Woody Herman - late Deccas

[Fer Urbina]

Anyone here knows the best way to get Woody Herman's recordings for Decca from 1943 to the end of his contract (he signed with Columbia in early 1945)?

As far as I know, the "Chronogical" Classics series didn't make it that far, and I don't know of any CD reissues that have these recordings in a complete fashion.

As for vinyl, the only systematic reissue I've found is the Ajaz label, in their "In Disco Order" series.

Any comments, suggestions will be most welcome.

F

[colinmce]

There are these, but certainly not complete:

[Fer Urbina]

There are these, but certainly not complete:

Thanks! The second one, the Decca/GRP CD I already have - I don't think it goes beyond 1942, before the period I'm interested in.

It'd seem that these complement each other nicely, but as you said, not complete.

F

[gmonahan]

And the sound on the old Decca Jazz Heritage LP is pretty gruesome--echoey reprocessed stereo.

gregmo

[Big Beat Steve]

And the sound on the old Decca Jazz Heritage LP is pretty gruesome--echoey reprocessed stereo.

gregmo

Can it really be any more gruesome than those "In Disco Order" series??

For all I remember and have listened to this series by and large had a pretty dull and muffled sound. I find it of interest only if it can be picked up dirt cheap to fill specific gaps or when it covers to orchestras that have not been reissued comprehensively elsewhere. I happen to have a few of these Herman "In Disco Order" LPs and just am giving Vol. 15 (which incidentally covers the entire July 31, 1942 to March 23, 1944 period, i.e. not much there, thanks for the ban!) a spin now. The sound on this one is not as muffled as on others from that series (i.e. other orchestras) but nothing spectacular to write home about either IMO.

OTOH, the "Turning Point" LP was around in various guises. I have it as a U.K. Coral pressing (Coral CP2) which is strictly mono and sounds very much OK to me.

As for the "Turning Point" LP not giving the discographically complete picture - O.K., and no doubt one man's poison is another man's meat, but are we really talking about trying to get all those saccharine vocals too?

Fer Urbina, have you checked the concurrent Woody Hermann V-Disc reissues on the Hep label too? The first recordings date from Aug./Sept. 1944.

[Fer Urbina]

...

As for the "Turning Point" LP not giving the discographically complete picture - O.K., and no doubt one man's poison is another man's meat, but are we really talking about trying to get all those saccharine vocals too?

Fer Urbina, have you checked the concurrent Woody Herman V-Disc reissues on the Hep label too? The first recordings date from Aug./Sept. 1944.

Thanks for that, Big Beat Steve. I know there's plenty of high-sugar content in those recordings, which is probably the reason why they're so hard to get hold of (and the fact that in months Herman would go to Columbia and record a great band in great sound - check the Mosaic box for that). It'd be interesting if the Disco Order LPs are the only way to hear the complete output. I'm actually interested in that, in the whole picture (for a number of reasons, not just obsessive completism - I promise). I actually found vol. 16 very cheap, and will eventually get vol. 15.

As for the Hep reissues, yes I know them (and they're highly recommended). It's also interesting, in contrast with those 1943-1944 studio recordings, that there's so much live/V-Disk/broadcast material available on CD with very little overlap.

F

[Fer Urbina]

There are these, but certainly not complete:

I actually got this one last week (for 2 quid ) in a different edition (British Coral/MCA, CP2 MONO), and it's quite complete: between November 1943 and December 1944 it only misses five released studio tracks ("The Music Stopped", "I Couldn't Sleep a Wink Last Night", "Who Dat Up There", "Saturday Night", and "Please Don't Say No"). Informative liner notes by George T. Simon too.

F

Edited March 21, 2012 by Fer Urbina

[Swinging Swede]

Woody Herman's later Deccas are one of the most glaring omissions in the CD reissue here. A bit surprising since they cover the gradual formation of the famous First Herd. Classics should have gotten to it, but unfortunately folded when they were at 1941.

The Proper box The Woody Herman Story has a fair bit of late Woody Herman Deccas, but is still far from complete in that regard.

One discographical item that has intrigued me is the Ralph Burns arrangement of Flying Home which was recorded at the very last Decca session in December 1944. Inexplicably it remains unissued but it should be a good 'un. Perhaps it perished in the 2008 Universal fire, though.

[AllenLowe]

those Decca LPs are ruined by the fake reverb, at least for me. Even that white-covered Coral.