The Magnificent Goldberg

Many happy returns, Daniel! MG

When I saw Charles Earland live, I managed to find a place just behind and to the right of the organ, so I could see what he was doing, which most of the audience couldn't. Some of the time, he was playing with the heel and side of his right hand, kind of undulating it up and down the manual, and his fingers - so to speak running behind to catch up. It was clear to me that he wasn't doing this to show off, because I was the only one who could see, but in order to produce the effect. Is it showmanship (showpersonship? yuk) for Rhoda to play barefoot? Does it matter? MG

I don't know if I could come back from that one... Clem is a bit over the top on this one. Ree made two stone killer albums. "Songs of faith", a bunch of stuff she recorded for JVB in 1955/56 is one. The other is "Young gifted and black". "Amazing grace" is nearly there, but not quite. All the rest are some great singles and album filler. It's those great singles that gave Ree her reputation. But there were dozens (scores? more?) of soul singers who made great singles. Even who made lots of great soul singles. And even some who made lots of great innovative soul singles - as you all know, Ree wasn't an innovator; the main development work on soul was done between 1959 and 1962. MG

Onzy Matthews Select MG

Angie Stone Angie Dickinson Emily Dickinson

Hey, and if this is all the work of Generation-X, how come there's no Moricone? MG

This evening Houston Person - Suspicions - Muse orig Houston Person - Heavy juice - Muse orig Houston Person - Always on my mind - Muse orig Jimmy Smith - It's necessary - Merury orig Teddy Edwards - Feelin's - Muse orig MG

More guitarists Howard Roberts - Color him funky - Capitol orig mono Maynard Parker - Midnight rider - Prestige orig green label Kenny Burrell - Tin tin deo - Concord Jazz orig MG

Couldn't get my post to work. So fuck it. MG

I don't think I'd put it quite that way. More like, "when big business thought it could even make money out of weird stuff". MG

Thanks Hans - ordered the Shirley Scott and Ray Bryant now, lest I forget. MG

The US does not charge duties on compact discs period. Nomatter individual or corporate shipments. Ah! The penny's just dropped. The UK doesn't charge import duty on CDs either. What Customs collect on imported CDs is Value Added Tax (VAT) at 17.5%. The US doesn't have VAT. MG

I think that's notshow-manship. MG

Basically it was a genius who thought that, after 50 years from his age, some rich audiophile nuts wouldn't like the idea of their 10K $ cartdriges droping off from the outer side of the record breaking the cantilever handmaded by Hattori Hanzo. I'm so pleased... MG

I really think you're wrong there. That music was hyped as being not commercial in the sixties by the Clive Davises and Ahmet Erteguns of the world but what was happening was that, for the first time, hit albums were routinely outselling hit singles, basically because your generation had loadsamoney. Because of a slight historical disconnect (partly because so many of the big selling albums of the fifties and early sixties were jazz or jazz-related like Sinatra's), it was possible to persuade people (including the members of the new bands) that only singles were commercial. So a whole generation of kids believed that these bands were, in some way, anti-commercial, anti-establishment. But that had nothing to do with reality, which was that the moguls were making huge bucks out of supposedly non-commercial music. MG You may want to do a little research, MG.... First of all, this music was, in fact, anti-establishment, protest oriented, anti-war and pro free speech music. It was not at all written to be used as pop ditties for selling soap and whatnot. Secondly, if you seriously believe that paying $2-4 bucks for a record is the same as My Generation [read the lyrics of this tune, OK?] having "loadsamoney" then there is something dreadfully wrong with your thinking here. Lastly, the commercial business side of selling music/albums/concerts/radio air time to listeners/advertisers in order for the bands to make a living has absolutely nothing at all to do with the use of it on car commercials today. You apparently confuse the true nature of the songs and the value they had for us in the various struggles mentioned above with making money for the people who created it. Not the same thing....ain't even close, MG. Now if you are suggesting the Bubblegum Pop and later the Glitter Rock and Disco bullshit of the late 70s is commercial and therefore something nobody should complain about if it appears on TV commercials, then you would be right. Canned Heat [same All Over], Led Zeppelin [Rock and Roll], Buffalo Springfield [For What It's Worth], The Chambers Brothers [Time Has Come Today], O'Jays [Money] or Steppenwolf [born to be Wild], etc are not at all equatable with those venues at all and have no business being used on a TV commercial. The message in the lyrics [Led Zep being the least edgy, but surely not appropriate for a luxury vehicle] is being washed over in favor of a sound recognition/nostalgia teaser to get you to listen to the commercial. That is total bullshit and an insult to those of us who lived in those tumultuous times. That is what I object to. I think I might, just, agree with you, if you were talking about making ads out of Gil Scott-Heron's "The revolution will not be televised" or "Home is where the hatred is", or the Last Poets' "Run nigger" or "Niggers are scared of Revolution". But you're not, are you? MG

Those on the "inside" never recognize the image in the mirror. If you don't think the stuff you mention is/was "commercial" you misunderstood your time in that time. There is probably an age thing at work here. You and I, Chuck, are almost exactly the same age - about 10/11 years older thn Goodspeak. That decade put us in a different position in the sixties. MG

Frankie Vaughan Billy Vaughn Stevie Ray Vaughn

If you weren't alive when Carl Jefferson established the Concord label, you were born after 1973, which may partly excuse you for having it all wrong. Carl's going into the record business had a lot to do with his love for the music and nothing to do with the avant garde loft scene. I suggest that you read up on it before you again point the finger at the wrong people. Of course, I'm not contradicting you, Chris, but I think I can understand what Donald is getting at, even though I wouldn't put it into the words he has. Concord albums, even when they feature some of my favourite musicians (Plas, Burrell, McDuff, Holloway and a few others), FEEL lame. And not too many of my favourite musicians ARE featured. Compared with the almost exactly contemporary efforts of Joe Fields, Concord really doesn't measure up, in my view. I have 21 Concord/Concord Picante albums; 220 on Joe's labels. OK, I think Joe has released more albums since 1972 than Concord, but it's a whole order of magnitude difference in my collection. Now Carl may have deliberately decided not to make the kind of records I like, because he didn't like that kind of stuff. Fine; it's his business. But I DO wonder why. MG

Sonny Clark - Leapin' and lopin' - BN Pathe Marconi Sonny Clark - Cool struttin' - BN DMM (but I don't mind; it's got Jackie McLean on it ) MG

Why did they start making LPs with a raised rim? (Can't be asked to find the "Stupid questions" thread.) MG

@ dustygroove Temp Out of stock though. Hm - "You're taking up another man's place" would be an interesting one to hear her do. Mabel John and Etta James have both done terrific versions (Mabel's was the original). I'll think about this. Thanks. MG

If it creates tension and excitement, what more do we need to know? If a comedian makes the audience laugh, do we ask how much is showmanship/delivery and how much the inherent wit of what he says? MG

I dunno 'bout this. Whut? MG

Second issued recording. He played on a 1956 session by Tommy Dean (another St Louis organist) in 1956, which has never been issued. Dean sounds like a big influence on Lazar; his combo was rather like Doggett's but, instead of plodding, Dean's band FLEW! I'd love to hear what GG did in that context. I think Dean was probably quite important in a local way. MG

Well worth waiting for. Hold your breath! MG