Big Beat Steve

Thirding it.

Thanks for a HUGE amount of extremely instructive and at the same time entertaining jazz reading. RIP

It can get a lot "worse" with pristine records from the older generation. A few years ago a friend of mine asked me if I'd care to take a look at the record collection that the deceased husband of her colleague at the local library had bought decades ago and that were now available free as the widow wanted to move house and clear out the house. All from the late 50s to early 60s - but there was a snag. No outer sleeves AT ALL! Like it often happened with 45s at the time. For some reason the orignal owner had had boxes made that held about a dozen LPs each and had filed the records (numbered according to a filing system probably only known to him) but with only the names of the artists/bands scribbled on the inner sleeves (those that had no center hole for the label). Pity ... apart from the usual classical and world folklore stuff from that period a good deal were the kind of records people bought across the board to have a sampling of currently popular stuff for moderately pop-ish listening and partying. But it sure would have been nice to have had the sleeves too because the vinyl was virtually MINT throughout: Buddy Holly, Everly Brothers, Fats Domino, Joey Dee, Johnny & The Hurricanes, Jimmie Rodgers, Chet Atkins, Floyd Cramer, Marty Robbins, Johnny Horton, etc. etc. I took them anyway (and have since found sleeves for some of them at clearout sales) but what a waste anyway ... Luckily the 10" records escaped that fate and netted me a few quite nice items.

If wonder that's that rare with people from that generation. When the time for my mother (now nearing 95) comes outsiders might probably think the same if they should lay their eyes on her records. A certain number of CDs was added in the past 20 years (all classical, some spoken word), but as for vinyl, it's all 1950s and early 60s, very, very little post-1965. My mother did the record buying among my parents and for some reason what they bought up to around that time was good enough for them and remained that way. No need for browsers to want to check, though. It's all classical (mostly a dime a dozen at secondhand clearout sales anyway, so no huge treasures I guess), and a scant few chanson LPs. All her jazz (not that much, mostly 3rd stream-ish, but including a nice orignal MJQ Fontessa on black-label DG Atlantic) and even assorted oddities such as a 10" of the "Music to do your cooking by" variety from the early 50s she had brought along as one of the souvenirs from a lengthy visit to her uncles in the St. Louis area in 1953 found a place in my collection years ago.

I am having the same problem you have and have largely given up trying to really keep track of what is there even in my "core" interest areas. I do check various sites of reissue labels every now and then and follow reviews and recmmendations in various places (fanzines, blogs, forums such as this one, etc.) but this is spotty, I know. And then there is the problem of money and storage space so I figure that sometimes it is better not to know everything and be able to say that you don't "need" everything anyway. (Does the latter statement disqualify me as a collector or am I just being sensible? )

Too bad for post-1962 music but this sounds like European P.D. labels suddenly wil become of yet more interest, if only as a a stopgap measure and act of self-defense.

Over here too. They often are fun - and sometimes not even all that bad. A bit like the "budget"(est) cover versions of r'n'r tunes in the 50s on the BELL label.

Actually the Rutles came along MUCH later. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rutles A sort of "revival spoof".

Are you referring to the Naxos King Jazz Legends CD series? Neither them nor the 4CD box set on JSP have more precise info. Nor Bruyninckx.

Starting a tradition ... http://www.rockremnants.com/2016/12/03/song-of-the-week-magical-misery-tour-national-lampoon-ouch-the-rutles/ Apologies, TO, and all other Merseybeat fans, for this digression ...

Wikipedia indeed says so. Just checked the Wiki entry on the movie too, but not even the German title rings a bell for me. I must have seen the movie at least once but don't remember right now. I see. I came too late for that music but did explore them in my earlier collecting days quite a bit too (not so much anymore in more recent times). Anyway, it's nice to see even the less obvious candidates maintain their audience even outside the UK. Over here and outside dedicated fans the Merseybeat bands today usually fall in the no man's land gap between the Beatles, the Stones, British Blues (Korner, Mayall, Yardbirds, early Moody Blues et al.), a few German "cult" beat bands and 60s soul. I am under the impression even 60s U.S. Garage Punk has more of a subculture following here (among listeners who are way too young to have come of listening age at that time) than Merseybeat bands.

@paul secor: Honestly, no ... That title did not ring a bell (but I am no cineast, at least not in the western movie field). But it's an interesting bit of trivia - thanks ....

Obviously I did NOT associate the title with an "also" John Wayne western movie but was quite surprised that the British Beat invasion has a U.S. fan community (of sorts ) beyond the Beatles to come to the fore on this forum with this kind of detail ...

Maybe the best thing, then, would be to avoid ordering from Germany altogether. After all, according to the latest news twits, ordering from Germany might put the security of your country at peril anyhow ...

Johnny Barbera (ts), Lennie (sic!!) (as), Willie Stader (b), Shannon Fletcher (p), Roy Hall (dr - obviously NOT the pianist of the same name) A bunch of unknowns too.

Aah ... so that's why ... I have Rex 26027 (Johnny Barbera's Quintette - Eastside Bop/Hunter's Dream) and REX is blackened out there too. I had been wondering if someone just had tried out a pot of black paint on the label ....(I do have Onyx 215 too but must admit I never noticed - or remembered - that detail in the liner notes) BTW, "Perdido" on Crown 5008 is distinctly a live recording from the first bars of the rather stride-ish piano introduction so this should be quite unmistakeable. And it has a guitarist present - the above REX line-up does not. @jazztrain: re- that note in your discographical excerpt: Whoever compiled these is not quite correct nor complete re- the LP reissues. Vogue (UK) VJT3003 (a 1970s 3-LP reissue of the 1947 Gene Norman concerts) gives a playing time of 9:29 and I do hear a trombone solo fairly early in the proceedings (contrary to the Crown 5008 version).

I never had a problem with Momex either - did not order from them often but when I did the transactions were excellent and fast and the prices very interesting. As for "a continent away" - caveat emptor and do read the fine print (i.e. address). The shipping problems from the USA to Europe can be at least as much of a headache - if not more. It has yet to happen to me with a seller from Europe that a seller was a complete deadbeat. Happened to me with a US seller via abebooks. Given the foreseeable hassle I left it at that eventually. And twice on eBay.com. One at least refunded the price but communication was zero. Apparently one of those cases where he found he could not be bothered to sell an overstock book item across the pond after all (despite announcing worldwide shipping).

So "took the A Train" actually is a synonymous expression for "left the building"? I wouldn't have thought that the Duke Ellington tune has such a morbid title.

"EXPOSED to listening to today", you mean ...

Aah .... Expedit does sound familiar.

Thanks, Daniel. Is this a recent addition to their range? I cannot recall that name. I've bought a lot of shelving and storage furniture from IKEA through the years (their ubiquitous BILLY serves my needs well for my 78rpm and 10" racks). But in recent years my visits to IKEA have been very rare.

So that's him too introducing the Swedish group (that made such a hit there) at the 1949 festival (as released on Dragon)? (Those Swedish names were a handful to handle for the announcer, it seems... ) Listening to both live recordings in a row provides an even better impression of the entire concert. (Edit: Listening to the recordings now. I am not sure if it is Francais or Maurice Cullaz - see below - who introduced the group. There is a second speaker who does an "outro" at the end of "All The Things You Are" but who is who of the two?) Quote from the liner notes: "Such was the curiosity and eagerness with which this concert was attended that the (unknown) announcer in charge got carried away by the general excitement and grew so lyrical he had to be interrupted by another one who stuck more closely to the facts." That "other one" was Maurice Cullaz so Francis must have been the lyrical one? Poor Barney ... not entitled to having his first name mentioned ... Puzzling at first but apparently a sign of the times. For some reason it was not unknown in France at that time not to mention the first name of a musician when stating line-ups/band personnel. Something that you often notice when reading early post-war issues of Jazz Hot but this does read decidedly odd today. As if this was influenced by football (soccer) match coverages? And reserved for the "lesser lights" (sidemen) in a group line-up?

Which IKEA line exactly are you referring to?

Not possible. VAT is 21% in Spain, which would amount to 9.21 if you add VAT to 7.74. When I open the link above it comes on in English, of course. Yet it says 10.00 EUR.