What 78 are you spinning right now ?

[Clunky]

Whilst awaiting CJ's Uptown disc I've been spinning half a dozen sides of his

Chubby Jackson-------Lemon drop/ Crying sands---- --- ( Esquire) fine early bop.

Edited May 16, 2014 by Clunky

[jeffcrom]

Blackstick: A Group of Instrumental Selections featuring Clarinet Solos (Decca). I picked this up about a week and a half ago. I have all but three of the ten sides elsewhere, but it's interesting to hear them as selected by producer Dave Dexter in 1941, and to read his booklet notes. The contents:

Jimmy Dorsey - I Got Rhythm

Woody Herman - Herman at the Sherman

Irving Fazola with Bob Crosby - Sympathy

Benny Goodman with Adrian Rollini - Davenport Blues

Danny Polo - Blue Murder

Jimmy Noone - I Know That You Knowq

Joe Marsala with The Delta Four - Farewell Blues

Johnny Dodds - Melancholy

Pee Wee Russell with Bud Freeman - Sunday

Sidney Bechet with Noble Sissle's Swingsters - Blackstick

[jeffcrom]

I'm now up to eight 78s by my favorite gospel group, Mitchell's Christian Singers, on seven different labels: Oriole, Romeo, Melotone, Conqueror, Perfect, Vocalion, and Columbia. This evening I played half of them:

Take My Hand/Don't You Want That Stone (Columbia)

I Want Somebody to Tell Me/Yes My Lord I Done Done (Vocalion)

What More Can Jesus Do/Who Was John (Romeo)

Standing By the Bedside/What Kinda Shoes Do the Angels Wear (Oriole)

Amazing stuff.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

I see you can get all three and a half CDs of MCS on Document from Amazon UK - but the DLs are a good bit more expensive than the CDs. Grrrrr!

This is a bunch of gospel music that I've missed out on. I guess if you've got so many 78s of them, they must be pretty good, eh?

MG

[jeffcrom]

If you've never heard Mitchell's Christian Singers, you're in for a treat. They recorded in the second half of the 1930s. I first heard them, like lots of folks, I guess, on the album made from John Hammond's Spirituals to Swing concerts. They had two tracks on the original album; that's been bumped up to three on the expanded three-disc version.

The group was from North Carolina, and their style is unique, but a little hard to describe. It's raw and "down home" - the word that keeps coming to mind is "flexible." It's flexible music, rhythmically, melodically, and harmonically.

I'm aware of the Document CDs, but since I've started collecting them on 78, I'll probably just continue that route. Which means that I'll probably never hear their complete output, but that's okay. I recommend checking out the Spirituals to Swing tracks, at least.

[Clunky]

Original Indiana Five ( Dixie Jazz Band) / Ted White’s Collegians- Coffee Pot Blues/ Crazy Words Crazy Tune (Oriole) USA . Not sure who plays with TWC but it's a fun side with some decent solos. There's a nice solo by a bass clarinet. Any ideas who?

I've become pretty good at tracking down these anonymous 1920s dance bands. Because recordings showed up on various labels using various pseudonyms, it's usually a pretty convoluted process, using Rust's American Dance Band Discography, Steven Barr's Almost Complete 78 RPM Record Dating Guide, and Online 78 RPM Discographical Project. Your record is actually by Bill Perry's Entertainers, vocals by The Radio Imps, recorded for the Plaza group of labels in early January, 1927. Unfortunately, the personnel is not known, except that the Radio Imps/Melody Twins were Ed Smalle and Jerry Macy.Oriole was one of the "dime store labels"; during that period it was pressed by Plaza for McCrory's stores (which I remember from my childhood). Banner was Plaza's main label; they also made Domino and Regal.If you're interested in the steps I went through to find the source of this record:1. I looked up Oriole 828 on the 78 discography site. Beside "Ted White's Collegians," it had a "BP" in parentheses. It also listed a matrix number (7032) a control number (681, visible on your label), and a recording date of January, 1927. The control number is a "false" matrix number assigned by another company (like Oriole).2. Looked up Oriole in the Barr book and was reminded that it was pressed by Plaza, and that Banner was their main label.3. Went to the appropriate Banner listing on the 78 discography site and did a search for "crazy words." Side A of Banner #1922, by Bill Perry's Entertainers, matched the title, approximate date, and matrix number. Bingo!4. Looked up Perry in the Rust discography. The Oriole issue is not listed, but that's not uncommon when recordings were leased to and issued by several different labels. This recording was also issued on Banner, Domino and Regal in the U.S., Apex and Starr in Canada, and Imperial in the U.K.This one was a pretty easy one to track down - it took about five minutes. Because the information in all of the sources I listed is incomplete, sometimes I have to go through a lot more steps to find the source of a record from the 1920s. I spent half an hour this morning trying to find the source of a Rudy Wiedoeft record on the obscure Cleartone label, but I mostly struck out, except that it's probably from 1921 or 1922.

I'd forgotten about this when I recently picked up.....

Perry's Entertainers----------Crazy Words -Crazy Tune/. High High Up in the Hills-------(Puritan) 11498

I can confirm that CWCT version is exactly the same as on Oriole 828 (Ted White's Collegians). Full marks to Jeff for detective work. C minus to me for forgetting.

[jeffcrom]

Cool! I've got a soft spot for those 1920s dance band 78s - the best ones, anyway.

Yesterday I spun the rest of my Mitchell's Christian Singers discs:

Come On Ezekial Let's Go 'Round the Wall/Count out the Angels (Conqueror)

What Are They Doing in Heaven/How About You? (Conqueror)

Go Ye Prodigal Son/You Rise Up (Perfect)

What More Can Jesus Do/Who Was John (Melotone). This disc has the same recordings as the Romeo record mentioned in post #803; it's even more worn, but some passages sound better on this one.

Then, some distinctly less spiritual records. I found these together in an antique store in Atlanta:

Redd Foxx - Song Plugging/The New Soap (Dooto)

Redd Foxx -The Jackasses/The Race Track (Authentic)

Redd Foxx -The Two Oars/The Preachers Bicycle (Authentic)

Authentic was a Dooto budget label. I had to really dig to find a picture of any of these.

[jeffcrom]

All my Clara Smith 78s, prompted by a new find:

Down South Blues/Kind Love Blues (Columbia "Gold Band" label, 1923), with Fletcher Henderson on piano

I Never Miss the Sunshine/Awful Moanin' Blues (Columbia "Flags" label, 1923), Fletcher Henderson on piano

Don't Never Tell Nobody/Waitin' for the Evening Mail (Columbia "Flags" label, 1923), Fletcher Henderson on piano

I'm Gonna Tear You Playhouse Down/You Don't Know My Mind (Columbia "Flags" label, 1924), "Her Jazz Trio" on side one (kazoo, guitar, mandolin), "Piano and Saxophone" on side two (Charles Matson and Ernest Elliott)

I Don't Love Nobody/My Doggone Lazy Man (Columbia "Flags" label, 1924), "Her Jazz Trio" - harmonica substitutes for mandolin on side two

The Market Street Blues/It Takes the Lawd (Columbia "Viva-tonal" label, 1925, "Clarinets and Piano" or "Saxophone and Piano" - Earnest Elliott and Harry Stevens on reeds, Porter Grainger on piano

All of these are worn - the original owners really like these records - but they all sound pretty good except for the last one, which has surface noise equal to the music. I particularly like "You Don't Know My Mind" - I wonder if it was the first recording of this blues standard. January, 1924 is pretty early for this song.

[Clunky]

All my Clara Smith 78s, prompted by a new find:

Down South Blues/Kind Love Blues (Columbia "Gold Band" label, 1923), with Fletcher Henderson on piano

I Never Miss the Sunshine/Awful Moanin' Blues (Columbia "Flags" label, 1923), Fletcher Henderson on piano

Don't Never Tell Nobody/Waitin' for the Evening Mail (Columbia "Flags" label, 1923), Fletcher Henderson on piano

I'm Gonna Tear You Playhouse Down/You Don't Know My Mind (Columbia "Flags" label, 1924), "Her Jazz Trio" on side one (kazoo, guitar, mandolin), "Piano and Saxophone" on side two (Charles Matson and Ernest Elliott)

I Don't Love Nobody/My Doggone Lazy Man (Columbia "Flags" label, 1924), "Her Jazz Trio" - harmonica substitutes for mandolin on side two

The Market Street Blues/It Takes the Lawd (Columbia "Viva-tonal" label, 1925, "Clarinets and Piano" or "Saxophone and Piano" - Earnest Elliott and Harry Stevens on reeds, Porter Grainger on piano

All of these are worn - the original owners really like these records - but they all sound pretty good except for the last one, which has surface noise equal to the music. I particularly like "You Don't Know My Mind" - I wonder if it was the first recording of this blues standard. January, 1924 is pretty early for this song.

Some great sides Jeff, I've "evening mail" and "playhouse" plus a few other others all in similar condition to yours.

Today's find for me was

West Virginian Glee Club-------Ezekiel saw de wheel/ Walk in Jerusalem just like John------(Brunswick UK)

From what I've found in the net. Directed by one Clarence Cameron White in 1927. It's very well recorded . Possible a bit on the polite/ refined side but interesting all male vocal work. Worth 99 pence IMO.

Edited May 30, 2014 by Clunky

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

busted my hump with a 78 haul, havent done one in years, but theres some good stuff:

-multiple white label promos of Dave Brubeck on Fantasy & Cal Tjader on Galaxy

-duke ellington WLP on capitol (went for this over the duke victor 'scroll'...mistake?)

-gerry mulligan qt on pacific jazz- bernies tune (from the 1st album)

-dimotri tomkin on orange label Coral, theme from a hitchcock movie, seems to be from 1955

-ben webster- on SESSION, very thick 78, this one, its nice

-charlie parker- yardbird suite (Dial)

-charlie parker- relaxin at camirillo (Dial)

-dexter n wardell- the chase (dial)

-a howard mcghee on dial

-wynton kelly trio on blue note

[Clunky]

busted my hump with a 78 haul, havent done one in years, but theres some good stuff:

-multiple white label promos of Dave Brubeck on Fantasy & Cal Tjader on Galaxy

-duke ellington WLP on capitol (went for this over the duke victor 'scroll'...mistake?)

-gerry mulligan qt on pacific jazz- bernies tune (from the 1st album)

-dimotri tomkin on orange label Coral, theme from a hitchcock movie, seems to be from 1955

-ben webster- on SESSION, very thick 78, this one, its nice

-charlie parker- yardbird suite (Dial)

-charlie parker- relaxin at camirillo (Dial)

-dexter n wardell- the chase (dial)

-a howard mcghee on dial

-wynton kelly trio on blue note

some very nice ones there especially those Dials. great haul.

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

$1/ea!

Edited June 10, 2014 by chewy

[Chuck Nessa]

Just acquired a couple hundred discs. Have not examined all of them but the following records jumped out at me:

Okeh 4254 Mamie Smith's Jazz Hounds - Shim-me Kings Blues / Royal Garden Blues - 1921

Okeh 40772 Frankie Turmbauer & His Orchestra with Bix - Singin' the Blues / Clarinet Marmalade - 1927

Brunswick 3245 Savannah Syncopators - Deep Henderson / Jackass Blues - 1926

Vocalion 14859 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra - Hard Hearted Hannah / The Gouge of Armour Avenue - 1924

Edited June 16, 2014 by Chuck Nessa

[Clunky]

Just acquired a couple hundred discs. Have not examined all of them but the following records jumped out at me:

Okeh 4254 Mamie Smith's Jazz Hounds - Shim-me Kings Blues / Royal Garden Blues - 1921

Okeh 40772 Frankie Turmbauer & His Orchestra with Bix - Singin' the Blues / Clarinet Marmalade - 1927

Brunswick 3245 Savannah Syncopators - Deep Henderson / Jackass Blues - 1926

Vocalion 14859 Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra - Hard Hearted Hannah / The Gouge of Armour Avenue - 1924

Those all look interesting, hope the rest are of a similar standard.

I've been playing loads of 78s over the past few days. The recent Uptown Howard McGhee CD prompted me to dig out a wide variety of bebop 78s. I must organise my collection as it takes forever to find things but does have the advantage of pulling things off the shelf randomly and playing them. I'll have to clear the living room tomorrow as there piles of them everywhere.

[jeffcrom]

Rock and roll and such today:

Jerry Lee Lewis - Breathless/Down the Line (Sun)

Chuck Berry - 30 Days/Together (Chess)

Chuck Carbo and the Spiders - Don't Pity Me/How I Fell (Imperial)

Bobby Charles - No Use Knocking/Laura Lee (Chess)

Frankie Ford - Last One to Cry/Cheatin Woman (Ace)

[jeffcrom]

The yin and yang of klezmer clarinet today:

Naftule Brandwein - Terkish-Bulgarish/Freit aich, Yiddelach (Columbia, 1922)

Naftule Brandwein - Bulgar a la Naftule/A Hore mit Tzibeles (Columbia). This is a mid-40s reissue of a 1925 recording, showing that Naftule was still popular with klezmer audiences.

Dave Tarras - Freiliche Yidelach/Hulyet Brider (Victor). From the mid 1940, based on the label style.

Dave Tarras' Palestinian Dance Orchestra - Horah & Hashiveinu/Nigun Bialik & Onu Bonu Artso (RCA Victor). Late 1940s, or even 1950 or '51, based on the label. The label says "Arranged by Sam Musiker" - another fine klezmer and jazz clarinetist who was a veteran of the Gene Krupa big band and who married Tarras' daughter.

[jeffcrom]

Been listening to a lot of stuff lately, mostly classical - because what more convenient format is there for classical music than 78 RPM records? Most of what I've spun probably wouldn't interest most folks here, but I enjoyed this one, and was amused by the implications.

The record company practice of packaging and repackaging recordings from their catalogs and creating "deluxe," "collectible" issues is not new. In 1947, RCA Victor started issuing some of their pre-1920 opera records in the deluxe "Heritage Series." These 12" 78s were pressed on red vinylite (rather than shellac) and came in fancy gold foil sleeves. I have one - contralto Janet Spencer singing "O don fatale!' from Don Carlos and "The Hills o' Skye," both recorded in 1911. It's a nice pressing of two fine recordings.

And it cost $3.50 in 1948, which is around $34 in today's dollars. That's for around nine minutes of music. Collectors were reportedly pretty unhappy with RCA over the Heritage Series, since these recordings had long since paid for themselves. If the internet and discussion forums had been around, I can imagine the postings.

[Big Beat Steve]

The yin and yang of klezmer clarinet today:

Naftule Brandwein - Terkish-Bulgarish/Freit aich, Yiddelach (Columbia, 1922)

Naftule Brandwein - Bulgar a la Naftule/A Hore mit Tzibeles (Columbia). This is a mid-40s reissue of a 1925 recording, showing that Naftule was still popular with klezmer audiences.

Any relation (after phonetic "anglicisation") to big band leader Nat Brandwynne there, I wonder??

[jazztrain]

I've occasionally wondered about the same thing but never bothered to check.

Apparently, there is a connection.

See here: http://www.loisbrandwynne.com/about.html

Here's an extract:

>>>

Soloist, chamber musician, master teacher and recording artist, Lois Brandwynne represents the fourth generation in a family of professional musicians. Her father, Nat Brandwynne, was a pianist and orchestra leader accompanying such pop legends as Frank Sinatra and Lena Horne. Her greatuncle, Naftulah Brandwein, “the pied-piper of Brooklyn,” is an icon among Eastern European gypsy musicians, remembered for his passionate and wildly imaginative clarinet style.

>>>

The yin and yang of klezmer clarinet today:

Naftule Brandwein - Terkish-Bulgarish/Freit aich, Yiddelach (Columbia, 1922)

Naftule Brandwein - Bulgar a la Naftule/A Hore mit Tzibeles (Columbia). This is a mid-40s reissue of a 1925 recording, showing that Naftule was still popular with klezmer audiences.

Any relation (after phonetic "anglicisation") to big band leader Nat Brandwynne there, I wonder??

[Big Beat Steve]

Thanks!

It was a shot in the dark but apparently I wasn't far off at all.

[jeffcrom]

Muggsy Spanier - a three-record album on Disc, from 1946. I've had this for about six months, but haven't posted it here. It's pretty great - the music is mostly as good as "The Great 16" on Victor, with the added bonus of Pee Wee Russell on clarinet. David Stone Martin did the cover, and there's a nice eight-page booklet with notes by Charles Edward Smith and pictures by Skippy Adelman. (I've always loved his black-and-white jazz photos from this era.) The records have the usual hissy Disc surfaces, but no matter - this is a great little album.

Edited September 5, 2014 by jeffcrom

[jeffcrom]

A late-night Ellington 78 session:

Lazy Rhapsody/Blue Tune (Brunswick)

Sepia Panorama/Harlem Air Shaft (Victor). Near mint, and one of my favorite records - vibrant and enigmatic.

Main Stem/Johnny Come Lately (Victor)

And the capstone, which I've had for about a year, but haven't posted about:

Black, Brown and Beige (RCA Victor). A set of two 12" 78s housed in a two-pocket gatefold cardboard sleeve, with extensive liner notes and illustrations. The music is familiar from reissues, but this album is a beautiful thing - musically, sonically, and as an artifact. I'm really glad to have this one.

Edited August 23, 2014 by jeffcrom

[Clunky]

Sepia Panorama/Harlem Air Shaft (Victor). Near mint, and one of my favorite records

.

I've now accumulated around 50 Ellington 78s. I've the HMV edition of this great disc. In some ways the brief format of 78s allows me to focus on the music in a way I find harder with CDs or LPs of the same material. Edited August 23, 2014 by Clunky

[jeffcrom]

I've been spinning bunches of 78 lately - many classical. But today, early jazz and dance bands. I dug into these two interesting pseudonymous dance band records I recently found, and here's what I came up with. Both of these took some digging to figure out, and I think they're pretty interesting.

Master Melody Makers - Show Me the Way to Go Home / N.M.L. Dance Orchestra - Charleston Your Blues Away (National Music Lovers, 1925). National Music Lovers was a mail-order label which leased material from other labels and issued them using pseudonyms. I generally pick up any dance band records I find on this label, since the pseudonyms sometimes disguise some excellent groups. (For instance, there are three Fletcher Hendersons on National Music Lovers - I've managed to find them all.)

"Charleston Your Blues Away" is not very interesting; it's from the Grey Gull label, and is played by their studio band. But I recognized Miff Mole right away on "Show Me the Way to Go Home" - an excellent solo. There are also bass clarinet (Alfie Evans or Ross Gorman) and trumpet (Tommy Gott) solos between vocal choruses. It's a group called Perry's Hot Dogs, and the recording was made for the Plaza group of labels (Banner, Domino, Oriole, Regal, etc.). I'm happy to have this nice chunk of Miff Mole.

The Paramounteers - I May Be Wrong/If I Can't Have You (Publix, 1929). Publix was Paramount Pictures' label, designed to feature songs from their movies, and sold in theater lobbies exclusively. They drew their material from Harmony, Columbia's budget label. "If I Can't Have You" is by a Ben Selvin group, and it's pretty forgettable. But when I heard the clarinet solo in "I May Be Wrong," I said to myself, "That's Pee Wee Russell!" A few bars later I realized that it wasn't; the vibrato was all wrong, for one thing. It sounded more like Jimmy Dorsey. When I finally tracked down the source of this side, it turned out to be Irving Brodsky and his Orchestra. The clarinet solo is indeed by Dorsey, but Pee Wee was also present, playing tenor sax parts in the reed section. My guess is that Jimmy Dorsey was having a little fun by imitating Pee Wee's style. I wonder if he got a reaction from Pee Wee.

Sorry if this is boring to everyone else. This stuff fascinates me - you never know what's going to turn up on these anonymous records from the twenties, and the detective work is a fun challenge.

Edited August 31, 2014 by jeffcrom

[jeffcrom]

I just got a "new" 78 by my favorite gospel group, Mitchell's Christian Singers, so I spun a bunch by them, ending with the new one:

Who Was John / What More Can Jesus Do (Romeo)

Standing by the Bedside / What Kinda Shoes Do the Angels Wear (Oriole)

Count Out the Angels / Come On Ezekial Let's Go 'Round the Wall (Conqueror)

Take My Hand / Don't You Want That Stone (Columbia)

I Want Somebody to Tell Me / Yes My Lord I Done Done (Vocalion)

Up on the Mountain / I Heard the Preachin' of the Elder (Conqueror)

This group gets all over me. Their pitch and rhythm are solid, but very flexible, if that makes any sense. They're the most "down-home" gospel group I've ever heard, but at the same time, they're very sophisticated - this is complex music. But that sophistication doesn't adhere to conventional musical values - they've got their own thing going on here, and I've never heard anything else quite like it. (Although if had been around rural North Carolina in the 1930s, maybe I would have heard a lot like it.)

For comparison's sake, I followed up with a Bluebird record of The Southern Sons singing the same song with which I ended my Mitchells session. It sounded positively slick by comparison. More to the point, it sounded like part of this world; the music of Mitchell's Christian Singers seems to come from some other world.

Edited September 4, 2014 by jeffcrom