paul secor

Mr. Lockwood was a fine guitarist. It's almost too bad that a good part of his reputation came from his connection to Robert Johnson. It did help him commercially, but his guitar style was special enough without him being tied to R.J. As others have mentioned, his recordings with Otis Spann on Candid and his recordings on Trix are fine ones. Glad that Jim R mentioned him backing Little Walter on a lot of great Chess sides - those shouldn't be forgotten. I'm glad that he had a long life and was playing til the end. RIP, Mr Lockwood. Thanks for your music.

I have a couple of 10" Japanese BN LPs (Wynton Kelly & Elmo Hope) dated 1975. The Credits read "Manufactured by United Artists Music and Records Group, Inc., Los Angeles, California 90028. Printed in U.S.A." There's a sticker on the front of each with writing in Japanese. I don't know if these were pressed in the U.S. for the Japanese market, or what. The pressings are far superior to what U.S. BN was doing at the time. I also recall seeing 12" BN LPs around that time that my local record shop owner told me were pressed in the U.S. for the Japanese market. I'm sure that Chuck or someone else who was involved in the record biz at that time will know more.

Just listened to da girl for the second time. Many thanks to Jim for tipping me off to Bill Heid. I'll be checking out more of his music - he's for real.

Earlier today: The Raw Harmonica Blues of Charlie Sayles (Dusty Roads) - one of the best blues records issued in the 1970s. Charlie Sayles was a truly fine harp player.

John Jenkins/Donald Byrd: Star Eyes

Can't understand folks having problems listening to Bird airshots, etc. I've always felt that Bird's sound came through clearly on all but the most poorly recorded material. And you have to bring something of yourself when you listen. Listening shouldn't be just a surface/background thing - though I'm guilty of that all too often. Perhaps we can't put as much into listening as the musicians put into playing, but we can do our best.

Jesse Winchester: Nothing But a Breeze

The Dynamic Sound Patterns of the Rod Levitt Orchestra Michael Hurley: Down in Dublin

Jackie McLean/John Jenkins: Alto Madness - 1981 complete session - Listened to this after reading Larry Kart's thread about it.

Jim - I thought that John Jenkins played on the Clifford Big Band Mapleshade, not Clarence Sharpe. I don't have the CD, so I may be wrong. Probably one for me to pick up, whichever altoist is on it, as I've heard good things about it.

The Immortal Jimmy Yancey 1898-1951

Elvis Costello does Strayhorn? Think I'll pass.

Then I owe Ralph Kaffel a thank you.

The only point I wanted to make was that Fantasy reissued a lot of great music, much of it relatively obscure, and much of it out of print for years before Fantasy reissued it. I appreciate what Fantasy did. I'm sure that they didn't make much profit on a lot of their catalogue. I just hope that the more obscure/less commercial music won't disappear again, and that it will be available for future generations to hear. I hope that Concord will do that. Perhaps that won't be possible for them to do. I'm only a music lover, not a businessman/economist. On another note, I'd be interested to know who it was at Fantasy who was into the music enough to reissue all of those titles and keep them in print.

Paramount Singers, Golden West Singers, Rising Stars, et. al.: San Francisco Bay Gospel

Look for a Japanese King LP reissue of It Might As Well Be Spring. It won't have the cachet of an original, but it will sound about as good and you'll save a lot of bucks.

I'm not perfectly sure, but I remember reading in Billboard in the mid-nineties that Alliance Entertainment offered over $100 m and was turned down - so they bought Concord instead. My personal guess is that Saul Zaentz decided he wanted to retire and then wasn't in such a good negotiating position as he had been before, if he settled for $80-90 m. MG $80-90 mil doesn't sound like a bad settlement.

Gee, I assumed that Fantasy sold out because someone was willing to pay them 80-90 million $ for their catalogue.

Michael Hurley: Watertower

I'm on board, Lon. I have an LP and love the music. Is it worth picking up the CD for the extra material?

What do you mean? What I mean is: Al Casey: Buck Jumpin' The Louis Cottrell Trio: Bourban Street Budd Johnson and the Four Brass Giants Roy Milton and His Solid Senders Prestige Blues-Swingers: Outskirts of Town Rene Thomas Quintet: Guitar Groove Mable John: Stay Out of the Kitchen Jon Eardley: From Hollywood to New York Frank Strozier: Long Night Robert Pete Williams: Free Again Hal Singer: Blue Stompin' Paul Gonsalves: Gettin' Together Bill Harris and Friends Don Ellis Quintet: New Ideas Presenting Ernie Henry Buck Clayton & Buddy Tate: Buck & Buddy Frankie Lee Sims: Lucy Mae Blues The Fabulous Thad Jones Shorty Baker & Doc Cheatham: Shorty & Doc Elmer Snowden: Harlem Banjo! to list just a handful - I could easily list a couple of hundred more. All of these are fine records which Fantasy kept in print. I seriously doubt that any of them will see the light of day again once they go out of print, as I'm sure Concord will allow them to do. Perhaps I'm wrong, but seeing what Concord is reissuing, I don't have much hope.

Dick Gaughan: No More Forever - very fine Scottish vocalist/guitarist

Seeing the titles scheduled to be released by Concord makes me appreciate what Fantasy did over the years.

Anyone know anything? No posts for months.

George Russell lost me after the Beethoven Hall recording. I felt that his recordings lost a lot of their spontaneity after that. Just my opinion - I'm sure that there is an audience for his later recordings.