Original Blues Classics

[Late]

Oh man. What an album...

[Late]

Here's an Album Discography. (Complete?)

[Chuck Nessa]

Don't know more.

[jlhoots]

On 11/1/2022 at 10:44 PM, Late said:

Oh man. What an album...

[Chuck Nessa]

Me 2

[Simon8]

Noticed that one in the OBC album discography, listening now. Great soulful voice, that Al Smith, and quite a band behind (Lockjaw, Shirley Scott, Wendell Marshall and Arthur Edgehill). 

[mikeweil]

It looks like I slept on this series much too long .....

[Late]

On 11/3/2022 at 6:48 PM, Late said:

Album Discography. (Complete?)

Cross-referencing what's out there on the internet, it appears that this album discography is indeed complete. Far fewer titles than I'd initially thought. The series began with vinyl, cassette, and compact disc; the first two formats eventually fell away, and the compact disc series stretched until 2001. There were apparently some represses in 2006, but apart from that, the entire series appears to be out-of-print. Some titles (Hooker, Hopkins, Lonnie Johnson) are still available used on eBay and Discogs while other titles (Pete Franklin, Baby Tate, Arbee Stidham, Sidney Maiden) are pretty rare—meaning, high prices on the used market. The U.S. vendor decluttr on eBay has had some OBC titles at decent prices. I was able to pick up the two Roosevelt Sykes titles this way.

One caution—as with the OJC series, it's possible that some OBC titles listed as "new" are in fact CDR's, which complicates collecting (if you don't want a CDR). Then again, I rolled the dice on a "new" title recently, and it ended up actually being old stock from 1993. 

22 hours ago, mikeweil said:

It looks like I slept on this series much too long ...

I only had a few titles from this series, and am just now exploring the breadth of its discography. The recording quality on the whole is excellent. I've given so much of my attention to blues from the 20's and 30's that I've overlooked this revival period. Definitely some gems within. The Pete Williams, as one example, is raw and brilliant. As I get to know this series more broadly, I hear the influence of Patton, Blind Lemon, Tommy Johnson, and of course Robert Johnson as a sort of bedrock. I also realize how little I know about artists such as Otis Spann or Memphis Slim, and that there are considerable holes in my understanding of the evolution of blues music from the late 50's to the mid-60's. Part of the fun, of course, is filling these holes in!

[Late]

Guitar Pete's Blues 

 

Free Again 

[Late]

On 10/28/2022 at 7:24 AM, John L said:

This is another truly great one ...  

Thanks again for recommending this. I finally landed a used copy, and spun the whole program this afternoon. I agree—it is in no way an overstatement to call this a "truly great one." Wow. Kirkland's sense of commitment on this record is on another level. Beautiful music, and truly inimitable, which is always what the best blues music is about. I'm happy to have this in the collection.

I spun two other albums in their entirety today as well. Both very enjoyable.

All Kinds of Blues

The Honeydripper

Edited November 5, 2022 by Late
blues

[Late]

One of the harder-to-find OBC titles:

See What You Done Done

[Late]

Somebody Hoo Doo'd The Hoo Doo Man

Recorded on the UCLA campus in 1967, this one originally came out on Milestone. One of the more obscure OBCs.

[Late]

There was also a series of two-fers (Hopkins, McGhee/Terry, et al.) not officially in the OBC series, but they may as well have been. This compact disc series appeared around 2006-2008.

Reissue (two-fer) cover.

Original cover. So much better! This particular album is a trio with...Roy Haynes on drums! 

There were also a number of Prestige/Bluesville records that never saw compact disc reissue, alas. None of the Furry Lewis records on Bluesville, for example, were released on shiny disc.

And I've never even heard of Henry Townsend...

[JSngry]

The Terry-McGhee thing was originally an LP 2-fer. There was an attempt at a series. 

[Late]

2 minutes ago, JSngry said:

The Terry-McGhee thing was originally an LP 2-fer. There was an attempt at a series. 

Yes. Some of this LP series appeared on compact disc using the same cover art. 

[Late]

Apparently Memphis Willie B.'s only records. Recently acquired both. Both, I'd say, are essential. Amazing that the music was documented at all.

[Late]

On 10/23/2022 at 12:57 PM, kh1958 said:

Here's one.

This was the very last title in the series. I finally landed a copy. Excellent music. Happy to have it in the collection.

 

On 10/29/2022 at 7:40 AM, Chuck Nessa said:

Also landed a copy of this one, though it took a while. The vocals are probably an acquired taste, but it's a taste I like! Well-recorded too. Robert Banks on piano.

Edited December 1, 2022 by Late
peanut butter