Topic: Story of Paramount Records - Thirdman / Revenant Records

[JakobGreen]

Has anyone heard anything about Dean revamping Revenant Records? Saw a article on The Wire website They are coming out with a Paramount Records set.

[jostber]

Have not heard about it, but it would be great news!

[jostber]

Some nice pictures over here:

http://revenantrecords.tumblr.com

A Paramount set is coming up:

http://www.thewire.co.uk/news/19219/revenant-records-returns-with-paramount-records-set

[jostber]

Anyone heard more on the new Paramount set?

http://www.tinymixtapes.com/news/john-faheys-revenant-label-starting-up-production-again-expect-a-bitter-turf-war-with-dust-to-d

[orvillej]

Have you heard about this? It looks incredible.

http://thirdmanrecords.com/paramount-home

[Rivers]

Oh wow, I know what I want for Christmas 

[Tom Mylet]

Holy Mackrel! I need to start saving now...any idea of the price?

Tom Mylet

[Stuart]

Thanks for the heads up, Orville. It does look incredible.

I downloaded the PDF files last evening and browsed through them. Definitely worth a look if you have time, although the Field Manual is 326 mb and took a while. Not that you couldn't do it yourself, but as a convenience, here are the direct links:

http://thirdmanrecords.com/paramount/pdf/TrackList.pdf

http://thirdmanrecords.com/paramount/pdf/LPTrackList.pdf

http://thirdmanrecords.com/paramount/pdf/ArtBook.pdf

http://thirdmanrecords.com/paramount/pdf/ParamountFieldManual.pdf

[orvillej]

Thanx for the linx. Did you notice any references to source material or who/where regarding the remastering?

[Stuart]

Edited  to revise/add:

On PDF page 124 (actual page 246 under "Credits") of the Art Book it says:

Analog-To-Digital Remastering & Sound Program Design: Christopher C. King, Long Gone Sound Productions

Digital Mastering & Audio Restoration: David Glasser, Anna Frick at Airshow, Boulder, CO

Track Selection and Programming: Dean Blackwood, with Jack White, Christopher King & Alex van der Tuuk

*************************************************************************

Hi Orville:

No, I didn't, but I haven't had a chance to go through everything. There's about 500 pages of material and it's going to take a while for me to wade though it all. I assume that remastering info would be included in the package, but maybe not in the available downloads. I'll have to wait until I read through it to be sure.

[dj]

I checked the pdf booklets too and didn't see anything about remastering.  There are sample songs on the paramount-home page that Orville originally posted.  They sound ok - one certainly couldn't complain about the overuse of noise reduction software!

For what it's worth, the version of Track Linin' by the T.C.I. Section Crew is not taken from the same record as the version on Document's Sinners And Saints CD.

This looks like a package I would love to have, though my knees start to tremble when I think of the probable price!

[Stuart]

Hi dj:

I did a cross post to the PWBG and in it asked if anyone knew about pricing. Some of the PWBG members were involved with the project so maybe they'll know.

I think the question most of us are asking ourselves is: "How expensive--and can I afford it?" Obviously, it appears to be among the "must haves" given the work that went into it, but at the same time we still have to pay the rent and eat.

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I looked at the track listing, and most of the stuff that i would most want to hear I already have elsewhere.  There is some Old-Time stuff that looks tantalizing, but not enough for me to justify purchasing it, especially since I am relatively less interested in the historical information on Paramount.
All best,
Johnm

[eric]

As reformed 78 collector/obsessive, I read lots of obscure stuff about Paramount.  The main takeaway for me was how a hapless manufacturer of cheap furniture in Wisconsin managed to record some the greatest blues music of all time, almost completely by accident.  For that we can all be grateful.

John is of course correct that the music is already pretty much available, but the very attractive packaging and the Jack White imprimatur will probably draw in a new audience of listeners and critics.

[bnemerov]

Eric is probably right about drawing in a new audience, though where the twenty-thirty-somethings who think Jack White hung the moon will get the money is anyone's guess.
And note this is the 1st of a two item set.

There is no price made public yet that I can find. Might have to drive up to the 3rd Man place on the day to see what they're going for.
Alex's 2003 book of the same name (from which most all graphics and photos in this set come) is selling for $500.00+ on the used market.

On a more scholarly note: In reading the text of the "red book" I was disappointed by Blackwood's (not Dean, but his novelist brother) writing about the cultural context of the music. Minstrelsy is given a rudimentary, and in some cases mistaken, treatment. The same can be said about the other "chapters" of the book. The writing style, however, is very slick and breezy. He's very good that way.

In any case, it seems to me that here's another product that takes more care with the package than its content. Do I really want to spend (probably) serious money on a quarter-sawn oak box with velour lining and a book of photoshopped graphics and elementary-level essays in order to have the same old music? To quote that deep thinker Dave Marsh, "Why is it we celebrate the milkman and not the milk?"
best,
bruce