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Good Lu Watters or Turk Murphy track?


ghost of miles

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Hey gang, I’m working on a Night Lights show about the San Francisco jazz scene circa 1930s/40s to 70s and am looking for a good representative Lu Watters or Turk Murphy track to use. I have nothing by them in my own collection or in the ststion’s library... any recommendations for something that I might be able to then track down in digital form?

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I'm guessing you won't get too many replies simply because one would then have to admit that one listens to the music of Turk Murphy.  Well, I ain't too proud.  When I first moved to the SF Bay Area 38 years ago, I discovered by accident that Turk Murphy had a weekly radio show -- Saturday afternoons, I think it was, from Earthquake McGoon's.  I fell in love with his music then and still revisit it once in a while.

You might try this disc:

MI0000077446.jpg?partner=allrovi.com

MI0000077447.jpg?partner=allrovi.com

In these radio broadcasts from 1946 & '47, you get Lu, Turk, Bob Scobey, Bob Helm, Wally Rose -- SF trad jazz legends all!  Try tracks 5, 13, 15 or 18.

Edited by duaneiac
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"Annie Street Rock" and "Emperor Norton's Hunch" are both lively originals by Watters that highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the band. Here are links to downloads on Amazon. In spite of the questionable "album covers," these appear to be the original 1946 recordings from the Good Time Jazz label.

https://www.amazon.com/Annie-Street-Rock/dp/B00AL1Q16U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541706030&sr=8-1&keywords=lu+watters+annie+street+rock

https://www.amazon.com/Emperor-Nortons-Hunch/dp/B07DBHFH8F/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1541706208&sr=8-2&keywords=lu+watters+emperor+norton%27s+hunch

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2 hours ago, duaneiac said:

I'm guessing you won't get too many replies simply because one would then have to admit that one listens to the music of Turk Murphy.

Pshaw! Turk over Windingbats and Jones or whatever those funny modern trombone people are called.

Not representative, but my favourite Lu Watters album is the 1964 "Blues over Bodega" he did with Barbara Dane (I couldn't find it as a download, unfortunately). More representative are the three volumes of "Live at Hambone Kelly's," which are available on amazon as downloads. Can't go wrong with "Shake That Thing," "Sister Kate," or "Love Me or Leave Me." (Though that last one is hardly representative of the repertoire.)

There's a recording of St James Infirmary by Turk Murphy in 1957 that I like a lot. It's on the Jasmine double CD called "New Orleans Stomp." Here it is as a download: https://smile.amazon.com/St-James-Infirmary/dp/B00GGVQBL4/

Leon Oakley, who played with Turk Murphy, still plays in the Bay Area regularly, often with Clint Baker's band. There's a 2005 album where the two of them join Duke Heitger, Evan Christopher, and some others to play the Lu Watters/Turk Murphy repertoire: "Duff Campbell's Revenge: A Live Concert."

Looking forward to hearing the show!

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