Chuck Nessa Posted November 21, 2003 Report Posted November 21, 2003 Groove Holmes recording of "Misty" was a monster hit in the middle '60s. Quote
Christiern Posted November 21, 2003 Report Posted November 21, 2003 As I recall, someone once tabulated the sales figures for Stan Getz's Long Island Soundalbum and concluded that it had--in the total of its various releases--earned either gold or platinum. The point being that if one measured total sales, some jazz albums actually outsold some of the more heralded pop fare. Ask Bob about Long Island Sound. It also occurred to me, Dan, that you should think about doing some preliminary interviews with surviving Prestige artists--that will undoubtedly inspire questions for Bob--it will also give the interview broader scope (and more Cadence, as it were . ) Quote
Dan Gould Posted November 21, 2003 Author Report Posted November 21, 2003 Interesting idea, Chris, though it would mean I would have to finagle contact numbers for those people, and also put off Bob's interview, which is something I don't really want to do. When he left the message for me, he was somewhat difficult to understand, his voice sounded kind of weak. Fortunately, when I returned his call he definitely sounded better and stronger (I was afraid I'd need to keep a microphone right under his chin in order to be sure I caught every word!). So, I do think that an early January interview with Weinstock is a good idea-unfortunately doing anything other than getting ready for that will be tough. Aside from Red Holloway, Jackie Mac, who else is still around? I know I am missing a lot, but for some reason I'm drawing a blank, at least for the pre-soul jazz era Prestige. Quote
Christiern Posted November 21, 2003 Report Posted November 21, 2003 Ray Bryant, Houston Person, and Johnny Griffin come to mind, although Bob may not have worked with them directly--and a call to Ira Gitler should be helpful. I can give you his number if you need it. Quote
JSngry Posted November 21, 2003 Report Posted November 21, 2003 Franks Wess & Foster still walk amonst the living. Kenny Burrell. James Moody (another popular seller for the label in the early-mid 50s, from what I gather). Sonny Rollins (and if you land that one, I AM coming along! ) Percy Heath. Donald Byrd. Gotta be some more... Quote
ghost of miles Posted November 21, 2003 Report Posted November 21, 2003 Records supposedly got lifted from Riverside's warehouse to get sold on the street to cover drug needs (isn't that the story you mentioned, Chris?), was that a problem for Prestige? Can someone elabrate on this, what is this all about? I don't remember what his source for it was, but I first encountered this story in James Gavin's recent bio of Chet Baker. Congratulations, Dan. You, sir, appear to be on a bit of a roll! Quote
Christiern Posted November 22, 2003 Report Posted November 22, 2003 I don't remember what his source for it was, but I first encountered this story in James Gavin's recent bio of Chet Baker. I told Jim about it, but he may also have heard it elsewhere. Junior Mance and I were reminiscing about this a couple of years ago, it was no secret among musicians. Quote
Big Al Posted November 24, 2003 Report Posted November 24, 2003 What is Weinstock's opinion of Orrin Keepnews, both in terms of OK's role at Riverside in the 50's and 60's, and in terms of his role with Fantasy since the 1970s (especially his reissue programs and the OJC series on CD). These may very well be questions I know the answer to, if my gut is any indication; but it would still be nice to have him verbalize it. Quote
JSngry Posted December 6, 2003 Report Posted December 6, 2003 Just remembered - Annie Ross' "Twisted" was on Prestige, and sold pretty well for them, I'm told. Quote
Dan Gould Posted December 29, 2003 Author Report Posted December 29, 2003 Up, since its time to put the nose to the grindstone and get my prep work done so I can book some time with Weinstock, so if anyone has any additions for me, like, say .... CHUCK? Quote
Shrdlu Posted December 31, 2003 Report Posted December 31, 2003 This is already very interesting! What a fascinating post. Where do you start, when interviewing a guy that you've known about for so long ... I can answer a couple of the above questions. (Not wishing to be impertinent.) (1) MPS Saba issued several Prestige albums in Europe in the 60s (better quality vinyl, too), so probably the flip side was that Prestige put out some of theirs in the U.S. (2) The Miles date with Bird was produced by Ira Gitler, not Bob, though maybe Bob was also present. Ira wrote the notes to the "Collectors' Items" LP and gave a harrowing account of that tense session. So you might omit that question and use the time for something else. I would like to hear more about the "Bags' Groove" session! (Who wouldn't?) Quote
JSngry Posted December 31, 2003 Report Posted December 31, 2003 (1) MPS Saba issued several Prestige albums in Europe in the 60s (better quality vinyl, too), so probably the flip side was that Prestige put out some of theirs in the U.S. No "probably" to it, they did! Quote
Jazz Groove Posted December 31, 2003 Report Posted December 31, 2003 (edited) I don't know if you would want to ask this, but what does he think the musicians who recorded on the label think about Prestige? Years ago Jackie McLean did a radio interview on WBGO in the New York area. He was asked what he remembered about recording for Prestige. Jackie replied he didn't like the label and that they were too cheep. He remembered once going into the front offices after recording an album with Miles and asked for a copy of the album for himself. Bob told him he had to pay for the copy. I believe Jackie said it was 90 cents back then. He told Bob he was one of the musicians on the album, "can't I get a copy"? Bob told him he has to pay like everyone else. In fact, if I remember the interview, Jackie said he was happy when the label folded. I'm going to check WBGO web site to see if they have the interview in their on line interview archives. I think this was what separated Prestige and Blue Note from one another. Blue Note would go that extra mile to make their artists happy, 2 day paid rehearsals and stuff like that. I don’t want to imply that all the artists on the label felt this way, but this was how Jackie remembered recording for Prestige. Edited December 31, 2003 by Jazz Groove Quote
Shrdlu Posted January 1, 2004 Report Posted January 1, 2004 (1) MPS Saba issued several Prestige albums in Europe in the 60s (better quality vinyl, too), so probably the flip side was that Prestige put out some of theirs in the U.S. No "probably" to it, they did! Well, I know they did, but my "probably" referred to it being connected with the arrangement for MPS to issue some Prestiges in Germany. This would explain why Prestige issued some MPS recordings in the States. Quote
Chuck Nessa Posted January 4, 2004 Report Posted January 4, 2004 Sorry for the delay - hope I didn't take too long. My interest is in the "business side" of the label. With the boom caused by the 12 inch lp, I'm curious about the volume of output. The following info is a fairly accurate listing of sessions per year, beginning in '55 going through '70. 1955 - 31 sessions 1956 - 42 1957 - 65* 1958 - 37 1959 - 37 1960 - 99** 1961 - 105 1962 - 79 1963 - 45*** 1964 - 59 1965 - 38 1966 - 40 1967 - 48 1968 - 45 1969 - 33 1970 - 27 * I suspect this spike is a combined effect of a general increased record sales and the commercial success of Miles. ** This is a year of full steam recording for New Jazz, Moodsville, Swingville, Bluesville, etc. *** This is the end of the sub-labels and consolidation of all new releases to Prestige. I guess I'm curious about the source of cash that generated the '57 and '60 spikes and the reason for the retreat in '63. Was any of this fluctuation a result of the arrival or departure of different producers. All sessions from 55/56 are Weinstock produced as are most from 1957. Esmond Edwards takes over in the last half of 58 and continues to do the majority of sessions until mid '62 when Ozzie Cadena takes over. Don Schlitten produces some sessions in 1963, etc. I hope this info generates some question ideas for you. Quote
Rooster_Ties Posted January 4, 2004 Report Posted January 4, 2004 (edited) GREAT set of questions, Chuck. If you've got any more ideas for questions, I'd love to 'hear' (see) them. (Not that I'm the one doing the interview, but if I were - more questions like yours, Chuck, would be GREAT to have, IMHO.) (Not to put you on the spot, Chuck... Oops, too late!! ) Edited January 4, 2004 by Rooster_Ties Quote
Dan Gould Posted January 5, 2004 Author Report Posted January 5, 2004 Thanks Chuck! I haven't set the date yet with Weinstock so your timing is fine and if there are any other ideas for questions, feel free to post them. Now that the holidays are all over, I will be going full bore into research and will try to set a time probably two weekends from now-around January 17th. Quote
CJ Shearn Posted January 6, 2004 Report Posted January 6, 2004 Dan, hope you can accept another question before the interview: Ira Gitler mentioned in "Blue Note A Story of Modern Jazz" that he had tried to convince Bob to sign Jimmy Smith. Weinstock apparently wasn't interested. Was this the case b/c Bob was not hit by that new sound, or because he was looking at general trends in jazz through that time in terms of what would sell? Quote
Dan Gould Posted January 6, 2004 Author Report Posted January 6, 2004 Great question, CJ! Especially considering how many Smith imitators Prestige put out in the 60s. Makes you wonder if that's a regret, not recognizing Smith as a major new talent. Thanks a lot, and folks, please keep them coming, I won't be doing the interview before January 17. Quote
CJ Shearn Posted January 6, 2004 Report Posted January 6, 2004 (edited) True, Dan, and it makes you wonder what if Weinstock had signed Smith. If Smith had been a Prestige artist instead of Blue Note, would the quality of his sessions be consistently as high as they were for Blue Note? and what players might have been on those sessions? (this would be an interesting exercise for us to think up names and such) judging from someone like Trane's Prestige sessions, much of the output is great, yet there were a few misses along the way-- the Ray Draper session, for example. Also, if Smith were on Prestige, most of his sessions would probably be available on OJC, whereas now we tend to clamor for some select BN sessions not currently available. Besides, weren't most of Prestige's organ sessions cut with other producers such as Ozzie Cadena, Esmond Edwards and Bob Porter (who as I understand was a champion of jazz organ)? Edited January 6, 2004 by CJ Shearn Quote
Christiern Posted January 6, 2004 Report Posted January 6, 2004 If memory serves me right, Esmond subsequently produced at least one Smith session for Verve. Don't blame Bob Weinstock for Coltrane's presence on the Ray Draper session. Ray told me that he himself put that group together. Quote
CJ Shearn Posted January 6, 2004 Report Posted January 6, 2004 (edited) I wasn't aware that Draper put together the band on that record, so that's nice to know, though for me from what I remember of that record in the Prestige box (which I unfortunately had to sell when tight on money) is that it wasn't that interesting compared to some of the other music on the set. The tenor/tuba did create a nice dark tone color for the frontline though. Chris, do you remember what Verve session Edwards produced for Jimmy? I believe he also was involved with "Off the Top" in 1982 as well. Edited January 6, 2004 by CJ Shearn Quote
mikeweil Posted January 6, 2004 Report Posted January 6, 2004 Wasn't the sessions with Draper a reciprocal thing, since Trane played on a Jubilee Draper session as well? Quote
Christiern Posted January 6, 2004 Report Posted January 6, 2004 Wasn't the sessions with Draper a reciprocal thing, since Trane played on a Jubilee Draper session as well? Reciprocal for what? Quote
Dmitry Posted January 7, 2004 Report Posted January 7, 2004 How did the writers get picked to write liner notes? Did they also hang out in the office looking for advances? Quote
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