seeline

My bad (d'oh!) - but they still sound better to me than MP3s (for the most part), and they definitely *are* huge files.

Sounds like a wonderful store. And you might be surprised to know that there are young music bloggers who are ardent fans of singers like the ones you've cited. Makes me smile.

But there are other "lossless" formats. FLAC is the one I prefer, but Apple has their own, proprietary "lossless" format, and so on...

What file format(s) are Gimell and Chandos using for "lossless"? FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) really does sound better to my middle-aged ears, but the files are very large - the exact reason why most people stick with MP3s. (FLAC files supposedly aren't "lossy.") I would *love* if download outfits would offer the choice of: 1. MP3 (anywhere from 192 k to 320 k) 2. FLAC 3. Ogg (maybe) + liners and artwork. But then, I've always been something of a dreamer.

My favorite D.C.-area store is still in existence, but I wonder how much longer they'll be able to hold out... Melody Records - Ptah, I made a business trip to KC MO in 1990 and had a great time browsing around in record stores there. I'm sorry (but not surprised) to hear that most of them are gone.

there is no FF 5.0 (yet). Have you tried the Tab Mix Plus extension, Dan? I don't use it myself, but it keeps getting raves at sites like Lifehacker.com. fwiw, Lifehacker has a number of tutorials about customizing FF that might interest you. Edit: I see that someone beat me to it on the extension, but you might still want to check out the Lifehacker tutorials - or try out Google Chrome, or both. I find that I'm happier with Chrome, mainly because it's faster than FF and rarely crashes on me... FF still seems to be having difficulty with certain kinds of displays, Java applets and so on. (I'm *not* really a geek, just know a few terms to throw around! )

There were liners for the original US release, though there wasn't much info. per se. I'd check, too, but my LPs are in storage right now.

I was wondering about that, though I have to say if the impressive thing is that Klook is playing everything with brushes, then flips them around and plays the ends, is that really any "better" than just playing with regular sticks? Well, if anyone has a chance to listen to the album, they can weigh in. I don't think it's a question of "better" or "worse" - it's the sounds and tonal colors that matter. Brushes can do things that sticks can't, and vice versa. It's the player who has to make the call re. what's most effective at a given moment. (I'm not a set player, but I am a hand percussionist who uses brushes and sticks on occasion, so this is just my take.)

Ahem. * I also like World Service (African and Latin), and the VOA's African Music Treasures, which has some truly amazing recordings (posted legally, no less!) MG, you'd love the W. African Sufi music posted there, I'm sure...

There's a place just up the road from me (country restaurant with bar) that serves marvelous fish and chips. I don't know where the owners are from, or how this got on the menu, but it's hugely popular and is offered as a special every Tuesday night. Clearly, someone traveled somewhere and brought the dish back home.

These are good albums, along with Dancing in the Dragon's Jaws, Humans et. al. As for a "Christian slant," he definitely has that. "Lord of the Starfields" and "Rumours of Glory" are two of the more memorable of those songs. (Which are all good, with thoughtful, intelligent lyrics.)

This is a soul line dance class, but see how the best dancers are closest to the camera. Once everyone's got the steps, they just dance. Edited to add - here's some rough footage of D.C.-area people doing The Stroll, which is one of the line dances that was popular in the late 50s and into the 60s:

I like it better without the calls. Ever done a line dance yourself? (*Not* country-style, that is.) Part of it is that you and everybody else in the line just know the steps and do them. At least, that seems to be directly related to the coolness factor. If someone is teaching, they'll sort of "call" the dance, and might also count off at the beginning, but that's pretty much it.

I think most of the calls are pretty corny... I've never heard calls for a line dance.

Was Big Al sears living in Baltimore at this time? Listening to this version, it sounds like a pick up group of top whack pro jazz musicians, not a bunch of local guys. The rhythm section in particular is so loose and groovy it just swings the hell out of the Bryant version, which is fairly strict tempo. Maybe Brown DID form a band in Baltimore but it sounds like when they got to the New York studios, there were all these other guys who'd been assembled by a producer who knew what was what. MG Y'know, Baltimore and D.C. have historically produced some great musicians (jazz, R&B, blues, etc.) who haven't always been able to break out nationally. A case in point: Chuck Brown... but I could add many more names.

There were lots of line dances in the 60s-early 70s. I don't recall ever hearing someone refer to one of them as "the Madison," but memory is often faulty. All that to say: I have no idea! Edited to add: from checking the YouTube clips, I'd have to say "no." Looks like this iteration of line dancing was a French thing. Edit edit: OK, I'm wrong - it's from Columbus, OH clip from Baltimore teen dance show:

Obit/tribute from The Times (South Africa). It all seems to have happened really fast, starting while she was still onstage. Here she is in Sao Paulo, Brazil, performing "Pata Pata," back in 1968. Sivuca is on guitar. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85_9mKTg_Do There's also a complete concert from the 60s on YouTube.

I\'m so sorry to hear this... It\'s a big loss. The story is just starting to break outside Italy...

a big "Amen" to what you said, Jazzmoose! I'll third this. James, I'm so sorry for your loss... but I also wish more people would care for animals as you did (still do) for Prince. I'm sure he knew how much he was loved. And I am glad, too, that he was with you at the end. Take care of yourself, OK?

Very true! Also, i think you're dead on re. the possibility of a white songwriter having "borrowed" something early on - that maybe something found its way into print (as sheet music or on a piano roll) before any black pro songwriter was able to get a blues (or song with blues chord progressions) published. But that view presupposes what you're saying about things "occurring as we speak," which makes complete sense to me. (But then, I've been hanging out with people who do this sort of thing for a living for the past 18 years or so, and I've got academic training as an art historian - in the visual arts, the past is constantly "in" the "present." No getting away from it!) BTW, what's the status of piano rolls in all of this, or is that an open question? Edited to add: i wish someone would resell Seroff's books for under 60.00 per title!

Jim, I think you've outlined most of the conundrums that face historians. (Of all kinds.)

For the reviews (etc.) everything - including line breaks - has to be hand-coded. It's not for the faint of heart.

Well, their current resident sage gets very angry when people disagree with him.... And that, in a nutshell, is how and why I got ousted, though technically, it was over a couple of photos of guys wearing cowboy hats. (That was perceived as disrespectful to said person, and I was ordered to apologize, then banned from M2M and the board... I couldn't see apologizing for something that had zero malicious intent behind it and was in no way meant to be "disrespectful" to anyone.) At any rate, ever come across this book? (I want my own copies of the Doug Seroff books that Allen keeps talking about, but 1 copy of each, ordered at the same time, would set me back well over $100.00, so I think I'll wait 'til my ship comes in, or whatever... )

???? I think anyone dealing with music history is going to run into all sorts of things that appear to be contradictory (or mutually exclusive) but aren't. There were black actors, actresses, songwriters, lyricists, etc. in vaudeville. Obviously, I can't speak for Allen, but I think chasing after "roots" while willfully ignoring other things that were going on at the same time is dangerous. (and ultimately leads to what you get with Alan Lomax late in his life - a repudiation of things about which he knew better in order to shore up a pet theory - in his case, that the blues originated in the Delta.) but you know what? One of the reasons I got kicked off the AAJ board was this: some there claim that blues is African music. I disagree - African-derived, yep. With lots of traces of different kinds of African music: yep. But it developed here, not there. So really, I think I'd rather just agree to disagree, OK?

Jim, I think we're talking (mainly) about professional songwriters who were black... (Check this post.) The industry has never been exclusively white. Yep - I saw your opening post. If it had been me, I think I'd be trying to figure out how to take this on. It's a daggoned shame that Doug Seroff's books are so pricey. I wonder why his publisher thinks that they're basically "library only" purchases?