Blue Note recordings by "The Three Sounds - some errors and updates to the online discography

[Shrdlu]

In the absence of a Mosaic set of The Three Sounds' Blue Note recordings from 1959 through 1962, I have collected everything that has been issued.

I noticed that there are errors and omissions from the excellent and very helpful online Blue Note discography here

https://www.jazzdisco.org/blue-note-records/

so I decided to message the compilers with this update.

I might as well give the information here.

 

(1) "Azule Serape", " For Dancers Only" and "Tadd's Delight" are not on the 1998 U.S. CD "Standards". They are all on the 1998 U.S. CD "Black Orchid". "Blues On Trial" is unissued - it is not on "Standards". Here is the corrected listing: 

 

The Three Sounds + Ike Quebec 

Gene Harris, piano, organ; Andrew Simpkins, bass; Bill Dowdy, drums; + Ike Quebec, tenor sax #9. 

Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, February 4, 1962 

1. tk.2	Sometimes I'm Happy	Blue Note CDP 7243 8 21281 2 0
2. tk.4	Easy Does It	unissued
3. tk.6	Azule Serape	Blue Note CDP  7243 8 21289 2 2
4. tk.7	Out Of This World	Blue Note BLP 4197
5. tk.9	Girl Of My Dreams	-
6. tk.10	Old Lamplighter	unissued
7. tk.11	Just In Time	Blue Note BLP 4197
8. tk.14	I Thought About You	unissued
9. tk.18	Blues On Trial	unissued
10. tk.20	Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise	unissued
11. tk.22	Makin' Whoopee	Blue Note CDP 7243 8 21281 2 0
12. tk.23	For Dancers Only	Blue Note CDP 7243 8 21289 2 2
13. tk.24	Nature Boy	unissued
14. tk.25	Remember	-
15. tk.26	Wadin'	-
16. tk.27	Mountain Greenery	-
17. tk.29	What A Difference A Day Makes	-
18. tk.30	Tadd's Delight	Blue Note CDP 7243 8 21289 2 2

* Blue Note BLP 4197, BST 84197   The 3 Sounds - Out Of This World   1966+

* Blue Note CDP 7243 8 21281 2 0   The Three Sounds - Standards   1998

* Blue Note CDP 7243 8 21289 2 2  The Three Sounds - Black Orchid 1998 

 

(2) From the March 7, 1962 session, "I'll Be Around, long version" is on the 2003 Japanese RVG CD "Out Of This World", TOCJ-9528, so it is no longer unissued. It is very unusual for the Japanese RVG CDs to contain any tracks that were not on the original LP, and I almost missed this track, which is very good, by the way. "Over The Rainbow", from the same session, is also on this CD. 

 

(3) Three Japanese CDs from 2015 contain a lot of bonus tracks, and they should probably add these to the discography. 

 

   (i) The "Here We Come" CD, UCCQ-5091, contains "The Girl Next Door" and "This Is The Way 'Tis", from December 13, 1960, so they are not unissued. 

 

   (ii) The "Black Orchid" CD, UCCQ-5104, contains "Tadd's Delight", "Azule Serape", "For Dancers Only" and "Nature Boy" from February 4, 1962, "Over The Rainbow" from March 7, 1962, and "Babe's Blues" from March 8, 1962. 

 

   (iii) The "Hey There" CD, UCCQ-5096, contains 10 tracks from August 13, 1961: everything from the session except "In A Mellow Tone" and "Here We Come". "Billy Boy" IS on that CD, so it is no longer unissued. 

 

I hope that this helps. There are many other Japanese CDs of this group that are not in the discography, but they do not include any bonus tracks that are not on the original LPs, and they are easily found on the Discogs website.

 

It would be nice to have the unissued tracks by this superbly-knit, grooving trio. It is hard to believe that they are not good. But I doubt that they will ever appear. There is probably too much material from 1959 through 1962 for a Mosaic set. I arranged what is available onto custom CDs, and got to 11, though I arranged them in a logical way and did not jam them in as tightly as I could have done.

 

[mjzee]

One correction: "Blues On Trial" was issued, under Ike Quebec's name, on "The Lost Sessions" compilation.

[Shrdlu]

Oh, thanks. I have that CD, too, but I haven't dug it out in years.The Sounds discography is very tedious to go through, because different versions of the various albums have different "bonus" tracks. It really keeps you on your toes.

[EKE BBB]

9 hours ago, Shrdlu said:

In the absence of a Mosaic set of The Three Sounds' Blue Note recordings from 1959 through 1962, I have collected everything that has been issued.

I noticed that there are errors and omissions from the excellent and very helpful online Blue Note discography here

https://www.jazzdisco.org/blue-note-records/

so I decided to message the compilers with this update.

 

Good luck with your message. Jazzdisco.org curators/team have never replied to my emails, nor corrected the discographies.

[Brad]

There will never be a Mosaic set. Well, I should probably temper that and say it’s unlikely. Years ago, during a visit to Mosaic, I talked to Michael Cuscuna about it and he was hesitant to do anything. If it couldn’t happen then, it’s less likely now, due to their financial condition.  

[Shrdlu]

Eke, once before I sent a correction to the discographers, and they incorporated it. It was nothing earth-shattering, but it was good to see it used. My latest submission is not exactly life and death, but it would be nice to see the adjustments made.

Brad, I agree that such a Mosaic set is very unlikely. There is a large amount of material and the company is struggling, so the sets by Mobley and Morgan (suggested) are safer bets for them. The Mobley set seems to have done well. The Three Sounds were popular in their day, but I wonder how many people would be interested in them these days.

It is frustrating that there are a lot of unissued performances that are most likely good (it being a regular working group that could do nearly every item in one take). I wonder how long it will be until the tapes disintegrate.

Anyway, what we do have is great, and there is a lot of it.

[danasgoodstuff]

Since I recently passed on a used copy of the Horace Parlan Mosaic for $80, and I like it and only have around half of it, I'd probably pass on a big Mosaic box of the 3 Sounds unless i won the lottery or something.  I've come to appreciate them (esp'ly the original trio) more and am a bit of a BN completest but the early stuff is kinda samey and although more than merely good, it's not genre defining the way the Ahmad Jamal trio was for me.  But if I see a copy of Hey There or Here We Come or Black Orchid in the wild at a sane price I might well bite even though I already have enuff early and late Sounds to satiate my desire to hear them.  If they were to release the as yet still unreleased stuff from the Lighthouse, I'd jump on that as I find it's end of an era qualities fascinating.  Once you get to the '70s with Gene and what they still sometimes called the Sounds, shit does get weird but not always in a bad way.

Edited August 28, 2020 by danasgoodstuff
typos

[Shrdlu]

The online Blue Note discography incorporated all of my additions and corrections. That was quick. They did a very thorough job and listed the 2003 and 2015 CDs, so, as far as I can see, all of their information about The Three Sounds is now correct. To the team: well done!

They even noticed that I had missed "Blues On Trial", from February 4, 1962, which mjzee pointed out. As well, I had missed the fact that "The Girl Next Door" and "This Is The Way 'Tis", from December 13, 1960, are on the 2003 JRVG CD "It Just Got To Be" (TOCJ-9527), as well as on the 2015 CD "Here We Come" (UCCQ-5091). The discographers spotted that, and so I don't have to send them another message. Once again, it is unusual for a JRVG CD to contain tracks that were not on the original LPs, and any extra tracks on them are easy to miss. 2003 was late in the day for JRVGs.

Phew, it's all complete and correct now.

The complications are due to several changes of plan at various stages of the CD era.

 

[danasgoodstuff]

Good work by both you and them.