Topic: Memphis Jug Band "Peaches In The Springtime" - an unlisted alternate take?

[Blind Arthur]

This is another observation I made some 9 years ago, please tell me (I do not have DG 4th ed., only 3rd) whether it?s an old hat or not.

I have two very different takes of "Peaches In The Springtime" on CD.

One is on Frog, the other one on French RCA "Jazz Tribune", the take number they give there is the same as of the other one and the one that DG 3rd ed lists.

Does DG 4th ed. give out any information about that? I have not found any mention of this on the internet nor on Document?s Too Late Too Late series but I don?t know any other MJB reissues other than the 3 CD Frog reissue.

EDIT Typo.

[CF]

Hey Blind Arthur, B&G 4th ed. has only one take of 'Peaches In the Springtime' listed for the band's Feb 13, 1928 session in Memphis (41890-2/Vi21657).
The JSP Memphis Jug Band box has only the one take as well . . .

[Blind Arthur]

I?ll post them later tonight for comparisons but you will notice after 5 seconds it?s different...

[Blind Arthur]

Ok...please have a listen and maybe someone knows the real take number of the alt. version.


First, the one from Frog DGF15 (re-mastered by John R.T. Davies), take 41890-2 as said above:

http://www.4shared.com/audio/4wc6kmU7/23_-_Peaches_In_The_Springtime.html



Then here is the version of "Peaches in the Springtime" as issued on "Memphis Blues (1928-1930" (Jazz Tribune No. 51) on French RCA (BMG France) 74321264092 (2CD, formerly 2 LP), take number given in booklet 41890-2, too!

http://www.4shared.com/audio/fgPzLc2N/03_PEACHES_IN_THE_SPRINGTIME.html

This is very different as it is obvious from the first seconds on; now don?t tell me this one isn?t listed anywhere or reissued elsewhere...? :-o Knowing this would be absolutely thrilling to me!

[Cleoma]

Sure sounds like 2 different takes to me.  My old copy of G&D lists matrix number m (I don't know what that stands for) 41890-2, which indicates that there were indeed 2 takes. I didn't have the Frog one.  The other one is the same as what's on the Document reissue.  Very interesting!!
The Frog one is a bit more up-tempo.  Maybe that was gotten from the master??
What does the most recent edition of G&D say about this?

[banjochris]

Fourth Edition of B&GR just lists take 2.

[uncle bud]

Thanks again, Blind Arthur. Clearly another take and not listed in B&GR nor on Document's Too Late series, as you say. I checked my one other CD with this song on it, State of Tennessee Blues on Memphis Archives, and it is the previously known take (though at a slower speed).

One of the best Memphis Jug Band songs as well, IMO!

Was it 78 Quarterly that occasionally published updates and corrections to B&GR? That would be the other place to check to see whether this has been noticed before, I suppose. I don't have access myself.

[WestbankAl]

Definitely two takes. The first break on the take from French RCA is after two verses, before the "apples on the table" verse, the take from Frog/Document has the break after they sing that verse. Good work finding this and big thanks for posting the mp3s so we can actually hear what you are talking about! I would guess that the French RCA was from an original master and not the other way around, and that the issued 78 was take 2. The scans of the 78 I've collected off of the internet don't have the MX numbers in the trail-off, unfortunately. Now someone with the French RCA Series needs to go thru everything else to see if there are any other goodies there.

[WestbankAl]

I went thru my 78Q magazines, and there's nothing about any alternate takes for the Memphis Jug Band in the "Rarest 78s" department for M-N-O (in issue #8) or any updates in subsequent issues. As a matter of fact, they stopped putting the updates in "Rarest 78s" with issue #8, although they alluded to doing them at some later date in #9. Never did though.

[bnemerov]

I believe the British magazine Blues & Rhythm, the Gospel Truth did publish a column of additions and corrections to G&D....perhaps they are still at it.
Would someone please verify? Even I don't trust my memory any longer.
Best,
Bruce

[Cleoma]

Well, Bruce, when your memory goes, forget it!

[Blind Arthur]

Hehe, fantastic so shall I write this to Howard Rye then or would the British magazine Blues & Rhythm, the Gospel Truth be the better address, for possible inclusion in sooner pubications/lists or for to start the mx-number research? Someone must have the original record.

I also like this song of the MJB a lot, that?s why it stroke me when I got the Frog reissue shortly before Christmas 2001 I believe it was...have written it down on a mini sheet of paper and laied it into the CD booklet but have never found an opportunity to talk about it to some experts.

[dj]

The Frog CD Memphis Jug Band Volume 1 (Frog DGF15) contains Peaches In The Springtime.  DGF62, the Memphis Jug Band Volume 4, has Peaches In The Springtime #1.  I don't have this, so can't read the notes, but Volume 4 seems to be mostly recently discovered alternate takes.  It came out a few years ago. 

So the different version would seem to be take 1, and it has been known and available for a few years at least.  If someone has the Frog Volume 4, reading the liner notes might prove enlightening.

[Blind Arthur]

Oh. It seems you are right. I have never heard of a Vol. 4 in the Frog series before but a quick search over the net reveals

Upcoming release mentioned at Frog?s website:
DGF 62 Memphis Jug Band - The complete Vocalion & Okeh recordings plus
unissued Victor tests, vol.4

http://www.frogrecords.co.uk/_pages/dgf62.htm
You are right. Track 8.

[uncle bud]

Thanks for clearing that up, dj. However, I've now become even more confused as I compare Frogs and Documents. I had previously thought that the compilation Memphis Blues Vol 3 DOCD-5685 covered the alt takes on Frog Memphis Jug Band Vol 4 but obviously hadn't compared the two, since the titles are completely different.  

Now it seems that most of the takes on DOCD-5685 are the takes that appear on Memphis Jug Band Vol 1 Frog DGF15, while Vol 1 on Document has some different takes of the same songs. But there are also a couple takes on DOCD-5685 that are different from the Frog DGF15. Stingy Woman Blues is 37942-1 and She Stays Out All Night Long is 41891-1 on DOCD-5685, and 37942-2 and 41891-2 on Frog DGF15.

My copy of Memphis Jug Band Vol 1 is the Frog issue, not the Document, while the rest of my MJB titles are Documents. According to the Document website, Memphis Jug Band Volume 1 (DOCD-5021) has

Sun Brimmer's Blues (take 2)
Stingy Woman Blues (take 2)   - ON FROG DGF15
Memphis Jug Blues (take 2)      - ON FROG DGF15
Newport News Blues (take 1)
Snitchin' Gambler Blues (take 2)

What a mess.