The Magnificent Goldberg

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

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

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

Did they make you work 'cos you was a Yankee? 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

Ferrante Teicher

Yes, that's the album! Actually, the CD has two bonus cuts not on the LP, so you're a lucky lad, Alex. I found this LP, and Earl Hines' 'Tea for two', talking to a guy ahead of me in the queue at the local post office. He was posting some LPs off somewhere, so I asked if he dealt in 2nd hand records. He invited me round and I had a look through piles and piles of rubbish, but found these and a Bennie Moten Parlophone, a Jazz Crusaders I hadn't got and an African live album. Amazing to find even those on a housing estate well known for druggies! MG