What 78 are you spinning right now ?

[jeffcrom]

Spun a bunch of archaic music today; probably the only stuff of interest to folks here was:

Butterbeans and Susie - I Can't Use You/A Married Man's a Fool (Okeh, 1924)

Butterbeans and Susie - Cold Storage Mama/Bow Legged Papa (Okeh, 1925)

The second one looks more worn than the first, but sounds better. Clarence Williams is on piano on both.

[jeffcrom]

Today's theme was "Swinging Big Band Jazz by Corny Bands," or something like that. Some of the flip sides are more typical of these bands' output; I won't mention those.

Horace Heidt and his Musical Knights - Seven Years With the Wrong Leader (Columbia, 1941). You would think a Horace Heidt record would be the worst of the lot, but this is a pretty good side, with a nice clarinet solo by one Buddy Saffer. (The soloists are identified on the label.) Bobby Hackett is in the trumpet section, but doesn't solo.

Jan Savitt and his Top Hatters - Quaker City Jazz/Sugar Foot Stomp (Bluebird, 1938). "Quaker City" sounds like what the Casa Loma band would have played in 1931 or 1932. "Sugar Foot" is better.

Sam Donahue - Dinah/Take Five (Capitol, 1946). Not bad, just about six or seven years behind the times. "Take Five" ain't that one, it's a novelty swing song.

Charlie Spivak - Flat Feet (RCA Victor, 1946)

Charlie Spivak - Leave Some (RCA Victor, 1946). Both of these swingers came from the same session. Pretty good music, just a little anachronistic for 1946. Spivak's jazz soloing leaves a little to be desired, but the other soloists are good.

I enjoyed the Spivak sides so much that I ended with a record that didn't fit the theme - it's more like corny music by a corny band:

Charlie Spivak - Sentimental Trumpet/Red Lilacs (King, 1953) This came in a box of records I bought a couple of years ago; I played it once at the time and not since until today. "Sentimental Trumpet" (credited to Charles Shirley) is better than you would expect from the title; it has nice changes. The flip is a waltz, and it's about what you would expect. I had never looked up the personnel of this record until today; I was surprised to see that Rolf Ericson was in the trumpet section. A little checking reveals that his first U.S. recordings were with the Spivak band.

These records were another reminder of why I like 78s so much. I never in a million years would buy an CD or LP by any of these bands, yet all of this music was worth hearing. I picked up these records either as part of a lot or for a dollar or less each, and I really enjoyed hearing them today.

[Clunky]

Bebop and such:

Bud Powell - Bud's Bubble/Somebody Loves Me (Roost, 1947)

Oscar Pettiford - Sonny Boy/Cello Again (Roost, 1952) OP on cello; Billy Taylor and Mingus in the rhythm section.

Buddy Stewart - Laughing Boy/Shawn (Sittin' in With, 1948) Wardell Gray and Eddie Bert on "Shawn."

Dodo Marmarosa - Mellow Mood/How High the Moon (Atomic, 1946)

Stan Kenton - Laura/Jump for Joe (Capitol, 1951) Art Pepper solo on "Joe."

hmmm.... these sound nice especially the Dodo

[jeffcrom]

Some newly acquired early jazz:

Original Memphis Five - Your Mama's Gonna Slow You Down/Steppin' Out (Bell, 1923)

Tennessee Ten - Gulf Coast Blues - Sugar Blues Medley/Down Hearted Blues - Chirpin' the Blues Medley (Canadian HMV/Victor, 1924). The Tennessee Ten was an expanded version of the Original Memphis Five, less hip and more dance-band oriented. Not bad, but not on the same level as the OM5.

Blue Grass Footwarmers - How Could I Be Blue/Senorita Mine (Harmony, 1926). This was a Clarence Williams group that made two 78s for Harmony - cornetist Ed Allen and percussionist Jasper Taylor are on hand.

Then I switched gears, to some late-40s R & B:

Annie Laurie with Paul Gayten & His Trio - I Love You Yes I Do/One Sweet Letter From You (DeLuxe, 1947)

Paul Williams' "35-30" Sextette - Paradise Valley Walk/Walkin' Around (Savoy, 1947)

[jeffcrom]

Early-ish New Orleans musicians:

Jimmie Noone's Apex Club Orchestra - Four or Five Times/Every Evening (Vocalion, 1928). This is a pretty worn record, and of course I have these sides on CD, but it's cool to play (or to just hold) an original pressing of this record. It gives me a feeling of connection to the early days of jazz that I don't get from putting a CD in the slot.

Louisiana Five - Orange Blossom Rag/Heart-Sickness Blues (Emerson 9", 1918/19)

Louisiana Five - Church Street Sobbin' Blues/Yama Yama Bleus (Emerson 9", 1919)

Louisiana Five - Ringtail Blues/Blues (My Naughty Sweetie Gave to Me (Emerson, 1919)

Louisiana Five - Virginia Blues/Lead Me to It (Emerson, 1919)

The Louisiana Five is one of those bands I've really come to love since starting to collect 78s. "Virginia Blues/Lead Me to It" is my new find.

Original Creole Stompers - Eh, La-Bas!/Some of These Days (American Music, 1949)

Original Creole Stompers - B-Flat Blues/Baby Won't You Please Come Home (American Music, 1949)

The Stompers included Herb Morand, Albert Burbank, and Johnny St. Cyr. There are a handful of AM sides which were never reissued in any form, usually because the LP/CD issues used another take. "Eh, La-Bas!" is the last of those 78-only recordings I didn't have. This take of "B-Flat Blues" is also a rare one - it has only been reissued on the CD that came with the Bill Russell's American Music book.

[Clunky]

The Louisiana Five is one of those bands I've really come to love since starting to collect 78s. "Virginia Blues/Lead Me to It" is my new find.

I listened to a few LF titles at my local store and found the music fairly wooden. It was pleasant enough but sounded highly arranged. I don't recall which titles, they had a whole run of 78s all in near mint condition. I bought a Wilbur Sweatman disc instead.

[jeffcrom]

The Louisiana Five is one of those bands I've really come to love since starting to collect 78s. "Virginia Blues/Lead Me to It" is my new find.

I listened to a few LF titles at my local store and found the music fairly wooden. It was pleasant enough but sounded highly arranged. I don't recall which titles, they had a whole run of 78s all in near mint condition. I bought a Wilbur Sweatman disc instead.

I can understand your reaction, especially if you heard some of the Columbia sides. Columbia had the band play mostly pop songs in medleys, with several songs crammed into three minutes. The Emerson records are better - mostly originals by the band, and not in medley form, so the they get to stretch out a little more. Still, it's not a "hip" band, except for Alcide "Yellow" Nunez's New Orleans clarinet - he's the reason I listen to the band. He doesn't do much flat-out improvising, but loosens up nicely and plays some nice embellishments toward the end of most of the Emersons.

[jeffcrom]

I was in one of my usual record stores today and happened to mention 78s. The owner went upstairs and brought down a couple of stacks of 78 albums, from which I bought seven or eight. I cleaned and played the first three this evening:

Savoy Presents Illinois Jacquet - a two-disc set from 1946

Dizzy Gillespie - The Be-Bop Man (Musicraft); four discs

Baby Dodds - Drum Solos (Disc); two records, later issued on Folkways.

I have the Gillespie and Dodds material on CD, but all these albums are in nice shape, and I'm glad to have them - especially since the booklet included with the Dodds album is extensive and interesting, and is not reproduced in the CD booklet. Inside the Jacquet album was a deluxe program featuring Jacquet and Sarah Vaughan, presumably from some concert tour, and a flyer for an October 9, 1949 concert at John Hancock Hall in Boston. Mary Lou Williams opened for the Lennie Tristano Sextet, whose members are listed - Konitz, Marsh, Bauer, Arnold Fishkin, and Jeff Morton. "Narration" was by Barry Ulanov and Nat Hentoff; tickets were $1.20, $1.80, and $2.40.

[clifford_thornton]

That Baby Dodds set looks killer. I have a later Folkways 10" of the material, but I love that drawing on your copy.

[jeffcrom]

That Baby Dodds set looks killer. I have a later Folkways 10" of the material, but I love that drawing on your copy.

I should have pointed out that it's a David Stone Martin drawing.

[clifford_thornton]

Yeah, thought so.

[jeffcrom]

Picked up a "new" Fletcher Henderson, so I spun it and some other early Fletcher this afternoon. If I only list one side, the flip is by another dance band.

Old Black Joe Blues/Potomac River Blues (Vocalion "Red," 1923). The new one - not bad for the time.

Charley, My Boy (Regal, 1924). Also not bad.

My Rose Marie (Silvertone, 1924). It's okay until the Louis Armstrong solo, which takes it to another level.

Swanee Butterfly (Domino, 1925). No jazz content at all, really, even though Armstrong is still in the trumpet section.

Sleepy Time Gal (Banner, 1925). Post-Armstrong. Some nice Joe Smith here.

Then I'll Be Happy (National Music Lovers, 1925). From the same session as the record above. The band is billed as "Master Melody Makers."

[jeffcrom]

Okay, this is why I buy obscure 1920s dance-band records when I find them for a few bucks, even if I don't know what I'm going to get.

Picked up a few the other day, in two different antique stores north of Atlanta. The Sam Lanin disc turned out to be a dud, as about half of his records do. On the other hand, the "California Wonderer's" (sic) on Gennett turned out to be the California Ramblers, as I suspected.

But the real winner was a red Vocalion from 1923: "Way Down Yonder in New Orleans"/"You've Got to See Mamma Ev'ry Night" by Gene Fosdick's Hoosiers. I love this record! The A side was recorded in January, 1923, and the flip is from December, 1922. The melody is always in sight, but there's usually someone improvising around it, often the excellent, anonymous trombonist. The band swings very nicely, in a NORK kind of way. Listening to this brings to mind Max Harrison's statement that Bix and the Wolverines didn't emerge from a vacuum - there was a midwestern jazz style that developed in the earlier 1920s that the Wolverines were a part of.

Dudley Fosdick, Gene's brother, plays mellophone on side B. I was familiar with his later work with Red Nichols; apparently he later was a successful studio musician, and after that, a music professor.

It looks like the Hoosiers recorded four 78s, all in the space of a few months. The whole lot has apparently been reissued on a Retrieval LP, and I'll bet that their stuff is now out on CD somewhere. I'll be looking for the other 78s.

[jeffcrom]

Stayed up late last night and listened to early electrical 78s - with headphones, so I wouldn't wake up my wife. I hardly ever listen to 78s through headphones, but last night it was a very enjoyable experience. (I was going to call it an eye-opening experience, but that's a little bit of an overstatement, probably.)

I won't list the records individually, since I'm sure I've mentioned them before, but I spun Bix with Goldkette and Whiteman, some Louis with Earl Hines and Zutty Singleton, a 1930 King Oliver, and a couple of McKinney's Cotton Pickers. They sounded fabulous through the cans - maybe because my Sennheiser headphones are probably better than the Bose bookshelf speakers I use with my 78 rig. (A drummer I used to play with used to say, "No highs, no lows - must be Bose.") Like Clunky, I usually boost the highs on my equalizer to compensate for the RIAA curve, but leave the bass flat. With the headphones, there was way too much bass, so I adjusted the EQ to more of a true RIAA compensation curve, and the records sounded great.

The Armstrong Okeh disc of "Squeeze Me"/"No Papa No" was a revelation to me when I got it, and headphones further enhanced it. The record is in excellent condition, and I can hear everything that Zutty Singleton is doing - unlike almost any reissue I've heard.

[jeffcrom]

Been spinning far more 78s than anyone wants to hear about. This afternoon it was obscure-ish big bands:

Joe Haymes - I'se a Muggin'/Christopher Columbus (Perfect). "Christopher Columbus" is quite good. "Muggin'" is the silliest version of this silly song I've ever heard.

Les Hite - T-Bone Blues/That's the Lick (Bluebird)

Les Hite - Board Meeting/The World is Waiting for the Sunrise (Bluebird). Excellent band, which I've mentioned earlier in this thread. Britt Woodman is on trombone.

Harlan Leonard - My Pop Gave Me a Nickel/"400" Swing (Bluebird). "400" is an early Tadd Dameron chart. Fred Beckett, whom J.J. Johnson admired, has great trombone solos on both sides.

Dean Hudson - Blitzkrieg/You're Gone (Okeh). Hudson was based in Florida and Georgia; he ended up in Atlanta, where we was still doing big band gigs into the 1980s.

[Clunky]

some "new" shellac for the first time in 3 months, got some nice Hawk

Coleman Hawkins Bu-Dee-Daht/ Yesterdays (Apollo 752), nice band with Dizzy, Max, Oscar Pettiford etc , Feb 1944 - I was very pleased to find this

Jamaica Shout/ The Day you came along - (Parlophone) Sept 1933

Avalon/ Star Dust - (HMV) - the latter side a great meeting with Django and Grappelli playing piano

[Clunky]

some more from yesterday..

Pete Johnson & Albert Ammons - Cuttin the boogie/ Barrel house boogie HMV -UK- 4 handed fun

Jess Stacy In the dark/ Flashes// Barrelhouse Decca -USA - worth it for the Bix penned tunes alone.

[jeffcrom]

some "new" shellac for the first time in 3 months, got some nice Hawk

Coleman Hawkins Bu-Dee-Daht/ Yesterdays (Apollo 752), nice band with Dizzy, Max, Oscar Pettiford etc , Feb 1944 - I was very pleased to find this

Yes, that's pretty cool.

[jeffcrom]

I thought about posting this in the "great finds" thread, but I'll put it here. A 78 I picked up today has got to be my all-time biggest "bang for the buck" find - it cost five cents! It's Velvet Tone 2453, by the "Tennessee Music Men," with vocals by "Jack King" - "Georgia On My Mind" and "I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me." I've been collecting 78s for long enough to know a pseudonym when I see one, so I grabbed it. When I got home, I looked it up in Rust and it's the Mound City Blue Blowers - the 1931 session with Muggsy Spanier and Coleman Hawkins. I should have known from the titles.

There's a fair amount of surface noise, but lowering the 4 KHz band of the EQ cut a lot of that, while still leaving the wonderful "presence" that the record has - more than my LP issue, anyway. Five cents well spent.

[Clunky]

I thought about posting this in the "great finds" thread, but I'll put it here. A 78 I picked up today has got to be my all-time biggest "bang for the buck" find - it cost five cents! It's Velvet Tone 2453, by the "Tennessee Music Men," with vocals by "Jack King" - "Georgia On My Mind" and "I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me." I've been collecting 78s for long enough to know a pseudonym when I see one, so I grabbed it. When I got home, I looked it up in Rust and it's the Mound City Blue Blowers - the 1931 session with Muggsy Spanier and Coleman Hawkins. I should have known from the titles.

There's a fair amount of surface noise, but lowering the 4 KHz band of the EQ cut a lot of that, while still leaving the wonderful "presence" that the record has - more than my LP issue, anyway. Five cents well spent.

Nice !!!

Edited September 20, 2012 by Clunky

[Clunky]

Added another Spike Hughes & His Negro Orchestra UK Decca to my mini collection , so I've spun them all this morning. Really glorious music which should have a higher profile. Ellingtonian in influence but with something else added. I have all this on the excellent Retrieval CD set but as ever the sound of the original 78s takes some beating. Desert island material for me.

Bugle call rag/ Pastoral

Firedbird/ Donegal Cradle Song

Music at Midnight/ Music at sunrise

[Clunky]

Lucky Thompson Just one more chance/ Boppin the blues (RCA)

Sonny Thompson Screamin boogie/The fish (Esquire- UK)

Two very different Thompsons,this morning . The Sonny Thompson is raw honking/screaming stuff,

[jeffcrom]

Old-time country, in all its VG- glory. (My early country 78 collection is in the worst shape of any of my 78s.)

Doc Walsh - I'm Free at Last/The East Bound Train (Columbia, 1925)

Walter Morris - The Railroad Tramp/Take Back Your Gold (Columbia, 1926)

Riley Puckett - Jesse James/Old Joe Clark (Columbia, 1924)

Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers with Riley Puckett and Clayton McMichen - Boneparte's Retreat/Cripple Creek (Columbia, 1929)

Darby & Talton - Down In Florida on a Hog/Birmingham Town (Columbia, 1927); their first record.

Darby & Talton - Birmingham Jail/Columbis Stockade Blues (Columbua, 1927)

Darby & Talton - The Rainbow Division/Country Girl Vally (Columbua, 1928)

Ernest Stoneman - Pass Around the Bottle/Bully of the Town (Romeo, 1927)

[vinyltim]

Hello--I was wondering if I could get some info from you all.

I am helping a friend sell his 78 collection. I have no way to play 78s and know little about them. The collection has hundreds of titles and I've been chipping away at listing for months. The plan is to do an auction at the end, or maybe sell to a private collector--no shipping, pickup only. I've just been grading it all visually as you would an LP. It's all over the map both musically and condition wise, but there is certainly some stuff of interest.

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.

disk jockey copy

12" BN 78

Edited October 22, 2012 by vinyltim

[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.