Dan Gould Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 I assume most of you know that before the Three Sounds headed east they were a regional midwest quartet known as the Four Sounds. But did anyone know that the band actually were recorded? I sure as heck didn't, until I came upon this ebay auction: THIS DISC FEATURES THE FOUR SOUNDS (LATER THE THREE SOUNDS) FEATURING GENE HARRIS, LONNIE WALKER, ANDY SIMPKINS AND BILL DOWDY. IT IS A 78 PRESSING MADE BY BODDIE RECORDING IN CLEVELAND. THE SIDES ARE CALLED INEZ AND HOT BREAD. THE NAMES AND PLAYERS ARE WRITTEN IN INK ON EACH SIDE. THE RECORD IS FAIRLY DIRTY AND I AM NOT SURE HOW IT WILL PLAY. THERE ARE NO CHIPS, CRACKS OR FLAWS OF ANY KIND. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...4709225162&rd=1 Yup, and that winning bidder, danarickgouldover, would be me. I am so psyched I am nearly speechless! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster_Ties Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 (edited) You sure do talk a lot, for somebody who's nearly speechless. Seriously, way cool score!! Can't wait to hear your review. I'm not much of a Three-sounds nut myself. Maybe all they needed was a fourth wheel. Edited March 18, 2005 by Rooster_Ties Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster_Ties Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 Fuck, Dan, you got that for $2.00!!! What a deal!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free For All Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 danarickgouldover Congrats, Dan! Good score. I'm a little concerned about your bidding name though...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 danarickgouldover Congrats, Dan! Good score. I'm a little concerned about your bidding name though...... Man, that's frightening... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Fitzgerald Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 Excellent news - When you receive, could you post detailed discographical information? This item is not included in the standard sources. If the label is handwritten, it sounds like a demo disc kind of thing, not a commercial issue. Do we think this is 1956? Any ideas on composers? Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted March 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 OK, time to up the "cool" factor just a bit. I sent an email to Gene Harris' widow, and this is what she wrote back: I would love to have a copy regardless of the sound quality. I went to the e-bay site to take a look. I'm thinking that this recording was a demo. I have an inkling of a memory that Gene did say that the Four Sounds recorded one. Gene really didn't talk about the 4 very much. He did say that he liked having a sax with the group. You know his first professional gigs were with tenor player Benny Poole, maybe Gene wanted to keep that same instrumentation after he left Benny. But the 2 sax players he did have for a short time caused him so much grief that he kept it at 3 after he fired that last horn player. Thanks....I love that you found this! B-) And some nice news from the nice lady: In case you hadn't heard, "Elegant Soul: The Life and Music of Gene Harris" will be available on May first. I'm thrilled, the book is a wonderful and very real tribute to Gene, his life and his amazing music. http://www.caxtonpress.com/elegantsoul.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted March 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 Excellent news - When you receive, could you post detailed discographical information? This item is not included in the standard sources. If the label is handwritten, it sounds like a demo disc kind of thing, not a commercial issue. Do we think this is 1956? Any ideas on composers? Mike Mike, I'll do that. What's interesting is that the seller is from Cleveland, where it was recorded, and he tells me that the company, Boddie Recording, is still in the same location. So, I don't know how good their record keeping is but I will try to get contact information and see if they can share any info on this, like recording date, whether it was issued commercially or not, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost of miles Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 Fantastic news, Dan! Man, that must be the thrill of a lifetime for a GHF such as yourself... good news about the book, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WD45 Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 Holy crap! A shellac holy grail, yes? And for $2.00! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 EX-cellent! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnS Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 I can feel the excitement here. Great news. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fenohr Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 Man, i had forgot about Gene's connection with Benny Poole. I have known Benny since the 60's. Benny was one of the local legends. He lived in Jackson Michigan which is about a half hour south of here and used to make just about all the jam sessions here in town. He was the best tenor player in the area. Ive lost contact with him, so im not sure if he is still with us. The last i heard of him he was giging on cruise ships. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 Dan, congrats, I was hoping you would gnab this for cheap. Seems as if it were destined to happen (okay, every now and then I feel a little Calvinist). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted March 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 Man, i had forgot about Gene's connection with Benny Poole. I have known Benny since the 60's. Benny was one of the local legends. He lived in Jackson Michigan which is about a half hour south of here and used to make just about all the jam sessions here in town. He was the best tenor player in the area. Ive lost contact with him, so im not sure if he is still with us. The last i heard of him he was giging on cruise ships. Bill, Janie mentioned that Benny is still alive and still gigging in Jackson! Also, if you go to that publishing website I linked above, scroll down to the bottom of the page; in the middle there's a picture I asked Janie about, turns out its Gene, bass player Leonard Hall and Benny Poole. And the news gets better: her book includes a picture of the Four Sounds who made this demo recording, including Lonnie "The Sound" Walker, so I'll be able to make a super-duper extra special CDR cover for this once the book is published. B-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AfricaBrass Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 Congratulations Dan! This couldn't have gone to a more appropriate person. Enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertrand Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 If it's not too late to work it out, the book should include a copy of the demo. That would be a VERY COOL extra bonus. I may be alone in this (and I'm sure there are permissions issues that might preclude this), but I think it would be very helpful if some jazz books actually included a CD with a few representative tracks of the artist's work. This is what they attempted to do with the Wayne Shorter bio, although the CD has to be purchased separately. Also, this 2-CD set was originally going to be a 4-CD with lots of bonus material - wondered what happened there. In the case of the Gene Harris bio, I think this would be a real interesting bonus. I for one am not really familiar with his work, but I am very interested in the book, so this would be a way to get me started. Of course, I would not be interested in the CD if it were sold separately - that would be buying a compialtion, which I almost never do. I'm very glad that Dan can help out Gene's widow this way. I've helped out some jazz artists in the past (especially with respect to their copyright deposits), and I feel this is a great way to give back to the musicians that we admire (or their heirs). Great going Dan! Bertrand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron S Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 okay, every now and then I feel a little Calvinist Keep that stuff in the religion thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron S Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 Congratulations on a great find! It's stories like this that really demonstrate the potential positive impact of the internet and sites like Ebay (not to mention Organissimo Forums ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted March 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 Bertrand, I'm pretty sure that the book is being printed right now, and considering that the disc is described as "fairly dirty" I don't know that there would be anyway to meet such a deadline, if there could still be time anyway. Interesting what you say about including a CD with the book. Last year, I asked her about it, and she told me: We were going to package a CD with the book. A gal I work with at the radio station has a 90 minute interview that she did with Gene for PBS in 1994. We were going to intersperse his music with his thoughts. I also talked to Nick Phillips at Concord about a cross release. I decided not to go that route. The book stands alone. It's a great read and beautiful visually. My feeling is the book will stimulate CD sales. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe G Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 Man, i had forgot about Gene's connection with Benny Poole. I have known Benny since the 60's. Benny was one of the local legends. He lived in Jackson Michigan which is about a half hour south of here and used to make just about all the jam sessions here in town. He was the best tenor player in the area. Ive lost contact with him, so im not sure if he is still with us. The last i heard of him he was giging on cruise ships. IIRC, Benny came out to a gig we did in Albion last summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Al Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 Way to go, Dan! Maybe you could put that on your next Blindfold Test, just to see who's been paying attention! And for two dollars!!! You could run through the neighborhood like that kid from Better Off Dead, screaming TWO DOLLARS!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim R Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 This couldn't have gone to a more appropriate person. Ain't that the truth. And it's nice to see a tireless groove hunter get rewarded like this. I can't help but wonder how Dusty Groove would describe this artifact... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Alfredson Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 Man, i had forgot about Gene's connection with Benny Poole. I have known Benny since the 60's. Benny was one of the local legends. He lived in Jackson Michigan which is about a half hour south of here and used to make just about all the jam sessions here in town. He was the best tenor player in the area. Ive lost contact with him, so im not sure if he is still with us. The last i heard of him he was giging on cruise ships. IIRC, Benny came out to a gig we did in Albion last summer. He's also been doing some solo gigs here and there, including at the Cadillac Club in Lansing. He is very much still with us. I haven't had the pleasure of playing with him, but have met and talked to him several times. A true gentleman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDK Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 Great score, Dan - congrats! I didn't know you liked the Three Sounds... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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