kenny weir

You got it. I'm putting any disturbing side issues aside and going with the flow of all my current and forseeable future listening being music made by dead folks.

http://www.archeophone.com/product_info.ph...ts_id=90#Tracks Actionable Offenses: Indecent Phonograph Recordings from the 1890s [ARCH 1007] $16.99 $13.99 New York City, 1896. A man walks into a bar. He sits down, orders a beer, and laughs long and hard at the bartender's newest story. It's a good tale, though a bit too bawdy to repeat at home. The next day he goes into the same bar, gets his beer, and drops his change into a phonograph. He's listening through rubber tubes to a man telling a story similar to the bartender's. Without warning Anthony Comstock's defenders of decency charge into the bar, push him aside, destroy the record, and escort the bar's proprietor to jail for promoting indecency. Obscene Recordings from 110 Years Ago The commercial recordings on this CD are the only known copies that Comstock's men missed. They were preserved by long-time Edison Recording Manager Walter Miller and are now in the vault of the Edison National Historic Site. Scarcity and suppression have kept them silent for a century. They were stories told readily in the bar; yet they became legally actionable offenses when fixed in wax and played on a phonograph in that same bar. Brace yourself. Just because they are from the Victorian era does not mean they are tame by today's standards—far from it. Pioneer Recording Artist Goes to Jail They are so indecent that Russell Hunting was imprisoned in 1896 for making and selling them. Up to that point Hunting had been doing a brisk trade selling his bawdy cylinders to the exhibitors on Coney Island who had certain "discriminating" customers. Although he recorded under pseudonyms such as "Charley Smith" and "Willy Fathand," his voice was so well-known through his "Casey" routines that he was identified as the creator by aural evidence alone. Hunting's recording career never fully recovered, and he left the U.S. in 1898 to make a fresh start in England. Cal Stewart and James White Join in If you think you've heard every Cal Stewart routine, think again. In two unique recordings from early in his career, Cal Stewart assumes his familiar Punkin Centre dialect in "Learning a City Gal How to Milk" and performs with an Irish accent in "The Tapeworm Story." James White, who rose to prominence in the Edison organization as the director of many of its early films, performs the most bawdy routines in this collection. "Sim Hadley on a Racket" is a piece that White inherited from Hunting, and he surpasses his mentor in making it filthy. Uncut, Uncensored, and in the Proper Historical Context Recently retrieved from the vaults of the Edison National Historic Site, these extraordinarily scarce recordings are presented in their unexpurgated entirety. They allow us to hear uncut and uncensored what new technology made possible and the protectors of public morals made illegal: indecent performances driven out of town, out of business, off the public stage, and into the privacy of unmixed company in the home. Bawdy Home Recordings A second collection of cylinders heard on this CD was made at home by an amateur who delighted in reciting obscene jokes, limericks, songs, poems, and stories into the horn. What this tells us about late Victorian America may be shocking to some—these are extremely racy recordings and are not for the faint-hearted. But for historians and folklorists, these are primary documents of a poorly studied tradition. We've indexed the separate texts on these home recordings into different tracks to aid in research. And for all our audio samples below, we have judiciously selected non-obscene excerpts. A Special Critical Edition Phonograph historian Patrick Feaster and the Grammy-award winning team of co-author and co-producer David Giovannoni and co-producers Meagan Hennessey and Richard Martin tell the whole story for the first time anywhere. At 60 pages, the CD's oversized booklet stands alone as a work of its own merit. It features several full-length articles, complete transcripts of all the recorded material, selections from the 1893 convention of phonograph dealers, and extensive footnotes. Plus the usual attractive design and previously unpublished illustrations you expect from Archeophone. It may be indecent—but it sure is classy! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CD Details Catalogue number: ARCH 1007 UPC: 778632900509 Running length: 59:16 / 19 cylinders -- 43 tracks Booklet: 60 page larger format booklet Tracks recorded: ca. 1892 - 1900 Contains racially derogatory language Parental Advisory: Contains explicit language -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Track Listing 1. Learning a City Gal How to Milk—Cal Stewart (ca. 1897-98) 2. The Tapeworm Story—Cal Stewart (ca. 1897-98) 3. Gimlet's Soliloquy / The Rascal Detector—Unknown [2 indexed tracks] (ca. 1892) 4. The Whores' Union—Unknown (ca. 1892) 5. Boarding the Folsom / A Few Conundrums—Unknown [2 indexed tracks] (ca. 1892) 6. Out of Order—Russell Hunting (ca. 1895-96) 7. Did He Charge Too Much—Russell Hunting (ca. 1895-96) 8. Reilly as a Policeman—Russell Hunting (ca. 1895-96) 9. Sim Hadley on a Racket—Russell Hunting (ca. 1895-96) 10. Sim Hadley on a Racket—James White (ca. 1896-99) 11. Michael Casey Exhibiting His Panorama—James White (ca. 1896-99) 12. Dennis Reilly at Maggie Murphy's Home After Nine O'Clock—James White (ca. 1896-99) 13. Young Cylinder "A": Stroll on Capitol Hill / A Hard Head—Home Recording [2 indexed tracks] (ca. 1897-1900) 14. Young Cylinder "B": The Virtues of Raw Oysters—Home Recording (ca. 1897-1900) 15. Young Cylinder "C": Jokes, Riddles, Verses, a Limerick, and a Toast—Home Recording [8 indexed tracks] (ca. 1897-1900) 16. Young Cylinder "D": More Verses and Jokes—Home Recording [9 indexed tracks] (ca. 1897-1900) 17. Young Cylinder "E": The Lady's Friend / a Song / The Irishman's Prayer / a Joke—Home Recording [4 indexed tracks] (ca. 1897-1900) 18. Young Cylinder "F": Verses and Songs—Home Recording [4 indexed tracks] (ca. 1897-1900) 19. Young Cylinder "G": Poem: "I Sit Here Thinking, Will, of You"—Home Recording (ca. 1897-1900)

Ha ha - that's pretty funny. I like the country book - I dig the passion of it. I've always been less much impressed with others of his I've read.

Having read and mostly digested Allen's notes to That Devilin' Tune Vol 1, I've come to the conclusion that there are different perspectives going on here. I share with Allen irritation with Brothers' pontificating, but lapped up the info in his book nonetheless. Same goes for Richard Sudhalter's Lost Chords. Allen gives some kudos to Sudhalter, but also takes him to task for his approach to white/black jazz. My copy of Lost Chords is well thumbed; it had a profound effect on me. I'd revelled for years in Jelly Roll Morton and Johnny Dodds and so on, but never listened to the New Orleans Rhythm Kings or Tony Parenti or Bud Freeman. Another example is Scott DeVeaux's The Birth of Bebop, which like the Brothers tome is packed with the author's axe-grinding. Neverthless I found it an enriching experience. When I read such books, I seem to necessarily sign up holus bolus for the author's vision, only afterwards attaining some sort of distance. I embrace these books to broaden or illuminate my musical adventures. I'm a fan - one who lives a long way from the action in terms of US popular music. I've done a bit of first-hand research/interviewing in South Louisiana in the way of swamp pop, zydeco and R&B, but am a long way from the cutting edge and heady realms of the likes of Lowe, Kart and Albertson. Compared to the drought conditions of my early NZ teens, access to such in-depth information and listening seems simply heavenly, even if I am aware of baggage and agendas and so on. Allen, given the forthcoming release of your RnR book, what do you reckon of Nick Tosches' country book?

Allen: For the book, Paypal payment of $US30 sent to you. I generally try to avoid getting books from the US - CDs are much cheaper - but this'll be worth it I'm sure. Yeah that Monroe proto-bluegrass lineup rocks AND swings. I wonder about Sally Ann Forester. The travails of early blues and jazz artists, male and female, are relatively well known, but I am curoius about what it must have been like to be a woman in a country band in those days. Same goes for Johnnie Mae Smirle (Harry Choates' pianna player). Hey it's great to hear your RnR books is on track. Sounds like technology is offdering up alternatives to authors as well as musicians. Much kudos, too, for the packaging of the That Devilin' Tune boxes. Slim, stylish and very cool. Makes the jewel case-larded behemouths that take up so much space in my racks look pretty ugly, never mind the sheerly ludicrous like the Charlie Christian box. One artist I'll be pursuing in more depth is Knocky Parker. I've been hearing him on western swing discs for yonks and knew he went on to jazz stuff, so am intrigued by someone who connects the dots on some of my favourite sounds. Another question: In your writing on Vol 1, you mention Fess Manetta. I'd love to hear his album, but so far as I can tell it's only ever been released as a Jazzology LP. Does anyone know if it's ever been released as a CD?

I'm a bit late to this party but having a ball. I have played the first set three times through - every time I get to the end I start again. I have No.4, but am letting that sit while I await Nos.2 & 3. A couple of random thoughts: *I reckon these sets are simply amazing, despite the (minor) flaws, and will likey become a cornertstone of my collection and radio show. *Given there was no proofreading, the number of literals and so on is tiny. *In some ways I actually find the absence of full personnel details liberating, although if I had a computer at home I'd surely be Googling artist and track title every time. Maybe I'll do some of that at work in due course. *I've actually spent several years - and much money - buying records by quite a few of the more obscure artists on Vol.1, and have had many of the better known names (Morton, Oliver and so on) for many more years. But the richness and pleasure is in the stuff I haven't heard before. And in the way the whole thing flows from year to year like an extremely hip juke box. Or like those "R&B Hits of 1956"-type compilations done by the likes of Bear Family. This seems the best way to hear this stuff. It doesn't belittle the contributions of the "great men"; if anything it enhances them by putting them in the context of what all else was going on at the time. **** A couple of questions for Allen if he has the time: *Is the book still available? The type size on the booklets in pretty hard going for my poor, old eyes, and I think I'd really like to have an index to help me look up references to particular artists and tracks as I'm listening to them. *Can you give us any sort of breakdown of how the sales have gone? What percentage, for instance, have come through organissimo, radio, interviews, magazine reviews, online retailers and so on. Just curious. *How many sales have gone outside the US? How many to Australia/ NZ? I suspect this is the kind of project for which online activity of one sort or another has been crucial. *Given the inclusion of various western swingers, I'm wondering if you considered a wider representation of jazzyish countryish artsists - e.g. Jimmie Rodgers, Bill Monroe just before Flatt & Scruggs joined, Uncle Dave Macon and so on? And to complement the pianists, why not the likes of Jimmy Yancey or Little Brother Montgomery? *What has been the most surprising, unlikely or humourous response to the project? ***** Anyway, thanks fot these - I, too, can get jaded at times after decades of listening, but these have put a skip in my step for sure. Looking forward to the rock 'n' roll book.

Yikes! And she STILL hooked up with the guy?

More food for thought. Which raises for me an interesting issue that I don't think has been addressed here so far: Hands only - or knife and fork? Like fish and chips, I simply don't do takeaway or delivered burgers. Freshness is all. Eat in is the go for Bennie and me. But ... I do prefer a burger big and tasty and juicy, but one that I am STILL able to ge my mitts around. Even if I habitually cut my burgers in half on the plate. The hoomungous jobs that require cutlery, well I think I'd sooner have a "real" restaurant meal at those prices.

Don't try - it's all revolting.

You're triggering memories here...first ham and pineapple pizza I ever had was in Australia, way back in '82. Sounded strange, but damn, it was good! (It was in Bunbury, if putdowns are required... ) None required. Yeah there is quite a different culture here for such things. Dill pickles in burgers only came in with the arrival of the golden arches. The poms are different asgain from whats I recall. How could they call a burger chain Wimpy?

Yech. I disagree. And BTW, generally speaking you gotta ask for the pineapple - it's called a Hawaiian burger. Same deal with Aussie pizzas in terms of egg, pineapple and so on. Thankfully, in the past decade or so there's a whole bunch of joints opened up doing real Italian style pizza. Yum. My burger vote goes to Bud's Brolier in New Orleans. No.1, No.2, etc etc. Here in Melbourne there's a growing trend of places that are sort of real upmarket McD's or Burger King. Grill'd is one of them - good meat and trimmings and fries, so much so that it is tasty and relatively healthy. Where does the "Australian side" of your family come from? I need to know so I can choose the appropriate put downs.

... someone would tryta kill me.

Allen I hear you - I had/have pretty much the same problems, although I wouldn't come down "so hard" for the simple reason that once I filtered out the author's pontificating there was much fascinating hard information to satisfy myself, who is well familiar to New Orleans after numerous visits and much reading, but who still finds the whole thing a beguiling mystery. And as I said, above, the oral hisotry stuff is cool. I have the Bechet book at home (unread), but thanks to the recs here, it'll now be top of my "to read" pile. Speaking of string bands, I am digging the hell out of a brand new release on American Music - Echoes of Tom Anderson's/The New Orleans String Jazz Traditions by the 6 & 7/8s String Band. One CD would've been a better fit, but man o man this is some essential stuff in my world. http://www.louisianamusicfactory.com/showo...;ProductID=5389

It's better than the biographies I've read. In fact, I'm soon expecting to read it again. That said, it's not without it's flaws. I feel the author really labors with some of the points he makes. And he quite often states something as fact when a more qualitfied approach would lend his arguments authority rather than detract from them. But that's just nitpicking. In terms of info on the early days of jazz in New Orleans, I found it fascinating. And putting aside the author's handiwork, much of the text is oral history, which speaks for itself. I've been a frequent visitor to New Orleans and so thought I had a reasonable handle on this sort of stuff, but there plenty of revelations in this book for me.

yes, I believe so.

Fighting talk Kenny! When did you go over to the dark side. Anyway, it seems to be true that traditional coffee shops, in Tokyo at least, are rapidly disappearing while Starbucks, Tullys and their many Japanese equivalents are now everywhere. With over 600 stores Starbucks has been a great success here, despite their no smoking policy, which many had predicted would never work in Japan where drinking coffee has always been associated with smoking. Just tryin' to see if I kin get a rise out of CHEWY. How 'bout: Hank Mobley is utterly insignificant compared to coffee in terms of enriching the human experience?

One albums stands out, for me, as the all-time Guy classic. Live - This Is Buddy Guy on vanguard. More than blues - real James Brown showman stuff - but simply incredible

Aktually, I'm not at all sure that Sonny Clark and Lee Morgan - or anything on Blue Note for that matter - are good enough to accompany coffee drinking.

Yesterday I went out and bought an album that was a soundtrack to my early teens - and it's blowing me away all over again. Magic Sam - Black Magic. Perhaps not as well known as West Side Soul, but much the greater album for me. And having listened to a lot of jazz in the past couple of decades only makes it sound greater. Great band - drummer Odie Payne Jr, pianist Lafayette Leake and rhythm guitarist Mighty Joe Young are fabulous - giving perfect form to Sam's magic modern blues, a sort of sophisticated yet biting soul-blues. Here's Eugene Chadbourne's allmusic review (the bold type was made bold by me):

Yeah, Waller is barely heard on some of the Vol 2 stuff, but it's hardly something to complain about - it's being marketed as "complete" and that's that. And yes, Vol 1 has a bunch of stuff backing singers. I'm looking forward to it.

So what's your excuse? Oh, wait ...

And yet life is full of random stuff that prevent schedules from running like clockwork. Sure, it sounds like your acquaintences are always running late and that is a major headache, but at the same time I've learned lately that expecting a tight schedule to work is unrealistic and if I'm going to get that bent out of shape over it, I need to drop something. Yet this is about more than "random stuff". I, too, have people in my life for whom being late is a necessity. There's something in their makeup that simply requires them to always be under that sort of pressure. It's a kind of sickness, I think. In my life I have never run late for a plane. My ex has missed half her flights. Yes, probably a part of the reason she IS my ex. Thnakfully, now I am older I am being a little wiser and smarter about dealing with this - if nothing else!

Great site - thanks for that, I expect the guest books stories will keep me happily entertained for the rest of the week.

Allen, sent you an email. Cheers, Kenny

Not much guessing involved there. Man, they're high.