Stereojack

Simon Theodore ALVIN!!!!

Joe E. Ross Ross Bagdasarian David Seville

Mike, I'm afraid you're wrong! The Cuscuna/Ruppli BN Label discography book (first edition 1988) states that the first session recorded by BN in both mono and stereo was the May 8, 1957 session (Horace Silver 'The Stylings of Silver'). Or has this Bible been proved wrong? I have this from a note by Cuscuna himself on some reissue he produced! (I think it was the Japanese 3 LP boy "The Other Side of Blue Note 1500 Series".) As I said, the Sabu was only released in mono at the time - maybe the Silver was the first Blue Note to be issued in both mono and stereo. I had the Japanese LP reissue Cuscuna produced back then and now have the Japanese CD - clearly stereo. Perhaps the question should be which was the first Blue Note stereo session engineered by Rudy Van Gelder? A note at the end of the Silver date (May 8, 1957) in the Ruppli book clearly states that this is Blue Note's first stereo date. The Sabu date (April 28, 1957) was not recorded at Rudy's, it was recorded at Manhattan Towers, NYC, engineer uncredited. I've always assumed that the two week period April 21 - May 8) during which Blue Note did not record at Rudy's was while Rudy was installing his stereo recording equipment, which may be true, but a quick check of Ruppli's Prestige discography shows several dates (April 24, 26, 27, May 1, 3) not issued (and probably not recorded) in stereo. And Savoy recorded there on May 2, also mono. Btw, "The Stylings of Silver" is definitely not the first Blue Note to be issued in stereo. The stereo version was first released in 1967 when Liberty took over and "stereo-ized" the whole in print catalog - fake stereo on the earlier sessions, true stereo on the later ones. And, in many instances, they were unsure of what they had. I've found any number of Liberty-pressed 4000 series Blue Notes that claim to be "rechanneled for stereo" but which play true stereo.

Aside from the Ravens sides with Goodman, Ricks recorded a few sides with Goodman by himself. I have them on an old Harmony LP entitled "The Swingin' Benny Goodman Sextet", on which Ricks is identified simply as "Ricky", although that voice is unmistakeable. I've always loved Ricks' hit "Love Is the Thing" recorded for Mercury in the mid-1950's. I first heard tell about his Basie stint from a friend who had seen Ricks with Basie in the early 1970's, although there's nothing on record. Sheridan's Basie discography does show a couple of broadcasts, nothing commercially released.

Lars Gullin Lemuel Gulliver Jonathan Swift

Colonel Klink Sergeant Schultz Ho-o-o-o-gan!!!

Dave Berg Don Martin Mort Drucker

Jim Backus Gus Backus Clarence Quick

Fatty Arbuckle William F. Buckley Pearl Buck

Levi Stubbs Morris Levy Levon Helm

Jimmy Carl Black Bunk Gardner Tjay Cantrelli

Joe Louis Sugar Ray Robinson Floyd Patterson

Ralph Macchio Pat Morita Morey Amsterdam

Art Carney Ed Norton Edward Norton

You're thinking of Viola Burnside, a good tenor player, I agree. Vi Redd is an alto player & singer whose details can be found on the All Music Guide. AMG fails to mention a date she did with Marian McPartland in the 70's.

Buford Pusser Mojo Buford Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Louella Parsons Hedda Hopper W. C. Fields

Well, this is pretty interesting. Apparently there are several variations of these records, which implies that each press run was small. Back When Fred Cohen (with Sue Mingus' approval) reissued "Music Written For Monterey, Not Heard.." in the 1980's, he told me that the original had only sold about 200 copies. I would imagine that "Mingus At Monterey" sold better, as I have seen numerous copies of the color cover with Mingus labels version over the years.

Slam Martha Jon

I ordered this directly from Mingus back when it was released, after seeing Mingus at Lennie's. He was handing out a brochure (which I no longer have) advertising the four releases on his label, including this one. For the next few months the records were advertised in Down Beat as well. The label of my copy is identical to the one shown here, but mine came with a cover, single pocket with two records. The original cover is sepia. Later, the record was distributed by Fantasy with the same label, but with a color cover. After a while, the Charles Mingus label was replaced by the Fantasy label. One never knows about these things, but I'd be surprised if he gets the hundred bucks for a copy without a cover, even if it does come in its original shipping carton.

Griffin Dunne Irene Dunne Blind Willie Dunn

Johnny Holmes Richard "Groove" Holmes Sherlock Holmes

I have it - overall it's very good, although as you get into the late 50's the material becomes more commercial pop and less interesting. I agree that the "complete" approach can be too exhaustive, and often includes some material that can be considered non-essential. Of all the sets I have, I'd say the most consistently strong are the Louvin Brothers, the first Flatt & Scruggs (there are three), the Jimmie Rodgers, and the first Bob Wills. The Jerry Lee Lewis has way too many alternate takes for comfort, although I don't remember any problems with the sound. The Lefty Frizzell is surprisingly strong, as is the first Don Gibson. The Carter Family and Blue Sky Boys are very good, as are the first two (chronologically) Bill Monroe sets.

I have the Wills set - it's worth every penny. I bought the Texas Rose Milton Brown set when it first came out. Not so pricey when compared to a Bear Family set, but considerably more than the Proper (or is it JSP?) knockoff, which might have actually been dubbed from the Texas Rose - wouldn't surprise me.

I just got the Everly Brothers Warner Bros (part 1) set. Whew! 7 Cd's and a typically lavish book!