Big Beat Steve

Paywall!

Thanks for this info. It has been ages since I read the Tommy Johnson biography in full (I bought the book in London - along with a Charley Patton bio - at age 17 in 1977) but that name LeDell did stick. Must check that "source" again soon.

Fascinating indeed ... Mack McCormick was a force (source? ) to be reckoned with at the (for want of a better word) "folksy" end of the writings on the history of popular music. Sadly this article also shows him as another case where excessive obsession with one's lifelong interests turns you into a nut job who feels suspicious about anyone and anything out there and seems to feel a need to get even with everyone ... A case of a deep down inside feeling that regardless of all acknowledgments and achievements he has not been given his due by his peers and the audience at large but rather has been taken advantage of by just everyone? Pity ... I wonder what he had to say about the Robert Johnson biography "Escaping the Delta" by Elijah Wald (bought this one upon recommendations here IIRC and found it very interesting). P.S.: Have saved the article and will peruse it in detail later so I have not taken in every word yet - but ... can anyone fill me in on what the photograph of LeDell Johnson halfway through the story means in THIS context? I did a word search through the article but he only comes up in the photo caption. However, AFAIK LeDell was the brother of blues singer TOMMY Johnson, an altogether different blues man (not much less mythic or mysterious - cf. the Tommy Johnson bio by David Evans publicshed by Studio Vista in 1971). PS.2: I think the below story on Mack McCormick was mentioned here some months ago as well: https://tedgioia.substack.com/p/my-quest-to-preserve-the-secret-blues

Your plug for these records had me stumped for a moment because I did not recall any Art Farmer leader dates on Coral or Decca from the 50s. So I checked - and the records you refer to both are Hal McKusick leader dates and must be "Hal McKusick Quintet featuring Art Farmer" (Coral CRL-57131) and "Cross Section - Saxes" (Decca DL-9209 - this one has the "Stratusphunk" track). I have both of them on (reissue) vinyl - so thanks for the recommendation. Will put them on my "to do" record stack. 😉

Thanks everyone. Of course I've seen Stereo stickers stuck on Mono covers or covers with labels with new catalog no. stuck over superseded catalog no. on covers. Relatively often. But what baffles me here is that they should have kept clearly outdated label addresses and affiliations (such as in the case of Impulse as part of ABC Paramount in the case of an MCA-era record inside) without sticking an update label on. (I've seen such stickers elsewhere) I should have thought that label owners would be a wee bit touchy about getting this right. Or were jazz pressings that much of a niche market even back then that they just could not be bothered? According to this site ... https://londonjazzcollector.wordpress.com/record-labels-guide/7-impulse/impulse-us-labels/ ... my Basie KC7 LP has a 1963-66 cover with a post-1979 record inside. So I do wonder if they actually still were using up 60s cover stocks in 1979? And putting records inside that have not only a different label but a totally different catalog no. and NO reference to the original catalog no. (such as in the case of the Dutch Philips vinyl inside the US Impulse cover, which according to Discogs was no isolated case) is rather odd too. All this IMO is a far cry from using up (or using in the first place) domestic (U.S.) covers for export pressings, such as in the case of my copies of Art Blakey's Orgy In Rhythm Vol.1 and 2 which have a German vinyl (with the copyright small print in German on the Blue Note label which otherwise resembles the US label, and "Made in Germany" in the dead wax) inside what clearly is a U.S. cardboard Liberty-era cover. So ... as an ongoing question for those who read this topic later on, have any of you come across similarly mismatched Impulse pressings?

Admittedly the following question may be redundant to those who enthuse about Impulse just as much as they do about Blue Note and know all the finer points, so my excuses beforehand if I may be stating the obvious ... I'm not only no Impulse expert but also have bought very few Impulse vinyls through the years, but now there is one detail that has me wondering ... About 25 years ago I privately bought a small collection of Count Basie vinyls that included a near-pristine copy of "Count Basie & The Kansas CIty 7" on Impulse (Mono A-15). Inside the typical thick cardboard gatefold cover (marked "Printed in USA - A Product of ABC-Paramount Records, Inc." on the back), however, sat an LP with the light-blue rainbow MCA label (US pressing, Universal City, CA 91608 address in the fine print, and release no. MCA-29003 with (AS-15-A) underneath and a small Impulse! logo above the MCA Records logo). As Impulse as part of ABC-Paramount must have been a thing of the past when MCA took control of them all there seemed to be mismatch between the age of the cover and the record. So I attributed this to someone having put a more recent vinyl pressing inside the original sleeve (was the original record shot, maybe?). Not that I would have minded but it was odd ... But then last week I bought a copy of "Americans in Europe Vol. 1" on Impulse (Stereo A-36, same type of gatefold cover again). And inside this one there is a vinyl on the Dutch Philips label (841974 BY) of the kind that was current in the 60s. No mention of Impulse (contrary to the above Basie LP) on the label. So I am wondering if these mismatches are just coincidences or not ... A search on Discogs did not yield anything totally conclusive (for lack of photographs) on the Basie LP, but the "Americans in Europe" LP combination/mismatch I have looks like the one described here (which would make it a Dutch 1963 pressing): https://www.discogs.com/de/release/10844694-Various-Americans-In-Europe-Vol-1 Now my question to those in the know: Is this kind of mismatch between the cover and the vinyl a common occurrence with older Impulses? Did they have that massive quantities of "surplus" gatefold sleeves from the ABC-Paramount era that they were able to ship the sleeves abroad for local pressings (with just the vinyl being pressed in the respective country) or even use them up much later (as in the case of the Basie KC 7 MCA-Impulse LP)? I seem to remember that such "mismatches" occurred with Blue Notes from the Liberty era too (i.e. European-pressed vinyl, e.g. from Germany - with German copyright text on the BN label, inside a U.S. "Liberty" cardboard sleeve). But the mismatches of these two Impulses are much more "radical" so I am wondering ... Thanks beforehand to whomever may have some evidence on this ...

To give you an example closer to your home base: If you were talking about the 60s Cannonball Adderley Quintet or Weather Report and Joe Zawinul as their common denominator in the lineup and if I were to tell you that I do like the early Joe Zawinul Austrian All Stars recordings (for more than just historical reasons) then you might dismiss them as not being representative enough of his OVERALL recorded output. And then I'd have to admit I just happen to have a "soft spot" for them (indeed I like that RST CD reissue of those recordings a lot ...).

NOT AT ALL, my dear Gheorghe. See here, for example: https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/have+a+soft+spot+for+(someone+or+something) https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/soft spot So in fact linking this expession (which comes from everyday English language - you can have a "soft spot" for anything that you are able to muster feelings for at all) to anything even remotely resembling "smooth jazz " would be the ultimate insult. In short, the subject of this topic is records or artists that you just happen to like or even love for very personal and not quite objective reasons that are very specific to your own tastes. They would be the classic case of records you just like enormously even though they may very likely neither be part of the "canon" of "immortal jazz recordings for the ages" nor (worse still) part of what (pseudo-?)enlightened jazz "aesthetes" consider "the recordings everyone MUST listen to and like in order to understand and appreciate 'jazz' at all". (Horror of horrors if this latter stance actually were a widespread and generally endorsed attitude. After all "jazz" is such a wide field and has so many facets that there are so many different ways of enjoying and appreciating "jazz" without embracing - or needing to embrace - EVERY style of jazz to the same extent and depth ...). @all: Pleased to see Lem Winchester gets several mentions here. His recordings (which I discovered - and rounded up nicely on that Avid - yes!! box set) were ear openers to me too and do fill a gap where I have come to prefer him over various more renowned "name" artists.

I hope Larry Kart will bear with me for adding another layer to this OT part of the subject of this topic ... There just may be a little misunderstanding of the copyright extension described in your above link. I was wondering whether the change of the UK laws (i.e. the copyright protection period extension from 50 to 70 years) was retroactively applicable or not (remember the change that became effective in the EU in 2012 remained NON-retroactive). It just might be the gov.uk link above only refers to the laws applicable to recordings not yet in the public domain. On searching the web I found several statements to this effect: "UK copyright law changed in November 2013. Term of copyright in sound recordings has been extended non-retroactively from 50 to 70 years. Under this new law recordings made from 1963 onwards will remain under copyright control until at least 2034. Recordings made in 1962 or earlier remain in the public domain. Of course the Tories are planning to throw all EU related laws away at the end of this year which would include this one, so that may have been an impetus behind releasing it now. " This particular quote comes from a current discussion re- a Beatles reissue on the Steve Hoffman forum. I have not yet been able to find any unequivocal statement on the retroactive applicability of the new 70-year term in in the UK. If anything were indeed retroactively applicable in the UK by now then UK-based labels like not only Avid but also Jasmine (that all do a LOT of reissues the contents of which - wonder of wonders - end in 1962 ) would really be going out on a limb and getting themselves into hot water ... Is this that likely? So what I was referring to were European public-domain reissues that comply with the 50-year cutoff date applicable when the new (EU) laws were passed in 2012. As for US labels I was referring to, obviously this has no bearing on what European labels do for the European market (these labels being sold to the US as well is another matter but is of no concern to European customers) but rather was a matter of wondering whether there were any US labels that would step in to cover this kind of artists at all. And if - as it evidently is the case - not even a US label that does not even have pay for licensing because it OWNS the rights (Concord!) can't be bothered, then this is getting treacherously close to "use it or lose it" - in those parts of the world where copyright laws okay this practice anyway.

"Al Haig Today!" (Mint LP 711, rec. 1965)

Ouch ... You're making my music bookshelf in my music room overflow and burst apart at the seams at last ... I just ordered a copy online - so thanks for the recommendation ...

You seem to forget the legality angle in accordance with EUROPEAN P.D. laws. Like it or not, they ARE indeed legit in Europe, i.e. because they are being manufactured in Europe and are marketed on THIS continent. If you really want to go the "crook" route, then you would have to search for the "crooks" where these sets are being sold and bought OUTSIDE the actual area of applicability of EUROPEAN P.D. laws. But you are getting OT anyway. Not least of all because this point (about the areas of applicability of laws) has been made often enough. What remains is that Mr Kart's recommendation of this particular record was a good one IMO, and its availability on the box sets mentioned does help to spread the musical message, everything considered. Particularly since Concord as the holder of the Fantasy catalog (i.e. including Riverside) has shown singularly little interest in putting that catalog back in print at all (let alone keeping it in print). And trying to sneak CD-Rs onto the buying public (something that Avid or RGJ cannot be accused of at any rate) doesn't help either.

That was my understanding too. With the apparent exception of Harold McNair (see my earlier post).

For a moment of relaxation and amusement before this thread ends up (like quite a few before) with the entire recorded output eventually getting "recommended":

OK, to continue ... Re- George Wettling: If you can find the record listed below (recorded in 1951) at a good price, grab it. Beyond the core of the Condonites, it also has Edmond Hall (on both sessions) and Jimmy Archey (on one of the two sessions) in its lineup. https://www.si.edu/object/george-wettlings-jazz-band%3Anmah_674231 The original UK pressing has a red background on the front cover and is on Columbia 33S 1019. Amusingly, it was considered danceable and party-able enough by the Columbia A&R bigwigs to include a somewhat later pressing of this in their "House Party" 10" series. No doubt there are many later reissues. One somewhat later reissue on Harmony (a budget spinoff label of Columbia) has two additional tracks from 1957 recorded specifically for that Harmony album.

As it happens, I bought the CBBB "Live At Ronnie Scott's/Rue Chaptal" (1969) LP on the Session label last night so will probably spin this in remembrance. RIP

There should be info on the net but I did not find much at a quick glance either. Maybe the biographies of the musicians you named (another one would be Wilton Gaynair) privde some info for starters. E.g. Harold McNair who played in the band (big band) of one Sonny Bradshaw (who has a Wikipedia entry, BTW) in Jamaica in the 50s before moving to Britain. Others among the list of your names emigrated too early to Britain to have played much professionally in Jamaica. Are you familiair with the R&B compilation box sets on the Fantastic Voyage label that cover the Jamaican DJ activities (portable "sound systems" that must have been extremely huge there (almost a music industry to itself) in the 50s? I.e. paralleling the Mento period (see Wikipedia entry for a starter) but well before the Blue Beat era. The music on these box sets is exclusively AMERICAN Jump Blues, R&B and Black R'nR but they are excellently compiled and the very well-done booklets will provide some useful (and sometimes amusing and baffling) background info on the Jamaican music scene in that period. I have four of them that cover the 1945-60 period: - Jumping the Shuffle Blues - Jump Blues Strictly For You - Jump Blues Jamaica Way - It's Jump Blues Jamaica Time!

A matter of perspective. They are among those that cover ground where others just don't tread (and no - it's not a matter of the P.D. laws; the point of what is OK by European P.D. laws for a European-based release - which is the case both for Avid and Real Gone Jazz (RGJ) a.o. - has been made often enough so that's settled). So far I own only two Avids - Lem Winchester and Sauter Finegan (four albums/2 CDs reach). Now show me ANY US-based "legit" (?) reissue labal that would do a PACKAGE CD reissue on these artists ... And believe me - I had searched high and low for an affordable copy of "Sons of Sauter-Finegan" but drew a blank (this was largely before the Fresh Sound CD reissue of which I only became aware very recently anyway). So I was pleased to pick up the Avid, though I already owned vinyls of two of the other LPs on the set, particularly in hindsight as it provided good fidelity and decent liner notes (Avid here admittedly is a notch or two above Real Gone Jazz) at half the price of the Fresh Sound single reissue. So these labels often are good (and, above all, affordable) introductions to an artist's work. (The Benny Golson set definitely was an ear-opener for me) Like the owner of the record shop (where I bought several of these P.D. RGJ sets some months ago) said when he saw the Jackie McLean and Lee Morgan sets in my stack at the counter: "Just imagine the insane amount of money one would have to shell out for vinyls of each of these - even if they're not original pressings - compared to what these sets include and go for!" Nuff said ... and like I said before ... they can always go into the car player if you round up the vinyls or other more "collectible" reissue formats later on.

Ha ... nice to see a plug for one of these PD compilation packages after all that saves you the hassle of having to hunt down affordable copies in other formats or packages piecemeal. 😉 (And can go into the car CD player once you DID track the vinyls down, for example ) As I so far had hardly any Benny Golson beyond some of the Art Farmer/Jazztet collaboration, around the turn of the year I picked up a copy of the Real Gone Jazz box set when a nicely priced copy showed up in our local #1 record store (this set, in addition ot the 4 you mention, includes "Gone With Golson", "Gettin' With It", "Groovin' With Golson" and "Take a Number form 1 to 10"). And I was very pleased with the contents, particlularly with the "Other Side" or in general the 4 you mention. When I re-listen next I will pay closer attention to that "tic" you metioned.

One of the odder venue names here ...

Sorry, I am not that well-equipped in duplicates. Far (very far) from it. I do have the one on Blue Note in my collection, but "only" as a Japanese 12" Toshiba-EMI reissue.

Amazing indeed, these coincidences ... I was half afraid the Ferguson Hollywoord LP wiht its two long tracks duplicates the "Jam Session" LP (EmArcy 36009, of which I have a reissue) but not so ... Actually the Urbie Green 10" is a duplicate copy (I already have one with a slightly better cover) and will go into my jazz vinyl crate for the next "retro" fleamarket. It's the kind of original item you just cannot let sit there at THAT asking price, let alone amidst thousands of totally unrelated vinyls (in fact this and the three EmArcys were found batched together in a crate of vinyls that contained mostly 90s maxis ... )

Returned from the "spring" special sale at our local #1 used record store yesterday. 1 EUR each item - a price you can take chances at or just grab a spare copy or one for the car CD player. Went on both days this time, and it did pay, though more CDs than LPs this time (including nice ones such as about 15 Chronological Classics, etc.). Among the 10" vinyls, I dug up and took home the below items this time. The Dixieland and Lyttelton ones have rather tatty covers, but still manageable, but the vinyl overall was surprisingly clean (overall never worse than about VG+ or "almost" VG+), and the covers of the U.S. pressings too (the EmArcy trumpet and trombone LPs are Keynote masters). Not even seam splits to speak of. To the point that you hesitate taking the records out - lest you proagate any incipient seam splits on those unyielding cardbord covers ... And then there was a "near miss": Among a bunch of LPs without covers there sat a UK 50s 10" Parlophone pressing of Billy Ward & The Dominoes feat. Clyde McPhatter. Except for a hard-to-remove smudge that causes distinctly audible clicks for several turns on one side, the vinyl overall would almost pass for a VG+. And at 1 EUR you take it along anyway ... Back at home I checked online to see what the cover would have looked like. And to my HUGE surprise - the going rate for this one WITH cover but with not necessarily pristine vinyl (according to Discogs and a current eBay listing) would be from $500 on up! 😵 So not a bad find at that price anyway, even minus its cover ...

Went to the bi-annual secondhand record clearout sale at our #1 local record store today. Everything (tens of thousands of items) priced at 1 EUR. Came away with quite a few scoops (mostly CDs this time). And to top things, I found a copy of the "Till Eulenspiegel" U.S. original (RCA Victor Red Seal LM 1891). I will now have to find a place on the wall to display it. And I might drop by the shop again tomorrow for their second Sale day and check out the Classical section, looking for more Flora covers. Classical music LPs with Jim Flora covers somehow should be more likely finds than jazz LPs. (But of course I would not mind finding a copy of the Fresh Sound reissue of The Panic Is On either - my original 3-EP set will do nicely but it lacks one tune of the LP, and of course the LP-size cover is even more impressive )

Just in case the review disappears after all, I've downloaded it and will print it out - to be filed with the books and referred to again later. The review sounds very good indeed but I must admit I haven't quite figured out all the finer points of what he says.