The Magnificent Goldberg

Ty Hardin John Wesley Hardin Bob Dylan

Its all alleged - in these types of class action suits, companies make an agreement to settle while denying all claims because it is cheaper than defending themselves in court and risking an adverse judgment. The allegation is that they "set and conceal fees, typically 1-3% on foreign transactions, and that Visa and Mastercard inflated their base exchange rates before applying these fees ... in violation of state and federal anti-trust laws and consumer protection laws". Ah - it seems different here. There's no fee for foreign purchases charged by British CC members of Visa. And the exchange rate we get doesn't seem out of line. Paypal's exchange rates seem similar, though I've not, of course, been able to do a controlled experiment. Actually, the next time I order something by CC from America, I could make an immediate, identical, donation via Paypal to Organissimo! MG

Based on my recent experience with Royal Mail, I wouldn't hold your breath ! No, they're dreadful nowadays. I tried to get the order dealt with by FedEx, but no matter how many times I tried, it always reverted to USPS. MG

Interesting piece Berigan. Thanks for posting it. The law is very different over here. The trustees of charitable endowments, including educational charities (which I used to be a bit of an expert on in the seventies), can't turn the endowment to purposes other than what was the strict intention of the donor without some kind of legal action - Parliamentary action in many cases, even down to a 200 year old village school - and the endowment must, in those circumstances, be able to be claimed back by the descendants of the original donor, if they wish. MG

Ordered a bunch of stuff last night Nat Adderley - Much brass Nat Adderley - Little big horn Junior Mance - Happy time Gene Harris - Trio + 1 (Stanley Turrentine) and thanks to Dan Gould who tipped me off about this one! Jim Robinson - New Orleans, the living legends Jim Robinson - Plays spirituals and blues Little Brother Montgomery - Chicago, the living legends Elmer Snowden - Harlem banjo (and a big thanks to ChrisA for his advice on those!) Johnny "Hammond" Smith - Gears Red Garland - Red's good groove (how could I have missed an album with a title like that?) Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis - Afro-Jaws $27 postage costs isn't bad for 11 CDs - it's even slightly less than I'd pay per CD for UK postage from Amazon.co.uk. Now I have to see if Customs pick it up. Not optimistic MG

What you willing to pay? I can be convinced if the number is "right". You should know, RDK is a government agent who could arrange to have your medical problems diagnosed by satellite imaging. MG

Thanks Aloc. And thanks Brownie. MG

It's a long time since I read "Sounds of the city", but I didn't get too much of the "white people stole it" feeling; except where he was talking about the British bands of the sixties. But I was there and, I assume, Gillette was there (he was certainly doing a column in the Record Mirror not many years later) and it WAS a steal. Which is not to say that stuff didn't come out of it that was not new. Of course, being close to that stuff might have clouded his perspective - as I reckon it probably clouded mine (but, I don't care). If you want to know something of what being there, then, FELT like - and how it affected one - read Mark Hudson's "The music in my head", which I think you can pick up for a penny in Amazon. It's fiction but well researched - and the protagonist might have been me, had I managed to get into the music business (which, thankfully, I didn't). MG

I'm going from memory here, but I think we were informed some time ago that unlike in the case of the Smalls' Paradise sessions, there is no surviving extra material from the Baby Grand gig. So what was originally released (which also has been out on TOCJs) is all we will get. Another case like that is Stanley Turrentine's Up At Minton's session with Grant Green. Lots of unissued material listed in the discographies, but no tapes to be found. A pity. Oh well, I'll be glad to get the complete album - I have 3/4 of it on a cheapo compilation. MG

This is interesting. Did your documentation say how much the card companies were adding on to transactions? I've always thought that my card company doesn't rip me off greatly - but really, I don't know. It certainly costs less to use a credit card for purchases abroad (even if you're physically abroad) than to change cash. But you don't get, and surely can't expect, the same rates on a CC transaction that the money men get and you see quoted everywhere. But somewhere between those two points, there's a threshold between reasonable and rip-off. Only the public doesn't know where it is. MG

What incredible foresight!!!! MG

Hur hur hur. Sniff. MG

Baby Grand!!! Baby Grand!!! Baby Grand!!! I wonder if there'll be bonus tracks? There are lots of unissued tracks listed as rejected in the discography, including 3 untitled blues (surely ONE of them must be a blinder?) and "Tunisia", "Joy spring" (now that would be an interesting one) and "Red sails in the sunset" (would love to hear how he did that one). MG

I supose, one way or another, I have a fair few albums featuring Wilbur Ware. But the one that always makes me sit up is Grant Green's "Remembering" (aka "Standards"). That's one of the most beautiful albums in my collection and the connection between GG & WW is what makes it so. MG

What series is that Silver Newport? Ordinary BN, Conn? Anyone know? MG

Bump. I was having a look through some old tapes the other day and found on which a friend had done for e from a bunch of his old 45s and 78s. And it includes both sides of Greer's Sittin' in with single "Wineola"/"Rockin' with Big John" (the original version). So I gave the two cuts a listen earlier today. Sound is fairly ropey but could be a hell of a lot worse on a 30-odd year old tape. "Wineola" is a pretty standard blues about a girl who drinks too much but is fine in other ways, it seems. Greer sings it well. "Rockin' with Big John" really IS a whole different ball game from the RCA Victor recording. For one thing, it's a small group; tenor, guitar (nice little solo) and rhythm. No band backing. And Greer's playing is not completely different from the way he plays on the RCA sides but enough different to make you think that he was a good bit more individual than he sounds on the later stuff. The tune is played slightly faster than on the RCA session, but more relaxed. And Greer's solo has all these fast Bebop licks laying alongside the straight ahead blowing; but those Bebop lines, which are really well executed, so often (but not always) culminate with an Illinois Jacquet shriek that one feels that THIS is the way Greer thought about it all. I haven't picked up anything like this in the RCA material. I played the Sittin' in with back to back with the RCA, to make sure. Really - and those who know me will realise this isn't disparaging at all - Greer sounds a quite lot like Willis Jackson on the RCA material. On Sittin' in with, I'm reminded of Leo Parker; not because he plays like him, but because he seems to take all the same elements and put them together in a personal thing. MG

Renaissance man! Surprised and interested. Hasn't it been covered by Charlie Gillette? MG

Do you have a fan living next door? MG It's OK - it was empty. No shit, then. MG

Hi MG

Tony Hall Lord Kitchener Lounge Lizards

Here's a suggestion I picked up the other day off the blues forum. I have my albums listed in a database. So I fire it up each evening, open the query on the ones I've still got and aren't fucked or held purely for discographical reasons, close my eyes and push the down button for a few seconds - play whatever the cursor lands on! One or two an evening will see a lot of unfamiliar stuff surfacing. (You're allowed to cheat if you land on something you played the other day ) MG

And about time too! Will you look at the sleeves, as well? MG

Tennessee Ernie Ford Mississippi Fred McDowell Illinois Jacquet

Do you have a fan living next door? MG

That's the point! It was a harmless joke--but one that lots of women wouldn't find funny at all. So it intersects the point that had been made (be careful with casual comments because you might be pressing someone's button) and the question that had been asked (wonder why more women don't hang around here). And Chris, I'm not saying you're a despicable misogynist driving women away from Organissimo. Rachel, for example, took it as a joke and replied in kind. But that's just it--anybody can toss off a joke or a little bit of sarcasm without bad intent, you or me or anyone, and it's no big deal for most people, but there might be collateral damage. Maybe I'm being too earnest. Yep, but what I think is that if someone is offend unintenionally by someone else's comment, he/she should be able to reply and explain, maybe via PM if the thing is too personal for a public answer, without leaving with disdain. They call it "communication". Right. That happened to me and a PM put me back on the right track. MG