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Country Blues => Super Electrical Recordings! => Topic started by: Mike Shipman on April 21, 2013, 12:05:08 PM
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Hi - It appears that I need to move with the times and get some more recent recordings of some of the original blues greats. Most of my albums / CDs are from years ago and are, as my wife called them, "fried egg records" (all the background noise sounds like someone is frying eggs) and as such can be pretty indistinct.
I heard a version of Spoonful on the internet today that (to my ears anyway) sounded crystal clear - I was bowled over!
So... is there a particular recording(s) of Charley Patton songs that is recommended for its audio clarity and selection of songs?
Thanks,-Mike
ps - any other , good clear recordings of othe early artistes??
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There are some at http://www.pristineclassical.com/ (http://www.pristineclassical.com/) and one is Charley Patton. You'd have to go to their preview page and scroll through to listen. I got this as I was working on Tom Feldmann's lesson and my Yazoo "Best of Charley Patton" was scratchy - which I like but I wanted to hear the guitar a little better so I got it for reference.
Other members here would better be able to tell you about the merit of a the cleaned up version as to its faithfullness to the artist I imagine.
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I would recommend the most recent Yazoo albums -- Best of Charlie Patton and Primeval Rags, Blues or whatever it is. Covers almost all of his stuff (minus maybe 6 or 7 tracks) in excellent sound. Still plenty of surface noise on the Paramounts but you can hear more music than ever before.
Chris
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+1 For Yazoo Patton.
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My Yazoo cd is about 20 years old - is the "new" version referred to different? You can put me down also as a +2 on it.
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This being the digital age, you can go to iTunes, Amazon, or another online retailer and sample a bunch of disks to see what you think has the best sound. Search for Charley Patton and the name of a song you're interested in and you'll get at least a dozen hits. Listen to a sample from each of them. Repeat with another song, & etc.
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Yes, there are two Yazoo Patton CDs that came out in the 2000s some time. Big improvement over the old one. The new best of has more of Patton than just his head on the cover.
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Thanks Banjo Chris - I just looked at mine its called "King of the Delta Blues" 2001, duh, maybe I'll look into the best of.
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I prefer Yazoo, but if you need some noise reduction, both of these are good:
http://www.amazon.com/Devil-Sent-Blues-Complete-Recordings/dp/B00035WGIQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1367101958&sr=1-1&keywords=patton+universe (http://www.amazon.com/Devil-Sent-Blues-Complete-Recordings/dp/B00035WGIQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1367101958&sr=1-1&keywords=patton+universe)
http://www.amazon.com/Definitive-Charley-Patton/dp/B0000594VE/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1367102075&sr=1-1&keywords=patton+catfish (http://www.amazon.com/Definitive-Charley-Patton/dp/B0000594VE/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1367102075&sr=1-1&keywords=patton+catfish)
I created a hybrid of the two. Unfortunately, neither is superior on all tracks.
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The version that sounded best to me was listening direct from the original 78rpm with Wardlow..
8)
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Many thanks to you all for the suggestions - now to make a purchase!
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You could always get a divorce, might be cheaper once you start down that road... ;)
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Have now got the "Definitive" series and marriage intact!
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My Yazoo cd is about 20 years old - is the "new" version referred to different? You can put me down also as a +2 on it.
Different and improved and in some cases "speed corrected" over the earlier CD's.
I consider the most recent (Best Of / Primeval) Yazoo Patton CD's the ultimate as it stands. But if you don't stand surface noise, they're not for you.
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I don't think anybody has mentioned the JSP set. It's complete, I think it has pretty good to excellent sound, although not tarted up like Pristine, and it has the ancillaries like the Son House and Willie Brown sides that were recorded alongside Patton. And it's cheap for all you get.
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I don't think anybody has mentioned the JSP set. It's complete, I think it has pretty good to excellent sound, although not tarted up like Pristine, and it has the ancillaries like the Son House and Willie Brown sides that were recorded alongside Patton. And it's cheap for all you get.
I did an extensive Patton CD comparison awhile back, and my recollection is that the JSP essentially is a clone (ripoff?) of the Revenant set. I'm not a fan of the Revenant set, but many are.
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If you're serious about Patton you have to have one of the complete collections (Document, Revenant, JSP) & then the Yazoos for their superior sound.
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I did an extensive Patton CD comparison awhile back, and my recollection is that the JSP essentially is a clone (ripoff?) of the Revenant set. I'm not a fan of the Revenant set, but many are.
The Revenant set is fabulous for the written materials it contains, not so great for the sonic properties. The set was compiled without full access to the original 78s in questions, and the engineers who worked on it had to settle in some cases for transfers submitted to them that varied widely in terms of the sonic qualities. In a few cases, they had to put a prom dress on a pig, so to speak, simply because they had no choice but to work with a submitted sub-par transfer.
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If you're serious about Patton you have to have one of the complete collections (Document, Revenant, JSP) & then the Yazoos for their superior sound.
Don't the two Yazoos together constitute a complete set?
I also like having a decent noise-reduced set for those occasions you want to listen to some Patton without the snap, crackle and pop.
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What the Yazoo's miss are mainly the handful of tracks that Patton played guitar accompaniment on and didn't sing. Plus one or two alternates.
I have some other Patton sets but I don't really play them. The Yazoo's are my go to for the sound quality and having all what I want to listen to when it comes to just him.
Another issue that crops up with some Patton reissues is speed. There are transfersout there that are noticeably off pitch. Some of the originals I don't think were recorded dead on at 78 rpm. We must remember that in Patton's time this was the case with many records. The true playing speed can vary by RPM's, and if you play them at 78, it's not correct. Yazoo is excellent at pitching records properly.
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Has not everything been said on this topic that there is to say--not once but several times? Enough.
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Has not everything been said on this topic that there is to say--not once but several times? Enough.
Got boweevil's in your field or what?
Relax, son.
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This thread has been done to death, and as if we had to prove it we have a newbie with a whole eight ( 8 ) posts under their belt calls a respected founder member 'son'? That's pretty hilarious.
Suggest you come back when you've read a little more, sunbeam.
PS here's another tip. There's no need to type 10 spaces between each sentence. One would be quite sufficient.
PPS We will try to remember your points about variable speeds, thank you so much for enlightening us, gosh, I for one had absolutely no idea.
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I, for one, am prone to repeating myself (on line and in everyday conversation). A review of this thread proves this.
But I appreciate it when people give me a bit of leeway in that regard or politely nudge my sensitive nature in the right direction, especially when there has been a passage of several months between my pontifications and I've simply forgotten what I said before.
In the next several days, I will be extending my Patton (and Jefferson) comparisons to my recently purchased LPs. I am now a bit concerned about posting these results, as I undoubtedly will be repeating myself to some degree. The downside of a slap upside the head, I guess.
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I like Pattons original 78s from vocalion and paramount
Gayle dean wardlows friend creighton