The Magnificent Goldberg

It's pretty breezy today! Our plastic greenhouse where we winter some plants has blown over twice. I'm not picking it up again. It can't fall any further. MG

"Let 'em roll", which was recorded before "Got a good thing goin'", was released after it and before "Certain feeling". This was just after Liberty bought BN so I guess they must have been looking for some stuff to get out quick. MG

Don't worry about WHERE you get off the effin' plane, Chewy, so long as it's in Europe, you can get a cheap flight to wherever you want to - or a train. So, if Rome is the cheapest, get that and then go where you're going. MG

Lloyd Price Eddie Costa Owen Money

Ahhh! THAT’S more like it! Some proper African stuff just turned up from Sterns! Looking forward to hearing these in a short while. “Ambiance ballon” appears to have a few tracks from his earlier football albums, plus new recordings praising the Guinean national team, Syli National. Superb! MG

That's correct. Some more labeltrivia: the switch seems to be around the numbers 7300-7320, although there might even have been a transition label: a plain gold label (unfortunately don't have a picture). My copies of 7310 (The New Boss Guitar of George Benson) 7316 (John Coltrane - Black Pearls), 7331 (The Exciting New Organ of Don Patterson) have this gold label. On the other hand 7318 (Booker Ervin - The Song Book) and 7321 (The Rocking Tenor Sax of Eddie Chamblee) still have the yellow label, while 7315 (Kenny Burrell - Soul Call) and 7320 (Gene Ammons Velvet Soul) have blue labels. I'd forgotten about the gold labels. "Cookin' together" by Red Holloway & Jack McDuff PR7325 had a gold label. Spoon's "Blues around the clock" PR7314 had a yellow label. Prestige LPs didn't necessarily come out in numerical order, so I wonder whether these differences relate to release dates. 7310 ?......gold 7314 9/64 yellow 7315 ?......blue 7316 ?......gold 7318 9/64 yellow 7320 3/65 blue 7321 8/64 yellow 7325 ?......gold 7331 ?......gold Unfortunately, my 1967 Schwann doesn't give release dates for the LPs against which I've put question marks. It LOOKS as if the release date may be the important point here, and maybe we could be more positive if we had a bigger sample of the issues. MG

Hey, no one's mentioned any of my Herbie Mann favourites: Memphis underground - with Coryell, Ayers, Sharrock and a Memphis rhythm section comprising Reggie Young, Bobby Emmons, Bobby Wood, Tommy Cogbill, Mike Leech and Gene Christman - great grooves! very commercial! Wonderful. Mississippi gambler - with David Newman and same rhythm section plus Potato Valdes. More great grooves! Deep Pocket - I think this was his last or last but one album - on Kokopelli, with Roy Ayers, Cornell Dupree, Les McCann, David Newman, Chuck Rainey, Richard Tee and Buddy Williams. Love this one! MG

Cor - you got that quickly! Enjoy, Tom! MG

Ian Banbury (my dentist) Dr Lonnie Smith Jelly Roll Morton

Has it been through a pulveriser? All the Esquire LPs I've ever had have been severely partied over - sleeves as well as the vinyl! And quite right too, considering the music therein! Bad bossa nova Hip twist Sit down and relax with Jimmy Forrest New scene of King Curtis a few others I can't think of just at the moment. MG

Yeah, that's definately Grant. When they issued the CD, he's listed as Grant Green. This may be useless trivia, but I remember being a little surprised years ago when I bought Patterson's TUNE UP! album. He was listed as "Blue Grant" on that LP as well, and it was pretty clear that it was Grant Green, but I could swear the recording had been sped up... Grant almost sounded like Pat Martino. I wonder if the same thing occured on the LP version of DONNYBROOK (which I never owned). GG COULD play fast, when necessary, but he didn't like to do a whole lot of it because it wasn't what he was there for. But he did try to fit in and work with whoever he was playing with and, with Don, well you've got to do a bit of speedy stuff. MG

He's on a lot of Hank Crawford albums, most of which have been reissued on CD: The soul clinic From the heart True blue Dig these blues Double cross There's some other stuff I've got knocking around (I wish I had computerised the personnel of all my jazz albums). Will try and think of what there is. MG

Most of that stuff was never available on yellow labels. The blue ones are the originals. But I'm not sure when the changeover from yellow to blue occurred. All very good Soul Jazz material. Prices in Britain may well be higher than in the US, as there's still a bit of affection among UK DJs for this stuff. I'm not up on what the material is going for NOW, however, but a few years ago, the stuff was going for somewhere in the region of $40-50. All of it is out on CD. MG

That's such a great article, except for where he thinks the future lies, Rod, that I thought I'd set it out in full. This is what I've been saying for a good many years, only not as well. MG

And I ordered mine from an Amazon UK seller on Saturday and still haven't got it! How come you get preferential treatment, Mike? MG

When are we talking about, Mike? I don't yet have the technology for vinyl drops, which I need, but I'm anticipating getting it fairly soon. MG

Thor Hathor Thoth

Isn't that the BAAAAADDDDDDESSSSSTTTTT!!!!! MG

My favourite Esquire sleeve was for Gene Ammons' "Bad bossa nova". Can't find one on the web, so I'll scan mine in, in instalments, and glue them together. See ya later. MG

Ha ha MG

Irawaddy-Daddy-Diddy Dolphin-Ditty Doo. Oh, you must be a musician MG

Yorkies are GREAT! (I don't eat them any more because of the effect on waistline.) OK, this guy MUST have something going for him. MG

Sonny Stitt discs 4, 5 & 6 MG

Your collection is larger than mine, in that case... I'm just only getting into it! This one is really good. http://www.amazon.com/Kar-Boubacar-Traor/d...5315837-0791254 Since you are at it, check this beautiful disc by Rokia Traoré out: http://www.amazon.com/Wanita-Rokia-Traor%C...TF8&s=music For kora, this one by Toumani Diabate: http://www.amazon.com/Kaira-Toumani-Diabat...TF8&s=music and this one by Ballaké Sissoko: http://www.amazon.com/Deli-Ballak%C3%A9-Si...TF8&s=music are great. My favorite disc of West African music is a masterpiece by Jali Musa Jawara titled "Yasimika", sadly OOP: http://www.amazon.com/Yasimika-Jali-Musa-J...TF8&s=music This looks like a good compilation of West African music: http://www.amazon.com/Rough-Guide-Music-Ma...TF8&s=music Get some good West African music (thankfully, quite a bit is easily avilable these days) and throw this Rudd's "Malikool" nonsense away. If you like Djeli Moussa Diawara's "Yasimika", you'll like these other albums he has out in France. http://www.amazon.fr/s/ref=nb_ss_m/171-389...=11&Go.y=10 Note Jali Musa Jawara and Djeli Moussa Diawara are the English and French ways of spelling the same name. It makes searching for his records just that little bit more irritating I think Diawara has done more than anyone to develop the use of the kora in contemporary Guinean pop music. I love his stuff. MG I have most of those, as well as (mediocre) Kora Jazz Trio - none is even close to "Yasimika". I guess I will just write an e-mail to Rykodisc pleading to reissue it. It doesn't have to be Rykodisc. The original CD issue was in 1988 on the Go: Global label, licensed from AS productions, Abijian. My guess is that Rykodisc don't own it and anyone could reissue it. World Circuit put out Diawara's next album, "Soubindour" and may be open to suggestion on it. MG

This reminds me of something someone said about the difference between Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler. (Can't remember where, but maybe in "Making tracks".) Ahmet was said to be more interested in people with great talent, who could make great records, while Wex was supposed to be more interested in artists who were representative of the black community, who could make records that people could identify with. Although numerous exceptions can be pointed out, to me, Blue Note (and Riverside) generally fall into the former category, trying to make great records, Chess (and Prestige) into the latter, trying to make ones that rang a bell with the black public. You pays your money and you takes your choice. MG