The Magnificent Goldberg

I'm in. I don't like the sleeve much. But, with that sleeve, I feel that "If not now, when?" is a better title. And makes the cover better, too. MG

There are really four Blue Notes. Pre-bop - covering recordings made before about 1947, focusing on hot music and small group swing. Bop, 1947-1953 or so, at the insistence of Babs Gonzales Hard Bop - from the early Silver/Blakey collaborations, BN was the market leader in this vein. Soul Jazz - from about 1960, Jimmy Smith eased BN into Soul Jazz. It's important to realise that Blue Note wasn't anything special in relation to hot/swing recordings, though there are masterpieces in there. And that's true of Bop, as well - Savoy was the market leader for Bop in the late forties. And Prestige the market leader for Soul Jazz. So, pick your music style but know that Blue Note was only reliably the best at Hard Bop. MG

If you've got kids, then school holidays do direct you into having a summer holiday. But otherwise, you can take your holidays when you want them. I'm making plans for next spring. MG

All the best! MG

MG, I will keep your quotation in mind in the years ahead. We are already on an interesting "journey" with our 12 year old daughter. "Daughters are best, daughters are best....." Well, mine is, and Jim's obviously is... Good luck. MG

I thought there was a Chess recording that wasn't issued at the time, along with a couple of Vee Jay 45s that I have or have received burns of ... or now that I think about it, didn't Chess end up owning the Argo/Cadet catalog? Because I notice that "Dad's Theme" was on his Mo' Rock album and "Behind the 8 Ball" was the title track of the other album. So I'm guessing they took two tunes from different albums and put them out as a single. Argo was always a Chess-owned label. This 45 is on the Chess International label. No indication of where it was manufactured, but I would guess not the USA; probably Europe. It also has a picture sleeve. I think picture sleeves became popular in France earlier than in Britain. But only for the most popular artists. It would have been madness for a Willette 45 to have a picture sleeve in the sixties in Britain. But in France, Argo was issued by Barclay - my LP of "Mo rock" is on Barclay. By the look of the label, I'd guess it was a mid-seventies reissue, perhaps even as late as the All-platinum days. But that prompts a really pertinent question: Where (and precisely when) was there a market for this stuff in that particular period? The Acid Jazz thing didn't get going (and it was in Britain, where this wasn't issued) until the early eighties. Prior to that, the world was awash with disco and Willette's music didn't fit. Ah, but maybe it did. Maybe this really was a US made disc, made by All-Platinum, because some DJ was using those LP tracks for scratching. Timescale would fit. But were there Bronx DJs using this type of material for scratching in those days? MG The single was issued by Artone Records, a Dutch company which (re)issued records on the Chess label in the Netherlands from '56 - '69 (but also Verve and Prestige (Funckler)). Judging the label, the single was probably released around '65. I have never seen this single before, although I have to confess I never look at singles in recordshops or -fairs. MG, perhaps not so strange it was released (perhaps for jukeboxes etc) because this kind of instrumental music was quite popular at that time. Very interesting, Peter. Thanks. MG

Well done, all of you. Daughters are best. MG

I thought there was a Chess recording that wasn't issued at the time, along with a couple of Vee Jay 45s that I have or have received burns of ... or now that I think about it, didn't Chess end up owning the Argo/Cadet catalog? Because I notice that "Dad's Theme" was on his Mo' Rock album and "Behind the 8 Ball" was the title track of the other album. So I'm guessing they took two tunes from different albums and put them out as a single. Argo was always a Chess-owned label. This 45 is on the Chess International label. No indication of where it was manufactured, but I would guess not the USA; probably Europe. It also has a picture sleeve. I think picture sleeves became popular in France earlier than in Britain. But only for the most popular artists. It would have been madness for a Willette 45 to have a picture sleeve in the sixties in Britain. But in France, Argo was issued by Barclay - my LP of "Mo rock" is on Barclay. By the look of the label, I'd guess it was a mid-seventies reissue, perhaps even as late as the All-platinum days. But that prompts a really pertinent question: Where (and precisely when) was there a market for this stuff in that particular period? The Acid Jazz thing didn't get going (and it was in Britain, where this wasn't issued) until the early eighties. Prior to that, the world was awash with disco and Willette's music didn't fit. Ah, but maybe it did. Maybe this really was a US made disc, made by All-Platinum, because some DJ was using those LP tracks for scratching. Timescale would fit. But were there Bronx DJs using this type of material for scratching in those days? MG

Sherlock Holmes Shylock Mercutio

Rob Roy U-Roy Ubu-Roi

"Black is the colour of my true love's hair", as sung by Patti Waters. MG

Amazon UK? MG

It's the only Reuben Wilson LP I've flogged because I thought it was crap. But I've made many mistakes in the past and this might be one. In the light of Mike and Shawn's comments, I'll try this again. MG

You haven't seen my plan for a BFT yet, then... Too late! MG

Camel Gauloises Park Drive

Missed it - hope it was great! MG

Glad to see these are out now. Are they actually on DustyGroove's own label? MG

The third day of proper summer here. Not expecting it to last - if you can see the other side of the valley, it's going to rain. MG

Zimbabwe, if you happen to be one of Mugabe's veterans. MG

Sandbanks? Never could understand the hype for that place. That's one of the places I've heard mentioned. MG

Blue Note's website shows them: BN's Three Sounds page Wow. If AMG's opinion is to be believed, neither one of these are top-shelf albums. Not even middle-shelf. I'd rather credit anything Dan says about these than AMG. So, what of them, Dan? MG

MG

Nescafe Frappe Lemzo Diamono Lamin "Lemzo" Faye

I'm starting this early, in case my connection crashes again. MG

I'm starting this early, in case my connection crashes again MG