Origin Jazz Library / Bob Dunn

[jazztrain]

To transition from one post that mentioned OJL to another, I've been meaning to make note of the following new release, the long-awaited 2-cd set on Bob Dunn: Bob Dunn (click on new release tab and follow).

Highly recommended!

[Big Beat Steve]

THANK YOU!!! for making this known.

But ... some closer comparison of the track listing with what one may already have (Mmilton Brown etc.) would be called for as for the most part they were not released under Bob Dunn's name but by other (well-known) bands.

As I for one have most of the 80s vinyl reissues on the Old Timey, String, Rambler, Texas Rose etc. labels as well as the full run of WS-related CD reissues on the Krazy Kat label and sundry other items I need to find out beforehand and I guess I am not the only one.

If these were all by Bob Dunn's Vagabonds it would be easy to check if one already has them or not but so ...?

Anyway, the Original Jazz reissues by Leon's Lone Star Cowboys and by Ocie Stockard (despite the likely duplications with ZirconVert 702) from the same series look like worthwhile purchases to fill more gaps too.

[jazztrain]

Big Beat Steve:

I had a lot of the material already (the Milton Brown, Roy Newman, and Cliff Bruner sides, for example) but still went for it. Some of the other sides are somewhat more obscure, although you might some of it if you have the earlier western swing compilations that you mention below. There's also something nice to have so many sides with Bob Dunn solos together in one place.

I would mention that the mastering is by Mike Keiffer and is first rate. The sound is really stunning on some of the sides, especially when compared to the work of some of the other labels that you cite below (e.g., Krazy Kat). There's a nice booklet as well with lots of photos, many of them apparently never published before, and biographical information.

Note that the package is an odd size (approximately 5.5 inches x 8.5 inches)and may need to be shelved by itself.

Here's some additional information, cut and pasted from the Origin Jazz Library website, that might help you or others decide what you might or might not have already. The name after each song title is the group, not the composer:

Western Swing Chronicles, Volume 5 - Disc 1

1) Taking Off (Milton Brown)

2) I Love You (Milton Brown)

3) Wabash Blues (Milton Brown)

4) Who's Sorry Now (Milton Brown)

5) You're Tired of Me (Milton Brown)

6) The House at the End of the Lane (Milton Brown)

7) Somebody Stole My Gal (Milton Brown)

8) Ida, Sweet as Apple Cider (Milton Brown)

9) Beale Street Mama (Milton Brown)

10) An Old Water Mill By a Waterfall (Milton Brown)

11) Everybody's Blues (Roy Newman)

12) She's Doggin' Me (Roy Newman)

13) Takin' Off (Roy Newman)

14) Catch On and Let's Go (Roy Newman)

15) Over Moonlit Waters (Cliff Bruner)

16) Yearning Just for You (Cliff Bruner)

17) When You're Smiling (The Whole World Smiles with You) (Cliff Bruner)

18) I'll Keep on Loving You (Cliff Bruner)

19) Star Dust (Cliff Bruner)

20) Easy Rider - Easy Rider (Buddy Jones)

21) Just Because You're in Deep Elem (Shelton Bros.)

22) A Precious Memory (Leon Selph)

23) Some Day (Leon Selph)

24) Mama's Gone Goodbye (Bob Dunn's Vagabonds)

25) Blue Skies (Bob Dunn's Vagabonds)

26) Mean Mistreater (Bob Dunn's Vagabonds)

Western Swing Chronicles, Volume 5 - Disc 2

1) When Night Falls (Bob Dunn's Vagabonds)

2) You'll Pay Some Day (Bob Dunn's Vagabonds)

3) You Don't Know My Mind (Bob Dunn's Vagabonds)

4) Graveyard Blues (Bob Dunn's Vagabonds)

5) I Want the Whole World to Know (Bob Dunn's Vagabonds)

6) Stompin' at the Honky Tonk (Bob Dunn's Vagabonds)

7) I'll Tell the Wolrd (She's a Good Little Girl) (Bob Dunn's Vagabonds)

8) Juke Box Rag (Bob Dunn's Vagabonds)

9) Marcheta (Bob Dunn's Vagabonds)

10) There Must Be Someone for Me (Floyd Tillman)

11) I Never Felt This Way Before (Floyd Tillman)

12) Swing Steel, Swing (Bill Boyd)

13) I Don't Get It (Bill Mounce)

14) From the Start (Bill Mounce)

15) It's Just My Imagination (Bill Mounce)

16) Kickin' It Off (Bill Mounce)

17) I Found a New Baby (Bill Mounce)

18) What's Bob Done? (Bill Mounce)

19) Bugle Two-Step (Sons of Dixie)

20) I'm Always Dreaming of You (Sons of Dixie)

21) Don't Ever Go Wrong (Sons of Dixie)

22) Mary Jane (Modern Mountaineers)

23) Takin' Off (Modern Mountaineers)

24) Baby, You've Let Me Down (Modern Mountaineers)

25) San Antonio Blues (Cliff Bruner)

26) Blue Over You (Tommy Dover)

27) I've Quit My Cattin' Around (Harry Choates)

  On 11/28/2010 at 7:08 PM, Big Beat Steve said:

THANK YOU!!! for making this known.

But ... some closer comparison of the track listing with what one may already have (Mmilton Brown etc.) would be called for as for the most part they were not released under Bob Dunn's name but by other (well-known) bands.

As I for one have most of the 80s vinyl reissues on the Old Timey, String, Rambler, Texas Rose etc. labels as well as the full run of WS-related CD reissues on the Krazy Kat label and sundry other items I need to find out beforehand and I guess I am not the only one.

If these were all by Bob Dunn's Vagabonds it would be easy to check if one already has them or not but so ...?

Anyway, the Original Jazz reissues by Leon's Lone Star Cowboys and by Ocie Stockard (despite the likely duplications with ZirconVert 702) from the same series look like worthwhile purchases to fill more gaps too.

[AllenLowe]

I am thrilled, as I have been awaiting this one.

[kenny weir]

Oh man, so happy this one is finally out!

But - shit, really, they've included the Milton Brown sides?

Those plus the Bruner, Tillman, Newman cuts and a few Dunn tracks mean I already have almost half of this set.

Bummer.

I'll have to think about it.

Seems to me a pretty decent slice of the potential customers for this will be facing the same dilemma.

Edited November 29, 2010 by kenny weir

[AllenLowe]

one to think about, if with duplicates, is that Michael Kieffer does their transfer work, and he is one of the best - so depending where your other sources originate, this still might be worth it.

[jazztrain]

I share the frustration, but we may be in the minority. Recognizing that some of Dunn's groundbreaking and early influential work was with groups like Milton Brown, Cliff Bruner, and Roy Newman, they would have been subject to criticism if they did not include some of that material. I think the box is meant to be an overview of Dunn's career, not a "fill in the gaps" issue and not a complete issue of everything that he was on (which would have resulted in even more duplication).

Duplication is a long time bane of collectors. You learn to live with it. You also learn to appreciate it when something that really is complete (like the Milton Brown box that they issued previously) is issued. I'm just glad that it is out, since it was a very long time coming.

  On 11/29/2010 at 12:09 AM, kenny weir said:

Oh man, so happy this one is finally out!

But - shit, really, they've included the Milton Brown sides?

Those plus the Bruner, Tillman, Newman cuts and a few Dunn tracks mean I already have almost half of this set.

Bummer.

I'll have to think about it.

Seems to me a pretty decent slice of the potential customers for this will be facing the same dilemma.

[Big Beat Steve]

To an extent I agree, Jazztrain.

However, I seriously doubt that "we" are in the minority as far as complaints about duplications (no, make that triplications or quadruplications, really ) are concerned. Western Swing is real minority interest field even amoung Country music collectors, and I'd venture a guess that among those interested in this field the share of those who belong to the "DIEHARD COLLECTOR" category is disproportionately high (cannot be a coincidence that most of those I know, many of whom are outside jazz in their collecting preferences, are of that calibre). That means that there are bound to be LOTS of duplications in the collections of most lovers of this niche of music, especially since quite a few of the key artists/bands (such as milton Brown and Cliff Bruner) have already been covered by what certainly is the definitive word on the subject. And collations such as Bob Dunn's are bit too "special" to attract lots of total newbies too.

Of course I can understand the Origin Jazz (and similar labels') approach. When doing their Ocie Stockard reissue I guess it would have been too much for them not to re-reissue their long-OOP vinyl (OJL-8103), especially since this one seems to be among the rarer of those earlier reissues. Owners of the ZirconVert 702 CD reissue will have to live with the fact that this means 8 duplicated tracks. I'll take the plunge anyway (as I will with the Bob Dunn set, I guess). The (almost-)completist wins out but still it is a bit dissatisfying, especially since there still is a lot of music from that segment that has never been reissued. Which is why I openly welcome the Krazy Kat series, even if this means pops and crackles here and there (and the BACM reissues too, though fidelity is an issue there sometimes).

In short, narrowing down the arguments in favor of "new" (re-)reissues primarily to remastering questions is a bit meagre in the long run. What about cutting down a bit on duplications and resurrecting more items AND doing top-notch remastering? Contrary to other collectible musical styles I'd venture a guess that we still are FAR from scraping the barrel here when it comes to reissuing never before reissued items.

Edited November 29, 2010 by Big Beat Steve

[kenny weir]

I agree, Steve. My hunch is way over half of the people interested in this set will have a great deal of the material already.

I understand the points made by Jazztrain, and don't blame them for trying to cover the bases and perhaps even snag some non-nutjob customers.

But it's disappointing nonetheless, especially - as you point out - as there's even more stuff out there.

[AllenLowe]

Michael Kieffer. Trust me on this. Makes it worth it.

[Big Beat Steve]

OK, OK, OK - my order for this set (along with those by Ocie Stockard, Leon Chappel and W. Lee O'Daniel) went out this evening. That enough of a plug for the label??

[AllenLowe]

sorry, just found out he didn't do the transfers for this one -

just kidding

[Big Beat Steve]

Received my shipping today. The Bob Dunn set is presented in a very appealing way indeed. The booklet alone is worth part of the price of admission. While I still regret the duplications of a good deal of the tracks (M. Brown etc.), as a Bob Dunn showcase it all does make sense so no regrets about the purchase itself (neither about that of the other CDs from that series).

And order processing and shipping directly from OJL worked a treat, so order with confidence, you overseas buyers!

[AllenLowe]

hows the transfers?

[Big Beat Steve]

  On 12/11/2010 at 1:30 PM, AllenLowe said:

hows the transfers?

Thought you'd ask.

Have started off with CD2 (Bob Dunn's Vagabonds are comparatively uncharted reissue territory). The tracks sound very clean to me but not unnaturally so as they have a warmth that makes me feel that they indeed did not overdo it with the cleaning up. As I write this, "Stomping At The Honky Tonk" is playing, and it DOES have some very slight background hiss (makes for authenticity, and unobtrusive to me anyway). Might make an aural comparison with the fidelity of the same track on the STR805 LP later on.

Edited December 11, 2010 by Big Beat Steve

[J.A.W.]

The Texas Rose Milton Brown CD-set sounds to me as if excessive noise reduction was used. I hope the Brown tracks on the Dunn set don't sound as dead ad they do on the Brown set.

[J.A.W.]

This old thread deserves a bump

[Big Beat Steve]

It sure does but I cannot answer your question about noise reduction as I am not familiar with the Milton Brown Texas Rose CD reissue you metion.

Am spinning the Milton Brown tracks right now and I still like the overall sound but definitely won't go nitpicking about what one just MIGHT PERHAPS find to sound "dead" on the umpteenth "ears-stuck-in-the-speaker" listen. I am quite satisfied with this package. (Though I must admit the others I ordered from that series - Stockard, Chappelear and O'Daniel - have received many more spins in the CD player)

[jazztrain]

I just checked the OJL website, hoping it might provide information about possible future projects. Alas, nothing noted. One wishes that they would tackle some other western swing projects, but the market must be fairly limited these days.

  On 1/7/2012 at 8:26 PM, Big Beat Steve said:

It sure does but I cannot answer your question about noise reduction as I am not familiar with the Milton Brown Texas Rose CD reissue you metion.

Am spinning the Milton Brown tracks right now and I still like the overall sound but definitely won't go nitpicking about what one just MIGHT PERHAPS find to sound "dead" on the umpteenth "ears-stuck-in-the-speaker" listen. I am quite satisfied with this package. (Though I must admit the others I ordered from that series - Stockard, Chappelear and O'Daniel - have received many more spins in the CD player)