Dan Gould

Yeah, but these are old performances in new clothes, with no interaction between B.B. and the audience. Just doesn't sound worthwhile to me.

I think we're all agreed that the feedback system is broke (if it every worked in the first place) but I have to ask why, in the realm of music, ebay has become such a hassle? And what exactly constitutes the "rising amount of fraud" that you see? Again, I'm assuming that we're talking about CD and vinyl auctions ... are there fake DG 63rd St Blue Notes being peddled? I'd think that if we're talking about vinyl, the risk is in the area of bad grading of the records. Personally, I just take everything with a grain of salt and hope that whatever the condition, I can get a worthwhile transfer when I dump it in the PC and manually declick. Ebay clearly has serious issues when it comes to knock-offs and to those amazing Bulgarians who can get you a flat screen TV for $100. Other than the type of case mentioned by Kevin, and those sellers with dishonest grading, I don't see the great problem when it comes to music sales. Ebay Stores also offers access to quite the variety of jazz vinyl at reasonable prices.

Thanks a lot, Harold. Even at $6 I don't need fake live B.B. Guess I was right that the Biharis were trying to cash in on the Live at the Regal album. Not much of a mystery why. What is a mystery is why AMG would give it 4 1/2 stars! No review, but 4 1/2 stars is the rating. If 3 stars is the default, how the heck could it be a fake live set with bad phony stereo and get 4.5 stars? Did someone really listen to this and give it that rating?

Anyone familiar with this one? AMG puts it out at the same time as Live at the Regal, which makes me wonder whether those brothers were trying to take advantage of that album's success by putting out their own live album ... but is this legit live or did they add applause to their studio takes? Anyone know this one? Thanks!

The crown discography at bsnpubs.com shows these as the contents of "Twist": I only recognize "Bad Case of Love" as on one of the previous reissues. What else am I missing that would be duplicated?

You can't. I have everything. Really? You got all extant videotape and private recordings?

Thanks Steve, I forgot to ask what the plans were for "Sings Spirituals", I had a vinyl copy of that one in my sights right around Christmas but decided to pass. Glad to know it will be included.

I know I've mentioned Coltrane before:

The reissue series has explicitly avoided replicating what the Biharis did - repackage things ad nauseum. The Crown reissues do not cover everything recorded, far from it, but they have superior sound and sometimes double the length of the original albums with contemporaneously recorded unissued material. Ace also has some larger reissues, here there is definitely a risk of duplication. But the whole series is so nicely done ... you absolutely cannot go wrong with the Crown reissues, and I would first recommend My Kind of Blues because it is top notch and also what B.B. identified as his favorite recording. Just him, Lucille, piano bass and drums. You may find the EMI reissue of this floating around but Ace adds about another 8 tunes of similar instrumentation.

I have tracked down just about every one of these little jewels and it has only fed my jones for more B.B. Is anyone in the "know" on future release schedules? The website doesn't have any info. It looks like there's one more Crown LP to get the reissue treatment Twist with B.B. King. I am almost ready to pull the trigger on an LP copy of this one, though knowing how the Bihari's repackaged and renamed songs, not to mention made crappy pressings part of their business plan, I really should just wait til Ace gets around to it. Then I'll know I'm getting the best transfer, plus bonus tracks. Are there also plans to reissue Kent LPs? Speaking of which, here's the AMG review of The Jungle, which ought to be enshrined among the worst reviews they're published: AMG makes it sound as though B.B. was still signed to Kent in these years, and this a contemporaneous change in B.B.'s style. In fact, the label took tracks B.B. left in the can when he signed with Bluesway and punched them up with "contemporary" sounding overdubs, in hopes of continuing to get more money out of what they'd invested in B.B. years before. Anyway ... long live B.B. King and the Ace reissue series!!!

I think it was paired with the Howard McGhee in the reissue series.

Well, I was afraid there for a moment that I had jinxed this trade, but I'm definitely glad its gone down finally, and I'm extra glad that the Sox didn't waver and give up a young pitcher like Manny Delcarmen after Mota's physical supposedly gave the Indians cause for alarm. Not so thrilled to give up the young catcher Shoppach, who has been talked about as the next Sox prospect longer than anyone. But I do like the fact that in giving up Mota, the Sox got a decent middle reliever back in David Riske. His penchant for giving up homers is a little worrying, but his WHIP this year puts him in the select company of people like Rivera and Flash Gordon, so an argument could be made that the Sox actually got a better middle reliever than the one they gave up. Now if they sign Alex Gonzales, they'll have significantly improved the rotation, bullpen, and defense while giving up only one of their stud pitching prospects. And they still have a potential surplus of pitching with SPs Schilling, Beckett, Papelbon, Clement, Wakefield, Arroyo and Wells. Right now I'm guessing that Wells goes to the Dodgers for a whole bunch of strong prospects, but even that move puts Wakefield or Arroyo in the pen, yet another addition/improvement. And it also leaves Delcarmen, Hansen, Van Buren and Jon Lester down on the farm, waiting for their chances. I'll tell you what, in a couple of years Yanks fans may be looking at the Sox bullpen with great envy. Paging SS1: Your beloved Indians traded away a fan favorite, what do you think?

Not commenting at all would have been more appropriate. Thanks for the suggestion Ron but given that Albertson and his lapdog, Mr. Musical Prozac himself, 7/4, won't let the issue go, I figured it might be helpful to point out why no objection is raised to this thread as opposed to the others. Albertson still thinks that he is right, I am wrong, and that I am some sort of "censor" and I am frankly very tired of it. So let it go. The audacity is staggering. How many times have you chimed in somewhere to ask me if I've seen "brokeback mountain"? You are truly a contemptible piece of shit.

Agreed, its a very very fine date. I was fortunate to get a copy in the late 80s when it was reissued. I particularly enjoy Drew's compositions.

Not commenting at all would have been more appropriate. Thanks for the suggestion Ron but given that Albertson and his lapdog, Mr. Musical Prozac himself, 7/4, won't let the issue go, I figured it might be helpful to point out why no objection is raised to this thread as opposed to the others. Albertson still thinks that he is right, I am wrong, and that I am some sort of "censor" and I am frankly very tired of it.

Looks like a great labor of love label, kinda following in the footsteps of Sharp Nine, only with an emphasis on a few masters we are fortunate to still have around. Nice website design, too. I have to admit that with the option to download tracks as well as purchasing the CD, I am kinda wondering what the bitrate of the MP3s are. My audio editing software de-compresses MP3 format so I wonder if I can get the same quality music at the download price. Would definitely make it easier to purchase all the releases that interest me!

No one says that you're supposed to buy everything Miles recorded and listen to nothing else. Why you think this is being said or implied is completely beyond me. And just because B.B. King is "the" blues singer/guitarist among the masses doesn't mean that he shouldn't be "the" blues singer/guitarist because of his Crown/Modern/etc. work. And before you accuse me of being some sort of Miles defender, let me tell you this: I stopped listening to Miles before the second Quintet. I'll bet I have more Lee Morgan recordings than you do.

Congratulations. You managed to slip Maureen Dowd (complete with a gratuitous political comment) into the Miscelleneous-Non Political Forum, and I am not bitching about it. PLEASE study this column and that Frank Rich "Brokeback Mountain" column until you recognize and understand the reasons why one belongs in Politics and the other doesn't.

Why do I feel I am back in that Dexter thread, only now its, "you are over-valuing one well-known guy at the expense of my heroes, so cut it out!" Herbie isn't "over-rated" because your average pop music fan knows who he is. Ray Charles COULDN'T BE "over-rated". And B.B. King isn't a "WAS" yet.

Don't worry about the placement, I am sure Use or Jim will move it when they see it. In the meantime, thanks for the heads up. I remember the name on a Mobley release and with Hank Jones along, it certainly sounds right up my alley.

That was really lame.

Mark is right that home runs shouldn't be a part of the discussion, but that said, you do need to take into account the fact that pitching was better in Williams' era and .400 hitters were much more common during Jackson's era. Also factor in that Williams had over 2700 more at bats and Jackson's career ended at the age of 31, before his numbers might have started to decline. Who knows if Jackson would have maintained his BA had he not been banned? For Williams to bat 2700 more times and finish at .344 should be taken into consideration, too.

That's not an option for me. The wife cooks for the dogs, no commercial dog food for them ... and the end result is they never fart. Its really quite amazing. In fact, the very few times that he has farted, Coltrane looked startled, as if he was thinking, "what the hell was that?"

The only thing more intrigueing to me than the autobiography is just what he plans to release from "the vault".

Not sure about Hutch's "Montara" but I'd stay far away from the rest. Unless of course you actually prefer the "Dr." Butler era of BN.