The Magnificent Goldberg

They used to be well-stocked, but the owner is a dick. The shop clossed years ago. I got along with him very well. So only Concerto/Plato is left now in Amsterdam? (Fame in its new location is a joke.) I understand there are some good places in Amsterdam to buy African vinyl and K7s. 'Course, you may not want to buy records with shea butter on them MG

You could try this: Hm - you might be right. The book is unimaginatively conceived (songs in alphabetical order of title, so not really any kind of history), but some of the information I am wondering about could be read off from it... That's a problem with lots of stuff that perforce gets an encyclopaedic approach, because publishers and writers don't really know in how many ways it can be used. People should write these books as spreadsheets or databases so they could be sorted into whatever order is interesting (or include one on CDR to go with the book). I spent months and months copying Joel Whitburn's R&B and pop singles and album charts and Galen Gart's Record label directory onto spreadsheets so I could look at stuff historically, or by record label/company, or even region, for early post-war music. MG

Ah, a completely different kettle of fish MG

I thought about that one, then decided that 'The rain in Spain' was a bit wet Well, not really a standard. But you could be right about that one. MG No it's just Miles Jazz is kind of unimportant in relation to the large area covered by 'standards'. MG

I grew up in the Netherlands, hence both the Dutch and the proper English orthography, rather than what passes for correct spelling over in the heathen lands of milk and honey I presently inhabit. MG

Probably 'Porgy and Bess', as you say EJP. I make 6 standards from that one: Summertime My man's gone now I got plenty of nuttin' Bess you is my woman now It ain't necessarily so I loves you Porgy Though I'm not sure that 'My man's gone now' is really a standard, perhaps only a jazz standard. However, I get 7 each for 'The King and I' and 'South Pacific'. King & I - I whistle a happy tune Hello young lovers Getting to know you We kiss in a shadow Something wonderful I have dreamed Shall we dance (and 'March of the Siamese children' is something of a jazz standard in Europe) South Pacific Some enchanted evening There is nothing like a dame I'm gonna wash that man right outa my hair I'm in love with a wonderful guy Younger than springtime Happy talk This nearly was mine Not many Rodgers & Hammerstein songs are JAZZ standards. There's a general feeling against RR&OH in favour of RR&LH in the jazz world, I think. MG Only 4 I reckon - Bidin' my time Embraceable you I got rhythm But not for me MG I hadn't got round to Coal Porter yet, but in addition there's 'It's de-lovely'. So that makes 7, as well as the two Rodgers/Hammerstein ones. MG

Thanks for the translation, Alex. I wouldn't have remembered the derivation of 'Cor' but, now you mention it, I remember, as a little boy of four or five, my Irish nanny used to tell me not to say 'Cor blimey', as it meant 'God blind me' and he might. So where did you learn Dutch (not to mention proper English as it's spoke here), Alex? MG

Torsten Zwingenburger Axel Zwingenburger Axel

Sly was years after 'Out of sight'. And I know you know Alvin Robinson's recordings which were before that. And the Mar-Keys were the beginning. The whole of Stax would have been zilch without them. Funk, to a large extent, represented the resurgence of jazz in popular black music and the vocalists contributed little to that (except to the extent that they - like JB and a few others - were musicians too). MG A lot of people had an influence on what came to be called funk. You could bring up Horace Silver, Bobby Timmons, and Cannonball as influences. I still think that the rural quality of Otis' music wasn't something found in most funk. I would agree with you that Al Jackson, Jr. had an influence on funk. This an argument that could go on and on and never be resolved. I agree with much of what you say. As far as this thread goes, both of us have outlived Otis, Al Jackson, Jr., Bobby Timmons, and Cannonball - for whatever that's worth. INDEED WE HAVE! MG

Got to confess I never liked the Swingle Singers, and the most irritating (to me) record in my collection is the Dizzy Gillespie with the Double Six. I got it on the Diz Mosaic box and I've played it exactly twice before deciding that was enough for one lifetime Still, I've got to admit, that stuff WAS well liked and also, in its way, important. There are LOTS more important musicians than important jazz musicians and it's always interesting to listen to a bit of their music, even if one doesn't like it all that much. RIP Mr Swingle. MG

Jane Tarzan Cheeta

Sly was years after 'Out of sight'. And I know you know Alvin Robinson's recordings which were before that. And the Mar-Keys were the beginning. The whole of Stax would have been zilch without them. Funk, to a large extent, represented the resurgence of jazz in popular black music and the vocalists contributed little to that (except to the extent that they - like JB and a few others - were musicians too). MG

Yep. Amazing how much he accomplished in that short time and how he changed music. For a Detroiter, that's an amazing statement. Soul developed between Billy Ward & the Dominoes' "Have mercy baby" in 1952 (Clyde McPhatter lead) and The Falcons' "I found a love" in 1962 (Wilson Pickett lead, plus Eddie Floyd, Sir Mack Rice and one of the 4 Tops' brother - the backing band later became the Ohio Players). Nothing that Otis, O V Wright, Carr or Aretha did after that took Soul further into church than "I found a love". (Soul is the classic instance of the innovators not being as good as some of those who followed.) MG PS the other members of the Falcons were Joe Stubbs (Eli's brother) and Ben Night. And the band in those days was known as "The Ohio Untouchables") Singing like you're in (a particular sort of) church when you're not isn't all there is to soul, much less music. "I Found a Love" is wonderful and soulful and churchy, but things continued to change in all sorts of ways thereafter. and Otis was a big part of that. The big change spearheaded (but not initiated) by Otis Redding was in the backing, particularly the drumming of Al Jackson, which developed within months into funk. So, effectively, soul was replaced in terms of popular black music development by funk. In terms of people liking it, of course, it carried on, and became even more popular. MG

The Diggers Gerrard Winstanley True Levellers

I *almost* wrote "I bet you're thinking of Lonnie Johnson, but it was actually St Cyr on 'Savoy Blues'"! Hah. And, yes! Eddie Lang and Bix it is. I'll let Spoontooneous fill in the rest. Yes, when I thought about it last night, I realised that it must have been St Cyr on banjo I'd been hearing, not Johnson on guitar. Clorf ears. MG

George Goldner Morris Levy The Dubs

Judge Dredd Alexander Minto Hughes Prince Buster

Nope on all counts. Are you thinking of Johnny St. Cyr, who was on "Savoy Blues"? No, it's not him. Random factoid: Lonnie Johnson (guitarist on some other Hot Five sides) and *this* guitarist recorded together in 1929, and the stuff they produced was wonderful. The brass player is the key here, and should be the easiest of the bunch to recognize. I was actually thinking of Lonnie Johnson Anyway, your clue leads me, after much cudgelling of my memory, to Eddie Lang. And if it IS Eddie Lang, then one candidate for the brass man is Bix. So that's my guess #2. MG

Thomas Stanko Pooh Horrible Henry

250ml of fresh orange juice; bowl of muesli; maybe slice of own wholemeal bread & marmalade (but I'm dieting at present, so it doesn't come along very often now); BIG cup of tea. MG

Yvonne Fair Yvonne Arnaud Antonin Artaud

Cor! You're much better than me at this, Page! (And I've GOT 'Perdido St blues' on the Armstrong Decca Mosaic set!) MG

What throws me off is that this newer "STEREO" pressing shows all the signs of being old itself. It has a deep groove. So if it's a later pressing, I'm thinking it's still late 50s or very early 60s. I think that the time period for DG pressings is variable, depending on the plant doing the pressings. I have a 1964 Earl Grant LP (UK Brunswick) which is DG. And my 1966 copy (UK again) of Jackie Ivory's 'Soul discovery' is also DG. Though maybe the UK's plants weren't 'upgraded' until later. MG

Cor! Scepter didn't half produce some albums you wouldn't expect! I used to have a James Moody LP ('Running the gamut') on Scepter and the form also owned Hob, on which the Swan Silvertones, Thompson Community Choir and James Cleveland appeared (and which also reissued Harmonizing Four material from Gotham). All funded, I guess, by Chuck Jackson, Maxine Brown and Dionne Warwick. MG And initially by the Shirelles. And you could probably thrown in B.J. Thomas later on. Sure - is the Shirelles' name remembered in the US? Seldom see it mentioned over here, or any albums in the second hand shops. MG

Chaim Weitzmann Ken 'Daft as a Brush' Platt Mervyn Peake