What 78 are you spinning right now ?

[Clunky]

I got home from a trip to the midwest last night with a stack of over 20 78s in my suitcase, including some really cool ones.

Then some very cool blues from the 1920s. All of these are worn, but sound surprisingly good, even the Paramount.

Priscilla Stewart - You Ain't Foolin' Me/True Blues (Paramount, 1924). With Jimmy Blythe on piano.

Clara Smith - I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down/You Don't Know My Mind (Columbia, 1924). During "You Don't Know My Mind," I was struck with how amazing it is that music recorded 90 years ago can move me so much.

This group contains most of the best of my midwestern finds, but there are more to come.

Cool, nice varied bunch. I've the Clara Smith side on Columbia flag label ( which I'd guess must be what you've bought) and it's a good one.

[Clunky]

Clara Smith -----"Don't never tell nobody "/"Waitin' for the evenin' mail" (Columbia )

Couldn't lay my hands on " Playhouse" but found this fine side on the shelves by the deck. Another excellent pairing. Worn like you'd expect but still sounding very good. Sound improved by killing the 125Hz on the equaliser to remove rumble.

Edited June 13, 2013 by Clunky

[jeffcrom]

Yeah, I'm up to half a dozen Clara Smith 78s, along with a fair number of tracks on CD. I really love her work - she was only a step behind Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

I got home from a trip to the midwest last night with a stack of over 20 78s in my suitcase, including some really cool ones. I've cleaned and played the first batch, and I'll post about some of them tomorrow. Only one didn't survive the trip, and it turns out that I already had that Fletcher Henderson side on another label, so I'm not heartbroken.

And when you have a carefully wrapped stack of 78s in your carry-on luggage, you attract a good bit of attention from the TSA security agents. In the X-ray machine, it looks like a large, solid cylinder designed for nefarious purposes.

In the meantime, here's a 1945 session that I "completed" just before my trip. I've had the first of these excellent records for several years; the mailman brought the other one (won in an auction) the day before I left:

Bob Mosely & All Stars - Stormy Mood/Bee Boogie Boo (Bel-Tone)

Bob Mosely & All Stars - Voot Rhythm/Baggin' the Boogie (Bel-Tone)

The first record looks like the picture; the second has the colors reversed: black on gold.

Besides pianist/leader Mosely, Marshall Royal, Lucky Thompson, Charles Mingus, Lee Young, and trumpeter Karl George are on hand. The music has elements of swing, bop, and jump blues. These sides are really enjoyable. Lucky plays some nice solos, and Mingus has one great Blantonish solo.

Oh wow, with Marion Abernathy! One of my favourites. Does she sing on all those sides?

MG

[kh1958]

Those Bob Mosely sides are available on CD on an IAJRC release, Lucky Thompson, The Beginning Years.

[jeffcrom]

Bob Mosely & All Stars - Stormy Mood/Bee Boogie Boo (Bel-Tone)

Bob Mosely & All Stars - Voot Rhythm/Baggin' the Boogie (Bel-Tone)

Oh wow, with Marion Abernathy! One of my favourites. Does she sing on all those sides?

MG

She sings on two of the four: "Stormy Mood" and "Baggin' the Boogie."

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Bob Mosely & All Stars - Stormy Mood/Bee Boogie Boo (Bel-Tone)

Bob Mosely & All Stars - Voot Rhythm/Baggin' the Boogie (Bel-Tone)

Oh wow, with Marion Abernathy! One of my favourites. Does she sing on all those sides?

MG

She sings on two of the four: "Stormy Mood" and "Baggin' the Boogie."

Funny, I'd guessed it would have been 'Voot rhythm' on the other disc; a follow-up to her Specialty hit with Buddy Banks' band. Thanks.

MG

[Clunky]

Fred Elizalde and his music ---" Sugar"/ " Again" -------(British Brunswick )

Fred Elizalde and his Hot music -----"Sugar Step"/ "Arkansas " ( ". ")

British dance band with Adrian Rollini and I think other American jazzers. Sugar , Sugar Step and Arkansas are great Again is ok. Don't know if these saw release in USA, I'd suspect not. Fine hot jazz even if it's British.

[Clunky]

Some more British jazz

Jack Parnell------- Quickie/Jukebox Jumba------( Decca) UK

1950 five-some recording with Tommy Whittle ( tenor sax) , Bobby Pratt (trumpet) and Frank Horrox (piano). Quickie shows fine solos by all concerned and is easily as good as any bebop from the US. Ok it's about 3 years later but shows plenty of fire and invention I like Pratt and Horrox especially. JJ is decent attempt in making a danceable bebop number. Whittle gets more space here. Pratt sounds a little hesitant at times. So grades of A+/ B- respectively.

Next back in time to the mid 20s............

Jack Hylton Kit Cat Band----- My Sugar /Milerburg Joys --------(HMV) UK rec 10th August 1925.

Probably with the following players ( I've yet to get a decent discography)

Al Starita (sax), Ted Heath (tb), Tom Smith (t), Billy Ternent (alto sax), Eric Siday (vn), Len Fillis (g). Considering the date and that this was London two nice polite jazz sides. Milerburg has more bite. Some problems here and there, the sax player(s) don't have great control which shows every now and then. Over all really no worse than the output of many white US bands of this era. Early electrical recording decent, even if my copy is a little worn.

[Clunky]

Listening to lots of 78s in the past few days. I've decided to order a larger stylus for my pre-war sides to see if background noise can be reduced further . I've been on British pre-war jazz quest in the past month or so. It's like looking for diamonds in the rough with so few real jazz bands seemed to exist. Plenty of society bands, cafe bands, dance bands but precious few playing the real thing.

Spike Hughes

- I've mentioned his London Decca sides from 1931 to 1933 prior to going to NYC and hooking up with Hawk, Carter etc. Hughes was the business as far as I've heard. I have managed to collect 16 of these sides. They reveal strong Ellingtonian influence , some pretty arresting originals but mainly pop tunes . I'm not sure if any of these sides have ever been on LP or CD.

Fred Elizalde

My latest "discovery". Philipino born lead a great dance band with solo space and improvisation with Adrian Roliiini sitting in for quite a number of sessions. Less known are a handful of solo piano sides from 1932/3 on Decca. These were his last recordings before leaving jazz forever. He plays with a delicate touch some blues, simple stride and possibly trace of modern classic music in there too. Definitely jazz . Nothing earth shattering but pretty good when you remember what else was around. Again I'm pretty sure these haven't been reissued. Please correct me if I'm wrong,!

Finally

Ken Snakehips Johnson

First? British black band leader to record. Sides for Decca and HMV. Silenced by the Luftwaffe when they dropped a bomb on the gig . I've only got 2 HMV sides which poorly reflect what the band really was about. Borderline jazz but historic non the less. Interesting for historic rather than musical reasons. Britain had a different form of racism to that in the US such that black band leaders just didn't get recorded. Period.

[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.

This again. I'm convinced that this is one of the first great jazz albums, even more so than the Chicago and New Orleans albums Decca put out around the same time.

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

sam cooke 'you send me'

[Clunky]

Bought a heap ( 14) 78s yesterday, all filthy but very shiny when cleaned up. Seven Vogue UK Gerry Mulligan Quartet sides with Chet. On reflection I'm not sure why I bought them other than for historical purposes. I think I hoped that they might contain unknown takes as seemed to be Bock's habit. To be honest I lost interest in doing AB comparisons with the 3 CD set I have. I did observe considerably improved presence in the sound of the instruments with space around the players despite the added hiss. Also tape wobbles evident on CD were absent. No hidden takes as far as I can tell !!

The lot also included what would become Birth of the Cool sides by Miles,( Jeru/Godchild) a very fine Melodisc UK (New Jazz) (Sid's Bounce/ Night on Bop Mountain)disc by Kai Winding with George Wallington,

So all in some decent sides. Only one in rough condition a rather marvellous Metronome all stars with Serge, Getz, Tristano, Bauer,Winding, Max Roach, Diz, etc. Very cool couple of sides ( Double Date /No Figs) Tristano sounded like he'd called all the shots and was sounding superb. Much higher quality than you'd expect from an all star event.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Coo, I never knew Melodisc issued Prestige material over here.

MG

[Clunky]

Coo, I never knew Melodisc issued Prestige material over here.

MG

My guess is that their issues predate Esquire which started IIRC around 1949

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Coo, I never knew Melodisc issued Prestige material over here.

MG

My guess is that their issues predate Esquire which started IIRC around 1949

That's when Prestige started. Esquire must have come in as a distributor a bit later than '49.

MG

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Just looked up 'Sid's bounce' and 'Night on bop mountain' in Ruppli's Prestige discog. No mention of a Melodisc issue for that coupling (NJ809). But there is a Melodisc listing for J J Johnson's 'Afternoon in Paris'/'Teapot' - Melodisc 1122. This Melodisc uses alternative takes of the two sides from those appearing on the NJ original issue NJ820. Those alternative takes were unissued anywhere else until they were included in PRLP7839 in about 1971.

Makes me wonder whether the 78 you referred to had alternative takes, too. For 'Sid's bounce' (matrix JRC34) there are no alternative takes listed. There are two takes of 'Night on bop mountain' listed, however. The one with the matrix number of JRC37B is the one that came out on NJ809 & PR809, but no further issues until the early 70s, when it appeared on '25 years of Prestige' PR24046. JRC37A may have been longer, as it appeared on PREP1331 and subsequent LP issues (with all the other 3 cuts done at that session).

So, what do you have here?

MG

[Clunky]

Coo, I never knew Melodisc issued Prestige material over here.

MG

My guess is that their issues predate Esquire which started IIRC around 1949

Wiki has 1947 as Esquire's start. They issued quite a range of material I've a fair number of their 78s with material from Prestige/New Jazz, Metronome (Sw), King, Barclay (Fr), Dial. Melodisc issues covered HRS, Savoy, Prestige a.o. judging by the handful I have.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Coo, I never knew Melodisc issued Prestige material over here.

MG

My guess is that their issues predate Esquire which started IIRC around 1949

Wiki has 1947 as Esquire's start. They issued quite a range of material I've a fair number of their 78s with material from Prestige/New Jazz, Metronome (Sw), King, Barclay (Fr), Dial. Melodisc issues covered HRS, Savoy, Prestige a.o. judging by the handful I have.

Coo, I never knew Melodisc issued Prestige material over here.

MG

My guess is that their issues predate Esquire which started IIRC around 1949

Wiki has 1947 as Esquire's start. They issued quite a range of material I've a fair number of their 78s with material from Prestige/New Jazz, Metronome (Sw), King, Barclay (Fr), Dial. Melodisc issues covered HRS, Savoy, Prestige a.o. judging by the handful I have.

Yes, I meant that they must have started as a Prestige distributor here later than '49.

MG

[Clunky]

Sorry missed your query

Night on bop mountain , Melodisc 1117 (JRC 37), JRC 37 is etched in the run off area , no A or B as far as I can see, and no other numbers on the label.

Edit to say I found his on Doug Payne's site, which suggests its the B take

TROMBONE BY THREE

Kai Winding Sextette

New York City: August 23, 1949

Kai Winding (tb); Brew Moore (ts); Gerry Mulligan (bs); George Wallington (p) Curley Russell (b); Roy Haynes (d).

a. (JRC 34) Sid's Bounce (Joe Kaminsky) - 3:16

b. (JRC 35) Broadway (Henderson/DeSylva/Brown) - 3:08

c. (JRC 35) Broadway (alternate) - 3:19

d. (JRC 36) Waterworks (Gerry Mulligan) - 3:38

e. (JRC 36) Waterworks (alternate) - 3:39

f. (JRC 37A) A Night On Bop Mountain (Kai Winding) - 3:34

g. (JRC 37B) A Night On Bop Mountain - 3:24

Issues: a & g on New Jazz 809 [78], Prestige 809 [78]. b & d on Prestige P-24046 titled FIRST SESSIONS, New Jazz 816 [78], Prestige 816 [78], Esquire 10-299. a, c, e & f on Prestige PREP-1331 [EP], Esquire (E) EP-98 [EP] titled KAI WINDING WITH GERRY MULLIGAN, Prestige LP16-4 [16] titled TROMBONES, Prestige PRLP-109 [10] titled MODERN JAZZ TROMBONES (includes titles by J.J. Johnson, without Kai Winding), Prestige PRLP-7023, OJC 091, OJC OJCCD-091-2 [CD], Prestige (Jap) VICJ-2003 [CD], Esquire (E) 32-036, Barclay (F) BLP-84054 titled TROMBONE BY THREE (includes titles by J.J. Johnson and Bennie Green, without Kai Winding), Prestige P-24046 titled EARLY BONES (other titles without Kai Winding), Status ST-8036 titled BROADWAY (other titles by Red Rodney, without Kai Winding), Cool N' Blue C&B-CD110 [CD] titled BOP CITY. a also on Gazell (Swd) 2103 (one other title by Zoot Sims, without Kai Winding), Sonet (Swd) SXP-2830. g also on Prestige P-24046 titled 25 YEARS OF PRESTIGE, Gazell (Swd) 2029 (one other title by Ronnie Scott with the Ronnie Ball Trio, without Kai Winding), Sonet (Swd) 8023. a & g also on Melodisc (E) 1117. a-g on Prestige (Jap) SMJ-6612.

Edited June 29, 2013 by Clunky

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

There we are then.

MG

[jeffcrom]

I've been spinning lots of 78s lately, but not posting much. Yesterday I played all of my Fletcher Hendersons, and repeated my favorites today. Most of these have another band on the flip side; sometimes it's a good band like Sam Lanin's, sometimes not - but I only played the Henderson sides this time.

Old Black Joe Blues/Potomac River Blues (Vocalion, 1923)

Charley, My Boy, take 1 (National Music Lovers, 1924) - as N.M.L. Dance Orchestra

Charley, My Boy, take 2 (Regal, 1924). The main difference between the takes is Elmer Chambers' series of trumpet breaks near the end. They're wilder on take one - did the recording director tell him to tone it down after the first take?

I Can't Get the One I Want (National Music Lovers, 1924) - as Manhattan Musicians

My Rose Marie (Silvertone, 1924). Sears' label; a nice solo by young Louis Armstrong.

Swanee Butterfly (Domino, 1925). Louis is present, but you can't tell.

Sleepy Time Gal (Banner, 1925)

Then I'll Be Happy (National Music Lovers, 1925) - as Master Melody Makers. These are the two sides recorded at Henderson's November 16, 1925 recording session. They're pretty great, with excellent solos by Joe Smith, Charlie Green, and Coleman Hawkins. I would go so far as the say these Hawkins solos might be his first really good ones - at least among the first.

Alabama Stomp (Velvet Tone, 1926) - as the Dixie Stompers.

You Rascal You/Tiger Rag (Montgomery Ward, 1931) - reissued from the Crown label.

[jeffcrom]

In an Alec Wilder mood today:

Tony Bennett - While We're Young (Columbia, 1951). And Mr. Bennett sounds really young, indeed.

Rosemary Clooney - Love Among the Young (Columbia, 1954). Not my favorite Alec Wilder song, but it has grown on me since finding this record a couple of years ago.

I didn't realize that I had five 78s of "I'll Be Around:"

George Shearing Quintet (MGM, 1951)

Johnny Smith (Royal Roost, 1953)

Mills Brothers (Decca, 1942)

Cab Calloway (Okeh, 1942)

Sonny Dunham (Hit, 1944)

The Mills Brothers had the hit; Cab's version was recorded two weeks before theirs - I don't like Cab's overdone vocal approach. Sonny Dunham's band has some excellent musicians - Sonny Berman, Marky Markowitz, Earl Swope, Johnny Bothwell, Don Lamond - and I like Dorothy Clare's relaxed, straightforward vocal.

Mitch Miller - Serenade for Horns/Horn Belt Boogie (Columbia promo, 1951). Two movements of Wilder's Suite for French Horns, the only two movements which were issued on 78. Some really nice writing on the "Serenade," and there's a very good, presumably improvised solo (I assume by Jim Buffington) on the "Boogie." Check out the amazing horn section, listed on the label pictured above.

[jeffcrom]

Why do I like 78s so much? They're magical - connections to distant, forgotten worlds. Tonight I listened to:

Vess Ossman - A Gay Gossoon/Ossman/Dudley Trio - St. Louis Tickle (Victor, 1905)

DeFord Bailey - Alcoholic Blues/Evening Prayer Blues (Vocalion, 1927)

Tommy McClennan - She's Just Huggin' Size/My Little Girl (Bluebird, 1940)

Blind Willie Johnson - Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning/Lord I Just Can't Keep From Crying (Columbia, 1928)

I bought #2 today, and #1 yesterday. I picked up #3 a couple of years ago, and found #4 in a junk store in Atlanta around 40 years ago. All of them transport me to another world.

[Clunky]

I've been trying out an additional wider stylus 0035 rather than 0032. The former is meant to be closer in size to many pre-war 78s. The reality is as you might expect very variable. Of the sides I've tried so far pre war UK Decca and HMV sound much better with very little background hiss. UK Columbia sound no better no worse. A few worn items sound better as the stylus is riding higher in the groove and away from the wear. Nice addition to and probably my last 78 stylii collection ( 3 int total). Worth it I think but longer play back will answer that question. I think I'll need to start marking down which 78 sound better with which stylii. Hmmm. .....sounds much too organised for me.