Dan Gould

Not at all, because that "certain point" is where you can grow to understand how to love somebody who does things you don't understand, much less agree with. Believe me, kids will do that to you in a big way... I'm sure, except that my kids are short, hairy, walk on all fours, and don't speak clearly.

I love my kids as adults but only up to a certain point. Then they made choices I simply can't support. But they had more money as adults and a better grasp of their capabilities, so before they went off on their own in search of their true selves, they were good. Real good. Have I pushed Jim's analogy too far?

:party:

Because most people buying the new one already have the old one and wouldn't be interested in a two-for-one unless they had friends to give the earlier release to?

I would go for a FLAC option if it were offered, otherwise I'd probably buy one of the CDs over doing an MP3 download. I went for that option with the Brian Lynch Unsung Heroes volumes - the FLAC files sound great, they were cheaper than the physical CD would have been, and included a PDF of the liner notes. I'd hope you could do the same thing. No vote from me though because the choices don't actually match the topic ...

Clem you have zero credibility now. You want to be a contrarian jackass? Please continue. But no one with ears thinks Love me Tender or Live at Ole Miss is anything but a steaming pile of shit (the former) and an utterly workaday live gig (the latter). Ken, agreed on Live in Japan. In between that one and Blues on the Bayou, about the only B.B. release I go back to is Blues N Jazz.

I think some people need to look up the meaning of gratuitous. There are more than a couple of albums here that have perfectly proper punctuation with nothing "unwarranted or not called for by the circumstances."

Strange that I never came back to this thread since I was seeking opinions ... I ended up with the Mr Blues/Confessin' The Blues two-fer reissue by Beat Goes On. Confessin is very good but his first album on Bluesway is pretty spotty. I tend to listen to the Confessin' tracks only when I pull it out now. Not long after I picked up Lucille, Live and Well, and Completely Well and the Electric B.B. and enjoyed each quite a bit. But as is so typical, Clem's pronouncements are laughable as well as misinformed. B.B. wasn't recording for Bluesway up through the 70s, he'd moved over to MCA by like, 1970. A true Bluesway box set would be welcome, but his 70s - 80s recordings are spotty and who the fuck thinks Love me Tender is a keeper? And there are more than a few excellent recordings from the 90s on, including Blues on the Bayou, Making Love is Good For You, the Louis Jordan tribute, and especially One Kind Favor from a couple of years ago.

:party:

I've never heard of the publication but I am definitely jealous. Totally agree about reading the periodicals as a better window on the era. Would be cool mostly to see the reviews, I've always wanted to find some of those DB yearly review compendiums.

Sometimes I'm happy my ears aren't that great. I can't hear any substantial diminishment, and there are surely some great recordings he made late in his career.

Just now listening to my latest acquisitions - Chuck's Eddie Johnson reissue (fabulous) and the Brian Lynch Unsung Masters discs (excellent so far) - only one month after I received them. When you hardly buy anymore, its a lot easier to get to what you do buy pretty quick. I'm certainly enjoying my daily commute with a lot of forgotten discs and old favorites.

I have my own opinion about Stitt, quite opposite of Clem's. But there is a hierarchy of opinion here, and there are people I respect and people I don't. Its easier to tolerate and try to understand contrary opinions of those I respect. Like you, Larry, Sangrey and even Albertson when he speaks of things and people he had first-hand experience with. There are others. Many others elicit a "meh" from me but I'll read what they say. Then there is Clementine and a few others who I couldn't care less about.

Can we get a definitive statement about Moms' identity? If its the former Clementine/Brian whatever-the-fuck he is, who gives a rat's ass what he says? If on the other hand he is Danny DEEP D'Imperio, then I at least have a little bit of interest in why he thinks respect and enjoyment (at least some) of Stitt's output is completely misplaced. Seriously. Brian = worthless blowhard who brings nothing to the table but strong and oftentimes contrarian positions that are no more worthy of respect than anyone else's. Danny at least knows a little something about the music, having played it and lived it.

Well the Billy Taylor LP shows it wasn't just hype about that band, they sounded pretty darn good. Could have done with fewer flutes and flute-heavy tunes but that's just a personal peeve. Meanwhile, on to the next oddball possession: An unlabelled test-pressing, with Atlantic Records and a catalog number etched in the dead wax. What could it be? I almost put this on ahead of the Billy Taylor LP. Well it turns out to be a platter of MOR vocal poo, and when I put it back in the plain cardboard outer sleeve, I discovered the paper insert. Atlantic Records 18168, Mike Douglas Sings it All :bad: :bad: Then I thought, what if this an LP that was never issued, and the test-pressing (God only knows how my father ended up with it) is the only recording that exists? So I went to AMG, and they don't list it and show his first LP as being recorded in 1979. Visions of eBay riches flashed through my head, until I searched on eBay and found about 20 copies available, starting at $3. Then again, none of them are mint test pressings.

I couldn't care less what you do but a semi-intelligent reading of the post and a consideration of the sub-forum chosen might lead to the realization that the back story was simply a way to initiate discussion of the Billy Taylor album which AMG describes as "... a real obscurity ... A historical curiosity that is worth picking up."

I had absolutely no idea the company was still active. Interesting to see that they've embraced technology and have the catalog available at I-Tunes and Amazon. There are a few titles I never picked up and now I can sample some songs first. Thanks for posting this, Guy.

That's nice but I posted this in the Vinyl Frontier. Its not a discussion of what members have found or inherited from their fathers.

So I went home to CT to see the parental units for a few days last week. Dad has declined markedly is his mental capacity and Mom is trying to figure out how to plan for his care going forward. Since it looks like she'll need to sell the house, I figured I'd help by sorting through the books and LPs to identify what can be tossed and ship to Florida that which I'd be interested in ... Back in the early 70s my father worked in TV sales and was involved with both the Mike Douglas and David Frost shows. So what do I find in his stack of old LPs? David Frost Presents Billy Taylor, OK Billy! (Bell) Guess this would be a great BFT album, huh? The band was: Bobby Thomas, drums Bob Cranshaw, electric bass Barry Galbraith, guitar Marty Grupp, percussion Dick Hurwitz, Jimmy Owens, trumpet and flugelhorn Morty Bullman, trombone George Berg, baritone, clarinet, flute Frank Wess, alto sax, clarinet, flute Al Gibbons, tenor sax, clarinet, flute Phil Ramone and Billy Taylor produced Anyone ever seen this before? Dad obviously got it from work but never opened it. I plan to do that later this weekend but right now I am listening to another LP I rescued, Sam The Man Taylor, Prelude to Blues. So far I can say that Plas Johnson did this kind of LP much better ...

Sad news; I'm glad I have her Argo LP and regret the fact that about 6 or 8 years ago she played in Fort Lauderdale but I was unable to attend. I would have brought the LP to ask her to autograph it.

Well I can't claim to have listened to a huge exhaustive proportion of his recordings but I can say I've heard all of the trio recordings from the Gene Harris-Jeff Hamilton band to the years after Benny Green took over and I don't believe your description has any validity for those groups.

I can't imagine how someone could not like Ray Brown from a musical perspective. Personality wise I have no idea but I'll always appreciate Ray Brown for helping to bring Gene Harris out of retirement. Thanks for the post I will be reading this closely tonight.

Ralph Lalama, if you know his Criss Cross recordings.

So is Honkers and Shouters regarded as a worthwhile read? I stumbled across a copy at Gerosa's records in Brookfield CT last week and decided to go for that instead of a used LP - I ended up putting back a clean copy of Houston Person's Very Person-al in the mistaken belief that I already owned it so I hope I made the right choice on the book since I f-ed up on the LP.

I wouldn't part with many Criss Cross titles but if I had to, I wouldn't hesitate a second to re-purchase Tad Schull's Deep Passion. Truly a desert island disc for me.