Dan Gould Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 I've stumbled across an internet seller with very good prices and an interesting selection of reissues, many from the Rev-Ola label which I haven't heard of before but sounds like something as dedicated to quality as Ace. Any advice on any of the following is appreciated, particularly in the area of which is essential, which is merely good. The seller has a great deal on shipping - $6 covers up to 10 discs. I'm trying not to go overboard here but I am having a hard time. Doc Pomus - Blues in the Red Anna King - Back Soul - James Brown produced her debut record. Big John Greer - I'm The Fat Man Sugar ‘Chile’ Robinson - Go Boy Go!: 1949-1952 Little Walter - Stray Dog Blues - pretty sure I have most of these tunes but haven't checked yet. Joe Hinton - Funny (How Time Slips Away) Johnny Adams - The Tan Canary: New Orleans 1973-81 Ike Turner & His Kings of Rhythm - Early Times - this would actually be the first pre-Tina Ike Turner CD I'd own Buddy & Ella Johnson - Gotta Go Upside Your Head Shuggie Otis - In Session Information Percy Mayfield - The Voice Within - believe it or not, I only own the Tangerine recordings, so this one is almost certainly at the top of the list anyway. Brew Moore - The Kerouac Connection Can't post any more images but this has Miles and Bird among others. I've heard Brew's Steeplechase CD with Kenny Drew and enjoyed it quite a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noj Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 Anna King - Back Soul - James Brown produced her debut record. This got rave reviews in an earlier thread here, and I always meant to pick it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Beat Steve Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 (edited) The Big John Greer CD has been discussed here before (using the Search function should find the thread). Actually I bought it on the strength of a recommendation from this forum myself. Am very pleased with it (but I am a honkin' sax jump'n'jive partisan anyhow) and thankfully this CD largely avoids the slower tracks he did for RCA and its subsidiaries (for a time RCA semed to want to mold him into another Ivory Joe Hunter). In the case of the Ike Turner CD you'd really have to check the track listing against a discography and other reissues. There is quite a lot from the Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm days that's been reissued on on various U.K. labels (including Ace) so if you decide you want to dig deeper you might end up with lots of duplicates or might want to got for the other labels right away. The Buddy Johnson CD looks like it is made up of his 50s Mercury recordings (judging from the cover artwork). Nice stuff (though I prefer his 40s big band) but some of it might come across as a bit too clean (these were recorded when R'n'R was about to break loose so everybody tried to cash in on it without offending the white buyers by sounding waaay too black). Sugar Chile Robinson: If piano boogies with a child singing voice are your cup of tea for an entire CD, go ahead. It's entertaining too but I'd recommend consuming it in moderate doses. Percy Mayfield: Another one that's bound to have been reissued on Ace too so compare the track listings to see which suits your tastes better (depends on how deep you want to dig into this field) Edited March 4, 2008 by Big Beat Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul secor Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 (edited) Dan - Some of these look like pretty good bets. Haven't heard the Rev-Ola releases, but have much of this material in earlier forms. Have to say that I haven't heard real good reports on Sugar Chile Robinson. He WAS just a kid. Don't know anything about Anna King except as a name. & don't know what material is on the Joe Hinton. These four look good: Doc Pomus was a good jump blues singer, in addition to being a fine songwriter, so I'll recommend that one. Ike Turner - This is probably a boot of the legal Ace stuff. Great stuff. Big John Greer - Probably mostly a boot of the (o/p?) Bear Family set. Good (not the best, but good) jump/r&b. Buddy and Ella Johnson - Good jump blues r&b - believe that this is their Mercury stuff I'd look elsewhere for these: Percy Mayfield - go for Poet of the Blues & Memory Pain (Specialty) & you'll have it all. Little Walter - Just a rehash of his Chess sides Johnny Adams - Go for I Won't Cry: From the Vaults of Ric & Ron Records (Rounder) or even better, Reconsider Me (Collectables) from SSS - the version of I Won't Cry on this one is worth the price of the CD. edit: Steve beat me to some of this. I have the Greer Bear Family. Perhaps the Rev-Ola is somewhat different material. Edited March 4, 2008 by paul secor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 I astarted teh thread on the Greer, so you know it's good w/me. And I really dig the Anna King thing as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felser Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 I'll vouch for the Rev-ola label being a quality operation. They are a subsidiary label of Cherry Red in England. Other labels in the family included RPM, who did some wonderful Jackie DeShannon reissues in the last few years, and Esoteric, who just did a stunning series of reissues by Man, plus the first two Rare Bird albums. Everything is done first class on those labels. If the price is good, go for it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifford_thornton Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 BEAR FAMILY (where applicable) In line at the post office in Austin, I ran into the Bear Family dude with stacks and stacks of LP and CD mailers. It was kind of a funny/strange interaction, as I was the only person in line who was drooling at the properly-shaped mailers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHILLYQ Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 For title alone, 'Gotta Go Upside Your Head' sounds like a winner! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NaturalSoul Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 I believe MG will agree with me, The Anna King is essential. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felser Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 Revola is a decet rock reissue label-- Fred Neil & others, some sissy 60s pop I forget too-- but rule of thumb is it's ** ONLY ** yr go to fo R&B, blues, hillbilly if ** NO ** other source exists. first. They're "just" a licensing operation as far as I know so whatever "remastering" there might be ain't from the source. edc Well, SOMEBODY did stunning remastering on the RPM amd Esoteric releases I mentioned earlier, and clearly had the master tapes. But I agree that doesn't mean Rev-Ola does for all of the above, though they clearly must for the Shuggie Otis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceH Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 Revola is a decet rock reissue label-- Fred Neil & others, some sissy 60s pop I forget too-- but rule of thumb is it's ** ONLY ** yr go to fo R&B, blues, hillbilly if ** NO ** other source exists. Unless you just want "samplers," ALWAYS go for ACE SPECIALTY BEAR FAMILY (where applicable) first. Yep. What ever happened to the British "Charly" label? Did they fold years ago or what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Beat Steve Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 Don't think so.... See this, for example: http://www.snappermusic.com/Labels/Charly You'll even find a catalog there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felser Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 What ever happened to the British "Charly" label? Did they fold years ago or what? They're still around, part of the Snapper comglomerate. http://www.snappermusic.com/Labels/Charly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul secor Posted March 6, 2008 Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 So what's Dan gonna go for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted March 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 So what's Dan gonna go for? Dan's still trying to figure out what he can afford and thanks everyone for their advice. He also is hoping to hear from someone on the Brew Moore and Johnny Adams discs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul secor Posted March 6, 2008 Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 From my post #4 - in case you missed it: I'd look elsewhere for these: Johnny Adams - Go for I Won't Cry: From the Vaults of Ric & Ron Records (Rounder) or even better, Reconsider Me (Collectables) from SSS - the version of I Won't Cry on this one is worth the price of the CD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted March 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 From my post #4 - in case you missed it: I'd look elsewhere for these: Johnny Adams - Go for I Won't Cry: From the Vaults of Ric & Ron Records (Rounder) or even better, Reconsider Me (Collectables) from SSS - the version of I Won't Cry on this one is worth the price of the CD. Meaning, Paul, that this era wasn't a very good one? I wasn't really clear on whether you were rejecting these sessions in favor of better ones or what. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul secor Posted March 6, 2008 Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 His earlier stuff was better - at least imo. The SSS sides - Reconsider Me - are my favorites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeBop Posted March 6, 2008 Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 I became interested in Sugar Chile after seeing a video (Snader Transcription, I think) he made alongside Basie and Billie. As much as I wanted to like him, or find some value in what he was doing, I couldn't. Amuse yourself with a bio instead. Here's a bio he might have written himself. http://www.answers.com/topic/frankie-sugar...=entertainment). No cigars and age misrepresntation (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0732630/bio) or prostitues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John L Posted March 6, 2008 Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 So what's Dan gonna go for? Dan's still trying to figure out what he can afford and thanks everyone for their advice. He also is hoping to hear from someone on the Brew Moore and Johnny Adams discs. Dan, I picked up that Johnny Adams collection recently. It contains rather rare recordings, some of which are making it to CD for the first time. I like it, although I am a Johnny Adams freak. I agree that these are generally not among his best recordings: in fact, far from it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted March 6, 2008 Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 Don't miss out on the Anna King. One track was on my BFT. And the Big John Greer is a good buy, too, since it does concentrate on the up-tempo material. I'd rather get a GOOD sampler of people like Greer than pay big bux for a complete Bear Family with a lot of iffy material. MG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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