What 78 are you spinning right now ?

[jeffcrom]

Jack Parnell and His Band - The Champ/Summertime- Parlophone- 1952- can't find any more details beyond the label which indicate that Phil Seaman and Jimmy Deuchar feature

The Lord discography has this session listed:

Jack Parnell (British)

[P1218-6]

Jimmy Deuchar, Albert Hall, Joe Hunter (tp) Mac Minshull, Ken Wray (tb) Derek Humble (as) Ronnie Scott (ts) Peter King (ts,b-cl) Harry Klein (bar) Max Harris (p) Sammy Stokes (b) Jack Parnell (d) Phil Seamen (d,bgo-1)

London, October 28, 1952

CE14307-1 Catherine wheel (1) Par (E)R3638, PMD1053

CE14308-3 The champ (E)R3607, -

CE14309-1 Summertime - -

Note: Parlophone (E)PAD1053 titled "Trip to Mars".

For myself, played a bunch of 78s that I don't think I've mentioned here yet:

Don Byas - Should I/You Call It Madness & Pennies From Heaven/Jamboree Jump (Jamboree) These two records are the complete output of Byas' January 23, 1945 recording session. Some really nice stuff here, especially from the underrated Joe Thomas on trumpet.

Viola Watkins and The Super Jazzmen - You're In Love With Every One/It's Right Here For You (Super Disc) A mystery band - the Lord discography doesn't know who "The Super Jazzmen" were. I'm assuming that Watkins herself is playing piano, since she scats along with the piano solos. The other soloists are a bright-toned clarinetist (young Tony Scott?) and a good Hawkins-inspired tenor player. Watkins thinks she's Billie Holiday, but she ain't.

Trummie Young and His Lucky Seven - Rattle and Roll/Behind the Eight Bar (Cosmo) A good one, with Buck Clayton & Ike Quebec also in the front line. Trummy was a pretty interesting player in his pre-Louis days.

Hod Williams and His Orchestra - Old King Cole/Monopoly Swing (Bluebird) A territory band out of North Carolina who recorded in 1937. The soloists aren't great, but the band swings.

Jack Teagarden and His Swingin' Gates - Big T Blues/Chinatown, My Chinatown (Commodore) Teagarden and Ernie Caceres on clarinet are the standouts.

Rusty Bryand and the Carolyn Club Band - Pink Champagne/Slow Drag (Dot) Columbus, Ohio R & B from 1952. "Champagne" seems artifically hyped-up, but "Slow Drag" is nice.

[Clunky]

Jack Parnell and His Band - The Champ/Summertime- Parlophone- 1952- can't find any more details beyond the label which indicate that Phil Seaman and Jimmy Deuchar feature

The Lord discography has this session listed:

Jack Parnell (British)

[P1218-6]

Jimmy Deuchar, Albert Hall, Joe Hunter (tp) Mac Minshull, Ken Wray (tb) Derek Humble (as) Ronnie Scott (ts) Peter King (ts,b-cl) Harry Klein (bar) Max Harris (p) Sammy Stokes (b) Jack Parnell (d) Phil Seamen (d,bgo-1)

London, October 28, 1952

CE14307-1 Catherine wheel (1) Par (E)R3638, PMD1053

CE14308-3 The champ (E)R3607, -

CE14309-1 Summertime - -

Note: Parlophone (E)PAD1053 titled "Trip to Mars".

many thanks

next up

HERBIE FIELDS' BAND - You can depend on me/ Ghost of a chance -Signature 90004 ( 12 inch 78) - recorded1944,

On the swing side of swing-to-bop with guitarist Leonard Ware sounding very good. Fields himself died in 1958 at his own hand if his wikipedia entry is to be believed. his sound on tenor is not especially distinctive , Lestorian in character but non the worse for that . 2 nice sides.

Edited August 11, 2010 by Clunky

[Clunky]

a few R&B sides between listening to 2 Ts for a lovely T

Jimmy Witherspoon - It ain't no secret/Why do I love you like i do? Checker 826

Goonie Rene- Big Time/Midnight - Class 205

4 really nice R&B sides in lovely condition. Spoon sounding very much better than I remember him to be . Never come across Goonie before ( odd name !!)

[Clunky]

A Victor original- recent purchase at £2

Jacques Renard & His Coconut Grove Orchestra - When the morning glories wake up in the morning ok side with vocal refrain by Johnny Marvin, recorded 1926/7- nice baritone sax solo and trumpet, unidentified.

The other side is better known

Jean Goldkette & Orchestra - Blue River - with Bix in the mix

Edited August 12, 2010 by Clunky

[jazztrain]

Jeff:

You're welcome! I remember tracking down that information on Gregory Felix.

I played the following Zutty Singleton (Zutty And His Band) 78s on Decca the other night:

Look Over Yonder / Runenae Papa (I Want A Lot Of Love)

(I Would Do) Anything For You / Clarinet Marmalade

Royal Garden Blues / Bugle Call Rag

You should check out the first one, especially, if you don't know it. It has some wonderful clarinet playing by the rather obscure Horace Eubanks.

Played some calypso 78s today. I'm always on the lookout for these, but I'm not the only one - they seem to be snatched up quickly by collectors. And since, for the most part, I don't pay collector's prices for 78s, I only have a few calypso discs.

Sir Lancelot - Scandal in the Family/The Young Girls Today (Mercury, ex Keynote) Backed up by Gerald Clark's band with the great Gregory Felix on clarinet - thanks to Jazztrain for identifying the clarinetist back in my early days here.

Sir Lancelot - Atomic Energy/Walk in Peace (Charter)

[jeffcrom]

I played the following Zutty Singleton (Zutty And His Band) 78s on Decca the other night:

Look Over Yonder / Runenae Papa (I Want A Lot Of Love)

(I Would Do) Anything For You / Clarinet Marmalade

Royal Garden Blues / Bugle Call Rag

You should check out the first one, especially, if you don't know it. It has some wonderful clarinet playing by the rather obscure Horace Eubanks.

Wow - don't know those records at all. I'll be on the lookout. I know Eubanks from his playing on Jelly Roll Morton's 1923 Okeh session.

Today's 78 spins, old and new:

(Well, they're all old, but some are new to me.) I started and ended with one of the minor masterpieces of early jazz:

Kentucky Grasshoppers: Makin' Friends (Banner, 1929) A vocal, trombone, and half-of-a-trombone-played-into-a-water-glass feature for Jack Teagarden, but young Jimmy McPartland also has a nice solo. The flip side's not bad, either - it's by Fred Rich's dance band, but both Dorsey brothers are on hand and have solos.

Then on to modern jazz: the complete Parrot recordings of Ahmad Jamal:

But Not For Me/Seleritus; Excerpts From the Blues/It Could Happen to You (Parrot, 1954) Between his stints with Okeh/Columbia and Chess/Argo, Jamal recorded these four tunes for the Chicago label Parrot. They're as good as anything he did during this period; they're also Richard Davis's recording debut.

Then some old-time country by Bill Cox:

The Death of Frank Bowen/When We Sing of Home (Gennett, 1929-ish)

Rollin' Pin Woman/Star Boarder Blues (Banner, 1934) I've got three Bill Cox records now; I really like him for country music during this period.

On to some later country:

Delmore Brothers - Pan American Boogie/Troubles Ain't Nothin' But the Blues (King, 1949) I like this one a lot.

Vin Bruce - Fille de la Ville/Dans la Louisianne (Columbia, 1952) A cajun boy, if you couldn't tell.

Merle Travis - So Round, So Firm, So Fully Packed/Sweet Temptation (Capitol, late 40s) A hoot.

Then, two early Hungarian records I found the other day. I think I said in this thread recently that I have really come to treasure Columbia's "E" series of ethnic records. I tend to pick these up even if I don't know what they're going to sound like - I've discovered some really interesting stuff this way. Based on the label style and catalog numbers, these are probably from 1915 or before. I can't read Hungarian, so I'm a little unclear on what I'm hearing and who is performing, but two of the sides are very cool - a clarinet solo with band accompaniment and a violin solo with piano.

And I ended up with "Makin' Friends" again. A nice hour among the shellac.

Edited August 14, 2010 by jeffcrom

[jeffcrom]

Well, I tripled the size of my calypso 78 collection today. As I said in a previous post, calypso 78s seem to be prized among collectors, so when they appear on Ebay, they quickly go out of my price range. I knew that to add to my calypso collection, I'd have to come across a stash or two on my own somewhere. I stumbled on six such records in a stack of 78s in an antique store today - on U.S., British, and Trinidanian labels. There's not a loser in the bunch:

Lord Kitchener - Africa My Home/My Landlady (Melodisc)

Mighty Spoiler - The Bed Bug/What the Scientist Say (Calypso) I haven't caught all the lyrics to these songs yet, and that's a lot of the fun of these records. I got most of "What the Scientist Say," though, and it's pretty bizarre/funny.

King Flash and His Calypso Masters - Confusion Calypso/Black Bird (Monogram)

Russell Henderson and His Orchestra featuring Syl Dopson on his Clarinet - Ju-C Jingle/In Ah Calabash (Sagomes) So now I know another calypso clarinetist. I like Syl, but he's not in the same league as Gregory Felix.

King Radio (Norman Span) - Brown Skin Girl/Melody (Fitzroy Alexander) - McDonald Almanac (Sagomes)

Mighty Spitfire - Post! Post!/Pounding Rice Fine (Sagomes) I told my wife that I was going to ask for my money back on this one, because "Pounding Rice Fine" seems to have very little to do with the processing of foodstuffs.

From what I can tell, the Lord Kitchener record was recorded in London, all the others in Trinadad. They're all wonderful - this was a good day in the 78 world.

[jeffcrom]

A friend bluntly, but accurately, described me as "a moody fuck." I was in a dark mood today, but an hour and a half among the shellac was highly therapeutic. I covered a lot of bases, with some old favorites and some new discs.

Hot Lips Page - If I Were You/Small Fry (Bluebird, 1938) Page plays and sings with more commitment than these lousy songs deserve. And Benny Waters has a short tenor solo on the first side.

Hot Lips Page - Uncle Sam Blues/Paging Mr. Page (Savoy, 1944) The Changing Face of Harlem album uses a different take of "Uncle Sam Blues" - finding lesser-known takes is one of the small joys of 78s.

Hot Lips Page - Let Me In/That's the One For Me (RCA Victor, 1951) Genial R & B, with some nice playing by Paul Quinichette.

Sacasas and His Orchestra - Mambo/I Cherish a Memory (RCA Victor, 1946) Side one is nice Afro-Cuban - side two is weaker, as you might guess from the title.

Illinois Jacquet - All of Me/Pastel (Mercury, 1951) Excellent, with Carl Perkins on piano.

Illinois Jacquet - The Cool Rage/Lean Baby (Mercury, 1951) A delight, with Basie on organ. "Lean Baby" is apparently also a rare take.

James Moody - Moody's Home/Serenade in Blue (Mercury, 1951) Not as good as he was by the end of the decade, but still very nice.

Sensational Nightingales - The Lord Will Make a Way/To the End (Peacock, mid 50s) The more I hear by this group, the more I like them.

Sensational Nightingales - Pressing On/View That Holy City (Peacock, mid 50s) "Holy City" is the old spiritual "I'm Going to Cross the River Jordan." I was surprised to learn from the label that Don Robey wrote that old song, which Blind Willie Johnson had recorded 30 years earlier. How 'bout that? Anyway, the Nightingales take it to a pretty interesting place - by the end, the lead singer is riffing about "no more discrimination, no segregation, no North, no South."

Sons of Jehova (sic) - Teach Me Lord/High Cost of Living (Nashboro, 1957) I'd never heard of this group, but I found a review of this record in the October 7, 1957 Billboard. (Side one got a rating of 78, side two just 74.) They're rough and very soulful; "Teach Me Lord" has some nasty guitar.

Lowell Fulson - Trouble Blues/I Want to See My Baby (Big Town, mid 40s, I think) "Trouble" is rougher and more down-home than I'm used to from Fulson. Very worn record, but nice.

Lowell Fulson - I've Been Mistreated/Juke Box Shuffle (Swing Time, early 50s, I think) Another of the joys of 78s is the vibrancy and immediacy of the sound, even with surface noise.

Okay, I feel better now.

Edited August 24, 2010 by jeffcrom

[jeffcrom]

Spent some time with 1920s blues ladies today. I've probably mentioned some of these before. The first three were relatively lightweight:

Leona Williams and Her Dixie Band - If Your Man Is Like My Man/That Teasin', Squeezin' Man of Mine (Columbia, 1923) The "Dixie Band" is one of my favorite bands from the 20s, the Original Memphis Five.

Lena Wilson and Her Nubian Five - Memphis, Tennessee/He Used to Be Your Man But He's My Man Now (Perfect, 1923) This is an even more ridiculous pseudonym: the "Nubian Five" is also the very white Original Memphis Five.

Rosa Henderson - Midnight Blues/Lizzie Miles - Cotton Belt Blues (Victor, 1923) A six-piece Fletcher Henderson group backs up Rosa.

The last two were the real deal:

Lillian Glinn - Doogin' Me Blues/Brown Skin Blues (Columbia, 1927) I love this record. Lillian Glinn has a tough, Texas voice (this was recorded in Dallas) and sings real blues, not watered-down vaudeville stuff like some of the above. And I always love hearing recordings, even just aural glimpses, of musicians who were around at the very beginnings of jazz in New Orleans. "Doggin'" has Octave "Oke" Gaspard on tuba - he was born in New Orleans in 1870 and was active during the "Genesis" years. He moved to Texas sometime during the 1920s.

Clara Smith - Awful Moanin' Blues/I Never Miss the Sunshine (Columbia, 1923) Clara sounds great, in spite of Fletcher Henderson's stiff piano playing.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Rev. J. M. Gates and Congregation - Are You Bound for Heaven or Hell?/The California Kidnapping (Okeh, 1927/28) I have the first side on CD, but the "Kidnapping" sermon is new to me, and it's brilliant. He starts talking about recent (at the time) kidnappings, then suddenly shifts to how his grandfather and grandmother were kidnapped from Africa and brought here. An amazing performance.

"California kidnapping" is on vol 6 of the Gates complete works series on Document. Yes, a great performance. Gates was not shy about pointing the finger at police and politicians in his sermons. And his own congregation, to be fair

MG

[jeffcrom]

Stopped at a little junk store out in the country today - they had some records, so I asked if they had any 78s. The owner brought out a stack - only about 15, but there were some great blues and R & B records among them. I bought eight discs; so far I have cleaned and spun these:

Muddy Waters - Forty Days & Forty Nights/All Aboard (Chess) Frankly, I bought this more as an object than a record. Somebody back in 1955 loved this record - they played it over and over, but without changing needles very often. Luckily, they liked "Forty Days," which I have on CD, better than "All Aboard," which I don't. "Forty Days" is so worn that playing it is pretty much pointless, but "All Aboard" is still listenable. I love the twin harps of Little Walter and James Cotton.

Kid King's Combo - Chocolate Sundae/Greasy Feet (Excello) This, on the other had, is near mint. It's a great little R & B instrumental, with a really nice alto player. Anyone know who was in this band?

The Treniers - Plenty of Money/Go! Go! Go! (Okeh promo) Sweet!

Sugar Boy and His Can Cutters - Overboard/I Don't Know What I'll Do (Checker) This was the real find - Sugarboy Crawford's first record, and it's a wild one. And it's in excellent condition. Part of me wanted to tell the guy at the store to sell it on Ebay for 20 times what I paid. But I'm glad I took it home. Great record.

And I picked up a few more early Jewish/Yiddish records a few days ago. The best one is an outstanding klezmer disc from 1917 - Abe Schwartz's band masquerading as "Yiddisher Orchester" again, playing "Biem Reben's Sideh" and "Sadegurer Chused'l." There's some very good clarinet playing - it's not Dave Tarras, but I don't know who it is.

[paul secor]

Stopped at a little junk store out in the country today - they had some records, so I asked if they had any 78s. The owner brought out a stack - only about 15, but there were some great blues and R & B records among them. I bought eight discs; so far I have cleaned and spun these:

Kid King's Combo - Chocolate Sundae/Greasy Feet (Excello) This, on the other had, is near mint. It's a great little R & B instrumental, with a really nice alto player. Anyone know who was in this band?

From Blues Records 1943 to 1970 (Leadbitter & Slaven):

Skippy Brooks: piano; unknown: sax; "Wallace": bass; Kid King: drums - Nashville, 1953/54

Checking further & reading the liner notes from Southern Rhythms (Ace) - Ace rarely provided discographical information on their releases - the alto saxophonist was probably a man named Freddy Young, who played sax with Kid King's Combo when they began. The notes mention Young's admiration for Johnny Hodges, & that's evident in the alto sax playing on the two cuts you mention.

Also, the liner notes mention Clifford "Big Mac" McCray as the bassist with the early Kid King's Combo - he's also quoted in the notes - so it may be he on bass, rather than the "Wallace" that Leadbitter & Slaven credit in their discography.

Hope this helps.

[jeffcrom]

Thanks, Paul!

[Clunky]

Kenton presents The Boots Mussulli Quartet- Diga Diga Doo/ Lullaby in Rhythm- Capitol- Fine sides , I'd like to hear more but AFAIK this has not been released on CD. I think Affinity had a LP of the session but I'm not sure what the sound will be like.

Joe Williams - Vitamin A/ Somebody's been worrying Bluebird, picked this up thinking it would be the other Joe Williams who sang with Basie. Not disappointed as these fine have fine blues singing by another Joe Williams

Edited September 3, 2010 by Clunky

[Clunky]

Picked up a mixed bag of 78s today, ten in total including ..

Chu Berry - Sittin In/46 West 52 (Commodore)- lovely pair of sides

Cozy Cole All stars- Ghost of Chance/Look Here- (Continental)- Crude swing but has some Hawk and Clyde Hart's guitar cuts through the jam session haze

Slim Gaillard- Santa Monica Jump (Majestic) - Lovely tenor spot for Lucky Thompson to shine- Dodos on the piano and Tiny's on bass......Reverse side is slighter with Wini Beatty on piano whilst Slim is on vibes, ok vocal

Red Allen - Rug Cutter Swing/ House in Harlem for sale (Vocalion Swing Series / ex Banner). Very fine 1934 session from Red in great sound

Edited September 4, 2010 by Clunky

[jeffcrom]

Picked up a mixed bag of 78s today, ten in total including ..

Chu Berry - Sittin In/46 West 52 (Commodore)- lovely pair of sides

Cozy Cole All stars- Ghost of Chance/Look Here- (Continental)- Crude swing but has some Hawk and Clyde Hart's guitar cuts through the jam session haze

Slim Gaillard- Santa Monica Jump (Majestic) - Lovely tenor spot for Lucky Thompson to shine- Dodos on the piano and Tiny's on bass......Reverse side is slighter with Wini Beatty on piano whilst Slim is on vibes, ok vocal

Red Allen - Rug Cutter Swing/ House in Harlem for sale (Vocalion Swing Series / ex Banner). Very fine 1934 session from Red in great sound

Great stuff!

[jeffcrom]

Found a cool two-pocket album today - Pine Top Smith: Boogie Woogie Piano on Brunswick. The album book is pretty battered, but the records are in very good shape. The label has come off the front - I'll probably glue it back on, but I scanned it in the meantime. This was an early collectors' album - they used an unreleased take of "Jump Steady Blues," so this is the first issue for that one. Great stuff.

I also played:

Corky Corcoran - What is This Thing Called Love/Minor Blues (Keynote, 1945) Corcoran was a decent Hawkins-influenced tenor player. This is a pretty good record, with Emmett Berry, Willie Smith, and Dodo Marmarosa - you can't have too much Dodo.

Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys - Osage Stomp/Get With It (Vocalion, 1935) From what I can tell, these are the first two sides recorded by this band. This is the only Bob Wills on Vocalion I've seen; all the others I run across are on Okeh or Columbia.

Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys - Steel Guitar Rag/Swing Blues #1 (Okeh) Nice!

[Clunky]

Bought around 20 or so 78s over the past 2 weeks, real mix of stuff. Mostly in very good condition but all have benefitted from a quick clean in the RCM.

currently listening repeatedly to ...

Jelly Roll Morton- a French HMV laminate pressing of Georgia Swing which sounds incredibly clear, I believe it's a 30/40s repress but non the less the sound Q is astounding

[Big Beat Steve]

Kenton presents The Boots Mussulli Quartet- Diga Diga Doo/ Lullaby in Rhythm- Capitol- Fine sides , I'd like to hear more but AFAIK this has not been released on CD. I think Affinity had a LP of the session but I'm not sure what the sound will be like.

Quite OK IIRC. Been a while since I spun it. In a pinch I could compare the fidelity as I also have part of this "Little Man" album on an original Capitol EP in very decent condition.

Joe Williams - Vitamin A/ Somebody's been worrying Bluebird, picked this up thinking it would be the other Joe Williams who sang with Basie. Not disappointed as these fine have fine blues singing by another Joe Williams

Not familiar with these tunes but the combination of Bluebird and Joe Williams sounds very much like "Big Joe" Williams - THE one and only Joe Williams to hard core (traditional-style) blues fans, especially given his extremely long and fertile recording career.

[paul secor]

Joe Williams - Vitamin A/ Somebody's been worrying Bluebird, picked this up thinking it would be the other Joe Williams who sang with Basie. Not disappointed as these fine have fine blues singing by another Joe Williams

Not familiar with these tunes but the combination of Bluebird and Joe Williams sounds very much like "Big Joe" Williams - THE one and only Joe Williams to hard core (traditional-style) blues fans, especially given his extremely long and fertile recording career.

Yes - Big Joe Williams recordings from 1945.

[jeffcrom]

Spun all of my Lester Young 78s today:

Jammin' With Lester/Lover Come Back to Me (Aladdin)

New Lester Leaps In/You're Driving Me Crazy (Aladdin) w/ Joe Albany

Undercover Girl Blues/Frenesi (Mercury) w/ John Lewis

There'll Never Be Another You/Almost Like Being In Love (Clef) w/ Oscar Peterson

I have all of these on CD, of course, but I love hearing them on 78. Prez's sound is very warm and "present."

[jeffcrom]

Some Southern white gospel records:

Frank & James McCravy - The Better Home/Cornwall & Cleary - Absent (Perfect, 1930)

Frank & James McCravy - Will the Circle Be Unbroken/The Resurrection Morning (Regal, 1930)

Frank & James McCravy - Jacob's Ladder/I Want to Go There (Oriole, 1930)

The McCravy brothers were from upstate South Carolina, just a few miles from where my maternal grandfather grew up.

Smoky Mountain Sacred Singers (as Smoky Mountain Twins) - A Picture From Life's Other Side/Wellings & McGhee Trio - There's Sunshine in My Soul (Conqueror, 1930)

McDonald Quartette - Precious Memories/Love Lifted Me (Conqueror, 1932)

McDonald Quartette - We'll Reap What We Sow/Rocking on the Waves (Conqueror, 1932)

I wouldn't want to listen to this stuff all the time, but there's a sweetness to it that I like in small doses.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Some Southern white gospel records:

Frank & James McCravy - The Better Home/Cornwall & Cleary - Absent (Perfect, 1930)

Frank & James McCravy - Will the Circle Be Unbroken/The Resurrection Morning (Regal, 1930)

Frank & James McCravy - Jacob's Ladder/I Want to Go There (Oriole, 1930)

The McCravy brothers were from upstate South Carolina, just a few miles from where my maternal grandfather grew up.

I'd guess your grandfather would have been a little older than the McCravys, but probably not that much. Did you inherit those 78s?

MG

[jeffcrom]

Some Southern white gospel records:

Frank & James McCravy - The Better Home/Cornwall & Cleary - Absent (Perfect, 1930)

Frank & James McCravy - Will the Circle Be Unbroken/The Resurrection Morning (Regal, 1930)

Frank & James McCravy - Jacob's Ladder/I Want to Go There (Oriole, 1930)

The McCravy brothers were from upstate South Carolina, just a few miles from where my maternal grandfather grew up.

I'd guess your grandfather would have been a little older than the McCravys, but probably not that much. Did you inherit those 78s?

MG

No - I had never even heard of the the McCravys until a few months ago. Two of these records were in the collection mentioned in post #180 here, and the third was in an album of 78s I picked up for a few bucks last week. So no, these were not my grandfather's records, but I wonder if he might have heard the McCravy Brothers in some rural church, or on the streets of Laurens. Certainly within the realm of possibility.

Similarly, my father used to eat barbecue at the Pig 'n' Whistle on Ponce de Leon Avenue in Atlanta around the turn of the 1950s. I asked him if he ever heard a blind guitarist/singer entertaining in the parking lot - he said no. Who knows - he might have missed Blind Willie McTell by a day or two.

[jeffcrom]

As I've mentioned before, some 78s find you. I get a lot of my 78s from antique stores, and antique dealers often sell them by the box or by the album, so I end up with lots of records that I wouldn't necessarily consciously pick. I have accumulated six late-forties Tommy Dorsey records that way, so I finally decided to clean and play them today. Half of them didn't pass muster, but I'm going to keep three RCA Victor Dorseys:

Pussy Willow/Dream of You (1949) - Side one is an interesting Bill Finegan chart.

Dry Bones/Summertime (1949) - Two more Finegan arrangements.

But I Do Mind If Ya Don't/That's Life; I Guess (1947) This one was the real winner, in spite of the lousy songs. It's by the Clambake Seven, Dorsey's small group. Side one has a nice Teddy Wilson solo (he was guesting, I guess); the flip has some very interesting Billy Bauer guitar.

I ended up with a record The Magnificent Goldberg just got on CD:

Johnny Otis/Jimmy Rushing - Jimmy's 'Round the Clock Blues/Harlem Nocturne (Excelsior)