The Magnificent Goldberg

The potential benefits of CD's were obvious from the get-go. Can't say the same about downloads - seems like their main benefit is that the corporation doesn't have to spend any money on media distribution or returns. What's in it for us if they replace CD's? You're right Felser. What they're doing is putting stuff out for download that they used to have as CDs. As far as I know, nothing's gone for download that hasn't already been issued as a CD. The companies don't seem to be remastering material in order to make it available as downloads. The possible benefit to the (US) consumer might be price (though I suspect not, in most cases I've seen prices of $9.99). And, as far as Universal is concerned, no benefit to European consumers, since we can't get them through emusic. The downside is that, as long as the companies can make cheap money putting stuff up for downloading, they're not going to spend money to digitise LPs that haven't already been done. GRRRRRRR!!!! MG

That's what my wife asked for yesterday's dinner. Funny, my wife wanted gammon & salad, then turkey & etc, then chocolate trifle. (I passed on the trifle and went for mince pies and Courvoisier cream.) Playing some JB jazz stuff. Singles (Can you) feel it Maybe good, maybe bad pts 1 & 2 Albums Grits & Soul New breed Today & yesterday MG

In a few minutes (Can you) feel it - King 45 Maybe good, maybe bad - King 45 JAMES BROWN (ORG) WITH MCKINLEY “MACK” JOHNSON, RON TOOLEY, JOE DUPARS, ROBERT KNIGHT (TP), WILMER MILTON (TB), NAT JONES (AS), ST CLAIR PINCKNEY, ELDEE WILLIAMS, BRISCO CLARK (TS) MACEO PARKER (TS, BS), AL “FATS” GONDER OR BOBBY BYRD (ORG-1), LES BUIE (G), SAM THOMAS, BERNARD ODUM (B), MELVIN PARKER OR OBIE WILLIAMS (D) CHICAGO?, MAY? 1964 Still my all time favourite JB, after almost 42 years in my shelves. I expect to move on to JAMES BROWN (ORG, P) WITH JOE DUPARS, WAYMON REED, RONALD LEE HARPER (TP), LEVI RASBURY (TP, VTB), NAT JONES (AS), ST CLAIR PINCKNEY, ELDEE WILLIAMS, ALFRED “PEE WEE” ELLIS (TS), CHARLES CARR (BS), JIMMY NOLEN (G, B), BERNARD ODUM (B), JOHN “JABO” STARKS (D), THE JEWELS (FEMALE BK VO) CRITERIA STUDIOS, MIAMI, 7 FEBRUARY 1966 JAMES BROWN (ORG, G), WITH RON TOOLEY, JOE DUPARS, LEVI RASBURY, TEDDY WASHINGTON (TP), UNKNOWN (TB), NAT JONES (AS, P), ST CLAIR PINCKNEY, ELDEE WILLIAMS, CLIFFORD MACMILLAN (TS) CHARLES CARR (BS), JIMMY NOLAN, ALPHONSO KELLUM (G), BERNARD ODUM (B), MELVIN PARKER, OBIE WILLIAMS OR CLYDE STUBBLEFIELD (D) PROB CRITERIA STUDIO, MIAMI, AUGUST OR SEPTEMBER 1965 MG

Just before we went to our daughter's for lunch, it was Plas Johnson - Christmas in Hollywood and when we got back Christmas with Houston Person and friends. Good stuff for any time of year! MG

Well, I got a Christmas greetings e-mail from George this morning! WOW!!!! And he says he'll have vol 3 of "George Braith and friends" out in 2007. Yipeeeeeee! MG

Bet he'd have a job bumping that on Halsey Street, Newark MG

Well, it's about time Universal brought out a box of this stuff. None of the above albums, recorded for Smash in the period 1964-1967, has ever been issued on CD! I think some of these others may have been on CD, but aren't now. And then, of course, there are several albums by the JBs... So, someone.... issue CDs of these jazz albums of the Godfather!!!!!!!!

He's done it to death now. That man did so much. And he was a bastard. But he changed the world. RIP. MG

All Mabern's Prestige albums are great. My favourite is "Rakin' n Scrapin'". Nope. They backed Nat Cole on one or two things. Sall I know. More please. MG

Exactly. But, wasn't that around the time that records got flimsier, Dynagroove etc.? There were some that said on the label they could be played on either mono OR stereo. I never understood what magic would take place. Not sure about Dynagroove. I have never bought too many records by major companies. My memory of this is that records got very thin with the oil price rise in the early '70s - 1973 as far as I can tell. I've got some Prestige LPs from that period that are so flimsy, the polythene wrapping around the sleeve bends them! (And they're all FUNK classics - I always thought the Sheikhs did it deliberately to make these albums less long-lasting. ) MG

That's really interesting. Thanks Ghost. MG

I agree. Logically, "Clubhouse" fits with "Gettin' around". It was recorded the day before and they share the same enthusiasm for material that the Dave Bailey quintet had recorded a few years before. Whether that was a coincidence or not, I've no idea, but it strikes me as a unifying theme. Of course, they won't fit on one CD. And I like having the two next to each other on the shelf. MG

You have that on vinyl? I am sooooooo jealous. I'll be completely green with envy if you tell me it's a mono copy. Much as I would love to make you jealous, Big Al, it's the stereo issue [they call it visual sound Stereo] on the Dolton label. It has a nice picture of three guitars and a pair of drumsticks on a Christmas wreath on the cover. But, it's early stereo by the Ventures which always seemed to me be a conscious effort by this group, particularly in their surfing albums, to always have the jumping across the room feature. But, that aside, it's a favourite. On some old record players (and even some hifis, I think) you could (or had to) press a button to turn the amp on to stereo or mono. Pity, when you get records like that, that you can't do it on modern ones. Same for the electronically rechannelled stuff. MG MG do you know if anything bad actually happened if you played a mono record on the stereo setting? There seemed to be actual fear of playing the wrong kind of record on the wrong setting at the time. Then, it seems to me that there were some records in the transitional period that assured us that they could be played on a stereo system without damaging it, which re enforced the fear that it was possible to damage your brand new system by playing your old monos on it. I remember a certain sense of relief on reading the serious note to that effect on the label. What they used to say was that you could play a stereo record on a mono system without damaging it if you used a stero cartridge and stylus. That's what I did. I had mono record players, then a mono amp when I moved to hifi, until the mid '70s, when my wife protested about this amp in the living room with all its dusty valves showing! But I'd been buying stereo LPs for ages, because they had stopped making mono ones. I'm not sure about the reverse being true. I never heard that. I play mono records on my system without a qualm. On the system, all that could be damaged would be the stylus and I really doubt that. As for damaging the records, I should think it's undetectable, it there is any damage. The real argument for using a stereo cartridge and stylus on a stereo record was always that a mono setup wouldn't capture the way the sides of the groove varied, so you wouldn't hear proper reproduction of the sound. But no one actually said that in marketing LPs; it was always this damage thing. MG

You have that on vinyl? I am sooooooo jealous. I'll be completely green with envy if you tell me it's a mono copy. Much as I would love to make you jealous, Big Al, it's the stereo issue [they call it visual sound Stereo] on the Dolton label. It has a nice picture of three guitars and a pair of drumsticks on a Christmas wreath on the cover. But, it's early stereo by the Ventures which always seemed to me be a conscious effort by this group, particularly in their surfing albums, to always have the jumping across the room feature. But, that aside, it's a favourite. On some old record players (and even some hifis, I think) you could (or had to) press a button to turn the amp on to stereo or mono. Pity, when you get records like that, that you can't do it on modern ones. Same for the electronically rechannelled stuff. MG

But it was Johnny "Guitar" Watson who did this lot. clark terry fucked my wife clark terry knocked up my daughter And this was Redman clark terry is a lousy lay clark terry doesn't swallow I think I'll play my sole Clark Terry album next, just to annoy Clem MG

Clark Terry fought the law and Clark Terry won? No, Clem meant Clark Kent. MG

Here's a list of Japanese MYCJ30XXX releases. Oh, s**t. Why did I click on this link?!? Will require mucho dinero. I presume Hiroshi can get any / all of these. Sorry JL - just stick to Junior Mance and you'll be all right Thanks Hans. MG

itunes will do it, but you need to get the settings right and I'm not sure - it's in the help file though. Ahead Nero does it without me thinking about it, I'm glad to say MG

The Soul Stirrers with R H Harris - Shine on me Kenny Burrell - Have yourself a soulful little Christmas Jimmy McGriff - Christmas with Jimmy McGriff then some 45s Lowell Fulson - Lonesome Christmas pts 1 & 2 - Hollywood reissue Charles Brown with the Three Blazers - Merry Christmas baby/Lloyd Glenn - Sleigh ride - Hollywood reissue Charles Brown - Please come home for Christmas/Amos Milburn - Christmas (comes but once a year) - King orig Charles Brown - It's Christmas time/Christmas finds me lonely wanting you - King orig Charles Brown - Merry Christmas baby/Please come home for Christmas - Jewel orig (early '70s version with wah wah guitars!) MG

Hans - I see there are some M&Is coming out. Any idea where I can find a complete list of M&I releases? MG

Oh, I could, but it wouldn't be as good as a pro version. MG

What more can I say? This is a happy board. I'm glad I joined. MG

That's interesting. I might try to get that. I have both of the Acid Jazz series CDs, but I like listening to the album as a whole. Despite being recorded at different dates, and with an extra alto player, the whole thing has always seemed to hang together very well to me. Mind you, I have the LP In fact, I have the best of both worlds - it's a stereo LP (orig) with a mono cover (orig), so I haven't got "stereo stereo stereo stereo stereo stereo stereo" right across the top to spoil the sleeve design. I don't know how this happened, but I'm happy. Time to play this again. MG

Melba Moore Mel Sparks Melanie

I've got the odd guest appearance Dianne has made but that post, Ghost, makes me want to get more into her. Thanks. MG