Jump to content

Louis Armstrong (Harmony)


mjzee

Recommended Posts

On Dusty Groove, I found a sealed copy of the first Louis Armstrong album I ever owned:

R-2637711-1485778823-1032.jpeg.jpg

Being on CBS's cheapo Harmony label, it came with no inner sleeve.  Sound quality is actually pretty good; to achieve "Electronically re-recorded to simulate stereo," I think all they did was make one channel louder than the other.

Would anyone have discographical info for this?  It notes that Basin Street Blues and St. James Infirmary have Earl Hines on piano, so I'm guessing those are Okehs.  There's a live Tiger Rag that I'm guessing is from the 1956 Chicago concert.  If anyone can fill in the gaps, I'd appreciate it.

Tracklist:

A1 Tiger Rag  
A2 Honeysuckle Rose  
A3 Muskrat Ramble  
A4 Tin Roof Blues  
A5 Shine  
B1 Basin Street Blues
Piano – Earl Fatha Hines*
 
B2 Body And Soul  
B3 Twelfth Street Rag  
B4 St. James Infirmary
Piano – Earl Fatha Hines*
Link to comment
Share on other sites

mjzee:

Here's the source of the material on Harmony HS 11316.  I assume you can easily obtain the personnel from the information below.

Tiger Rag:  Louis Armstrong and the All Stars.  Dec., 20, 1955.

Honeysuckle Rose:  Louis Armstrong and the All Stars (from "Satch Plays Fats").  April 26, 1955.

Muskrat Ramble.  Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five.  Feb. 26, 1926.

Tin Roof Blues.  Louis Armstrong and the All Stars.  Oct. 30, 1955.

Shine.  Louis Armstrong and His Sebastian New Cotton Club Orchestra.  March 9, 1931.

Basin Street Blues.  Louis Armstrong and His Orchestra.  Dec. 4, 1928.

Body and Soul.  Louis Armstrong and His Sebastian New Cotton Club Orchestra.  Oct. 9, 1930.

Twelfth Street Rag.  Louis Armstrong and His Hot Seven.  May 11, 1927.

St. James Infirmary.  Louis Armstrong and His Savoy Ballroom Five.  Dec. 12, 1928.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, jazztrain said:

mjzee:

Here's the source of the material on Harmony HS 11316.  I assume you can easily obtain the personnel from the information below.

Tiger Rag:  Louis Armstrong and the All Stars.  Dec., 20, 1955.

Honeysuckle Rose:  Louis Armstrong and the All Stars (from "Satch Plays Fats").  April 26, 1955.

Muskrat Ramble.  Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five.  Feb. 26, 1926.

Tin Roof Blues.  Louis Armstrong and the All Stars.  Oct. 30, 1955.

Shine.  Louis Armstrong and His Sebastian New Cotton Club Orchestra.  March 9, 1931.

Basin Street Blues.  Louis Armstrong and His Orchestra.  Dec. 4, 1928.

Body and Soul.  Louis Armstrong and His Sebastian New Cotton Club Orchestra.  Oct. 9, 1930.

Twelfth Street Rag.  Louis Armstrong and His Hot Seven.  May 11, 1927.

St. James Infirmary.  Louis Armstrong and His Savoy Ballroom Five.  Dec. 12, 1928.

 

Thank you so much, jazztrain!  You are truly "Master of the Groove!"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, JSngry said:

I love that cover.

Easy to do with Photoshop, not so easy to do back in the day.

We don't think of cheapo record labels as having great covers, but another Harmony album I bought the same day has a great cover by John Van Hamersveld:

ike-tina-turner_ooh-poo-pah-doo_3.jpg

Edited by mjzee
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Dmitry said:

How old were you when you bought it?

Around 15 or so.  Discogs shows the release date for both as 1969, but who know when during the year.  I probably bought them around 1970.  I do remember where I bought them: Korvettes in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn.  I either rode my bike there or took the bus.  And even back then, I was pissed that they didn't come with inner sleeves.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

38 minutes ago, mjzee said:

Around 15 or so.  Discogs shows the release date for both as 1969, but who know when during the year.  I probably bought them around 1970.  I do remember where I bought them: Korvettes in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn.  I either rode my bike there or took the bus.  And even back then, I was pissed that they didn't come with inner sleeves.

mjzee -- Did you ever go to Sam Goody's?  We appear to be about the same age.  I still have LPs I bought at Sam Goody's where they cut the plastic wrap in the bottom right corner of the back and wrote in the price in case you wanted to return it.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

45 minutes ago, mjzee said:

Around 15 or so.  Discogs shows the release date for both as 1969, but who know when during the year.  I probably bought them around 1970.  I do remember where I bought them: Korvettes in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn.  I either rode my bike there or took the bus.  And even back then, I was pissed that they didn't come with inner sleeves.

You know, I think that may have been the first record by Satch I ever bought as well. And around the same time! Always loved that version of "Tiger Rag."

 

 

gregmo

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 minutes ago, jazztrain said:

mjzee -- Did you ever go to Sam Goody's?  We appear to be about the same age.  I still have LPs I bought at Sam Goody's where they cut the plastic wrap in the bottom right corner of the back and wrote in the price in case you wanted to return it.  

I'd sometimes go to the Sam Goody in Kings Plaza.  I really disliked how they defaced the back cover by doing what you said.  I once asked a cashier not to do it, but she said if she didn't, I couldn't return it.

It was a great time for albums.  There were record stores throughout Brooklyn, and cutout racks in the weirdest places: Woolworth's, drug stores, clothing stores, you name it.  My favorite record store was a place on Flatbush Avenue named (IIRC) Jamie's.  I rarely had to venture outside Brooklyn to buy albums.  One notable exception was for my 15th birthday, I went to King Karol on 42nd St. and 10th Ave. in Manhattan to buy Trout Mask Replica and Uncle Meat, because no place in Brooklyn stocked them.

21 minutes ago, gmonahan said:

You know, I think that may have been the first record by Satch I ever bought as well. And around the same time! Always loved that version of "Tiger Rag."

 

 

gregmo

The Harmony records were not mixed in with the full-priced LPs, or even with the cutouts.  They had their own little stand - record bins made of cardboard.  15 to 20 copies of each title, probably 30 different titles, mostly MOR (Percy Faith, Doris Day, old country singers and the like).  But I did find these two gems.  Super super cheap, probably $1.49 each.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/1/2020 at 0:57 PM, mjzee said:

Easy to do with Photoshop, not so easy to do back in the day.

We don't think of cheapo record labels as having great covers, but another Harmony album I bought the same day has a great cover by John Van Hamersveld:

ike-tina-turner_ooh-poo-pah-doo_3.jpg

What record label did Ike & Tina record for that wound up in Columbia's hands?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/1/2020 at 11:22 AM, mjzee said:

I'd sometimes go to the Sam Goody in Kings Plaza.  I really disliked how they defaced the back cover by doing what you said.  I once asked a cashier not to do it, but she said if she didn't, I couldn't return it.

It was a great time for albums.  There were record stores throughout Brooklyn, and cutout racks in the weirdest places: Woolworth's, drug stores, clothing stores, you name it.  My favorite record store was a place on Flatbush Avenue named (IIRC) Jamie's.  I rarely had to venture outside Brooklyn to buy albums.  One notable exception was for my 15th birthday, I went to King Karol on 42nd St. and 10th Ave. in Manhattan to buy Trout Mask Replica and Uncle Meat, because no place in Brooklyn stocked them.

The Harmony records were not mixed in with the full-priced LPs, or even with the cutouts.  They had their own little stand - record bins made of cardboard.  15 to 20 copies of each title, probably 30 different titles, mostly MOR (Percy Faith, Doris Day, old country singers and the like).  But I did find these two gems.  Super super cheap, probably $1.49 each.

I often found them grouped with other budget labels like RCA's Camden or Decca's Vocalion.

 

 

gregmo

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...