Big Beat Steve

Adding one more here, maybe? https://www.merkheft.de/index.php?cl=details&anid=1173057 Just thought I'd mention it in passing because a price reduced by close to 90% might make it worthwhile to some who ARE into his music.

Point taken.

Or to put it even more to the point: "That begs the question" means "isn't it so that ...?"

IMO It still is a stimulating book (of a slice of history) to read today. I can't quite imagine in what way Mezzrow was criticized "a lot" for (except maybe by those who fail to see that books like this need to be understood in the context of the times and without the bogging down by hindsight) but a quick check showed that the (fairly brief) reivews both in the All Music Guide to Jazz, 2nd Ed. (1996), and in the Down Beat Music 8th Yearbook (1963) sound fairly positive and appreciative (except for Mezzrow's stature as a jazz musician, of course).

Nor to me. All that is needed is NOT to give in to the reflexes of what has been seen often enough "must be right" (which it still isn't). The same problem exists in the German language too, BTW, where it is even more of an eyesore because an "s" separated by an apostrophe is much more of an anomaly than in English anyway.

Reminiscing about the vinyl treasure troves I unearthed in London in the 90s I do think that these LPs ended up in the shops because there were quite a share of (probably older) collectors out there who, for example, dumped all their swing vinyl as soon as they were able to replace them by buying the entire Chrono(lo)gical Classics series instead. But his may have been a niche among collectors too.

In the US and UK maybe, but over here I'd bet it was far from "most". A certain percentage of collectors - yes, and many in the field of classical music, but in pop, rock and jazz? Nah, not that many. Many may have stopped buying vinyl at some point in favor of CDs (and some may have ruefully started again later on) but they did not dump wholesale what they had - the way this apparently happened in the US or UK - or else the secondhand record shops or record fairs would have had to bust at their seams (like Mole Jazz did in the 90s for a while). Anyway ... I don't really get the cassette nostalgia either. I never "embraced" the prerecorded cassette format and cannot recall having ever bought any prerecorded cassettes. I did dub a huge lot of music onto cassettes (off the radio) to preserve interesting music I heard on the radio, but this was just for consumption (just like the cassette mixes I made for my players in my cars). And in maybe one or two dozen cases I actually copied the contents of LPs owned by friends onto cassette when no vinyl copy was to be found anywhere. But this was a not very satisfying stopgap measure from the start and I was VERY glad to dump them as soon as an affordable vinyl copy turned up. Which is why the cassette resurgence among youngsters today does baffle me. But for "nostalgia" reasons I see it with some fondness anyway (a bit on the premise that "anyone who is into cassettes cannot be a bad person at heart" ).

You are way off with that link. Obviously it has been discussed within the classic car fraternity when it made the headlines a couple of years ago and while everyone who is halfway sensible will agree that car safety has made enormous progress and to have that spike of a non-collapsible steering column point at you in a head-on crash is no fun at all they also agree that this crash test "comparison" was a fake. Expert eyes who look closely at the 59 Chev will notice that car was a patched-up and glossed-painted-over dog in the best tradition of most U.S. "restorations" up to, say, the 80s or sometime in the 90s. I.e. there are many moments where it is evident that rust has taken a hold at and deep inside the seams, and this DOES weaken ANY car's structure. FWIW, and not wanting to get too off-topic, but I feel safe enough in my own 1958 to 1960-MY European classics even in today's traffic because they teach you to drive carefully, defensively and with perspicacity - and yet you can advance well in modern-day traffic on the typical European city streets here where most others in their rounded, potato-shaped and more and more inflated modern motor gizmos just have no clue whatsoever where their car starts and ends and therefore come to a dead stop in situations where you - in your 50s car that not only has a comparatively narrow track width but ALSO enables you as the driver to actually see ALL of your FOUR fenders - will be able to just whiz through (in all carefulness, of course). P.S. Nothing against some thoughtful mechanicals/electrics updates to improve reliability, but restomods of the kind that you describe are an abomination. Just for posers ...

So you don't like Madeleine Peyroux either, then?

Of course. Instill fear into the hearts of the unwary ... Let's face it, copying music (and the potential revenue losses that may have come with it) in the age of the musicassette was a laughable affair compared to today ...

Huh ...? Write "Preussisches Quartet ...", then, if you don't have the "ß'" on your keyboard (because that's what a "ß" equals) ...

Yes, that's been discussed here too. As far as record covers and related ephemera go, the "High Fidelity Art" should supersede just about all of the rest (the author actually hints at this in his inside cover text)

Ouch ... I had hoped this was not going get even worse ...

Something that the above-mentioned Uptown label (said to set standards) can be faulted for too. On the occasional release by them the booklet (including the texts) is a HUGE letdown compared to their usual (excellent) standard. Not to mention that even the "big ones" don't always go overboard in their pictorial efforts for their reissues either.

MCs must have been around and about all the time, and the "below 25-year old" mention in the Grauniad article does seem to nail it. I remember my 20-year old son (who is very much into Heavy Metal - but also more and more 70s classic rock) has told me for a couple of years now that it is fairly common for local newcomer/youth bands in the Metal genre to put out their first recorded and self-published efforts (for use as demos or sale/giveaway to their local fan base) not on CD (though I imagine self-produced CD-Rs really cannot be a cost factor anymore these days) but on cassette tape, of all things. (As confirmed by the Grauniad story) And the format seems to be much appreciated. To the point of the youngsters drooling over cassette finds, such as when my better half dug out some prerecorded rock cassette tapes from her teen days in the 80s and passed them on to our son. Made a hit among his friends when he put up pics of his finds on the social media ... Very niche-y but surprising anyway ...

It may well be that they at one moment unearthed a box full of 78s from that Collet's stock that had been forgotten for years and then put it up in the shop. I noticed that cache of 78s in one of the racks in the basement (Blues & Roots dept. IIRC, not far from the "Rare as Rocking Horse Manure" crate with the pricy items) during my visit in 1998. But though I regularly made the rounds at the London record shops each year from 1992 to 2000 but I do not really recall having seen those 78s at Ray's before 1998.

And DeeGees too. Their stocks lasted: I bought a handful of mint 78 rpm Savoys and DeeGees at Ray's Jazz Shop as late as in 1998. They must have been the last bits of that same stock. A bit of the story behind it is told somewhere in "Going For a Song" by Garth Cartwright IIRC.

No doubt, but since the question was about the 50s, isn't it so that the Savoy discographies show that the BULK of the gospel releases on Savoy occurred from 1958 ONWARDS? I.e. gospel as a money earner rather concerned the 60s?

Excellent for sure, but again - how did these jazz recordings do revenue-wise compared to the actual chart hits that the label had? I have a feeling excellence is too easily equated with (absolute) big sellers (wishful thinking?) whereas in fact the relative sales (though good by jazz album standards) may still have been small compared to chart successes which did bring in the money. "Must have been big sellers" just appears a bit vague to me when it comes to QUANTIFYING sales revenue.

True, but didn't this start in earnest only in the LATE 50s?

But what was their REAL money making performance compared to the Savoy R&B chart artists (at the tirme of their recordings)?

Offhand, I'd say the chart hitters' list included Johnny Otis and Little Esther in the early 50s, and later on Varetta Dillard, Big Maybelle and Nappy Brown, And no doubt there were more but that would need some more research. Remember Savoy was primarily a R&B label, not a pure jazz label.

Well, here is one, for example: https://secondhandsongs.com/artist/85763 And here ... http://vintagebandstand.blogspot.com/2014/03/new-information-surfaces-on-charlie.html Never had heard of him either but your post made me curious and some quick googling brought up more hits than I'd have imagined after your post ...

Indeed ... But I am still trying to figure out if this ACTUALLY is cartoon of Flip Phillips. Somehow the likeness isn't there. A cartoon is supposed to exaggerate the visual features and proportions of the subject, not to totally CHANGE them ... Another one of those bungled-up cover "art" drawings ... (Is this a Japanese reissue?) Anyway ... I suppose your CD (set?) includes a LOT more than the LP shown by BillF (which I also have, and the Flip Wails CD alone - which is not a "Complete" reissue either - already has more than this LP).

A "cartoon"? Look out- if this is the one I am thinking of ("Flip Wails") then you are on the verge of getting into hot water with some cognoscenti - that "cartoon" is a high-art cover drawing by the eminent David Stone Martin. (Yes, opinions on DSM covers CAN vary, but still ... )