AllenLowe

re-Jim's point above, Cincinatti was a main stop on the Underground Railroad during the Civil War, and so had a significant African American population and related music - there was an amazing writer named Lafcadio Hearn, white, foreign born, but a journalist in that city in the 19th century (also married a black woman). He wrote some fascinating pieces on the early music of the black roustabouts and general population, some of the most impressive witnessing we have of early African American vernacular music, so it's definitely no accident that so much music happened there.

where's Henry Higgins when I need him?

hi - sorry, Adam, missed this earlier - good points, all - I guess I should make it clear that the critics to whom I am referring, vis a ve Elvis, are the ones I grew up with, pre post-modern, one might say: Gitler, Morgenstern, Gushee, Schuller, the Jazz Review Crowd, and the older Downbeaters - certainly you are right about current critics, and I should make the distinction that I am speaking of the jazz critical world as contemporaries of Elvis. The Art Taylor book has attacks on the Beatles on practically every page, but you are right, I will footnote this. As for manager influence vs the artist - I think the record is clear that both of these guys looked at themselves as pop everyman. In this respect Rick has already given us substantial evidence re-Armstrong. The Elvis issue is more complex, but he admired Dean Martin as well as Arthur Crudup and Sinatra, and seemed to be happy when he finally landed in Vegas after all those bad movies, and where he had the band with ____ Burton on guitar (damn going blank on the first name) and got to sing everything he wanted from the blues to ballads. Clearly the drug thing had already started to take control, but I remember hearing him sing Little Sister in some late documentary and he still had it, stoned as he was. But there was still no faking his version of My Way; shlock, yes, but the shlock of personal choice. As for Armstrong, Glaser may have kept him from some nice musical possibilities, but no one that I've talked to that knew him or worked with him would agree that he ever played a piece of music under duress. If it was crap (and that's MY term, not theirs) it was voluntary crap.

she hasn't changed a bit - maybe lost a little weight -

we had some very young and uncoordinated kids on the team and whenever there was a practice they watched and only watched - I pointed out to the coach that it made more sense, at least in practice sessions, to let THEM play more so maybe they could improve their game - as the ones who got all the practice (hitting, fielding) needed it the least - this INFURIATED him - so I quit -

well, what happens is that I read a lot of blues things written by Brits and it does make me crazy because in my head I have to always say it twice because the first time it doesn't make sense - and I've got so many other things rattling around up there that sometimes I don't hear it back for about a week, which slows me down terribly - which is why I get so emotional. I figure I've only got about 20 productive years left - don't want to spend 10 of them translating from English to English -

every time I meet someone from Cincinnatti (and sometimes Cleveland) I ask if they know how important that label was and I invariably get a blank stare, or a look like I'm some crazy antiquarian record collector; amazing label, all the more so when one considers what a strange cat Sid Nathan was - for more on him there is a memorable profile in one of Colin Escott's books. Ace, by the way, owns (please note Ace as a singular noun; I HATE the way the friggin' Brits use the plural with things like this, as in "Ace own." Time to grow up boys, we won the war) a lot of that catalog now, I believe, and has done some good work on reissues.

late to this and haven't read through - suffice to say that Little League in the 1960s was a haven for neo-Fascist frustrated commandos who'd washed out of boot camp and been cut from the Babe Ruth league for screwing goats and dropping fly balls - even at the tender age of 14 I was aware of this and basically told my Little League coach this (I was slightly but only slightly more tactful) - the asshole - and I still remember his name - suspended me from the team -

MOM!

I have one of those Bessie boxed sets -

yes and no - it's very nuts and bolts; not exciting but very revealing about the nature of US policy and about the nature of the CIA-

well, with NPR, if it's cultural and it's featured, you can figure it was a big thing about 3 years ago -

hardcover in very, very good shape of the book that blew the whistle on CIA terrorism and other subversive activity - and that led Agee to flee the USA (he died last year in Cuba). He basically told all about what the CIA has done in Central and South America - he even ended up suing Barbara Bush for slandering him about the extent of his whistle blowing - and he won the case - she had to apologize - going to ebay with this thing but figured I'd try out this hotbed of left wing attitude first - will ship media in the USA for $22.50 rare rare rare rare rare rare rare

actually what I was getting at, Jim and Jim, in my prior post - was that I mastered my entire Deviln Tune historic project - all 36 cds - in my basement, did all transfers and restoration (with CEDAR and various software). Sounds as good as (or actually better than) anything I hear coming out of the big guys like BMG and SONY - just trying to leech myself onto your story, Jim - (or Jim)

gotcha - there's just something about that pic - also, I never saw Dickie wearing shades in any old pics -

it's too much work - you gotta turn your house upside down -

still think it may not be Dickie -

are you sure that's Dickie? I knew him pretty well in the 1970s (well, he had gained a lot of weight by then) - guess it could be, it's hard to tell from that angle - I hadn't realized he was on that shoot -

I'm always wary of Monk tributes - I did one about 15 years ago and I thought, how can I play those tunes in a way that show something that Monk hasn't already shown? There was no way, as I find his compositions to be just too personal - instead we went through the Monk standards album - played Tea for Two, You Are Too Beautiful, Just You Just Me, It Don't Mean A thing - everybody relaxed, and instead we tried to show how Monk influenced our approach to these - worked nicely, and I didn't have to learn anything new for the show -

(making the sign of the cross): Is such a thing acceptable in the organ world?

I hope it's not as badly written as books of this kind - jaz bios - tend to be. Sorry to be negative, but I've read so many bad ones; biography takes a special talent, critical biography the same. Usually jazz bios are basically long magazine articles padded with trivia -

any blues?

what's a diversi? a vibrating organ?

all right - doing LP transfers for my blues project, and here's what I've been listening to and transferring so far: 1. Lovesick Blues Anita O'day 12/27/50 2. Coalminer's Blues The Carter Family 6/8/38 3. Baby Look at You Pete Johnson/Joe Turner/Buster Smith 1939 4. Got the Blues Blind Lemon Jefferson 3/26 5. Tip Easy Blues Jones/Collins Astoria Hot 8 11/15/29 6. Tight Like That Tampa Red's Hokum Jug Band 11/9/28 7. Barrelhous Stomp State Street Ramblers 3/13/31 8. West End Blues Zach Whyte's Chocolate Beau Brummel's 2/26/29 9. Mosby Stomp Artie Mosby and Roosevelt Sykes 9/22/32 10. That Too, Do Blues Bennie Moten Kansas City Orchestra w/ Jimmy Rushing 10/28/30 11. Bluin' the Blues Original Dixieland Jazz Band 11/10/36 12. Livery Stable Blues Original Dixieland Jazz Band 2/26/17 13. Blues Riff Django Reinhardt w/Duke Ellington Orchestra 11/10/46 14. Oh Lovin' Babe Uncle Dave Macon 12/17/30 15. Dirty Dish Rag Blues Light Crust Doughboys 11/30/38 16. Steppin on the Blues Lovie Austin and the Blues Serenaders w/Tommy Ladnier ca. 11/24 17. Woodchip Blues Smokey Wood 9/12/37 18. Georgia Bound Blind Blake 8/17/29 19. Talkin' 'Bout You Bob Wills w/Junior Bernard 1/4/46 20. New Falling Rain Blues Cliff Bruner's Texas Wanderers w/Bob Dunn 4/8/40 21. Scattin' the Blues Leo Watson 1/24/45 22. Buzzy -Dave Schildkraut/Triglia ca. 1953 23. Whisky Headed Woman Tommy McLennan 24. Baby Please DOn't Go Big Joe Williams 25.Catfish Blues Robert Petway 26. Viola Lee Blues Canno's Jug Stomper 27. Big Road Blues - Tommy Johnson 28.The Girl I Love She Got Long Curly Hair Sleepy John Estes 9/4/29 29.Rocks in My Bed Leroy Carr Scrapper Blackwell 30.Devil's Son In Law Peatie Wheatstraw 31. Vicksburg Blues II Little Brother Montgomery 32. Mitchell Blues (note the riff) Wade Mainer and Sons of the MNountaineer 1/27/38 33. Kingfisher Blues Tampa Red/Black Bob 3/22/34 34.When Things Go Wrong With You Tampa Red 3/21/50 35. Wrong Road Blues Tommy Duncan ca. 1948 36. Blues de Basil Amede Ardoin 11/24/30 37. Route 66 Betty Roche 4/56 38. Corinna Corinna Winger Manone and his Orch, w/Chu Berry 4/26/39 39. Weary Blues Sidney Bechet Tommy Ladnier 11/28/38 40.St. Louis Blues Louis Armstrong 4-26-33 41. Chattanooga Blues Allen Bros 11/4/27 42. Brain Cloudy Blues Bob Wills Junior Bernard 9-6-46 43. Dallas Blues Louis Armstrong w/Luis Russell Orchestra 12/10/29 44. Copyin' Louis (title?) Jack Purvis Orch. 12/17/29 45.Call of the Freaks Red Nichols and his Orch w/Benny Goodman solo 8/1/30 46. M.K. Blues Art Hodes' Backroom Blues w/Max Kaminsky 4/21/44 47. Blues For Jelly Art Hodes Trio (Simeon/Mesheux) 9/14/45 48. Black Bottom Blues Gene Autry 6/30/32 49. Prayin' the Blues Jimmy Dorsey 6/13/29 50.I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My SIster Kate Boyd Senter and his Sentipedes 3/23/28 51. Poor House Blues Maggie Jones w/Armstrong, F. Henderson 12/9/24 52. The Bridewell Blues Nolan Welsh acc. L. Armtrong 6/16/26 53. Hootie Blues Jay Mcshann Orch. with Charlie parker 54. Cold Winter's Day Blind Willie McTell 4/25/35

"If you marry a Jew you'll never go skiing again. Jews hate cold weather and never do outdoor winter sports." -Paul Sorvino to his daughter in Made for Each Other