Louis Armstrong (Harmony)

[mjzee]

On Dusty Groove, I found a sealed copy of the first Louis Armstrong album I ever owned:

Being on CBS's cheapo Harmony label, it came with no inner sleeve.  Sound quality is actually pretty good; to achieve "Electronically re-recorded to simulate stereo," I think all they did was make one channel louder than the other.

Would anyone have discographical info for this?  It notes that Basin Street Blues and St. James Infirmary have Earl Hines on piano, so I'm guessing those are Okehs.  There's a live Tiger Rag that I'm guessing is from the 1956 Chicago concert.  If anyone can fill in the gaps, I'd appreciate it.

Tracklist:

A1	Tiger Rag
A2	Honeysuckle Rose
A3	Muskrat Ramble
A4	Tin Roof Blues
A5	Shine
B1	Basin Street Blues Piano – Earl Fatha Hines*
B2	Body And Soul
B3	Twelfth Street Rag
B4	St. James Infirmary Piano – Earl Fatha Hines*

[jazztrain]

mjzee:

Here's the source of the material on Harmony HS 11316.  I assume you can easily obtain the personnel from the information below.

Tiger Rag:  Louis Armstrong and the All Stars.  Dec., 20, 1955.

Honeysuckle Rose:  Louis Armstrong and the All Stars (from "Satch Plays Fats").  April 26, 1955.

Muskrat Ramble.  Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five.  Feb. 26, 1926.

Tin Roof Blues.  Louis Armstrong and the All Stars.  Oct. 30, 1955.

Shine.  Louis Armstrong and His Sebastian New Cotton Club Orchestra.  March 9, 1931.

Basin Street Blues.  Louis Armstrong and His Orchestra.  Dec. 4, 1928.

Body and Soul.  Louis Armstrong and His Sebastian New Cotton Club Orchestra.  Oct. 9, 1930.

Twelfth Street Rag.  Louis Armstrong and His Hot Seven.  May 11, 1927.

St. James Infirmary.  Louis Armstrong and His Savoy Ballroom Five.  Dec. 12, 1928.

 

[mjzee]

1 hour ago, jazztrain said:

mjzee:

Here's the source of the material on Harmony HS 11316.  I assume you can easily obtain the personnel from the information below.

Tiger Rag:  Louis Armstrong and the All Stars.  Dec., 20, 1955.

Honeysuckle Rose:  Louis Armstrong and the All Stars (from "Satch Plays Fats").  April 26, 1955.

Muskrat Ramble.  Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five.  Feb. 26, 1926.

Tin Roof Blues.  Louis Armstrong and the All Stars.  Oct. 30, 1955.

Shine.  Louis Armstrong and His Sebastian New Cotton Club Orchestra.  March 9, 1931.

Basin Street Blues.  Louis Armstrong and His Orchestra.  Dec. 4, 1928.

Body and Soul.  Louis Armstrong and His Sebastian New Cotton Club Orchestra.  Oct. 9, 1930.

Twelfth Street Rag.  Louis Armstrong and His Hot Seven.  May 11, 1927.

St. James Infirmary.  Louis Armstrong and His Savoy Ballroom Five.  Dec. 12, 1928.

 

Thank you so much, jazztrain!  You are truly "Master of the Groove!"

[JSngry]

I love that cover.

[mjzee]

1 hour ago, JSngry said:

I love that cover.

Easy to do with Photoshop, not so easy to do back in the day.

We don't think of cheapo record labels as having great covers, but another Harmony album I bought the same day has a great cover by John Van Hamersveld:

Edited December 1, 2020 by mjzee

[Dmitry]

15 hours ago, mjzee said:

On Dusty Groove, I found a sealed copy of the first Louis Armstrong album I ever owned:

 

How old were you when you bought it?

[mjzee]

4 minutes ago, Dmitry said:

How old were you when you bought it?

Around 15 or so.  Discogs shows the release date for both as 1969, but who know when during the year.  I probably bought them around 1970.  I do remember where I bought them: Korvettes in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn.  I either rode my bike there or took the bus.  And even back then, I was pissed that they didn't come with inner sleeves.

[jazztrain]

38 minutes ago, mjzee said:

Around 15 or so.  Discogs shows the release date for both as 1969, but who know when during the year.  I probably bought them around 1970.  I do remember where I bought them: Korvettes in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn.  I either rode my bike there or took the bus.  And even back then, I was pissed that they didn't come with inner sleeves.

mjzee -- Did you ever go to Sam Goody's?  We appear to be about the same age.  I still have LPs I bought at Sam Goody's where they cut the plastic wrap in the bottom right corner of the back and wrote in the price in case you wanted to return it.  

[gmonahan]

45 minutes ago, mjzee said:

Around 15 or so.  Discogs shows the release date for both as 1969, but who know when during the year.  I probably bought them around 1970.  I do remember where I bought them: Korvettes in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn.  I either rode my bike there or took the bus.  And even back then, I was pissed that they didn't come with inner sleeves.

You know, I think that may have been the first record by Satch I ever bought as well. And around the same time! Always loved that version of "Tiger Rag."

 

 

gregmo

[Dmitry]

 

[mjzee]

19 minutes ago, jazztrain said:

mjzee -- Did you ever go to Sam Goody's?  We appear to be about the same age.  I still have LPs I bought at Sam Goody's where they cut the plastic wrap in the bottom right corner of the back and wrote in the price in case you wanted to return it.  

I'd sometimes go to the Sam Goody in Kings Plaza.  I really disliked how they defaced the back cover by doing what you said.  I once asked a cashier not to do it, but she said if she didn't, I couldn't return it.

It was a great time for albums.  There were record stores throughout Brooklyn, and cutout racks in the weirdest places: Woolworth's, drug stores, clothing stores, you name it.  My favorite record store was a place on Flatbush Avenue named (IIRC) Jamie's.  I rarely had to venture outside Brooklyn to buy albums.  One notable exception was for my 15th birthday, I went to King Karol on 42nd St. and 10th Ave. in Manhattan to buy Trout Mask Replica and Uncle Meat, because no place in Brooklyn stocked them.

21 minutes ago, gmonahan said:

You know, I think that may have been the first record by Satch I ever bought as well. And around the same time! Always loved that version of "Tiger Rag."

 

 

gregmo

The Harmony records were not mixed in with the full-priced LPs, or even with the cutouts.  They had their own little stand - record bins made of cardboard.  15 to 20 copies of each title, probably 30 different titles, mostly MOR (Percy Faith, Doris Day, old country singers and the like).  But I did find these two gems.  Super super cheap, probably $1.49 each.

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

harmony goes all the way back to the early 78 era, scooped up by columbia (?) and revived into what you guys are taling about

[GA Russell]

On 12/1/2020 at 0:57 PM, mjzee said:

Easy to do with Photoshop, not so easy to do back in the day.

We don't think of cheapo record labels as having great covers, but another Harmony album I bought the same day has a great cover by John Van Hamersveld:

What record label did Ike & Tina record for that wound up in Columbia's hands?

[mjzee]

26 minutes ago, GA Russell said:

What record label did Ike & Tina record for that wound up in Columbia's hands?

It was originally on Warner Bros.'s Loma imprint.  "The Ike & Tina Turner Show, Volume II":

Recorded in Dallas!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live!_The_Ike_%26_Tina_Turner_Show

[GA Russell]

Thanks, Michael!  I don't remember Loma.

[gmonahan]

On 12/1/2020 at 11:22 AM, mjzee said:

I'd sometimes go to the Sam Goody in Kings Plaza.  I really disliked how they defaced the back cover by doing what you said.  I once asked a cashier not to do it, but she said if she didn't, I couldn't return it.

It was a great time for albums.  There were record stores throughout Brooklyn, and cutout racks in the weirdest places: Woolworth's, drug stores, clothing stores, you name it.  My favorite record store was a place on Flatbush Avenue named (IIRC) Jamie's.  I rarely had to venture outside Brooklyn to buy albums.  One notable exception was for my 15th birthday, I went to King Karol on 42nd St. and 10th Ave. in Manhattan to buy Trout Mask Replica and Uncle Meat, because no place in Brooklyn stocked them.

The Harmony records were not mixed in with the full-priced LPs, or even with the cutouts.  They had their own little stand - record bins made of cardboard.  15 to 20 copies of each title, probably 30 different titles, mostly MOR (Percy Faith, Doris Day, old country singers and the like).  But I did find these two gems.  Super super cheap, probably $1.49 each.

I often found them grouped with other budget labels like RCA's Camden or Decca's Vocalion.

 

 

gregmo