Head Man Posted August 17, 2011 Report Share Posted August 17, 2011 According to Wikipidia the Mainstream Records back catalogue was sold to Legacy Records (part of Sony)in 1993. There are some tasty looking albums in the catalogue: Mainstream Records Discography some, (or all?) of which have appeared as Japanese reissues on P-Vine. Does anyone know whether any of them ever came out as domestic releases on Legacy/Sony or if there are plans to release them as such in the future? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Wheel Posted August 17, 2011 Report Share Posted August 17, 2011 Can't answer your specific question re cd releases, but there are quite a few Mainstream titles available for online listening on Spotify. They appear to be mostly listed as "copyright <year> Mainstream Records," which is different than most of the Sony titles I have seen. Those are listed as "copyright <year> Sony Music Entertainment." I would guess that most of the ones on Spotify are there because they were reissued on CD at some point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teasing the Korean Posted August 17, 2011 Report Share Posted August 17, 2011 Piero Piccioni's "The Tenth Victim" is one of my favorite albums ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Head Man Posted August 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2011 (edited) According to Wikipidia the Mainstream Records back catalogue was sold to Legacy Records (part of Sony)in 1993. There are some tasty looking albums in the catalogue: Mainstream Records Discography some, (or all?) of which have appeared as Japanese reissues on P-Vine. Does anyone know whether any of them ever came out as domestic releases on Legacy/Sony or if there are plans to release them as such in the future? I came across this compilation from Ace records (UK) which contains tracks by various artists from the Mainstream roster: Mainstream Jazz Compilation There's also one containing tracks by soul and jazz artists: Mainstream Soul/Jazz Compilation Both look tasty! I've e-mailed Ace to ask whether they intend re-issuing any complete jazz and/or soul albums from the Mainstream catalogue. Edited August 21, 2011 by Head Man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMP Posted August 23, 2011 Report Share Posted August 23, 2011 A lot of the titles are available on iTunes, prices are fairly low. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leeway Posted August 26, 2011 Report Share Posted August 26, 2011 The LPs are available on the 2nd hand market for mostly reasonable prices. I have the Harold Land LPs, the Charles McPherson, and the Kynard. Pretty good. I don't think I've seen Mainstream titles on domestic CD, although it seems some of their title were issued on CD. Discogs gives useful info: Discogs Mainstream Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted August 26, 2011 Report Share Posted August 26, 2011 Mr Shad is an intreresting producer. He made some fine Mainstream sessions. AKAIK, none of them are masterpieces. I welcome corrections - and I do know about Hadley's recordings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted August 27, 2011 Report Share Posted August 27, 2011 I'll go out on a limb and say that Maynard's Color Him Wild is a masterpiece within its own world. If I'm only having one Maynard (and I more or less am), this is the one. As faar as Hadley's work goes, the first Mainstream album was...eh... but Iapetus...I continue to represent for Iapetus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Head Man Posted August 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2011 Looking at the discography I'm astonished that so little of it has been re-issued on CD in the US and Europe. Even the Japanese re-issues are difficult to get hold of. Does anyone know why this is? Who owns the re-issue rights? BTW I've heard nothing back from Ace re my query about possible future releases by them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leeway Posted August 27, 2011 Report Share Posted August 27, 2011 Looking at the discography I'm astonished that so little of it has been re-issued on CD in the US and Europe. Even the Japanese re-issues are difficult to get hold of. Does anyone know why this is? Who owns the re-issue rights? BTW I've heard nothing back from Ace re my query about possible future releases by them. I wonder if there is enough Blue Mitchell or Harold Land stuff on Mainstream to make a Mosaic Select? Wondering too if there would be interest in it if there was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted August 27, 2011 Report Share Posted August 27, 2011 Not sure if all the Blue Mitchell stuff would be "of interest" to the Mosaic concept. Some of it's pretty "commercial". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Stryker Posted August 27, 2011 Report Share Posted August 27, 2011 (edited) Part of my issue with Mainstream was always the horrible engineering -- the rubbery bass recorded direct and far too upfront in the mix, with drums, especially cymbals, too far in the back and dead sounding and the whole ensembles frequently a muddy mess. The '70s -- a horrible decade for fashion and recorded sound. That said, at least two of the three Charles McPherson records have some nice playing with interesting writing by Ernie Wilkins: "Siku Ya Bibi," ballad album with strings dedicated to Billie Holiday; and "Today's Man" with a seven piece horn section. On the later there's a quartet version of "Stranger in Paradise" on which Charles turns in one of the truly spectacular recorded bebop solos of the decade -- inspired melodies and phrasing, beautiful flow of rhythm, singing sound, shadowed perfectly by Barry Harris' piano. Nothing else on the record is at this level, however, and the sound of Billy Higgins' drums and Lawrence Evans' bass brings tears (of sorrow) to my eyes. I also like the two Hal Galper records, "Inner Journey," an acoustic trio with Dave Holland and Bill Goodwin, and "The Guerilla Band" with the Brecker Bros, two drummers, electric piano and bass and guitar. The latter is a very creative example of the zeigeist mix of the early '70s that married modal post-bop improvising and textural jazz rock. I'd love to hear this remastered to get some clarity into the presentation. Galps is always great -- loose, fearless, messy in the best sense, with a sense of adventure grounded by the discipline that comes from having done your homework. Very underrated musician -- still is. Edited August 27, 2011 by Mark Stryker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted August 27, 2011 Report Share Posted August 27, 2011 Part of my issue with Mainstream was always the horrible engineering... Definitely. But what's up with this? Mainstream made its debut in the 1960s, then seemed to go kinda quiet for a while, then came back with that new look (and bad engineering) in the early 70s. What caused to off time? Or am I wrong about that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leeway Posted August 27, 2011 Report Share Posted August 27, 2011 Part of my issue with Mainstream was always the horrible engineering... Definitely. But what's up with this? Mainstream made its debut in the 1960s, then seemed to go kinda quiet for a while, then came back with that new look (and bad engineering) in the early 70s. What caused to off time? Or am I wrong about that? Discogs doesn't show much of a gap, if any , from the 60s into the 70s for Mainstream, although the 70s were clearly the heyday for the label. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted August 27, 2011 Report Share Posted August 27, 2011 I think I might be missing one of the Paul Jeffrey Mainstreams. . . I like the two I have. A LOT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted August 27, 2011 Report Share Posted August 27, 2011 Part of my issue with Mainstream was always the horrible engineering... Definitely. But what's up with this? Mainstream made its debut in the 1960s, then seemed to go kinda quiet for a while, then came back with that new look (and bad engineering) in the early 70s. What caused to off time? Or am I wrong about that? Discogs doesn't show much of a gap, if any , from the 60s into the 70s for Mainstream, although the 70s were clearly the heyday for the label. I found this http://www.bsnpubs.com/new/mainstream.pdf which is as likely complete as can be...looks like 1969 was the only really "off" year, the only release being a Best Of for the Amboy Dukes (just think - both Ted Nugent & Janis Joplin recorded for Mainstream!). What this also reveals, and was the basis of my impression, was that the label had a rather lengthy gap where there was no jazz activity, not really coming back to the fore until 1971. So that's what I'm wondering what the story is... how Shad went from jazz record producer to all this other stuff and then back to jazz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leeway Posted August 27, 2011 Report Share Posted August 27, 2011 The Amboy Dukes surprised me too, but the presence of Stockhausen, Feldman, Berio, and MEV in the catalog positively shocked me. I had no idea. That's quite a range of recordings, although it was still mostly a jazz catalog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted August 27, 2011 Report Share Posted August 27, 2011 That stuff was first released on Time, iirc, Shad's label before Mainstream. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete C Posted August 31, 2011 Report Share Posted August 31, 2011 Sony bought Mainstream because it released the first Big Brother and the Holding Company album, and Columbia wanted to add it to their Janis properties. They pretty much ignored the catalog except for repackaging some Sarah Vaughan & Carmen McRae albums (both were at their peak during those years). It appears that some titles have been released through the Japanese P-Vine label. I love Charles McPherson's Today's Man, with great Ernie Wilkins charts. That stuff was first released on Time, iirc, Shad's label before Mainstream. IIRC, Mainstream had a "Time Series" for rereleases of Time material. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmonahan Posted August 31, 2011 Report Share Posted August 31, 2011 I imagine most people at Sony don't even *know* they own it. Still, Mosaic has been busy with Sony-owned material, so maybe we'll see some Mosaic Mainstream sets down the line. That would be nice. They could do a Sarah Vaughan box, maybe a Maynard Ferguson one. gregmo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted O'Reilly Posted August 31, 2011 Report Share Posted August 31, 2011 I imagine most people at Sony don't even *know* they own it. Still, Mosaic has been busy with Sony-owned material, so maybe we'll see some Mosaic Mainstream sets down the line. That would be nice. They could do a Sarah Vaughan box, maybe a Maynard Ferguson one. gregmo In almost the same vein as Mainstream, how about Cameo (or Cameo/Parkway) for a couple of fine Maynard Ferguson albums... Were there other jazz releases on that label? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul secor Posted August 31, 2011 Report Share Posted August 31, 2011 (edited) I imagine most people at Sony don't even *know* they own it. Still, Mosaic has been busy with Sony-owned material, so maybe we'll see some Mosaic Mainstream sets down the line. That would be nice. They could do a Sarah Vaughan box, maybe a Maynard Ferguson one. gregmo In almost the same vein as Mainstream, how about Cameo (or Cameo/Parkway) for a couple of fine Maynard Ferguson albums... Were there other jazz releases on that label? There were a couple of Clark Terry releases on Cameo: and Edited August 31, 2011 by paul secor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted O'Reilly Posted August 31, 2011 Report Share Posted August 31, 2011 (edited) I imagine most people at Sony don't even *know* they own it. Still, Mosaic has been busy with Sony-owned material, so maybe we'll see some Mosaic Mainstream sets down the line. That would be nice. They could do a Sarah Vaughan box, maybe a Maynard Ferguson one. gregmo In almost the same vein as Mainstream, how about Cameo (or Cameo/Parkway) for a couple of fine Maynard Ferguson albums... Were there other jazz releases on that label? There were a couple of Clark Terry releases on Cameo: and Thanks! I even have the second one...forgot the label. Edited August 31, 2011 by Ted O'Reilly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted August 31, 2011 Report Share Posted August 31, 2011 Yeah, I once had that Clark Terry LP with Ted's image of the cover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted O'Reilly Posted August 31, 2011 Report Share Posted August 31, 2011 Yeah, I once had that Clark Terry LP with Ted's image of the cover. Both the CT records have cover pictures from the same photo session, obviously. Geez, they could have asked him to bring a different shirt and take off the hat so they didn't look so cheap! "Let's just grab another pic -- no point in hiring a photograper again..." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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