Richard Bock, Pacific Jazz

[Stompin at the Savoy]

2 minutes ago, hopkins said:

Yes, but creating an account is free, and then you can read it for an hour at a time (renewable infinitely), if you don't mind doing so on a computer or tablet/phone. 

I have not read it yet.

Yeah, I registered, which was fairly painless, and checked it out - you can get it for an hour and renew every hour.  It's not too bad if you click the full screen icon and then hit F11 on a pc to get it really full screen and then you can use the "+" button to enlarge it big enough to read.  I like the book.  Wish I could find a copy for a reasonable price!

[Eric]

$749.99 at amazom!

[hopkins]

AbeBooks is your friend. I found a copy for 15£...

[sidewinder]

I bought a new copy of this when I was still at school (needed to specially order it from the local bookseller) using pocket money. It has the silver cover in paperback and cost the best part of £5 when it came out - a small fortune at the time !  Back then it was an invaluable and unique resource and could be frustrating e.g. when referencing rare Blue Note LPs in the US version, long since deleted and seldom seen on our shores by mere mortals.

Still have it. Also have the 2 volumes of the updated edition (red and green covers) from much later. I quite like Stuart Nicholson's reviews in the Vol 2.

Update - sorry to repeat myself from earlier posts (forgot about them) but I like the book !

21 minutes ago, Eric said:

$749.99 at amazom!

It kept its value I guess !

Edited December 19, 2023 by sidewinder

[Eric]

29 minutes ago, hopkins said:

AbeBooks is your friend. I found a copy for 15£...

Looks like he wrote two?  One covering earlier periods of jazz.  I saw those cheap, but the book in question here was $233.

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&cm_sp=SearchF-_-home-_-Results&ref_=search_f_hp&tn=Modern jazz%3A The essential records %3A a critical selection

[sidewinder]

That silver paperback is the original UK edition from 1976. Maybe the other one is a US edition?

The silver book covers just modern jazz. The updated vols 1 and 2 (with vol 1 covering up to swing) came many years later.

Edited December 19, 2023 by sidewinder

[hopkins]

Having references to out of print albums is not an issue, IMO, as you can always find them on Discogs, and from there search for other versions using various criteria (artist, track titles...).

[sidewinder]

5 minutes ago, hopkins said:

Having references to out of print albums is not an issue, IMO, as you can always find them on Discogs, and from there search for other versions using various criteria (artist, track titles...).

Back in 1976 here in the UK it was an issue !

[hopkins]

6 minutes ago, sidewinder said:

Back in 1976 here in the UK it was an issue !

Right. It is easy to forget how things were back then.

My children are always curious as to how we organized our social life when we were young and not "connected". Makes me smile - good times!

[sidewinder]

Yeah, it is all about context. Getting access to these recordings was so frustrating back then. Now it is all so accessible in multiple formats. We are spoiled !

Edited December 19, 2023 by sidewinder

[romualdo]

On 12/19/2023 at 10:29 PM, hopkins said:

Available on the Internet Archive:

https://archive.org/details/modernjazzessent00harr

many thanks, account created (easy as) & just spent 2 hours perusing plus taken screen shots of the book. Excellent analysis with the vast majority of this material now on CD/digital media

Wonder if Cook & Morton used this as a primary reference source for their ratings especially the crowns/5 stars

Edited December 29, 2023 by romualdo

[Ken Dryden]

I was surprised when I brought up Richard Bock's editing of tapes with Gerry Mulligan in a 1995 interview. I recall that Mulligan was not in favor of restoring the edited portions, as Mosaic did for the boxed set of the early quartet recordings for the label.

The mess that Bock made with Jim Hall's LP, particularly adding Larry Bunker's overdubbed drums for a later reissue, was a travesty, along with his discarding of the master tapes of Chico Hamilton's The Ellington Suite with Eric Dolphy, who was inspired on that session.

[mikeweil]

In the preface to my Paul Bryant discography I wrote:

"Bryant’s discography is an illustration of producer Richard Bock’s almost obsessive use of editing, in this case to release tracks in different formats. Besides the LPs there were shortened versions on 45 rpm singles, and different edits for 33 rpm singles for juke boxes or radio play."

Besides that, he used an alternate take without notice!

Edited December 31, 2023 by mikeweil

[JSngry]

1 minute ago, mikeweil said:

In the preface to my Paul Bryant discography I wrote:

"Bryant’s discography is an illustration of producer Richard Bock’s almost obsessive use of editing, in this case to release tracks in different formats. Besides the LPs there were shortened versions on 45 rpm singles, and different edits for 33 rpm singles for juke boxes or radio play."

But all the same takes, correct? 

[Teasing the Korean]

I like how Bock overdubbed exotic percussion onto some Montgomery Brothers tracks to create an exotica LP.  

[mikeweil]

21 hours ago, JSngry said:

But all the same takes, correct? 

With one exception! "This Is The Blues"

[JSngry]

Wow, that's random, right?