What 78 are you spinning right now ?

[Chuck Nessa]

Anyway, please take a look at this Ellington 78--what do you make of it? It seems interesting...I also included pics of a couple other more collectible titles from the last batch, which are the best yet out of the 200+ I've listed. Thanks a lot.

It's an aircheck from one of Duke's Treasury broadcasts. Sonny Burke wrote some songs with Ellington - I wonder if he recorded this at Ellington's request. Anyway, it's interesting, but probably not that rare or valuable - the recording has been issued several times, and is presumably on one of the Storyville Treasury CDs.

It looks like it might be an acetate, not a pressed record.

[jeffcrom]

Anyway, please take a look at this Ellington 78--what do you make of it? It seems interesting...I also included pics of a couple other more collectible titles from the last batch, which are the best yet out of the 200+ I've listed. Thanks a lot.

It's an aircheck from one of Duke's Treasury broadcasts. Sonny Burke wrote some songs with Ellington - I wonder if he recorded this at Ellington's request. Anyway, it's interesting, but probably not that rare or valuable - the recording has been issued several times, and is presumably on one of the Storyville Treasury CDs.

It looks like it might be an acetate, not a pressed record.

Yes, I'm sure that's the case.

[vinyltim]

Thanks a lot Jeff and Chuck, I appreciate the info. Like I said, this stuff is new for me. I figured it wasn't super valuable, but could be some good additions for the right collector.

[Clunky]

a few new 78s today, some mint Art Tatum UK Brunswicks- pre-war reissues I think- I find it hard to date these and so don't bother. Two nice sunburst label Us Deccas drew my attention.

Lil Armstrong & her swing orchestra- Doin' the Suzie Q/My Hi De Ho Man- (Decca) 1059

Lil Armstrong & her swing orchestra - Just a thrill/ It's Murder ( Decca) 1182

These are the first Lil in my collection in any format so I wasn't sure what to expect but thought they might be interesting. Played the first side and thought ,hmm ... that's a nice band and the tenor player is excellent. I don't have a discography (Chuck, don't shoot) but established that is was none other that Chu Berry , he gets plenty of space and sounds great. It's a wonder that this didn't make it onto his Mosaic box. Nice sides all round.

Edited October 24, 2012 by Clunky

[jeffcrom]

Came back from New Orleans with a stack of records. Here are the best of the 78s so far:

The Emperors - Clarinet Marmalade/A Blues Serenade (Harmony, 1927). A really nice record by a large-ish Phil Napoleon ensemble.

Anthony Parenti and His Famous Melody Boys - French Market Blues/Dizzy Lizzy (Victor, 1925). I have the Frog CD with all of Tony Parenti's early stuff, but I couldn't resist picking up this record.

Gene Fosdick's Hoosiers - Apple Sauce/Peggy Dear (Vocalion, 1923). I love this band; found another of their records a couple of months ago.

Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra - You Took Advantage of Me/Do I Hear You Saying (Victor, 1928). I have one of the several "complete" Bix sets, so I have known and loved "You Took Advantage" for many years. I had never heard "Do I Hear You Saying," which has some nice playing by Trumbauer.

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

i have a ton of exteremly awesome 78s but i hardly play them cause theyre so fragile and i have them all tucked away and i just never bust them out, but i have tons o 78s on alladin checker savoy specialty, et al, i have 2 copies of stranded in the jungle by the jayhawks on flash records, The Champs Tequlia one of the last US commerical 78 releases. an autographed jatp 78 by hank jones (obtained by myself),

have you seen his on ebay--- what i would give...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ART-BLAKEY-SABU-Blue-Note-767-Lex-10-Message-from-Kenya-Nothing-but-Soul-1626-/360501454877?pt=Music_on_Vinyl&hash=item53ef8fa81d

[jeffcrom]

I've been listening to plenty of 78s, but not posting about them. Here are some of the interesting spins from recent days:

Stan Getz Quintet - Erudition/Have You Met Miss Jones (Mercury, 1953)

Inspired by listening to Rusty Bryant Plays Jazz a few days ago, I played a couple of his fun, raucous R & B singles:

All Nite Long/Castle Rock (Dot)

Pink Champagne/Slow Drag (Dot). These are both from 1952, with Hank Marr on piano.

Today I spun all my Mary Lou Williams 78s:

Corny Rhythm/Isabelle (Decca "sunburst," 1936)

Swingin' for Joy/Clean Pickin' (Decca "sunburst," 1936)

The Pearls/The Rocks (Decca, 1938)

(She's) He's Funny That Way/D.D.T. (Continental, 1946)

Humoresque/Waltz Boogie (RCA Victor, 1946)

Knowledge/Oo-Bla-Dee (King, 1949)

The Continental is by "Mary Lou Williams' Girl Stars." I guess they couldn't find a female bassist for the session - the musician listed on the labels, Bea Taylor, is actually bassist Billy Taylor. The King record, with Idrees Sulieman on trumpet, tries a little too hard to be hip bebop. All the Deccas are wonderful.

[jeffcrom]

Today I picked up three 78 albums which I had been looking for. Tonight I'm spinning the RCA Victor New 52nd Street Jazz album, which alternates records by Dizzy Gillespie and Coleman Hawkins. I'm not sure why I was so keen to find this album - I have all the material on CD and LP. But I had the Hawkins tracks scattered over a couple of CDs and an LP - it's nice to have them together. And it's a general rule that, no matter what period of record manufacture we're talking about, Victor 78s were the best-sounding records on the market. These records certainly sound great - very "present." And the album book has a couple of pictures from the recording sessions that I don't remember seeing before.

I'll post about the other albums as I clean and play them.

[jeffcrom]

The second of my 78 album finds from yesterday, Decca's Kansas City Jazz. It's a big album - six records: one each by Pete Johnson/Joe Turner, Mary Lou Williams, Andy Kirk, Hot Lips Page, Count Basie, and Eddie Durham. It's a beautiful thing - great music, and it sounds way better than my battered LP version of the album. I didn't realize until I was researching it today that all the recordings except the two Basie sides were made specifically for this album, so that this was the first appearance of 10 out of 12 of these sides.

[Clunky]

The second of my 78 album finds from yesterday, Decca's Kansas City Jazz. It's a big album - six records: one each by Pete Johnson/Joe Turner, Mary Lou Williams, Andy Kirk, Hot Lips Page, Count Basie, and Eddie Durham. It's a beautiful thing - great music, and it sounds way better than my battered LP version of the album. I didn't realize until I was researching it today that all the recordings except the two Basie sides were made specifically for this album, so that this was the first appearance of 10 out of 12 of these sides.

not sure what side your album contains by Johnson/Turner but I picked up this 78 yesterday

Pete Johnson & Boogie Woogie Boys- Cherry Red /Baby Look at You ( Parlophone) R2717, nice boogie woogie /early R&B side.

also

Earl Hines and his Orchestra Piano Man/ Father Steps (Bluebird) B 10377 -nice pair, very good sound on this one

Edited December 2, 2012 by Clunky

[jeffcrom]

not sure what side your album contains by Johnson/Turner but I picked up this 78 yesterday

Pete Johnson & Boogie Woogie Boys- Cherry Red /Baby Look at You ( Parlophone) R2717, nice boogie woogie /early R&B side.

That's a great record! Some nice Buster Smith alto on that.

The one on the Decca album is 627 Stomp/Piney Brown Blues, also a real good 'un.

[jeffcrom]

I've spent some time over the past week re-evaluating my relationship to the O forums, and the internet in general, without coming to any firm conclusions yet. Posting in this thread seems like a particularly strange exercise to me right now. Who cares what obscure jazzy dance records from the 1920s I've been listening to?

But for what it's worth, last night I spun all my 78s by the Varsity Eight (or the University Six, as they were known on some labels). They were a slightly smaller offshoot of the California Ramblers. If only one title is listed, then the flip side is by a straight dance band of the time.

I Love the Girl Who Kisses (Cameo, 1924)

Copenhagen (Cameo, 1924)

Beets and Turnips (Cameo, 1924)

Cheatin' On Me (Cameo, 1925)

Yes, Sir! That's My Baby (Cameo, 1925)

Oh! If I Only Had You/I Ain't Got Nobody (Harmony, 1926)

Changes/There's Something Spanish In Your Eyes (Velvet Tone, 1927)

Except for the last record, which is mostly a vehicle for the vocals of Arthur Fields, these are all pretty good. All but the last disc have the great Adrian Rollini on bass sax, and he usually gets in at least a few solo breaks, if not a full-length solo. The Dorsey brothers and Red Nichols show up on various sides, and even the lesser-known musicians contribute some pretty good jazz.

For whatever reason, this music means something to me, and hearing it from the original 78s means something to me.

[Chuck Nessa]

It is good to know folks like you are out there.

I find your interest in old "crap" interesting.

Not really in a social studies way but interesting.

My thoughts about this are much more complex but dinner calls.

See you later.

[kh1958]

I enjoy the Listening to 78s thread, even though I don't have a player (but may get one one of these days). I even bought a couple of 78 sets recently, because they were in impeccable condition and at a low price: The Duke, Hot Jazz Classics, set C-38, four 78s of Ellington recordings from the 30s, reissued in the 40s, I think.

And a Keystone set, Tenor Jazz (3 78s, Keynote Album 136).

I wish I could give them a spin.

[JSngry]

Yeah, I check out this thread whenever I see a new posting. this thread is cool. Some of this stuff I've never heard or and probably never will hear, but still, knowing that it happened and that people are still finding validity in it speaks to an informed engagement with music, and that's always a good thing. It shows people thinking, reaching out as a result, and paying attention once they do.

Plus, I've played enough 78s over the years to know that there really is nothing quite like it, either sonically or psychologically Sometimes there's real drama in watching a side start to run out of space and wondering how the hell everything's going to get wrapped up before it does. And sometimes it's a marvel that somebody got all that information in there in that (relatively) little time (45s are like that too). Popular music appears to have swung back to a "singles" orientation, but there are no time limits to an mp3. You put a single on a 10" 78, you have to deal with that. It led to formula, but I remember the first time I played "The Jeep Is Jumping" on a 78 (it was the first time I had heard it, god bless swap meets!), I was like, wow, there was a lot happening there. You hear that on a LP, not such a big deal, that one's over, here comes the next. But the 78 is over, and, whoa, let me...process all this.

As far as sound, LP transfers are cool enough and CD transfers sometimes exquisite (and definitely convenient), but 78 RPM is akin to direct-to-disk LPs, only better, if you can get a clean enough side. Hey - 78 RPMs and bigass grooves to put the sound in. You can't pretend that's not a factor!

Nobody can listen to everything (although Rod comes as close to anybody ever will...), but people who make actual decisions about what to listen to make me happy.

And that's why the world exists - to make me happy.

[jeffcrom]

Well, I'm glad that this is not just the Jeff & Clunky thread.

And I've repeatedly mentioned the sonic immediacy of listening to 78s, but it might be worth repeating the story of the evening I had my friend and fellow saxophonist Bill over to listen to some 78s. When I played some Lester Youngs (on Aladdin and Mercury), he was just beside himself. His comment was, "He sounds like he's in the room with us."

The shellac was still calling to me tonight, so I finished the evening with some late night Bix with Paul Whiteman. I assume that I've mentioned all of these records before; Bix solos on the first side of each record:

Lonely Melody/Ramona (Victor). I still remember the day in 1976 when I bought this record for a dollar in a junk store in Savannah. For many years between then and now I had no way to play 78s, but kept one box of them, moving it when I moved, knowing that one of these days I would be able to play 78s again.

You Took Advantage of Me/Do I Hear You Saying (Victor)

Because My Baby Don't Mean "Maybe" Now/Just Like a Melody Out of the Sky (Columbia). Bix is brilliant on the first side.

Selections From "Show Boat"/Ol' Man River (Victor 12"). What a great record. Bix has a 12-measure solo in the medley, and Paul Robeson does the vocal on the flip side.

[Clunky]

Well, I'm glad that this is not just the Jeff & Clunky thread.

And I've repeatedly mentioned the sonic immediacy of listening to 78s, but it might be worth repeating the story of the evening I had my friend and fellow saxophonist Bill over to listen to some 78s. When I played some Lester Youngs (on Aladdin and Mercury), he was just beside himself. His comment was, "He sounds like he's in the room with us."

That pretty much sums it up for me too. I don't have anything like Jeff's knowledge or even a discography but get real tactlie and aural pleasure from hearing the music as it was issued, touched by it's history and wondering who bought it first and where.

Edited December 3, 2012 by Clunky

[Clunky]

Today's purchases

Wilbur Sweatman's Original Jass Band- Regretful Blues/Ev'rybody's crazy'bout the doggone blues but I'm happy - (Columbia) label looks similar to above - both sides zip along nicely little or no improvisation as far as I hear but it all sounds pretty jazzy. Wilbfur swallows some clarinets as a finale (see above). I'd never hear of him until hear Part One of the Allen's compilation.

Next

Two US Brunswick's by Teddy Wilson-nice clean labels like below (only no Billie)

I'll see you in my dreams/Tea for Two

It's swell of you/There's a lull in life

Finally

Meade Lux Lewis - Honky Tonk Train Blues/Whistlin Blues- (HMV) rec Chicago 7th March 1937- label earlier than above - the picture of Nipper is coloured in but the number's the same

[Clunky]

Taft Jordan and The Mob - Devil in the Moon/ Louisiana Fairy Tale (Perfect)- label looks similar to above. Good sides with fine playing. My copy has had a lot of love in the past so it's pretty crackly but the music is pretty strong so that doesn't matter. Not sure who was in the Mob.

[jeffcrom]

Taft Jordan and The Mob - Devil in the Moon/ Louisiana Fairy Tale (Perfect)- label looks similar to above. Good sides with fine playing. My copy has had a lot of love in the past so it's pretty crackly but the music is pretty strong so that doesn't matter. Not sure who was in the Mob.

I've got the record you pictured.

[Clunky]

Flipping between formats this evening, first 78 randomly pulled off the shelf

Eddie Condon The Eel/ Home Cooking ( Parlophone), swings like mad.

[Clunky]

Louis Armstrong tonight and some early Hot 5/7 material. Bought these today, they had some many to chose from all in near mint condition. These are all UK issues from 30/40s but are pressings rather than dubs and so sound excellent. Two to three feet or so of shelf space for the shop's Armstrong 78s alone, guess I'll be back for more. I passed on some original Okehs as the condition was too poor for the price being asked ( for me at least) .

Cornet Chop Suey /Muskat Ramble Columbia UK D.B.2624

Alligator Blues/ Potato Head Blues Parlophone UK R 2185

Two Deuces / Fireworks Parlophone UK R 2282

Edited December 9, 2012 by Clunky

[jeffcrom]

A while back I posted about a Charlie Shavers Vogue picture disc I had found. Since then I've tracked down the other two records by Shavers on Vogue; I played them all today:

Dizzy's Dilemma/She's Funny That Way

Musicomania/If I Had You

Broadjump/Serenade to a Pair of Nylons

They're cool objects, of course, but they're also very good musically. Young Buddy DeFranco is on clarinet.

Also with Shavers, two by the Herbie Haymer Quintet on Monarch:

I'll Never Be the Same/Swinging on Central

Laguna Leap/Black Market Stuff

This is the "Anatomy of a Jam Session" stuff, with Nat Cole and Buddy Rich. I've had the first one for awhile, but just found its sessionmate yesterday. In the same box I found:

Tom Archia and His All Stars - Mean and Evil Baby/Fishin' Pole (Aristocrat)

[Chuck Nessa]

The Aristocrat is rare. Don't think I ever saw an original.

[jeffcrom]

St. Louis ragtime pianist Charles Thompson's two American Music 78s:

The Lily Rag/Derby Stomp

Delmar Rag/Lingering Blues

I've prized these because they are different takes (and from a different recording session) from those released on the American Music Dink Johnson/Charles Thompson CD; as far as I know, these records have never been reissued. And I broke my copy of "Lily Rag/Derby Stomp" about six months ago! I was really bummed, but a copy recently appeared on Ebay, and I got it for a very reasonable price. It came in yesterday's mail, and it's in mint condition, so all is right with the world again.