Dan Gould Posted July 16, 2011 Report Share Posted July 16, 2011 (edited) Basic elements of the mystery: No discographical reference to this recording exists -- Gene Harris Trio, I'm Beginning to See the Light/It Might as Well be Spring, Stereo Gems 124. There were two Jubilee LP recordings by "The Gene Harris Trio", but neither of these tunes were on the records. "Our Love is Here To Stay" was identified by Gene Harris to his wife Janie as his first recording session. She presumes that "Genie in My Soul" from 1959 is also him, though my ears say its not. But then again, maybe the fact that a white guy is pictured on the back with a biographical sketch that is different from Gene's is actually a signal that Jubilee was issuing a recording that violated the group's contract with BN and they put the white guy on the back with the false bio so that Alfred wouldn't suspect anything? It could have been recorded previously and issued in 1959 when the group was putting out records on BN and Gene was getting a national reputation. Anyway, that's the background. Now you get to hear both sides of the 45. Edit to add: Now at true 45 RPMs and all cleaned up, too. "I'm Beginning to See the Light": http://www.divshare.com/download/15329602-92d A little stiff to be Gene? There are definite moments that make me think it could be him though, particularly if its early in his career. Edit to say: Holy bleep this sounds much more like Gene than the slowed-down version I mistakenly uploaded. "It Might as Well be Spring": http://www.divshare.com/download/15329687-960 I'll be the first to say there is not very much here to suggest that its Gene. But then again, the first Jubilee recording doesn't sound much like him either and he told his wife that it was him, so if this was recorded around the same time, maybe it is ... Edit to say: At the right speed this sounds more like Gene, too. MODS: Apologies in advance if this full length 45 is too much music to share, please PM me and I will come up with an edit if that is OK, or convert the tracks to a link. God only knows who might own the "Stereo Gems" catalog and I doubt they are going to do anything anyway. I do believe this should fall under fair use as it is a question of discographical significance, and hardly different from blogs that post scratchy B-Sides of obscure 45s. Edited July 17, 2011 by Dan Gould Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnS Posted July 16, 2011 Report Share Posted July 16, 2011 I'm not the person to ask but it could be Gene. In any event thanks for sharing Dan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefan Wood Posted July 16, 2011 Report Share Posted July 16, 2011 Sounds like Harris with the speed just not right on the playback and/or recording. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indestructible! Posted July 16, 2011 Report Share Posted July 16, 2011 I'm not the person to ask but it could be Gene. In any event thanks for sharing Dan. Dan, thanks for these tracks. I'm also not the person to ask, but it really doesn't sound like Gene to me. If it is Gene, he's really young here... not a whole lot of that GH swagger on these tracks. But, as you say, if these tracks are from 1959 or earlier that may have been something he was still in the process of developing. Part of me is definitely hoping this is Gene... it's always nice to hear of new finds! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted July 16, 2011 Report Share Posted July 16, 2011 I'd not have a problem thinking it was a young Harris on a not so good piano, which makes me wonder if maybe this didn't spring from the same Cleveland(?) studio that recorded that Four Sounds demo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted July 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 Sounds like Harris with the speed just not right on the playback and/or recording. Its worse than you even suspected! I discovered this morning that I actually transferred these at 33 RPM. I'm not sure which was stupider, not noticing which toggle position is right for singles or the fact that I should have noticed that the recording is pretty short on the 45, so how come I got a 3 minute plus side on each? Mea maxima culpa! Everyone who has interest please click the audio players above again. I've uploaded correct-speed versions, after I painstakingly removed the pops and clicks for maximum audio pleasure. And all I can say is, I am far more inclined to say this is "the" Gene Harris after hearing these performances at the right speed. Hell, I listened again to the Our Love is Here to Stay recording on my Fresh Sound CD and ... this 45 sounds more like Gene than any track on the Jubilee LP. Check for yourself and please post your impression or if you haven't voted yet, make your opinion known. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave James Posted July 17, 2011 Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 In the original Star Trek television series, behavior like this would warrant an extraordinary competency hearing. I call upon our board administrators to consider similar sanctions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim R Posted July 17, 2011 Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 Sounds like Harris with the speed just not right on the playback and/or recording. Its worse than you even suspected! I discovered this morning that I actually transferred these at 33 RPM. I'm not sure which was stupider, not noticing which toggle position is right for singles or the fact that I should have noticed that the recording is pretty short on the 45, so how come I got a 3 minute plus side on each? Sorry Dan, but this is an even more appropriate situation for this than the recent one... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted July 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 It takes a big man to admit his mistakes, and anyway, I'll take all the abuse that is dished out so long as people check out the corrected transfers and tell me what they think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybleaden Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 Does not sound familiar to me Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_forumlogo.png.a607ef20a6e0c299ab2aa6443aa1f32e.png)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.