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East St. Louisan Peetie Wheatstraw had already been to the crossroads, made a deal with the Devil, married Satan's daughter, and become the high sheriff of Hell many years before Robert Johnson recorded anything - Kevin Belford, Devil At The Confluence, talking about how St. Louis gets no respect as a blues town

Author Topic: Old Hat Records  (Read 1858 times)

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Offline DanceGypsy

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    • Side Street Steppers
Old Hat Records
« on: July 14, 2010, 07:53:42 AM »
I almost posted these comments and questions to the "Cd's/Sets You're Listening To" thread, but it seemed that thread had wandered astray and besides, I though that Old Hat really deserves a thread of its own.  Admittedly a newcomer to the field, I have never even held a blues 78 or heard it's scratchy sound on the phonograph.  Heck, I don;t even own a phonograph - not even sure where to get one.  I've been limited to Cd's and MP3s, and I've gotta say that after hours with Documents and JSP boxed sets, popping an Old Hat CD in is like a breath of fresh air and - more importantly - clean sound.  I can actually hear the guitar runs and the banjo uke phrases that are so muddled and muddied in other reissues.  I guess I am saying "Hats off!" to Old Hat Records for such a superb job.  Not only the audio quality, but the song selections, the liner notes, the accompanying photos and images - if another company is putting out a better total package, please somebody tell me who they are.

Speaking of which, who exactly is/are Old Hat Records?  They operate out of North Carolina and seem to consist primarily of a fellow by the name of Marshall Wyatt, presumably a record collector among other things.  Is he know to Weenies?  He borrows a lot from other collectors, including one Joe Bussard, for whose collection he has issued an entire CD compilation.

I first bought the Gastonia Gallop CD, to accompany my reading of the Linthead Stomp book, and I was so highly impressed with sound quality, liner notes, etc., that I purchased In The Pines, another CD of white stringband music from NC.  After that I went in for the double-CD set Good For What Ails You: Music From The Medicine Shows 1926-1937, which is frankly the best CD set on my shelf, period.  Just a couple of weeks ago I went all in and bought the rest of the catalog.  I've now got all 7 of the Old Hat releases, and I am currently listening incessantly and repeatedly to the two violin blues Cd's: Violin, Sing The Blues For Me and Folks, He Sure Do Pull Some Bow.  Again, the material is top notch, the sound quality is unbeatable, and the track listings (with musicians/instruments, date and location of recordings), notes and images are like a king's treasure trove.

I see from the Old Hat website that they have planned a coming release titled Lumberton Wreck, which will be an album of artists under the management of entrepreneur James Baxter Long (these artists include Lake Howard, Reverend Gary Davis, Blind Boy Fuller, and Sonny Terry).  I am looking forward to that release and hope there are many, many more to follow.  Once again, I say "Hat's off!" to Old Hat Records!

Offline Bunker Hill

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Re: Old Hat Records
« Reply #1 on: July 14, 2010, 08:12:29 AM »
I almost posted these comments and questions to the "Cd's/Sets You're Listening To" thread, but it seemed that thread had wandered astray and besides, I though that Old Hat really deserves a thread of its own.
If you go to the TAGS tab and click on the Old Hat tag you'll be able to read previous dedicatied discussions of OH releases.

I think I'm correct in saying that as the starter of this topic if you click the Add Tag and type in Old Hat Records this topic will join the list of others.

Offline Hwy80

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Re: Old Hat Records
« Reply #2 on: August 28, 2017, 03:11:10 PM »
I think OHR is first rate.  My only complaint is I wish there were more releases.  The Research & History tab on their website is a good read.

Regards,
David

Offline jpeters609

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Re: Old Hat Records
« Reply #3 on: August 29, 2017, 06:28:26 AM »
I think OHR is first rate.  My only complaint is I wish there were more releases.  The Research & History tab on their website is a good read.

I surely agree with that, David. Old Hat not only provides exemplary-sounding remasterings from original 78's, they also deliver the goods when it comes to liner notes and artwork, etc. About 8 years ago or so they seemed ready to release a collection of very rare blues recordings found in a trunk in North Carolina, including the only copy of Blind Blake's "Night And Day Blues" / "Sun To Sun." They ended up allowing John Tefteller to issue it on one of his calendar CD's instead, and their project seemed to fizzle. That was too bad; an Old Hat release of those recordings would have given us a lot to chew on. They talk about that collection here: http://www.oldhatrecords.com/trunkfulloblues.html
Jeff

Offline Lastfirstface

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Re: Old Hat Records
« Reply #4 on: August 30, 2017, 06:25:02 AM »
Things have been a bit quiet from Old Hat lately. Too bad, as their blues and old-time compilations are first rate.

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