ghost of miles

Didn't realize this was rare; It's a favorite of mine: 'Stardust Memories' Beloved and Rare Songs of Hoagy Carmichael, that's on A record. Released in 2001. And Barbara Lea is one of the singers (along with Bob Dorough and Jim Ferguson). I meant "rare" as in "rarely played songs." It is a nice CD that includes a previously unknown Hoagy tune that Bob Dorough sings ("Big Town Blues"). Did you read Sudhalter's Hoagy bio, Brownie? It's quite good IMO.

I think you're correct in saying that he's out of vogue, Chrome... but I also think there's been a flurry of renewed interest following the biography that came out recently. (Although the bio itself didn't get great reviews, as I recall.) The only things I'd read before BUTTERFIELD were APPOINTMENT IN SAMARRA and a handful of his early short stories... I'll keep an eye out for that title that you mentioned.

I hear Texas Tech tried to make Knight a department chair too:

It's a cool book, isn't it, Bruce? I picked it up a couple of years ago when I was writing a story for our local alterna-weekly about graphic literature. McCloud went on to write what I understand is a controversial sequel called RE-INVENTING COMICS, but I haven't read that one yet. Now reading THE BIG TOMORROW, a book by Lary May about utopian vision in 1930s American cinema.

My, my, what a surprise. Still, what state better deserves a Bobby Knight than Texas? (With apologies to Jsngry, Lon, & Joe Milazzo.)

Tried to post this yesterday but couldn't get onto the board from home, for some reason. It's Mosaic's reply to my follow-up query about the forthcoming Woody Herman Columbia set: Seven CDs! I had initially heard that it would probably be five... Sounds like a treasure trove for First Herd lovers.

That's what I'm thinking too, Larry. Hopefully Mosaic will confirm that they simply got the dates wrong in their reply to me. Do you have the 1944-46 live Hep double CD? Some great material there... and Hep has a new Herman double out that covers live broadcasts from 1948-49, including a Nov. 1949 Carnegie Hall concert.

There's also a new Woody Herman 2-CD Hep out--ROAD BAND 1948 V. 1 AND 2, which includes a number of 1948 broadcasts and a Nov. 1949 Carnegie Hall concert. I'm holding off, though, because I think I may already have a bunch of the 1948 material.

Collectors' Choice is having a sale on Heps this month--$12.95 apiece, $35 for 3. I just ordered 6--the Don Redman, the Earl Hines, both Joe Mooneys, the 1936-37 Artie Shaw, and Benny Carter's RHYTHM IS ALL THAT I HAVE. I couldn't get 'em to drop the shipping and handling ($5.95), but if you order $100 or more you can probably talk them into it. Even w/shipping and handling it all came to $75, which is about $11.99 per disc + the equivalent of sales tax--not bad for Heps, which usually retail for $16.

Hear, hear! I'm not much of an NBA fan, but what do you think of the Nets moving to Brooklyn, Clem? If only the Dodgers would come too...

And you call yourself a patriotic American. Blame your fellow conservative Berigan--he's the one who brought it up! Sorry--I suppose I could make it up to you by starting a "Pro Bowl" thread.

What label is this on, Jazzman? I like Barbara Lea's singing. I think she showed up on the rare-Hoagy CD that Sudhalter & co. did a year or two back.

Matthew, Powell really seems to have come back into vogue in the past few years... just last year I read an article about Powell discussion groups that had formed in the L.A. area. I picked up a used pb copy of V. 1 to see what all the fuss was about but haven't gotten around to reading it yet. I know that Alan Furst, a historical espionage writer whose work I've been enjoying of late, claims to have been heavily influenced by Powell's epic work. People sometimes tout him as the English Proust, which I'd guess is a rather reductive, specious comparison, but I'll be curious to hear your thoughts if you soldier on with the series.

13 days till the camps open, buddy! I just picked up a very cool book--BASEBALL'S PIVOTAL ERA 1945-1951, by William Marshall. It should prime me for spring, glorious spring. Of course, baseball has its moments of brutal contact as well--beanings and the home-plate collisions (one of the first things I ever remember seeing on TV--and I was quite a youngin', maybe 4 at the time--was Pete Rose's collision with an American League catcher--Ray Fosse? The catcher in question never quite recovered from it). But brutal contact does seem to be much less at the heart of baseball than it is with football and boxing.

Larry, I've e-mailed Mosaic about this. I don't have a Herman discography at hand, but as far as I can ascertain, the bulk of his 1940s Columbia recordings were done in 1945 and 1946. Also, what post-1947 Columbia recordings could they be talking about? The recording ban was in effect for most of 1948, and when Herman returned to the studios he was under contract to Capitol. The whole thing is a bit puzzling--a 1947-49 Columbia set would seem to be pretty skimpy fare indeed. (Surely they're not putting recordings released in 1949 under that umbrella.) In any case, I'll post their reply when I get it.

Hey, thanks, Deus! I have definitely thought about purchasing an OOP copy online, and probably will some day when I set aside a bit of cash for that very purpose. In the meantime, it's nice to visit that site--and cheers yourself, you whippersnapper, you! B)

Just finished John O'Hara's BUTTERFIELD 8, a book that must have been pretty racy for its time (1935); you can tell he was really running with the 1934 ULYSSES obscenity decision! Currently meandering through a couple of books about Soviet purges and espionage in the 1930s: Walter Kirivitsky's IN STALIN'S SECRET SERVICE (he was one of the first high-level Soviet defectors, "suicided" in 1941, probably by an NKVD agent) and another book called THE ROAD TO TERROR: STALIN AND THE SELF-DESTRUCTION OF THE BOLSHEVIKS, 1932-1939.

Man, what sad, sad news. I wrote a short story set in Harlem in 1953 (Joe Milazzo and David Gitin have read it) and gave the protagonist the last name of Favors--done definitely as a tribute to Malachi. Think I'll break out that AEC box as well.

I was a Bob Griese fan as a kid and hence a Dolphins' fan. One of the greatest Monday night football games I ever watched was a Miami-Houston game that turned into a Campbell-Griese duel, with the Oilers taking the game in the end. If I recall correctly, Campbell got off an 80-yard touchdown run in that game and ended up with about 200 yards rushing. My little brother, who was a Campbell fan, was greatly pleased; I was not.

A jazz photography book I'd like to get a copy of is Dennis Stock's JAZZ STREET, published in 1960, I believe. He's the photographer who took all the pictures of James Dean during his last visit to Fairmount, Indiana in February of 1955.

Our thoughts go out to you, friend.

Speaking of Orwell... this from Calpundit as a followup to the evolution story:

Is this a revival of the late 80s/early 90s baseball cap trend--except that this time everyone's wearing them forwards instead of backwards? The first time I saw somebody (a public figure, that is) wearing a backwards baseball cap was Michael Stipe, of all people, on MTV in 1985 (circa FABLES period). Then it was all the rage for awhile (I always trace it back to Holden Caulfield wearing his hunting cap in reverse in CATCHER IN THE RYE)... didn't realize baseball caps had come round again. I'd rather see a return to vintage 30s/40s hats, which I keep thinking is on the verge of happening, but never seems to quite take off.

Damn, Late, I was hoping you'd be offering! I'd like to find this one as well some day.

Lon, I know a gent in the Bay Area who can give you the skinny on all this SACD business. Is this the Bainbridge album?