rocks Me."

 

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20 minutes ago, JSngry said:

What allure would "recorded in St. Louis" have had at the time?

I'm guessing that was added to boost sales in the St. Louis market. Civic pride and all that. There were other Okehs from the 1920s with that line on the label - like some early Lonnie Johnsons, if I remember correctly.

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Louis Armstrong - Weather Bird / Dear Old Southland (Hot Record Society). The first reissue of Okeh 41454, pressed in 1939 from the original stampers. It sounds magnificent. This was waiting for me when I got home from a short road trip. Can't find a usable picture online.

Edited by jeffcrom
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Blues night here in Candler Park, Atlanta. I don't have any Charley Pattons or Robert Johnsons, but I've got some good blues 78s, some in really nice condition, which is unusual for old blues records.

Tommy McClennan - She's Just Good Huggin' Size / My Little Girl (Bluebird). Stone E condition.
Buddy Moss - Joy Rag / Unfinished Business (Okeh) E- or so.
Buddy Moss - Someday Baby / Shake It All Night Long (Conqueror)
Jim Jackson - Jim Jackson's Kansas City Blues, parts 1 & 2 (Vocalion)
DeFord Bailey - Evening Prayer Blues / Alcoholic Blues (Vocalion)
Walter Roland - Schoolboy Blues / Screw Worm (Perfect)
 

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