king ubu Posted August 19, 2005 Report Posted August 19, 2005 Alright, some very kind person I came to know through the board sent me a self-compiled Lee Wiley disc, and... needless to say: love at first listen. Checking what's out there, I see that (of course...) Definitive has a couple of collections available (descpriptions taken from their website): DRCD11157 Manhattan Nights The Complete Golden Years Studio Recordings WILEY, LEE Worldwide first issue of all the songs recorded by the legendary, distinctive singer from her debut in 1931 to 1951. Includes her pioneer songbooks dedicated to works of the leading american popular composers. A glorious tribute to a forgotten lady. Carefully remastered [WOAHAHAHAHAHAAA!] 4 CD set JFCD22811 Complete Fifties Studio Masters WILEY, LEE For the first time, all the studio master takes recorded at the fifties (except Victor two LP and a half), plus a rare rehearsal recorded with pianist and club owner George Wein, and a session with Joe Bushkin in 1965. Includes Irving Berlin, Vincent Youmans and Richard Rodgers Songbooks, featuring Bobby Hackett, Ruby Braff and the duo Stan Freeman and Cy Walter. 2 CD set [funny description here! learn some english, folks!] JFCD22815 Manhattan Moods Outstading Live Recordings. WILEY, LEE Rare live performances recorded along her career. The perfect complement for our previous issues. 2 CD set Then I see that Baldwin Street Music (I have their fine Bill Harris release) has three volumes (plus a fourth in preparation) of Lee Wiley, "Completists' Ultimate Collection", as well as a release "Legendary - Collectors' Items 1931-1955" Now since I don't know anything about Wiley and her discography, I'd be glad about any pointers! It looks like Definitive may be the cheaper way to go, but I am certain that the Baldwin releases are prepared much more lovingly, and maybe are more complete, too (?). Next question: how are some of her later albums, such as "At Carnegie Hall 1972" and "Back Home Again"? Any recommendations, insight, episodes etc. appreciated! Quote
king ubu Posted August 19, 2005 Author Report Posted August 19, 2005 Oh, and let me share this cover, love it! Quote
king ubu Posted August 19, 2005 Author Report Posted August 19, 2005 And where did they steal the remasterings for their sets (Definitive, that is)? I am not aware of any previous box set... Quote
LAL Posted August 19, 2005 Report Posted August 19, 2005 Lee Wiley is one singer whom I haven't quite warmed up to particularly on her own dates. I much prefer her occasional appearances on Condon's Town Hall concerts. Perhaps her style of singing is a bit much for me in larger doses. But she does well on the songbooks plus there is solid backing from the Condon gang. There are 2 Audiophile releases (Rodgers & Hart/Harold Arlen, Gershwin/Porter): These are lates 80s/early 90s remasterings so the sound quality IMO is not top notch but listenable. Quote
brownie Posted August 19, 2005 Report Posted August 19, 2005 Please no shooting/shouting... I have those Definitive boxes! The sets had quite a number of items I could not find anywhere else, even though I already had several of the original vinyl releases. Did not want to wait until Columbia or RCA released their sides and glad I didn't because if I had not bought those Definitive, I'ld still be waiting! Love Lee Quote
king ubu Posted August 19, 2005 Author Report Posted August 19, 2005 Fresh Sounds has one RCA available: A Touch Of Blues Lee Wiley Featuring: Billy Butterfield and His Orchestra: Joe Ferrante (tp), Nick Travis (tp), Tony Faso (tp), Rex Peer (tb), Cutty Cutshall (tb), Hank D'Amico (s), Toots Mondello (s), Nick Caiazza (s), Al Cohn (s), Gene Allen (s), Moe Wechsler (p), Mundell Lowe (g), Milt Hil REFERENCE: 74321 90301 2 BAR CODE: 74321 903012 2 PRICE: 9.80 € Tracklisting: 1. The Memphis Blues 2. From The Land of Sky Blue Water 3. The Ace in the Hole 4. Someday You'll Be Sorry 5. My Melancholy Baby 6. A Hundred Years from Today 7. Blues in my Heart 8. Maybe You'll Be There 9. Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea 10. I Don't Want to Walk Without You, Baby 11. Make Believe 12. A Touch of the Blues Recorded in 1957 This one's not part of the Fifties 2CD set, it seems. (Probably one of the 2.5 RCA albums they left out on that set? Am I understanding their weirdo english right here?) It seems the Baldwin sets are much thorougher compared to the 4CD Definitive, since the first four volumes on Baldwin only cover her career up to 1940, while the Definitive goes up to 1951. Anyone has/knows the Baldwins? Quote
brownie Posted August 19, 2005 Report Posted August 19, 2005 That 'A Touch of the Blues' was reissued by German RCA/Ariola (with the original cover) when vinyls were still ruling! Not really Lee's best but I'm glad I can enjoy it! I'm pretty sure it sounds better than the FS CD! Quote
jazzbo Posted August 19, 2005 Report Posted August 19, 2005 I have the FOUR (the fourth has been out for some time, fifth is apparently due soon) Devil's Music (Baldwin Productions) cds and they are CLEARLY the best way to go if you LOVE Lee. (I do!) Total attention to completeness, pitch, sound, they're awesome discs! I have the Definitives as well and they are not from source material and it shows. But no contest, the Devil's Music series will be as claimed the ultimate collectors' Lee Wiley series. I hope and pray it continues. The Audiophile cds are very good too; if I were to only have two Wiley discs on my desert island they would be good choices, sound is very good, great notes and photos, etc. But the Devil's Music version tops them. I have two RCA lps on Japanese cds that were my introduction to Wiley by herself (thanks are due to Dr. J to making me check her out; I'd only known her from Condon groups before that). They are fine releases. I also have the Uptown, the Carnegie Hall, the Back Home in Indiana, a Black Lion (there is some overlap with the Black Lion and another), I think that may be it. . . Oh yeah, I have her Columbia work in the Condon Mob Mosaic and she appears in the Commodore Mosaics too if I'm not mistaken. I'm a fanatic. If you want to be a diligent collector Flurin then I recommend the Devil's Music route. .. .This series is a real labor of love, anal retentive love at that! Quote
king ubu Posted August 19, 2005 Author Report Posted August 19, 2005 I have the FOUR (the fourth has been out for some time, fifth is apparently due soon) Devil's Music (Baldwin Productions) cds and they are CLEARLY the best way to go if you LOVE Lee. (I do!) Total attention to completeness, pitch, sound, they're awesome discs! I have the Definitives as well and they are not from source material and it shows. But no contest, the Devil's Music series will be as claimed the ultimate collectors' Lee Wiley series. I hope and pray it continues. The Audiophile cds are very good too; if I were to only have two Wiley discs on my desert island they would be good choices, sound is very good, great notes and photos, etc. But the Devil's Music version tops them. I have two RCA lps on Japanese cds that were my introduction to Wiley by herself (thanks are due to Dr. J to making me check her out; I'd only known her from Condon groups before that). They are fine releases. I also have the Uptown, the Carnegie Hall, the Back Home in Indiana, a Black Lion (there is some overlap with the Black Lion and another), I think that may be it. . . Oh yeah, I have her Columbia work in the Condon Mob Mosaic and she appears in the Commodore Mosaics too if I'm not mistaken. I'm a fanatic. If you want to be a diligent collector Flurin then I recommend the Devil's Music route. .. .This series is a real labor of love, anal retentive love at that! ← Thanks Lon! So I should get those Devil's Music discs... The Black Lion, is that the duo with Ellis Larkins? I forgot about the Uptown - what does it contain? Some live rarities? The Condons I missed - pity! Same for the Commodores - those were all long gone when I first got aware of Mosaic (that was when they had the Tristano and Giuffre sets out new - I quickly started buying older boxes, but there were too many of them to get them all before they disappeared...) Back to Lee: what's that red one (the one of which I love the cover... see above) - is that one needed when I get the Devils? Or does that duplicate tracks taht are there anyway? And how do the Audiophiles relate to the 4CD Definitive? Included or not? Hmmmm many questions... pity I can't afford one of those CD-Rom discographies... Quote
jazzbo Posted August 19, 2005 Report Posted August 19, 2005 Not sure those discographies would answer your questions completely. Yes, the duo with Larkins. The Uptown has a live concert and some other extras added. It's an Uptown so it's loaded and annotated very well. I don't believe you will need the Red collectors' disc if you have the others. The Audiophiles are for the most part included in the Definitives and the Devil's Music (the Devil's will have more material from the same songbooks). The Wiley is included in the Condon Mob Mosaic, still in print (actually the other is still in print in lp version). Quote
king ubu Posted August 19, 2005 Author Report Posted August 19, 2005 Not sure those discographies would answer your questions completely. Yes, the duo with Larkins. The Uptown has a live concert and some other extras added. It's an Uptown so it's loaded and annotated very well. I don't believe you will need the Red collectors' disc if you have the others. The Audiophiles are for the most part included in the Definitives and the Devil's Music (the Devil's will have more material from the same songbooks). The Wiley is included in the Condon Mob Mosaic, still in print (actually the other is still in print in lp version). ← Thanks a lot, Lon! The Condon Mob is just too rich for me in its vinyl version... having just picked up the O'Day and the Ory sets! I'll orded the Devil's! And at some later time (some of) the Definitives. Is the Uptown covered in that 2CD live set on Definitive (would not surprise me...)? I promise, that's the last question for now! Quote
king ubu Posted August 19, 2005 Author Report Posted August 19, 2005 Just ordered all four volumes! 33.52$ (new!) from Djangos, free shipping! Cool! Glad I checked in there before I started searching through Amazon marketplace... Quote
jazzbo Posted August 19, 2005 Report Posted August 19, 2005 Hmmm.. .. .. not sure that the Uptown is covered in the Definitives, I'd have to look, and I'm far away right now. The Condon Mob set is available in cd, it's the earlier Condon (Columbia and Condon led only) Mosaic that is only available on lp right now. But the Wiley sides on the Condon Mob also appear in the Definitives in inferior sound. (They are also available on a Collectors Choice cd that collects the two EPs, though that is not likely to sound as good as the Mosaic, but I have not heard it). Quote
brownie Posted August 19, 2005 Report Posted August 19, 2005 The Lee Wiley Uptown has sides from 1951 that came out on obscure anthologies (Memories Lightest, Yadeon, ...). Some of the sides that showed up on those antologies also were included in the Lee Wiley 'Manhattan Moods' Jazz Factory 2CD. The Uptown CD is more complete with better sound and much better notes. The Uptown is the one to get! The sessions reunited there come from various dates. Trumpet players at the sessions were people like Billy Butterfield, Muggsy Spanier, Henry Allen, Buck Clayton! Quote
jazzbo Posted August 19, 2005 Report Posted August 19, 2005 Man, all this is making me want to leave the office, go home, pour a cool glass of something, and listen to Lee! Quote
brownie Posted August 19, 2005 Report Posted August 19, 2005 Hope you get back home soon, Lon! I'm nursing a bad cold and staying at home today. And listening to those Lee Wileys! This is the best medicine for me right now! Quote
jazzbo Posted August 19, 2005 Report Posted August 19, 2005 I wish I could have stayed home. . . . Have a long day ahead of me (at least I have a great Indian food buffet lunch planned with a friend). I'm so busy that I haven't even really been able to appreciate much music at work this week, I have time I'm going to lose but can't take off, which is annoying me, and I need LEE! Quote
king ubu Posted August 19, 2005 Author Report Posted August 19, 2005 Thanks a lot brownie! I wasn't having any doubts about having to get the Uptown sooner or later, I was just wondering... and I did notice some duplications at least as song titles are concerned. I'll now first wait for delivery of the four Devil's Music discs and then see again... Quote
MartyJazz Posted August 19, 2005 Report Posted August 19, 2005 (edited) I have the RCA Bluebird CD titled AS TIME GOES BY which is probably OOP. It contains 10 selections from the LP "West of the Moon" and nine tracks from the LP "A Touch of the Blues". Nice compilation. Also, if anyone could duplicate the booklet for the Yadeon CD (#503), I would appreciate it. A friend gave me this CD which has the tray insert only, so I'd really like to know the discographical details surrounding this issue. Edited August 19, 2005 by MartyJazz Quote
jazzbo Posted August 19, 2005 Report Posted August 19, 2005 Those four Devil's Music will have you entranced for quite a while! Quote
couw Posted August 19, 2005 Report Posted August 19, 2005 Also, if anyone could duplicate the booklet for the Yadeon CD (#503), I would appreciate it. A friend gave me this CD which has the tray insert only, so I'd really like to know the discographical details surrounding this issue. ← this is from a japanese site that seems no longer online. I took it from google's cache: Lee Wiley(vcl) acc. by Billy Butterfield(tp), Teddy Wilson(p), Jack Lesberg(b), Gene Krupa(ds). Eddie Condon Floor Shaw, WNBC-TV, New York, January 22, 1949 I've Got A Crush On You CD: Yadeon 503 Lee Wiley(vcl) acc. by Dick Cary or Freddy Slack(org), Bob Casey(b). Eddie Condon Floor Shaw, WNBC-TV, New York, January 29, 1949 Someone To Watch Over Me CD: Yadeon 503 Lee Wiley(vcl) acc. by Bobby Hacket(tp), Teddy Wilson(p), Jack Lesberg(b), u/k(ds). Eddie Condon Floor Shaw, WNBC-TV, New York, February 5, 1949 The Man I Love CD: Yadeon 503 Lee Wiley(vcl) acc. by Peanuts Hucko(cl), Ernie Caceres(bs), Dick Cary(tp,p), Jack Lesberg(b), Sid Catlett(ds). Eddie Condon Floor Shaw, WNBC-TV, New York, June 18, 1949 Medley: It Never Entered My Mind / A Ship Without A Sail / You Took Advantage Of Me CD: Yadeon 503 Lee Wiley(vcl) acc. by Gene Schroeder(p), Jack Lesberg(b), Sidney Catlett(ds). Eddie Condon Floor Shaw, WNBC-TV, New York, July 9, 1949 A Woman Alone The Blues Why Can't You Behave CD: Yadeon 503 Quote
jazzbo Posted August 19, 2005 Report Posted August 19, 2005 I have never seen a Yadeon cd with a booklet! Only a back case panel! Quote
MartyJazz Posted August 19, 2005 Report Posted August 19, 2005 I have never seen a Yadeon cd with a booklet! Only a back case panel! ← Well then, that explains it! I had assumed the booklet was missing. That has to be the chinziest (sp?) of all bootleg labels. Quote
jazzbo Posted August 19, 2005 Report Posted August 19, 2005 Yes, but some good music has been out on them that I've not seen elsewhere (like the Miles with Berryl Booker. . . ) Quote
_forumlogo.png.a607ef20a6e0c299ab2aa6443aa1f32e.png)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.