WeenieCampbell.com
Country Blues => Super Electrical Recordings! => Topic started by: Reso1 on August 29, 2004, 10:16:53 AM
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Where can I find Sylvester Weaver, vol. one or two? Anybody have copies?
Thanks in advance!
Lee
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I'm looking for - over than one year - Bo Carter's Documents vol 3 & 4
Who knows where I can get 'em - even used but in good condition
I tried many web sites but there are always out of stock !
HELP
Yves " the Froggy bluesman"
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Document lists these CDs as out of stock... so used is your best bet.? Have you tried ordering used through Amazon.com?
http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/preorder/new/B000000J4D/ref=sdp_po_u/102-9838049-3933746/102-9838049-3933746
Cheers,
slack
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Also, if you order ANY items through Amazon.com - please consider starting your search from the "In Association with Amazon" banner on our Juke page - if you start your search by clicking on the banner - WeenieCampbell gets a couple-three percent as a referral fee - which helps offset the cost of running the website and Juke.? Thanks!
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Have you tried Venerable Music (http://www.venerablemusic.com/)?? The CDs are listed there, but you might want to float Malcolm an email, just to see if they're really in stock.
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venerable don't have 'em
amazon always told me that they will have 'em but nothing happened...
So long
Yves
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Document seems to have more and more out of stock these days. Some real basics are going missing. And newly "remastered" versions are not taking their place. Frustrating.
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I think they are "scheduled" to be remastered so they don't want to do a reissue of the existing version even tho' the remaster is a ways off, figuring they'll never sell the whole batch and then be forced to sell them off at cost and hurt sales of the remaster. It is frustrating. I picked up the Robert Petway stuff on an old Wolf issue from Quimper (score!). I'd been tryin' to get the Document for a while.
All for now.
John C.
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The Petway is on one of their new ones, is it not? Mississippi Blues vol 3. In fact, I have it, new colour cover etc. It's not being redone again?
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Yeah, well, the new one has been out of stock for some time, at least from the US distributor. Maybe I'll try another order direct from Document.
All for now.
John C.
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I know I've seen this CD recently at Cheap Thrills here in Montreal both used and new. I bought mine there used. Check their webpage. Their catalog doesn't list their blues stuff or used stuff, but email them and they should respond as to whether they have it in stock. Used you'd be paying between $10 and 14 Canadian pesos.
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Hello,
I was just wondering if anyone on this list has heard, or has heard of a cd put out by Document Records a number of years ago called "Backwoods Blues" (DOCD-5036) which is the only cd availible (to my knowledge) to contain all the known recordings of Bo Weavil Jackson and King Solomon Hill, along with Bobby Grant and Lane Hardin. However, I have never seen it listed on ebay, all major record stores in my city (Toronto) claim that it is out of print, and it is no longer availible on amazon.com.
Would anyone on this list either A) have any insights on this cd, B) have an extra copy to sell, or C) have another way to purchase this cd?
It would be much appreciated, I have been looking for this cd for a number of months
Dave
-also, if anyone would have any insight into the works of blind willie davis, or anywhere where i could find his complete material, it would be greatly appreciated.
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This is a great CD -- the only things it doesn't have are the 2 recently discovered King Solomon Hill tracks. You could try Document Records directly, or try www.rootsandrhythm.com (http://www.rootsandrhythm.com), which still lists it as available. I've not used them before, but they've been around a while.
Chris
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I frequently order from Roots and Rhythm, and would recommend them. They put out a great catalog, with honest and informative capsule reviews, which are also available online at their website. By the way, the Document website http://document-records.com/ lists Backwoods Blues as being currently available.
Here's why I like to buy my blues CDs from Roots & Rhythm: Back when internet retailing was in its infancy, I got in the habit of buying CDs online. At the time I was buying a lot of pre-war blues from Georgia and the Carolinas. One day I went to Amazon and put the three Document Barbecue Bob CDs in my shopping cart, and Amazon brought up a page that said "If you like Barbecue Bob, you may be interested in these other products we carry", and it listed 5 gas barbecue grills! I decided then and there that I'd rather deal with someone who knew and cared about the music.
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I went to Amazon and put the three Document Barbecue Bob CDs in my shopping cart, and Amazon brought up a page that said "If you like Barbecue Bob, you may be interested in these other products we carry", and it listed 5 gas barbecue grills!? I? decided then and there that I'd rather deal with someone who knew and cared about the music.?
And cares about barbecue. Gas grills? Ptooie...
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The two new King Solomon Hill tracks, by the way, can be heard on the Blues Images Calendar CD, which you can conveniently purchase via the Juke page, should you be so inclined. The calendar is a steal, IMO, plus you get the new tracks, which are very good, if essentially similar to his other tunes.
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This recording is now available on the Document site, but direct sales seem to be UK based. Is there a way to get this recording in the US yet?
Thanks!
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Hey Doc we have a postal service too :)
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While I have made direct orders in the past ("Cowan, Yer haggis is in!" would shout one of my mates when he saw the Royal Stamp of Scotland on the package of 14 CDs) I currently have one on order from Down Home Music, in El Cerrito. We'll see how long it takes.
All for now.
John C.
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Well, I'm hoping to pick up my copy at the Mt. Airy Fiddlers convention. There's a guy there some of you may know... John Hatton. He operates a music booth around the country during the summer here in the States and used to sell at Port Townsend.. (does he still?) Anyhow, he'll be at the fiddlers convention in Mt. Airy NC first weekend in June. He carries just most of the CDs one could want...Hey, it's a short hop over here from Great Britian, isn't it? :D
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According to the Document website, both the Sam Collins complete works and the Songster Tradition CD are back in stock. It seems like they've quietly put a lot of stuff back in print, including all the Memphis Minnie & Kansas Joe disks, and the Ragtime Blues Guitar CD. I haven't tried ordering any of the newly re-available disks yet, but I'll try to order both the Sam Collins and Songster Tradition soon.
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I believe these have all been remastered. Ragtime Blues Guitar for sure. Document is remastering a lot of their CDs but don't seem to be able to keep up with those that are out of stock. RBG was out of stock for over a year. Yazoo, on the otherhand, seems to be replacing individual artist based compilations with multi-individual compilations, altho' this could be just my erroneous observation, they did come out with new, remastered Patton collections recently.
All for now.
John C.
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Hi Wax - not to be provocative ( ;) ) but what is it that makes you believe these titles have been remastered? There's no indication of that on the Document site, no new jacket covers, and there are in fact price reductions. Generally, all the remastered Documents have new color covers and are being announced in their newsletter and on their website, no?
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Why you provocatuer, you. I thought that they had made a statement that they were remastering and that any issue that was out of stock and scheduled to be remastered would not be reissued until the remastering had been done. I know there was discussion a few weeks ago on the 'Shed about the remastered Ragtime Guitar Blues, but I haven't investigated the Document site lately (I drool on the keyboard too much). Perhaps some of these titles are not scheduled to be remastered and so were just reissued.
So, I just sent an email to Lisa at Document, whom I corresponded with somewhat, to see if she can give us any info.
You know, UB, you're only really provocative when you're wearing Bermuda shorts.-G-
All for now.
John C
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BJ:
I wish that you hadn't brought up the vision of Unkie Bud in Bermuda shorts? >:(. I had just about gotten over it after the last PT.
Lord have mercy,
Alex
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:) Wow - I know how to get a CD I can't find - just whine about here. I swear I have been checking the Document site for a year for Songster Tradition. However the last time I looked was about a month ago. I am very happy :D. N ot only that, but they have ?Too Late, Too Late - Vol 8?. Now I?ll have to see what else is back of the ?Too Late, Too Late? series. Man, I don?t know if I can afford them putting things back in print. ::)
KC
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new CD listing on Roots & Rhythm (http://www.rootsandrhythm.com/roots/New_Releases/latest_052106.htm#VARIOUS%20ARTISTS)
Never Let The Same Bee Sting You Twice
Document DOCD 5678
CD $35.98
Three CD set featuring the completed recorded works of 12 artists whose music falls into the category of "songster" which means their repertoire includes non-blues and pre-blues material. This replaces several deleted Document CDS. Artists are Richard "Rabbit" Brown (a truly wonderful performer whose five performances should be in everybody's collection!), Papa Harvey Hull & Long Cleve Reed, Big Boy Cleveland, William & Versey Smith, Luke Jordan, Mississippi John Hurt, Hambone Willie Newbern, Eli Framer, Louie Lasky, Cedar Creek Sheik (a fine singer and fingerpicker from The Carolinas), Robert Hill (a fine singer and harmonica player from Mississippi accompanied by Sonny Boy Nelson and, possibly Willie Harris, on guitar) and Virgil Childers.
Some wonderful music though sound is sometimes subpar, even by Document's standards, and the Mississippi John Hurt tracks are particularly bad. Puzzling since Yazoo and Columbia have issued beautiful sounding reissues of Hurt. Still the rest of it more than worthwhile.
RICHARD 'RABBIT' BROWN: I'm Not Jealous/ James Alley/ Mystery Of The Dunbar's Child/ Never Let The Same Bee Sting You Twice/ Sinking Of The Titanic/ CEDAR CREEK SHEIK: Buy It From The Poultry Man/ Don't Credit My Stuff/ Don't Use That Stuff/ Ford V-8/ I Believe Somebody's Ridin' My Mule/ Jimmy Shut His Store Doors/ Mary Had A Little Lamb/ She's Totin' Something Good/ Watch The Fords Go By/ What A Pity/ VIRGIL CHILDERS: Dago Blues/ Preacher And The Bear/ Red River Blues/ Somebody Stole My Jane/ Travelin' Man/ Who's That Knockin' At My Door/ BIG BOY CLEVELAND: Goin' To Leave You Blues/ Quill Blues/ ELI FRAMER: Framer's Blues/ God Didn't Make No Monkey Man/ ROBERT HILL: G Blues/ Hill's Hot Sauce/ I Had A Gal For The Last Fifteen Years/ I'm Going To Write And Tell My Mother/ It Is So Good/ Just Smilin'/ Lumber-Yard Blues/ Pal, How I Miss You Tonight/ Tell Me What's Wrong With You/ You Gonna Look Like A Monkey When You Get Old/ PAPA HARVEY HULL & LONG "CLEVE" REED: Don't You Leave Me Here/ Gang Of Brown Skin Women/ Hey! Lawdy Mama (The France Blues)/ Two Little Tommie Blues/ MISSISSIPPI JOHN HURT: Ain't No Tellin'/ Avalon Blues/ Big Leg Blues/ Blessed Be The Name/ Blue Harvest Blues/ Candy Man Blues/ Frankie/ Got The Blues Can't Be Satisfied/ Louis Collins/ Nobody's Dirty Business/ Praying On The Old Camp Ground/ Spike Driver Blues/ Stack O' Lee Blues/ LUKE JORDAN: Church Bells Blues (Take 1)/ Church Bells Blues (Take 2)/ Cocaine Blues/ If I Call You Mama/ My Gal's Done Quit Me/ Pick Poor Robin Clean (Take 1)/ Pick Poor Robin Clean (Take 2)/ Tom Brown Sits In His Prison Cell/ Traveling Coon/ Won't You Be Kind?/ LOUIE LASKY: Caroline/ How You Want Your Rollin' Done/ Teasin' Brown Blues/ HAMBONE WILLIE NEWBERN: Hambone Willie's Dreamy Eyed Woman's Blues/ Nobody Knows (What The Good Deacon Does)/ Roll And Tumble Blues/ She Could Toodle-Oo/ Shelby County Workhouse/ Way Down In Arkansas/ LONG 'CLEVE' REED: I Believe I'll Go Back Home/ Original Stack O' Lee Blues/ WILLIAM & VERSEY SMITH: Everybody Help The Boys Come Home/ I Believe I'll Go Back Home/ Sinner, You'll Need King Jesus/ When That Great Ship Went Down
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Interesting collection, thanks for the heads up, Outfidel. Should be tempting despite the sound issues (does any Document CD not have them?). Most of us would already have the John Hurt material (or should have!), making that point moot. But there's a lot here to make this an attractive set for people. Luke Jordan, for one, if one is currently living life under the incredible handicap of not owning that material. But also Papa Harvey Hull and Long Cleve Reed, Louie Lasky, Rabbit Brown. And listening to Hambone Willie Newbern recently for me has been most enjoyable. If you only know him via Roll and Tumble Blues, his other material may be a bit of a surprise, with half of it being very enjoyable and high quality songster stuff IMO, and a couple very good blues "Hambone Willie's Dreamy-Eyed Blues" and "Shelby County Workhouse BLues".
This collection merges two of Document's previous discs, The Songster Tradition and the Greatest Songsters, and then gives you a disc of the Cedar Creek Sheik, Robert Hill, or Virgil Childers. All three of whom I'm not familiar with, and they're not even on the Juke. :o
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Hi all,
Like the JSP thread, this one has not been posted in recently, but it occurred to me that some of you might be interested in which Document CDs I have been able to order in the past seven months or so, and which I have been unable to get. In every instance, I was placing an order with Red Lick, in Wales, a superior distributor of Country Blues and Jazz CDs, albums, books and DVDs. I was able to obtain the following CDs:
* Sleepy John Estes, Vol. 1
* Texas Field Recordings
* Gene Campbell
* Texas Alexander, Vol. 1 (on Matchbox)
I have not been able to obtain the following CDs:
* Sleepy John Estes, Vol. 2 (told it was out of print)
* Texas Alexander Vols. 2 and 3 (told they are not currently available)
* Two Poor Boys (told not currently available)
Has anyone else either had luck or been unable to order different items from the Document catalog recently? I would particularly be interested to know of sources for getting any of the CDs I was unable to find at Red Lick. I also remembered that I was able to get the Charlie Lincoln and Willie Baker CD at Port Townsend.
All best,
Johnm
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A lot of stuff continues to become unavailable. All three Texas Alexander discs are now listed as "downloads" at Document, as I recently tried to get some actual CDs. How recently did you order the Texas Alexander, John? Recently tried to get Memphis Jug Band vol 1 as well, the only one I lacked, and it's gone too. Luckily, there's a version on Frog, remastered by John RT Davies no less, with the same tracks as Document vol 1 plus 2 extras from Will Weldon and 2 from Vol Stevens. Highly recommended.
Occasionally, some of these unavailable discs pop up as available through Amazon Marketplace sellers (how I got the Frog disc actually).
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John:
Like Uncle Bud says, Amazon.com Marketplace (a network of used book/cd/video sellers) is a source for out-of-print or out-of-production music and books. You should also try using Pricegrabber.com as they cover a network of "Second Hand Stores" (that's what we use to call them). Another good source is http://www.alibris.com/. Go to their menu in the upper left-hand corner and in the "Search" box click on the gray/black down arrow next to "Books" and the "Music: All" and "Movies: All" categories will open up. You then take it from there. You can also try Bookfinder.com as many of the book stores have CDs in their databases.
Items can stay in the retail pipeline long after they are out of production. Its finding them that is the challenge.
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Items can stay in the retail pipeline long after they are out of production. Its finding them that is the challenge.
Yes, it took me two years to find Mississippi Sheiks Vol 3!
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Thanks very much, Uncle Bud and Stuart, for suggestions on how to find out-of print CDs that are still out there in the marketplace.
All best,
Johnm
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A couple of more suggestions for finding Document CDs:
arhoolie.com lists some (click on Imports, then on Document to see the list). I'm not sure if their "available" list is accurate or not. I just tried to order some. I'll post on how well they filled the order when I get mine.
Roots and Rhythm mailorder periodically unearths a few and sells them at a discount. Check out the Bargain Basement at rootsandrhythm.com for what they currently list. Be aware that the list isn't strictly kept up-to-date, and some of the CDs listed, such as the Ma Rainey, are no longer available from Roots and Rhythm. Click on New Releases, then Latest Additions (at the bottom of the New Releases page) for the latest offers.
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I should correct my earlier post re Memphis Jug Band vol 1. Document's website doesn't indicate it isn't available, though my regular sources did at the time. The Frog CD still gives you all the tracks plus more, plus remastering by John RT Davies. From the looks of the JSP set, they have ripped off the Frog for disc 1.
Yes on Roots and Rhythm, dj. They also discount stock of Documents that have been reissued (and not necessarily remastered).
Also, thanks for the tip re. Arhoolie. They have very good prices on Document CDs.
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I'd like to second Uncle Bud's thanks, dj. I like to order from Arhoolie whenever possible. I will give them and Roots and Rhythm a look.
All best,
Johnm
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Another resource is Down Home Music (http://www.downhomemusic.com/) in the same building as Arhoolie.
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Something you may want to try is emusic. I have no relation, etc. to this website. I have, however accumulated ALOT of document stuff through them. I pay 9.99 per month and get 40 songs. they've got yazoo, jsp, and document. Not entire catalogs, but enough to get you some good stuff. They have about 300 document titles available. Just beware, many of the track listings don't match up to the download/sample. instead of the downloads starting with track 1, it may begin with track 6, and tag 1-5 as the last five tracks. Make sense? I know it's not cool to have the liner notes and such, but whatever. Anything they read is something I can find online, like here. Hope this helps.
-Aaron
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Thanks for the Down Home Music tip, Gary. I just found the Sleepy John Estes, Vol. 2 on Document there. Thanks!
All best,
Johnm
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For used CDs, LPs, etc. there's also:
http://www.gemm.com/
Don't forget the "The Essential..." series which is derived from the Document CDs--it's kind of "A Best of..." series with two CD sets.
John: There are a couple of SJE, Vol. 2 available via Amazon.com Marketplace (as Uncle Bud has previously pointed out).
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B000000J2K/ref=dp_bb_a/103-5911823-5831039?ie=UTF8&tag2=pricegrabber-music-20&redirect=true&condition=new%2F
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Thanks for the tips, Stuart. For Internet non-savvy persons like myself, any help in tracking these hard-to-find discs is appreciated. I've got John Estes, vol. 2 and Leecan and Cooksey, vol.2 on the way from Downhome.
All best,
Johnm
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Thanks for the Down Home Music tip, Gary. I just found the Sleepy John Estes, Vol. 2 on Document there. Thanks!
All best,
Johnm
Glad I could help. I'll keep my eyes open for the others I still bin dive occasionally and find out-of-print CD's.
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Well, it's not all bad news when trying to find those elusive Documents. According to the October 2006 Document Newsletter, the following CDs have just come back into stock:
Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup Volume 1 DOCD-5201
Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup Volume 2 DOCD-5202
Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup Volume 3 DOCD-5203
Clifford Hayes & Louisville Jug Bands Vol. 1 JPCD-1501-2
Washboard Sam Volume 2 DOCD-5172
Boogie Woogie Boys BDCD-6046
Cow Cow Davenport DOCD-5141
Cripple Clarence Lofton BDCD-6007
Cripple Clarence Lofton BDCD-6006
Jack Kelly BDCD-6005
Memphis Jug Band BDCD-6002
Stovepipe No.1 DOCD-5269
String Bands DOCD-5167
Walter Roland Volume 1 DOCD-5144
Meade Lux Lewis DOCD-5561
Papa Charlie Jackson Volume 2 DOCD-5088
I seem to remember a Weenie here or at Port Townsend looking for the String Bands CD. Now's your chance!
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Dang! Don't see Buddy Boy Hawkins on that list. I'll have to take some of your tips and mount a real search. Already been over to Down Home and tried Frank at Roots and Rhythm, but no luck.
All for now.
John C.
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Amoeba on Haight (in SF, there used to be one off of Telegraph in Berkeley) had an overwhelming amount of Blues CD's I wasn't able to go through them all when I was there. The best place for finding the OOP stuff is Streetlight in Santa Cruz I'll add Buddy Boy Hawkins to my list.
I find the places that don't specialize in Roots stuff are the most likely to have hard to find Blues CD's.
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Thanks Gary. I haven't been to Amoeba in ages. Since the early '90s when I was buying every Rock LP I couldn't afford in the '60s.-G-
All for now.
John C.
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Amoeba in SF is good and Amoeba in Berkeley is OK as a source of Document CDs, as well as somewhat obscure CDs on other labels, but I've never seen anything like the Amoeba "mother ship" in Hollywood, CA, either as a "record store" generally or as a source of Document CDs in particular.
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Document itself can be a good source for some Document CDs. Go to their website and click on Specials at the top of the page. There's a lot of stuff there - currently 128 titles. Some, listed at ?1.99 (about $4.00 US) appear to be the original versions of CDs that have since been remastered. There's some non-remastered stuff at ?1.99, maybe they're in the process of being remastered. And there are some listed at ?5.99 (about $11.50 US) that are specials listed in Document's October newsletter.
Now don't everybody go buying the last copies of the ones I want to get! :D
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Actually there are numerous titles shown with those new colour covers. Don't know if that is a result of their web database simply outputing the new graphics or whether these new versions are being sold cheap. There are numerous titles worth a good look there.
I'm trying to remember whether we ever settled the question of whether Document is remastering or simply repackaging most of the time.
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I just got my order from arhoolie.com. Six titles ordered, all six delivered. Admittedly it's a small sample size, but it looks like what they show as available they actually have in stock.
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Earlier in the thread we'd discussed Sam Collins on Document being back in print, but it's now only available as a download. For those who've been looking for Sam Collins, the Yazoo version is also out of print. The fellow over at http://prewarblues.org, however, is giving Sam Collins seekers an early Xmas present. You may want to check it out.
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Just a heads up - our recent Document fills have been excellent including many titles that have been out of print for over a year (Sam Collins, all of the Bo Carters, the Charlie Jackson series, Gus Cannon etc.). I've been hit hard over the holidays, but there is no reason for me to believe we'll have trouble re-stocking!
Also wanted to note that many of the replenished titles seem to be short runs on CD-R? Personally, I'm not bothered by it as the packaging & sound quality seems exactly as it was previously.
Malcolm
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Just got Gary Davis complete early works for ?1.99 and the "never let the same be sting you twice" three CD set for ?9.99 direct from Document.
One of the three "same bee" CDs was a CD-R
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Just a heads up - our recent Document fills have been excellent including many titles that have been out of print for over a year (Sam Collins, all of the Bo Carters, the Charlie Jackson series, Gus Cannon etc.). I've been hit hard over the holidays, but there is no reason for me to believe we'll have trouble re-stocking!
Also wanted to note that many of the replenished titles seem to be short runs on CD-R? Personally, I'm not bothered by it as the packaging & sound quality seems exactly as it was previously.
Malcolm
Malcolm, thanks for the info. Good to know stuff is coming back in stock. I find the idea of using CD-R a little odd myself, but if that's what it takes to keep things available, so be it.
Natterjack, I wonder if your CD-R in "Same Bee" is related to my order of that set, in which I received a set missing a disc. They sent along a missing disc separately. I wondered where they'd got it from... ;)
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I'm under the distinct impression some CD-R's are not as robust as CDs so rip 'em fast boys.
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Could they be on Music CD-R's, which I understand need to be burned in audio CD recorders (i.e., not computer CD drives)?
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Could they be on Music CD-R's, which I understand need to be burned in audio CD recorders (i.e., not computer CD drives)?
Obviously, I can't speak for every computer CD drive / software configuration, but in general music CD-Rs (the ones that have "compact disc digital audio" printed on them) can be burned in computer CD drives. It is the "commercial" (vs. more expensive "professional") CD recorders that are part of one's audio / stereo system that will only write to music CD-Rs and not "regular" CD-Rs (the ones that have "compact disc recordable" printed on them). The more expensive "professional" CD recorders will write to both CD-R formats.
Here's a site that has some info:
http://www.osta.org/technology/cdqa.htm
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Thanks for the clarification, Stuart. :)
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Commercial CDs are coated with transparent acrylic(?) on the data side. According to one of my audio course tutors it's easier to wreck a CD by scratching the label side. I dunno how true that might be. I'm assuming CD-Rs, being more of an ad hoc creation than a manufacturing run, are uncoated. But basically I have no idea, just a distinct impression.
I have a bunch of, um, unauthorized recordings here. They're all completely f*cked, with very little effort on my part.
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I just received 3 units direct from Document including "Same Bee", all were on regular CD's.
Phil
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Another heads up: For anyone who's interested in the ?1.99 (US $4.00) sale currently going on at Document (document-records.com), it's set to expire on February 1st. So if you haven't ordered already, you have less than 2 weeks to do so. There's a lot of good stuff listed there. From a country blues perspective, Memphis Blues and Rare Country Blues volumes 2, 3, and 4 are particularly interesting and apt to be overlooked.
Note: I have absolutely no involvement with Document other than as a consumer.
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From the latest Document newsletter (January 25, 2007):
"Document have been working hard to get all of the back catalogue in stock and this should be completed by late Spring 2007."
And
"A reissue programe of the Document titles that were released on vinyl. The first of these releases will be DLP 519 which features Robert Johnson, Robert Lockwood and Otto Virgial. This will become Mississippi Blues Vol. 4. and will have 19 tracks."
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From the Document website. Those of you waiting for specific titles to come back in stock should check the website once in awhile -- you may be able to get your long-awaited CD at a lower price as well:
"Over the next 3 weeks Document will be bringing 50 re-issued titles from the DOCD-5000 series back into stock.
After this 'batch' we plan to bring another 50 or so titles from the same series back into stock.
The first 50 will be on offer for ?5.99 per CD for the duration of one month and customers will be notified of this in the next Document newsletter mailout. Keep checking back to the website for news on these titles."
(Unfortunately, Texas Alexander is in the MBCD-2000 series...)
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Thanks for the heads up, Uncle Bud. :) Hopefully the Complete Blind Blake vol. 2 will be among the reissues, I've been waiting for it quite a long time :(
Pan
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Argh, no Texas Alexander, Volume 3!
All best,
Johnm
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Buddy Boy Hawkins! Please, please, please, please!
All for now.
John C.
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The Document newsletter is out and as promised there are a bunch of titles back in stock. Sorry, Wax, looks like you'll still have to wait for Buddy Boy Hawkins. Here's the list (comments are from Document):
The following CDs have just come back into stock and are priced at ?5.99 until 8th April:
Arizona Dranes
DOCD-5186
Blind pianist star of the sanctified churches. With 'new' cover image.
Backwoods Blues
DOCD-5036
Compilation of stars who shone briefly and then took the dirt road home to
obscurity.
Kokomo Arnold Volume 1
Volume 1 DOCD-5037
Probably the fastest ever bottleneck guitarist ever to record.
Kokomo Arnold Volume 2
Volume 2 DOCD-5038
More breakneck bottleneck guitar.
Ishman Bracey
DOCD-5049
A rare combination of braggart, entertainer, musician, showman and eventually an
ordained minister.
Montana Taylor
DOCD-5053
Midwestern piano blues and boogie, unsurpassed in strength and beauty.
Sinners & Saints
DOCD-5106
The musical traditions that preceded blues. A collection from sinful and saintly
songsters.
Jim Jackson Volume 1
DOCD-5114
One of the richest stores of traditional songs. Strummed guitar with some pretty
pattern picks.
Texas Slide Guitars
DOCD-5143
Bottleneck slide guitar from the deep south. Oscar Woods and Black Ace show you
how.
Texas Piano Volume 1
DOCD-5224
Piano and vocal selections from the Thomas family.
Peetie Wheatstraw Volume 1
DOCD-5241
The Devil's Son-In-Law was one of the most popular blues performers to appear on
record.
Frankie "Half-Pint" Jackson
DOCD-5259
Volume 2 from the vaudeville singer, comedian and female impersonator. Jaxon's
music is still a lot of fun to listen to. The almost always bawdy comedy is
still fresh and filled with sexual double entendre.
Bumble Bee Slim Volume 1
DOCD-5261
Vocals and guitar blues from the rough side of the tracks.
Ida Cox Volume 1
DOCD-5322
"The Uncrowned Queen
of the Blues"
Bertha "Chippie" Hill
DOCD-5330
Contains some of the most beautiful blues singing ever layed down on wax.
Ma Rainey
Volume 1
DOCD-5581
"Mother of the Blues"
Lightnin' Hopkins
DOCD-5609
His place in the scheme of things seems clear enough; he brought country blues
into the post-war world.
Black Fiddlers
DOCD-5631
Offers us a rare glimpse of African-American fiddling.
Sonny Terry Volume 2
Volume 2 DOCD-5657
Widely known for his energetic blues harmonica style which frequently included
vocal whoops and hollers, and imitations of trains and fox hunts.
Bukka White
DOCD-5679
Delta blues steel guitarist.
The vintage recordings 1930 ~ 1940.
Barbecue Bob Volume 1
DOCD-5046
Big booming sound of the 12 string accompanied by wry, original lyrics.
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The Document newsletter is out and as promised there are a bunch of titles back in stock.
Thanks, Uncle Bud--you beat me to it. For those of you who don't subscribe, all the mentioned titles are listed on their main page:
http://www.document-records.com/
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For those interested, it should also be mentioned that most, if not all, of Document's "Essential" series (2 CD single artist compilations) are on sale for ?2.99 through April 8.
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Yes, good point, dj. Was looking at a number of those myself. There are also numerous CDs not recently out of stock that have returned as specials.
If anyone is wondering about ordering directly from Document, my experience with them has been very good.
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DJ -
Thanks for the information regarding the sale on Essential Cd's at Document. I already have 6 and am ordering 5 more. I think the quality of these collections is excellent.
Jan
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I Just Purchased The 3rd Volume Of Papa Charlie Jackson, But Unfortunately The First Two Volumes Are Out Of Print.
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Hi Calvin,
Vol 2 of Papa Charlie did come back into stock in October, so you might want to double-check. Possible it's out of stock again, but I'd check the Document website and maybe with someone like Malcolm at venerablemusic.com.
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Hello, Friends!
I'm very interested to buy from the Document site but I don't understand HOW to do it.
I emailed them 3 times in the last month, but no answer yet!
Another very important question: can I pay by paypal? (or how can I pay?)
Many thanks for the help.
Marco.
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Hi Marco,
It's a little less smooth than shopping at Amazon or something but still fairly straightforward once you get to the cart process.
Basically, just add whatever items you want to your cart. You'll see a total number of items and total cost in the upper left corner as you do this.
Once you've got everything you want, click View Cart, either from that corner or through one of the links at the top or bottom of the page. A page comes up to select your delivery zone. Choose it and submit.
This will take you to the cart where you can make any changes. Also shows your shipping charges (for which they used to give a discount when ordering more than a few items -- not so anymore?). Click Checkout and it takes you to a separate secure site they're using to process transactions. Enter contact and delivery info, card number, finish it off and you're done. Print off your order statement.
No Paypal as far as I know. Plastic only.
Perhaps your troubles are browser related?
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Awesome..now I just need me some a that electronic money..
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Thanks, Uncle Bud!
So, no Paypal...
Maybe a VISA ELECTRON could be alright?
In that site there aren't pages like "how to buy"; "how to pay" and "What Credit Cards we accept".
Very strange for a site that sells CDs & Books. ::)
Thanks and Ciao!
Marco.
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Hello!
I bought 6 single CDs and a 3CDs Set.
I confirm: not paypal, but all the "Plastic" are Ok (Visa electron too).
Easy to buy, as Uncle Bud wrote, and not expensive shipping cost.
The CDs delivered in a week (from U.K. to Italy).
"Backwoods Blues" (DOCD-5036) is really a very interesting CD.
Many, many thanks to Uncle Bud for the help.
Marco.
Note: What about to ask a LITTLE discount to "Document" for the people joined here?
Do you think it could be possible?
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Hi Marco. Glad everything worked out. That Backwoods Blues disc is a great one, IMO.
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Just thought I'd let you all know that, before I left for France and Guernsey, Johnm hipped me to a used copy of the William Harris/Buddy Boy Hawkins (DOCD 5035) for sale at Red Lick. I'm now a happy camper, altho', Alex, I still think Clifford Gibson holds a slight edge over Buddy Boy as the more interesting player in Spanish tuning.
But thanks all for the several offers of ripped CDs and mp3s.-G-
All for now.
John C.
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Document's April 2007 newsletter is out and announce 47 titles back in stock. These include Sam Collins (hooray!), several Bo Carters, Tampa Red vol 1, Sylvester Weaver Vol 1, lots more. Still no Buddy Boy Hawkins or Texas Alexander (boo... hiss...). As usual, they're on sale for ?5.99 at http://www.document-records.com/specials.asp?offset=36. Many of the titles that came back in stock with the last couple newsletters are also listed for sale there, in case you missed an opportunity to pick them up a bit cheaper. Also the Essentials Series is available again at ?2.99 a pop.
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Thanks for the update, Uncle Bud. For those of you who may be wondering about placing an order from the U.S., the last time that I did it (approximately a month ago), it took about 10 days from the time that I placed the order until I received the CDs in the mail (I live just north of Seattle, WA). The conversion rate, credit card foreign exchange fee, postage, etc. will vary somewhat, but the final (delivered) cost is still quite reasonable, IMHO.
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altho', Alex, I still think Clifford Gibson holds a slight edge over Buddy Boy as the more interesting player in Spanish tuning.
BJ:
I agree, and I find BBH frenitic rags a bit much. Lyrically BBH is great and his humerous song delivery appeals to me.
That reminds me, I have a couple of BBH tunes "on the go", I'll have to get back to them.
Alex
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While I haven't seen a newsletter yet, Document has brought several more titles back into stock. The key material for some Weenies being Texas Alexander, Vol 1, 2 and 3. Perhaps they've been monitoring us! The other blues material of interest listed in the Specials section is the two volumes of Peg Leg Howell, now back in print (and which I would humbly rate as essential). All five of these titles are available at a reduced price, ?5.99, on the Special section of the website at this page: http://document-records.com/specials.asp?offset=60.
These seem to be the only new back-in-stock blues titles since the last report. The rest of the new specials are made up of hillbilly and old-time discs - some tempting stuff as well, for sure, but I'll leave it for Weenies to browse those themselves, rather than going into detail.
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Thanks very much for posting the info on the re-release of the Texas Alexander CDs, Uncle Bud. Volume 3 is finally on the way!
All best,
Johnm
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Hello!
I'm going to buy the Vol. 2 and 3 of Texas Alexander (I already got the Vol. 1) and the two CD of Frank Hutchinson.
The two of Peg Leg are already in my collection.
I don't know anything about the others titles reissued.
Do you know if some of them are interesting CDs?
Thanks for the suggestions!
Marco.
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Since most of it is hillbilly/old-time country, I'm not that familiar with it. The Sam McGee CD is certainly worth picking up. It's on the Juke, so you can check it out there before buying if you like. There are other artists there I've really enjoyed but have only heard a couple songs from (on various compilations) like the Leake County Revellers, John Dilleshaw, the Stripling Brothers. Perhaps one of the more knowledge hillbilly Weenies will chime in with an opinion. I'd be curious myself.
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I've heard a cut here and a side there by some of the groups and performers from the hillbilly/country side of the fence on the County Sales / County Records LPs. When I got the Document Newsletter yesterday, it was kind of like flipping through the Country section of Robert Crumb's recent book--the one that reproduces his cards sets with Rich Nevins' (I believe) notes for the country stuff--so you might start there for thumbnail sketches of the musicians.
I can't vouch for any particular CD, except the Sam McGhee and Frank Hutchison ones, but I plan on picking up a few while they are on sale, budget permitting.
Here's the link: http://www.document-records.com/specials.asp
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Recommendations for the old-time stuff would depend on how much you like old-time fiddle music. If you do, I'd recommend Skillet Lickers 1-4 (they're a very accessible string band and sing lots of songs), Fiddlin' Doc Roberts, Kessinger Bros., Da Costa Woltz and Stripling Bros. 7 volumes of Fiddlin' John Carson is a LOT of Fiddlin' John Carson (and I say this owning all 7 and enjoying a good deal of them), much of it in terrible sound -- someone should really do a good compilation of him some day. Also, I would venture an opinion that a little Roy Harvey goes a long way (if you're familiar with Charlie Poole, it's the same band usually, but Harvey's not as good a singer). Vol. 2 and 3 of that set, though, have his great guitar duets with Leonard Copeland, some of which have been anthologized over the years (on Mr. Charlie's Blues and the White Country Blues set and others).
The four I think I'd recommend most highly to fellow Weenies would be Burnett and Rutherford, which is mostly songs with either just banjo and fiddle or guitar and fiddle -- they have a unique vocal sound, Rutherford is a hell of a fiddler and Burnett is an excellent banjoist and a VERY peculiar guitar player. The Mississippi String Bands Vol. 1 is mostly fiddle music (with some incidental words thrown in) but Floyd Ming and his Pep Steppers (his name was really Hoyt Ming) and the Carter Bros. and Son are two of the weirdest, greatest bands ever, and the Freeny Dance Band is equally good. I think iTunes music store has at least the Ming band's "Indian War Whoop" so you could get a little sample. The Kentucky Gospel album is worth it alone for Alfred Karnes' complete recordings and the Ernest Phipps group is really wild "Holiness" singing, similar to some of the black "sanctified" groups. The Old Time Music from West Virginia, which is the second volume of Frank Hutchison, is also amazing -- it also contains the complete recordings of Dick Justice.
As a side note, the John Dilleshaw, in addition to some excellent fiddling, good songs and hilarious skits, has the version of Spanish Fandango that John Fahey made famous. Also, the Allen Bros. are heavily blues and hokum influenced (they're the ones who sued Columbia after one of their records was put out in the race series), but I find them really annoying after about one song.
That's my 2 cents,
Chris
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Hi all,
Just to add to what Chris has said, if you're interested in Old Time fiddling but haven't listened to a lot previously, Kentuckians Doc Roberts and Leonard Rutherford should be especially appealing. Both had great tone and intonation, an interesting variety of tunes, and in Rutherford's case, an especially slippery way of making his notes. There is as much variety in Old-Time fiddlers as there is in Country Blues guitarists, but I have never heard one I liked more than Leonard Rutherford.
The Leake County Revelers were a wonderful Mississippi band with a well-worked-out ensemble sound. Their rhythm guitarist, Dallas Jones, was an absolute ace. They recorded lots of neat blues and rag-influenced tunes. Really you can't go wrong with most of this stuff. One thing to be aware of--With Charlie Poole and Roy Harvey's material, you may run into songs from the Parlor Music tradition of the 19th century that exceed your sentimentality threshold. You might wish to look at the titles of the songs before making your purchases if you have a limited tolerance for sentimentality.
all best,
Johnm
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A number of the artists Chris and John mention are available in small quantities on the Juke, mainly from the JSP set Mountain Blues, and a couple other compilations. The Skillet Lickers, Fiddlin' Doc Roberts, Burnett and Rutherford, Dick Justice, Leake County Revellers and others.
edited to add: just as an extra bit of information - some of these players are available on CDs from County Records - like Charlie Poole - who are generally thought to do a better job of remastering and have very good notes as well. Worth comparing, especially if you're not committed to getting complete recorded works. I don't own the Charlie Poole discs myself so can't say yea or nay, but the couple of County issues I do have are excellent. There is also a Columbia set and a JSP set of Charlie Poole, so one has a bevy of options there.
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I have the Stripling Brothers Volume 1 and I'm not so keen on it compared to others. I bought it on the strength of the track "The Lost Child" which I heard on the "Down in the Basement" compilation and is a phenomenal track. Most of the CD isn't really like this, a few too many waltzes for me I'm afraid.
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I think "The Lost Child" is one of the greatest old-time performances ever. Some of the Stripling Bros. ragtime stuff is very nice. Many old-time groups recorded a lot of waltzes; it's only in later years that they've fallen out of favor. Doc Roberts is an exception to that -- he only recorded three, IIRC. As I think I mentioned in our discussion of country blues players and waltzes, waltzes were some of the biggest hits of the "golden age" of 78s -- the Leake County Revelers' Wednesday Night Waltz/Good Night Waltz sold over 200,000 copies and was in print on 78 until the '40s, I believe. One side of Darby and Tarlton's biggest hit, Birmingham Jail (other side was Columbus Stockade Blues) was a waltz and sold around 250,000.
Chris
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This must be our lucky day ;) --Document just announced their "Mid Summer Madness Sale!"
http://www.document-records.com/
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Yup, there's almost 250 titles to choose from, a good chunk of them ?2.99, otherwise ?5.99. ?2.99 is approximately 6 bucks - quite a deal. Many we've seen already in their recent sales. Others we haven't.
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Document's "Indian Summer" newsletter brings just twelve titles on special at ?5.99. There's some good stuff in there for people looking to flesh out their Bo Carter or Jim Jackson collections, and more -- though, alas, not 250 titles, and no ?2.99 specials.
BTW, there are several podcasts available for download on the Document site (http://www.document-records.com/index.asp), taken from their Edison cylinders series, and one on 1920s country music.
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There's some good stuff in there for people looking to flesh out their Bo Carter or Jim Jackson collections, and more
I'd recommend the Black Boy Shine and Black Ivory King disk. Two excellent singing pianists from Texas.
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One thing I've been able to get lucky on of late is scoring a few Documents to add to my collection by going through Amazon sellers. For instance, I've been needing the "Leecan & Cooksey Vol. 2" for quite awhile. It's been OOP for awhile, but I found an Amazon seller selling a new, sealed copy for $18.
I've bought from Amazon sellers about a half-dozen times and have always had great luck.
Fortunately, I started buying Document CDs in droves back in 1996 and never really stopped, so aside from a few comps (I lack some of the "Too Late Too Late" series), I have many dozens of Documents and pretty much own all their stuff I consider essential, though I do still buy them when I can. I'm not as big on piano blues, for instance, but I've been knocking those off and some of their hillbilly offerings, such as filling out my Kessinger Bros. complete and scoring the Walter Smih & Friends discs.
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The Document Autumn Newsletter has hit my inbox and brings with it news of a bunch of back-in-stock titles and others being discounted, mostly for ?3.99. 168 titles are on sale and some very tough decisions to make. Lots to choose from: Bo Carter, Sylvester Weaver, Leroy Carr, many more; a bunch of the classic compilations like String Bands, Alabama Black Country Dance Bands, Texas Black Country Dance Music; plus a slew of women singers, all the Georgia White discs, Bertha Chippie Hill (who was discussed on WC recently); and then old-time and hillbilly.
Top of my list will be Mississippi String Bands and Associates 1928-1931. The rest is going to be hard to decide. Am curious about St Louis 1927 - 1933, which has numerous obscure names: Spider Carter, Jelly Roll Anderson, Bert 'Snake Root' Hatton, Henry Johnson's Boys etc.
You can see the complete list at http://www.document-records.com/specials.asp
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Am curious about St Louis 1927 - 1933, which has numerous obscure names: Spider Carter, Jelly Roll Anderson, Bert 'Snake Root' Hatton, Henry Johnson's Boys etc.
Then again, maybe not...
From the Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings:
"The artists on St Louis didn't record enough to get a CD to themselves; in the case of Jesse Johnson, one must be glad."
:D
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Documents are turning up cheaply in the used bins in Austin, a trend I've been noticing lately presumably as people rip their CDs to digital files and sell them off. Go for it, I say... Lately I've scored the Dixon Bros, Johnny Temple and Blind Roosevelt Graves.
Particularly good is the CD that accompanies the Paul Oliver book Yonder Come The Blues. It's a really nice collection, including Griots, Othar Turner, string bands and black & white country blues. Quality and selection are excellent and I highly recommend it. Sort of a concept album for country blues freaks. I'd like to read the book.
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Am curious about St Louis 1927 - 1933, which has numerous obscure names: Spider Carter, Jelly Roll Anderson, Bert 'Snake Root' Hatton, Henry Johnson's Boys etc.
Then again, maybe not...
From the Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings:
"The artists on St Louis didn't record enough to get a CD to themselves; in the case of Jesse Johnson, one must be glad."
:D
Jelly Roll Anderson is also absolutely god-awful. There's one track of him ("Good Time Blues") on Yazoo's Times Ain't Like They Used to Be Vol. 3. Crappy lap-style slide guitar, and the vocal -- well, if you haven't heard it, imagine someone who doesn't speak one word of English and is a mediocre singer. Then give that person the ability to read phonetic symbols from the dictionary perfectly. Transcribe the lyrics of the song in those and let him at it, but not until you tell him to be sure to enunciate every last bit of every syllable.
Chris
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Jelly Roll Anderson is also absolutely god-awful. There's one track of him ("Good Time Blues") on Yazoo's Times Ain't Like They Used to Be Vol. 3. Crappy lap-style slide guitar, and the vocal -- well, if you haven't heard it, imagine someone who doesn't speak one word of English and is a mediocre singer. Then give that person the ability to read phonetic symbols from the dictionary perfectly. Transcribe the lyrics of the song in those and let him at it, but not until you tell him to be sure to enunciate every last bit of every syllable.
Chris
LOL. Well, this CD is looking less and less appealing... :D
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Well, I guess there's no accounting for taste - I'll stick my neck out and say I have always found Jelly Roll Anderson's work both weird and wonderful. OK, so the slide player only knows one lick... but he does have a unique style!
There's also a unique blues take on two Henry Johnson "Hawaiian" tracks - Blue Hawaii and Hawaiian Harmony Blues.
Anyhow, you do get Henry Moon and George Thomas on guitar (one of them is a pseudonymous Lonnie Johnson - worth your hard-earned money just for that!).
In fact I liked it so much I also got Document CD 5182 "St Louis Girls" (Katherine Baker, Lizzie Washington) because they used the same backing band to record - Henry Johnson & His Boys. On some tracks you get added celeste accompaniment!
Go on, swim against the tide, go ahead and and buy it!
Marshcat
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I'll side with Marshcat on this one, while agreeing in part with Chris. It is just the qualities that Chris describes that give it a certain charm all of its own, and thus its fits right in when properly sequenced in a compilation. Just a historical curiosity??--maybe, but there are a lot of songs that just don't "sound right" (whatever that means), but are appealing just the same. Maybe its taste--or maybe a high tolerance for this kind of thing that I've developed over the decades.
Perhaps we need a new topic, "Songs That Sound Terrible, But We Love All The Same," or some such thing.
It reminds me of one or two on "The Anthology of American Folk Music." When I first heard them, they rubbed me the wrong way, but now the AAFM wouldn't be complete without them. I'm sure that you know what I mean.
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Thanks, Stuart: nice to know I'm not entirely alone on this!
At the risk of sticking my neck further even into the noose, I also think some of Jelly Roll Anderson's lyrics are sheer poesy:
"If you don't want me woman, you don't have to stall (2)
There's another woman waiting to take up your downfall".
Or:
"Tears runnin' down my cheeks like drops of rain
Big salt tears runnin' down my cheeks like drops of rain
And every tear is an initial of my baby's name."
Along with the Henry Johnson's celeste and Lonnie's inspired guitar on this CD, a mention in dispatches also for James Johnson's piano on two of Anderson's four tracks: he sounds like he's on day release from the in-house chamber orchestra of some Austrian lunatic asylum.
Really, what more could one ask for? :)
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Perhaps we need a new topic, "Songs That Sound Terrible, But We Love All The Same," or some such thing.
We do have a very closely related topic in: "How did that get recorded?" - which maybe should have been "How in the world did that ever get recorded?" :)
http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?amp;Itemid=114&topic=708.0
In fact we may have to merge the topics...
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...We do have a very closely related topic in: "How did that get recorded?" - which maybe should have been "How in the world did that ever get recorded?" :)
To which we might add, "but Thank Heavens it did!" ;)
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I see they have the two Walter Roland disks on sale. Volume 1 is especially good - a varied, well-performed program. I wrote a short description/review when this disk went on the Juke. It's on page 14 of the Weenie Juke Radio Changes/Additions thread. I can't recommend it highly enough. If you don't have it, get it! (That's not an encouragement, it's an order. ;D)
I'd also recommend the Leroy Carr disks. I got them in the spring when they first came back into print, and I have to say I've spent the intervening months regularly regretting that I spent the first 40 years of my blues-listening life ignoring Carr, and trying to remedy that fault with frequent listening now.
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I have wished for a long time that Yazoo would do a best of Leroy Carr CD re-issue. I have the Documents and another reissue on Columbia but have never really been able to get into them because of the sound quality. It's not that they're staticky, they're just flat. When I hear a Carr track in good sound I really enjoy it, though.
Chris
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I have wished for a long time that Yazoo would do a best of Leroy Carr CD re-issue. I have the Documents and another reissue on Columbia but have never really been able to get into them because of the sound quality. It's not that they're staticky, they're just flat. When I hear a Carr track in good sound I really enjoy it, though.
I don't know if the two Magpie CDs are still available but the "remastering" was by John R T Davis and favourably commented upon in reviews. Do you have these MTJ3?
http://www.wirz.de/music/carrfrm.htm
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I have wished for a long time that Yazoo would do a best of Leroy Carr CD re-issue. I have the Documents and another reissue on Columbia but have never really been able to get into them because of the sound quality. It's not that they're staticky, they're just flat. When I hear a Carr track in good sound I really enjoy it, though.
I don't know if the two Magpie CDs are still available but the "remastering" was by John R T Davis and favourably commented upon in reviews. Do you have these MTJ3?
http://www.wirz.de/music/carrfrm.htm
I regretfully do not have them, BH. In fact, I have not even seen them on this side of the pond.
Banjochris, I suspect that you have the Blues Before Sunrise album. In another post I mentioned that although there is still a lot of snap, crackle and pop on some of the sides, one can hear a lot on the Columbia/Legacy The Best of Leroy Carr: Whiskey Is My Habit, Good Women Is All I Crave that can't be heard on other re-issues of the same sides. I'm not recommending those sides as the "best of" Carr. (Everyone's a critic. In fairness, it would probably take me hours of hanky twisting to compile my list of the "best of," and it would almost certainly be different the next day. In truth, I have played that little game with myself, and that is, in fact, exactly what happens.) You may, however, find an aural dimension there that is otherwise lacking for you in other re-issues (esp. some of the Document re-issues) that you have.
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Thanks MTJ3 -- I do have Blues Before Sunrise in addition to the Documents and I'll give that Columbia/Legacy album a try. Sunrise sounds like it was remastered in an echo chamber.
Chris
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This might be an option for good sound too:
http://www.amazon.de/Best-21-Blues-Giants-Leroy-Carr/dp/B0000562BN/ref=sr_1_17/028-7765477-7538138?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1191830403&sr=1-17
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Top of my list will be Mississippi String Bands and Associates 1928-1931.
I downloaded the tracks from this that I didn't already have elsewhere a while ago from emusic. It's dominated by Walter Vincson, Bo Carter and Charlie McCoy, playing as either Sam Hill from Louisville (WV singing) or the Mississippi Blacksnakes (CM or BC singing). The duets are all pretty good to my tastes, and the players all accompany one another in a "stomp all over you" kind of way, and everybody clearly has their ears on, which is good. The playing (especially by McCoy) can drift into the noodly, but not overly so. There's also the sides from the Mississippi Mud-Steppers - exceptionally fine stuff and a good CD overall.
Am curious about St Louis 1927 - 1933
Stay curious. Hold out long enough and either you'll find it in the used bin for a buck, or someone will offer you money to take it.
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Bought 8 CDs but one - in a few days - is already out of stock: Gus Cannon Vol. 1. >:(
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Fortunatly I already had Gus cannon's Vol 1 from a while ago, Just bought 11 CD's from the recent sale :D
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Bought 8 CDs but one - in a few days - is already out of stock: Gus Cannon Vol. 1. >:(
Almost everything on Gus Cannon volumes 1 & 2 can be found in superior sound on compilations from Yazoo, Old Hat, JSP and Black Swan.
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I actually find that in quite a few cases Document Records has better quality of sound than that of Yazoo, though if you listen to anything taken from a 78 I don't think sound quality should really be an issue as long as you can atleast vaguly hear the sound. Not to mention the fact that Document Records is much more comprehensive in tracks and bearly ever leaves anything out. I always feel a bit ripped off if theres less than twenty songs on a CD especially if I pay + ?10 for it, it's ok as long as there decent songs I suppose :) .
(Not to mention the fact that everytime I order from Document I usually get the CD/s between 24 and 72 hours living just down the tracks from scotland)
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I actually find that in quite a few cases Document Records has better quality of sound than that of Yazoo
It seems logical that the Yazoos should have better sound quality. But, as Michael Gray said of Blind Willie McTell reissues in the discographic section of Hand Me My Travelin' Shoes: "It is recurrently alleged that Yazoo offers better sound quality than Document/Wolf. I wouldn't rush to say so myself."
Even on the early 90s Bluebird CDs, which for the most part have spectacular sound, there are a few cuts that I don't think measure up sonically to the corresponding Documents.
I still remember enough of the 1960s so that I'm usually just thrilled to think of how much of this music is available these days without worrying excessively about slight variations in sound. Of course when the variations are huge...
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hello everyone,
i have to disagree about the sound quality of the document vs. yazoo. to my ears, yazoo by far has the better sound. some of the older titles on yazoo, you could debate, if you want (titles released before '94 or '95), but everything since i think has been remastered w/ a caring hand. the yazoo's may have more noise, but they also aren't as flat or thin as some of the documents can come across as sounding. & the recent remastering work by richard nevins is just terrific. you can actually hear the nuanceson the recordings. just listen to the multiple vol.s of 'times ain't like they used to be', 'the stuff dreams are made of'. the 'best of' stuff w/ blake, mctell, lemon, frank stokes, i think you'll hear what i mean. sure if you want to have everything, yazoo isn't going to fulfill that need for you. but sometimes when you have the option, you owe it to yourself to hear these recordings remastered at their best.
thats my opinion, anyway....
chris
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I've had the Charlie Patton Black Swan CD set for several years and I reckon it's pretty good. People hear different things in CD remastered 78s so I certainly wouldn't pretend to speak for anyone but myself. Suffice to say I've felt no compelling need to go out and buy the Revenant or JSP box sets . . yet.
I'd characterize the overall mix as 'hot', not really like a 78, more like a vinyl mixdown of an original 78. That would be my totally uninformed guess as to the origins of the Black Swan, somebody prove me wrong.
Actually I rip everything to the iPod, I have the two earlier Yazoos, just so I can compare the different results. Can't have too much Patton I reckon, and I can hear clearly lyrics in one I can't catch in the other due to the different disposition of various types of noise on the source, and EQ choices during mastering probably. So yeah, I like the Black Swan Patton.
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I recently had the last Bo Carter CD which Yazoo Released and the songs didn't seem any different sound quality wise to that of document, but personally I dont think sound quality should be that much of an issue unless you want to introduce a "normie" who probably couldn't handle the background noise. I think I would be really disappointed if all the background noise was removed.
On a similar note, Remastering. Remastering can meen a number of different things, I wouldn't buy any CD which i didn't have the chance to preview atleast one or two songs before hand and this is mainly to check just what kind of remastering has been done. Some of the time Remastering can do no good to a song whatsoever and even make it worse. I've heard a few of these "remastered" songs and the technique they use to "remaster" them is a little sound effect called "Remove Noise" which basically agets rid of the background noise by muffeling it out, the main problem with this is alot of the time it just takes the music with it and creates a distinctive whistling noise a bit like a synthesizer in the background. I had a good example of this which had been done to a blind blake song, I think I might have deleted it though.
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Re: Black Swan - Fidelity-wise I would put them just a notch above Document, and way behind Yazoo. Nothing spectacular. For chronic audiophiles only!
Re: Yazoo vs. Document - On a hi-fi set-up (as opposed to a pc or iPod) the differences between Yazoo and Document are enormous. The overwhelming majority of Document's releases are essentially second generation transfers from collectors cassette tapes, whereas Yazoo digitize directly from the best available 78?s. The quality of the cassettes Document received varied widely, as did the condition of the source 78's, resulting in an unnecessarily muffled sound on some titles.
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cooljack,
i agree w/ some of what you are saying. particularilly on your awareness how some 'remastering' can ruin the overall power of an old recording. but when you say sound quality shouldn't be that much of an issue...etc.. but that is my point w/ yazoo. (county records, & old hat do terrific jobs, as well) it's not that they don't have any noise on them, but that you can hear subtle things on them that you can't on other labels. & those little things can only add to the power of those performances. they seem 'fuller' to me, & more immediate, when remastered properly. i still will buy sets on jsp, & i own some documents, as well, but yazoo, in my mind is the standard by which i hold them all to.
i have the blind willie johnson's on yazoo, (had 'em for years) then i heard one of his songs remastered on one of the yazoo religious sets, 'half ain't never..' i think, & it was like hearing the song for the 1st time.
the music isn't going to sound as moving, if it sounds thin, flat or whatnot. & whether or not your new to this music, thats going to hold true.
there's so few company's out there who are doing it right, i just like to support the ones that do. & personally i find i end up enjoying the recording more....
chris
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I don't know if the two Magpie CDs [of Leroy Carr] are still available but the "remastering" was by John R T Davis and favourably commented upon in reviews. Do you have these MTJ3?http://www.wirz.de/music/carrfrm.htm
Thanks, BH. After I got my hot little hands on vol. 1, I realized that I had, in fact, seen these before. The Piano Blues series in which they appear was edited and produced by Francis Wilford Smith and "mastered direct from the 78's" (emphasis supplied) in his collection. To my ear, the sound is quite good, and on some cuts it is exceptional. I would guess that is attributable to E and VG/VG+ 78s in Smith's collection rather than re-mastering by The Master, who was not credited on the CD "jacket," if he indeed did any remastering on them. The sides reissued in vols. 1 and 2 are from 1930-1935, and, therefore and unfortunately, do not include improvements on the more "thrashed" reissues of sides from 1928 and 1929.
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This just in:
http://www.document-records.com/specials.asp
And a New Rev. Gary Davis Live CD (among other offerings):
http://www.document-records.com/index.asp
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Given that we (or I) have just been talking about it in the Leadbelly thread, it's worth mentioning that the Leadbelly Private Party in Minneapolis CD is available for ?1.99 on these specials. I've got it and really enjoy it, though can understand how it might be considered for completists only. Still, it's got some great material, some wonderful performances, and is an interesting historical document. And ?1.99 is 4 bucks. Pretty good deal. Me, I'm going to pick up some of those old-time discs at ?1.99 a pop.
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There was a discussion a few pages back about Document 5181: "St Louis 1927 - 1933". I just got my copy yesterday, after it had been lost in the combined British and American postal systems for 2 months. I haven't even gotten all the way through it yet - I'm only on track 10 - but had to post to say "Get this disk." Henry Johnson's Boys are what lead me to my recommendation. They back Jelly Roll Anderson and then have 6 tracks of their own. Admittedly, Anderson is a bit of an acquired taste - he sounds a bit like Al Jolson on a bad day, like a conservatory-trained singer trying to get down but not too dirty. But the two Hawaiian tracks by Henry Johnson's Boys are just fantastic. "Blue Hawaii" is a straightforward Hawaiian guitar piece, accompanied by celeste and, presumably, Lonnie Johnson lightly chording along. "Hawaiian Harmony Blues" is a Hawaiian march, performed by the two guitars and celeste with the addition of a very strange fiddle part. It takes fiddler Henry Johnson a full verse to figure out what key the rest of the band is in, and once he finds the key he still sounds like he's playing a totally unrelated song, but the results are glorious music, even if they are a bit of a shambles. The other four tracks by the band are also beautiful small band performances of a type that was recorded all to infrequently.
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Document's January Newsletter is out, bringing another round of CDs on sale. Not a huge selection of ?1.99'ers, most are in the ?3.99 category. Lots of Leadbelly (geez, it's complicated figuring all those Leadbelly discs out) and Josh White at the latter price. Some recommended discs at ?1.99 like Memphis Blues Vol 2 DOCD-5159 which has Hattie Hart, George Torey, John Henry Barbee, Pearl Dickson and others (I really like Madelyn James for some reason). Jim Jackson Vol 2 at ?1.99 is worth the price IMO, :P though beware there is quite a bit of repetition in his repertoire. Other ?1.99'ers: Roosevelt Sykes; Too Late Too Late Vol 4; Blue Ladies (Hattie Bolten is Hattie Hart in disguise, and apparently Kansas Katie is a Lil Green imitator, so this one is appealing to me for $4); Jimmie Gordon.
You can browse them all here:
http://www.document-records.com/specials.asp
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I got that too Andrew The memphis blues CD is to tempting to ignore, alot of gospel cheap this month too and those lonnie Johnson CD's are begging to be bought.
Im in a really good mood as this morning the document 3 CD set "Never Let the Same Bee Sting you Twice" arrived and I have to say it has replaced "Backwood Blues" as the greatest Document release now for me, I don't think theres one sub par song on it and it is fairly cheap considering the price of most document CD's (unless you buy it on amazon of course where it is pretty expensive), theres an amazing song played on the quills called "Going to Leave you blues" though Im suspistious of this as I think there may have been a mistake made on the CD as the song right next to it is called "Quill Blues" and features no quill atall...hmm, the best thing I've ever bought from document all the same.
(https://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jazzstore.com%2Fimages%2Fweb_zoom%2F81125.jpg&hash=7bc5ac531dbe2900b0b56e9a05fa4884e6199c5e)
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I agree. That songster set is mighty fine listening. Classic. 8)
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You can search here for a list of over 700 Document titles available here in the US
http://www.cduniverse.com/sresult.asp?style=music&HT_Search=xlabel&HT_Search_Info=Document+%28USA%29
RJ
I have just ordered the 3 cd set mentioned above, "Never Let the Same Bee Sting you Twice" it looks to good to pass up. Thanks guys!!
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Hi RJ,
Document will ship to the US and around the world, just so it's clear. Many of us have ordered from them directly and had fine service. When they have a sale, it's particularly worthwhile. For instance, the Blue Ladies disc I mention above goes for $4 in the sale, and is listed at $15.49 at the CD Universe link you provided.
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Yep Andrew you are so right, The CD Universe list is the one I've used for reference, I ordered the box set directly from Document just moments ago. Mostly I have been buying the JSP, Proper and Boulevard sets from Bluebeat Music, if there are better places to buy blues cd's please let me know. Thanks Andrew you are always so helpful, maybe we'll meet in Port Townsend this summer, I'll be bringing my Greven L00v!!!
RJ
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RJ,
If you haven't already done so, it would be worthwhile for you to go back to the beginning of this thread and read through it. There are several suggestions for good places to get Document records, some of them at discount prices. But be careful - the Document catalog is highly addictive!
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I just got 'Never Let The Same Bee Sting You Twice' in yesterdays mail. Very fast delivery from Document, and so far it sounds great! Thanks for the recommendation...
RJ
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Document have brought back a fair amount of old CD's back into print,
Most notably the Blind Willie Mctell and Curley Weaver 1949 Recordings which have been remastered and come with a few new tracks, aswell as a MUCH better album cover:
(https://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.document-records.com%2Fimages%2F200s%2FBDCD-6014.jpg&hash=bf68ed1914795d92d96b0262e3b6f196b4317c40)
you can download all the tracks in mp3 aswell
Also some long awaited reissues of Mississippi Sheiks Vol. 1 ,Bo Carter Vol. 3 and Gus Cannon Vol. 2
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Document have brought back a fair amount of old CD's back into print,
Most notably the Blind Willie Mctell and Curley Weaver 1949 Recordings which have been remastered and come with a few new tracks
That's very interesting because the original release was withdrawn shortly after release because Tamara Shad threatened Johnny Parth with court action on account of the four Sittin' In With recordingss. Shad sold all her labels to Sony in about 1996 who today wouldn't know what was currently in their ownership or not.
I trust they've commissioned somebody to redo the booklet notes which are now 17 years out of date and woefully inadequate.
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I merged the above 2 posts with the mega-Document availability thread.
Those extra McTell-Weaver tracks were previously only available on the Guitar Slim and Jelly Belly - The Back Porch Boys CD from Delmark, I believe.
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I merged the above 2 posts with the mega-Document availability thread.
Those extra McTell-Weaver tracks were previously only available on the Guitar Slim and Jelly Belly - The Back Porch Boys CD from Delmark, I believe.
Indeed so way back in 2002. ;D
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I have 'Pig N Whistle Red' & that somewhat crappy 6cd 'BW Mctell King of the Georgia Blues/Complete Blues' (which gets worse with each relistening: the 1949 tracks drag & etc & there are a bunch of other sound issues) & by my count they are missing 5 of the tracks from this Document Cd, all sung by Weaver. Is this Document complete for this/these sessions?
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I merged the above 2 posts with the mega-Document availability thread.
Those extra McTell-Weaver tracks were previously only available on the Guitar Slim and Jelly Belly - The Back Porch Boys CD from Delmark, I believe.
What were the extra tracks?
Chris
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Chris they are
My baby`s gone
Ticket agent
Some Rainy Day
Trixie
(off hand these sound like Weaver is solo)
and
She Don't Treat Me Good No More
which sounds like Weaver & Mctell on 2nd guitar . . . .
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Actually the tracks I was referring to are McTell tracks: an alternate take of It's My Desire, an alt. take ( I think) of River Jordan, and the Thomas Dorsey composition "How About You", which I don't think has been available elsewhere in any take. I'd have to confirm all of this. Right now I am just going by the CD tracklist.
edited to add: Actually, River Jordan is just plain previously unreleased. I was confusing it with the Atlantic recordings.
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Oh sorry for the confusion Andrew . . . those tracks you mention are actually on this Complete Blues 6CD Mctell set. It's one of the reasons I bought it . . . also it has an alt. take of Broke Down Engine no.2. What it doesn't have are those tracks I was asking about which makes me want this Document CD.
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Actually the tracks I was referring to are McTell tracks: an alternate take of It's My Desire, an alt. take ( I think) of River Jordan, and the Thomas Dorsey composition "How About You", which I don't think has been available elsewhere in any take. I'd have to confirm all of this. Right now I am just going by the CD tracklist.
edited to add: Actually, River Jordan is just plain previously unreleased. I was confusing it with the Atlantic recordings.
Thanks for the info. For some reason I thought I had heard McTell doing "How About You" but just looked it up and I was remembering Buddy Moss and Josh White doing it.
Chris
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Hi Cheapfeet - Yes, sorry, I was unaware of that Snapper 6-CD set. So were the Penguin folks it seems.
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Hi Cheapfeet - Yes, sorry, I was unaware of that Snapper 6-CD set. So were the Penguin folks it seems.
Hardly surprising Andrew, it was released a year after the book was published. :P
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This just in:
http://www.document-records.com/specials.asp?offset=0
Volumes 1-7 of Peetie Wheatstraw are included in this month's specials.
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yeah alot of things on special offer, alot of piano related material. I bagged the second volume of Gus Cannon & Noah Lewis along with Mississippi Sheiks Vol. 1.
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That was a long list of great stuff, I like these specials! Going to start with the Yanceys.
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What I ordered from the Documents Special list today, should yield some great listening. :D
Arizona Dranes - 1926 - 1929
Cow Cow Davenport - Vol 1 1925 - 1929
Gus Cannon & Noah Lewis - Vol 2 1929 -1930
Jimmy Yancey - Vol 1 1939 - 1940
Jimmy Yancey - Vol 2 1940 - 1943
Jimmy Yancey - Vol 3 1943 - 1950
Little Brother Montgomery - 1930 - 1936
Montana Taylor - 1929 - 1946
Roosevelt Sykes - Vol 4 1934 - 1936
Sonny Boy Williamson - Vol 4 1941 - 1945
Sonny Boy Williamson - Vol 5 1945 - 1947
Walter Roland - Vol 1 1933
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If anyone who has the Document Leroy Carr CDs gets the new JSP Carr set, I'd be interested in any comments comparing the sound of the Documents and JSPs.
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If anyone who has the Document Leroy Carr CDs gets the new JSP Carr set, I'd be interested in any comments comparing the sound of the Documents and JSPs.
I was just going to ask the same question. Also, keep an eye out for the Roots and Rhythm newsletter, where such comparisons are often made. I don't remember seeing this in the latest one though there is a lot about JSP sets.
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This just in:
http://www.document-records.com/specials.asp
We have until May 30 to max out our credit cards.
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Looks like a few items are back in stock:
http://www.document-records.com/
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that Buddy Boy Hawkins and Willie Harris CD is back in stock, i've got to get my hands on that one :D
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Anyone heard anything about Document lately? It's been awhile since one of their specials, and their website has had an item about restructuring the company, implementing new systems, apologizing for being slow with summer orders etc., for quite some time now. Anyone ordered anything direct lately?
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Anyone heard anything about Document lately? It's been awhile since one of their specials, and their website has had an item about restructuring the company, implementing new systems, apologizing for being slow with summer orders etc., for quite some time now. Anyone ordered anything direct lately?
I posted this almost a month ago. Now there's (possibly wild) speculation on the prewarbler's list about Document possibly folding. Only speculation (read, wild rumour) so far, no confirmation of anything. So I'll repeat my inquiry. Has anyone ordered anything from Document recently and if so, when, and was the order fulfilled? Does anyone know anything about their status? Does anyone have contacts who might be able to enlighten us?
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I phoned re an outstanding order last week and was told there had been problems with their credit card processing amongst other things and to send a cheque. However, since then I've had confirmation of the dispatch of my order. I'll keep you posted when/if it arrives.
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Thanks for the info, Blueshome.
One thing that crossed my mind is the specific use of the word "restructuring" as it refers to Document Records. With all the recent negative economic news using the term to refer to reorganization under bankruptcy protection in the U.S., we might just be assuming the worst about Document, when in fact they are only restructuring their business in the non-bankruptcy sense. Anyway, let's hope it merely refers to reorganizing the nuts and bolts of their business operation and not their financial health.
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The Document website has been updated with an explanation of what's been going on. Sounds like the banking crisis has been the culprit. Seems like it should be business as usual in a few weeks. Lots of detail in a frank message from Gary Atkinson here:
http://document-records.com/bankers-blues.asp
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Thanks, Andrew. I stand corrected--or at least clarified. I guess this is what happens when the worldwide banking system goes bankrupt.
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You can't help but feel sorry for Gary in his frustration.
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Anyway great to hear that they are coming back, and then hopefully backed by more stable partners.
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Document has just put up an announcement on its web site that it's back to full operation and processing online orders once again. Good to hear!
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Great news! I'll head right over. :)
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Has anyone ordered from Document lately? With the pound's current swoon against the dollar, prices for ordering direct from Document for U.S. residents are very attractive, about $12.10 for a full priced disc. I'm wondering if I should give it a try.
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I just had a couple off them and all was well :). One CD was out of stock but back in soon.
The search on the website isn't working too well at the moment for me though.
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Has anyone else picked up "Mississippi Blues, Vol. 4" on Document? It's the one with the Robert Johnson tracks (widely available elsewhere, of course), but I got it for the four Otto Virgial songs and the Robert Lockwood Bluebird and Mercury recordings. Unfortunately, there seems to be an annoying and insistent clicking through several of the Lockwood tracks (and it's not the fault of the source material ? I'm very accustomed to the pops and clicks of old 78s!). It sounds like some digital remnants or maybe a fault in the manufacture of the CD. (I've actually purchased and returned it twice due to this problem.) I've contacted Document but haven't heard back (and no wonder, due to their recent travails). At the very least, consider this a bit of fair warning about this particular disc.
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I have the disc and haven't noticed the clicking. But that may have been because I was stripping paint off old windows with a heat gun while I was listening! ::) I'll have to give it another listen to check it out. Any excuse to revisit some good music...
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I'm interested to hear what you hear! (Go straight to the second half of Dust My Broom and the first part of Aw Aw Baby...)
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Yep. The last 4 Lockwood tracks have a clicking that sounds like a digital fault.
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the robert lockwood tracks are/were also available on the wolf cd"mississippi blues" wbcd-005.no pops or digital clicks.i`m not sure if this cd is still in print-but if you can get it it is superb,containing the complete recorded works of otto virgial,robert petway and lockwood from`35-`51.
take care lyndvs.
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the robert lockwood tracks are/were also available on the wolf cd"mississippi blues" wbcd-005.no pops or digital clicks.i`m not sure if this cd is still in print-but if you can get it it is superb,containing the complete recorded works of otto virgial,robert petway and lockwood from'35-'51.
Great minds think a like. The first thing I did after I walked in the door tonight was go and play that. Roots & Rhythm may still have it, here's what the Frank Scott has to say:
ROBERT LOCKWOOD: Black spider blues/Dust my broom/ I'm gonna dig myself a hole/ 'm gonna train my baby/ Little boy blue/Take a walk with me/ ROBERT PETWAY: Bertha Lee blues/ Boogie woogie woman/Catfish blues/ Cotton pickin' blues/ Don't go down baby/ Hollow log blues/In the evening/ Left my baby crying/ Let me be your boss/ My baby left me/ My little girl/ Ride 'em on down/ Rockin' chair blues/ Sleepy woman blues/ OTTO VIRGIAL: Bad notion blues/Got the blues about Rome/Little girl in Rome/ Seven year Itch
A sensational collection of Mississippi blues featuring the complete recordings of Otto Virgial and Robert Petway and the complete pre-war recordings of Robert Lockwood along with his 1951 session. Virgial, recorded in 1935, is an utterly obscure but exceptional performer with an powerful vocal style and intensely rhythmic guitar style which strongly suggests that he is from the Delta. Petway is an exciting Mississippi bluesman with a style very much like his friend Tommy McClennan with a powerful gravelly voiced, energetic guitar work on his steel bodied National and spoken asides and exclamations. The 14 tracks here are from 1941 and '42 and represent his entire output including his classic recording of the Mississippi blues standard Catfish. The four sides from '41 by Lockwood (his first) show the influence of his stepfather Robert Johnson overlaid with jazz elements and are all utterly sensational - I'm Gonna Train My Baby has some novel lyrics ("I'm Gonna Train My Baby To Shoot A Pistol Like A Man/If She Can't Trip the Trigger Than She Cannot Be In My Gang"!) and Little Boy Blue features some lovely single string slide guitar. The two '51 sides with Sunnyland Slim are fine versions of I'm Gonna Dig Myself A Hole and Dust My Broom. Every track on this disc is a gem, sound is generally good and there are informative notes by Alan Balfour. Essential! (FS)
Re-reading the booklet the 1991 notes are really showing their age!
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It seems like this was remastered in 2007. Is it this version?
http://www.document-records.com/fulldetails.asp?ProdID=DOCD-5682
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Yes, that's the version.
Fortunately, I have all the affected tracks on various Paula and Mercury anthologies.
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An on-line article that mentions Document as a case study (scroll down--via the PWBG):
http://tinyurl.com/c5e98q
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For anyone who doesn't receive the Document newsletter: For the first time in over a year, they have a selection of discs available on sale. Good selection, and the prices are right around $5 and $9 US, depending on currency fluctuations.
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By and large the majority of those in the ?2.50 bracket seem to be CDs featuring the lesser known female vaudevillians.
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By and large the majority of those in the ?2.50 bracket seem to be CDs featuring the lesser known female vaudevillians.
And what's wrong with that? ;D
Seriously, I've picked up a few of those, and if the sale lasts long enough and the supply holds out, I'll get a bunch more when my bank account recovers. There are depths to be plumbed in that whole "classic" female thing, and I, for one, have barely gotten one toe wet. I especially love those disks that are compilations of a half dozen to a dozen singers who only recorded a few titles each. The juxtapositions of techniques and styles and the occasional appearance of some minor gems is just wonderful.
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I imagine BH meant that as a positive thing, dj. Several folks have been talking about getting more familiar with the blues queens in the last year or so, like Cheapfeet.
[Edit] Duh! Just saw your smilie. They're kinda invisible to me.
Wax
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I imagine BH meant that as a positive thing, dj. Several folks have been talking about getting more familiar with the blues queens in the last year or so, like Cheapfeet.
[Edit] Duh! Just saw your smilie. They're kinda invisible to me.
Wax
Yes my inference was now is the time for folk to acquaint themselves with this genre. I'm kinda irked that I had to pay full price for them but take solace in the fact that I've had 15+ years listening. This time next year will mark two decades of the Document project!
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Yes my inference was now is the time for folk to acquaint themselves with this genre.
And that's how I took it, of course. Just thought I'd throw in a bit of a blurb for stuff like that. It really does make for (usually) interesting listening, and at the price, you can't go wrong!
This time next year will mark two decades of the Document project!
That's amazing. It seems like only yesterday. May Document live long and prosper!
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Just thought I'd mention that those ?2.60 Blue Girls and Female Blues Singers discs are still available. I realize that most readers of this post won't really be big fans of the "classic" female genre, but if you'd just like to dip a toe into the water, a few of these discs are ideal. You get an average of about a half-dozen different singers per disc, with all manner of accompaniments - pianists (from superb early Duke Ellington to ham-fisted anonymities), hot jazz bands, treacly pop bands, vaudeville ensembles, and one very good anonymous violinist. All kinds of voices, all kinds of styles, and it seldom gets boring because everyone gets a few songs and then shuffles off the stage of history. I'm really enjoying them. My favorite moment comes near the end of the last disc (Female Blues Singers, Volume 14) when Jelly Roll Morton tries manfully to accompany Billie Young's long melismatic, free-time yodel, then finally gives it up for a bad job and stops playing until she comes back into the verse. They obviously hadn't rehearsed that!
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Just thought I'd mention that those ?2.60 Blue Girls and Female Blues Singers discs are still available. I realize that most readers of this post won't really be big fans of the "classic" female genre, but if you'd just like to dip a toe into the water, a few of these discs are ideal.
Definitely an acquired taste DJ, but one I have to admit to having.
I can?t imagine blues reissue companies of the future being brave enough to release this kind of material. It wouldn?t surprise me if in a decade these current "bargains" will be commanding silly auction prices. Johnny Parth only pressed sufficient copies of each to make them economically viable. I can?t see the current owners repressing once out of stock. Not even as CD-Rs..... ;D
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It wouldn?t surprise me if in a decade these current "bargains" will be commanding silly auction prices.
There you go. Buy them as an investment, if for no other reason! :D
All the copies I got were from the original pressing in 1997. I guess these haven't been really big sellers.
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Ordered these just the other day, several at greatly reduced prices:
Big Joe Williams - Vol 2 1945 - 1949
Blind Roosevelt Graves - 1929 - 1936
Kokomo Arnold - Vol 1 1930 - 1935
V.A. - Barrelhouse Piano Blues & Stomps - 1929 - 1933
V.A. - Gospel Classics Vol 3 1924 - 1942
V.A. - Negro Religious Field Recordings 1934 - 1942
V.A. - The Skillet Lickers - Vol. 6 1934
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Just thought I'd mention that those ?2.60 Blue Girls and Female Blues Singers discs are still available. I realize that most readers of this post won't really be big fans of the "classic" female genre, but if you'd just like to dip a toe into the water, a few of these discs are ideal. You get an average of about a half-dozen different singers per disc, with all manner of accompaniments - pianists (from superb early Duke Ellington to ham-fisted anonymities), hot jazz bands, treacly pop bands, vaudeville ensembles, and one very good anonymous violinist. All kinds of voices, all kinds of styles, and it seldom gets boring because everyone gets a few songs and then shuffles off the stage of history. I'm really enjoying them. My favorite moment comes near the end of the last disc (Female Blues Singers, Volume 14) when Jelly Roll Morton tries manfully to accompany Billie Young's long melismatic, free-time yodel, then finally gives it up for a bad job and stops playing until she comes back into the verse. They obviously hadn't rehearsed that!
Hey, dj (or anyone else, for that matter), got any favorites volumes of these many discs?
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...got any favorites volumes of these many discs?
I've already mentioned volume 14, but I should add that it's full of (mostly) better than average singers and some truly outstanding accompanists.
Volume 5 features Dorothy Dodd, who was one of the earliest recorded female bluse singers, and really excellent. Why she recorded so little is a mystery. Jesse Derrick was based on the west coast and would probably have been a much bigger national star if there had been a recording industry out ther in the 1920s. Madylin Davis also deserves to be better known.
And volume 6 has Dorothy Everetts and Ruby Gowdy who are excellent singers, and among its other artists are two that David Evans (who wrote the notes) doesn't think much of but who I find really attractive. Georgia Gorham was a song plugger who got to record two songs on her own backed by the Black Swan studio band. She doesn't have a conventionally good voice, but I find her rather compelling. And Madam Hurd Fairfax was apparently the proprietress of a Chicago Singing school. Her two songs are a wonderful example of how the black middle class would have sung the blues in their homes or at a social gathering. It's a world we don't get to glimpse too often, and I love it when I have a chance to hear stuff like this.
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Thanks dj, much appreciated. As I think I've mentioned before, I suspect that a detailed look at a lot of the women blues singers would reveal a lot of material we think of as male country blues really has its roots in early female blues, classic blues, and the African-American popular songwriting business that predates 1920s country blues.
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I agree with the point you make in the last post, uncle bud, and apropos of that am starting a new thread on the earliest appearance of key lyric phrases, that can be amended as people find earlier versions of the phrase in question, either in recorded performances or in sheet music.
All best,
Johnm
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I received the Document Newsletter today. I don't know if there is anything on sale that hasn't already been mentioned, but there is at least one new release.
http://www.document-records.com/fulldetails.asp?ProdID=DOCD-32-20-16
http://www.document-records.com/specials.asp
http://www.document-records.com/index.asp
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I just ordered a Banker's Blues CD and another focused on the Bo-weevil. Looking forward hearing these, they should be here any day now.
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That Banker's compitlation sounds like a cool one:
http://www.document-records.com/fulldetails.asp?ProdID=DOCD-32-20-16
Some more good news :
We repressed the Will Ezell recently, but I?m well on the way to updating the notes?
I?ll post them on the web for download when they are done but again if anyone has anything on Ezell I?d be glad to hear from you
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A new Document release?
(https://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F51w7Ui1F93L._SS500_.jpg&hash=6e24e7333a313f099679f406f59cffd6a49c4573)
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Hi all,
I noticed that included among the recent Document CDs on sale are the 2 volumes of the complete Leecan & Cooksey. You can go to their tag to find more info on them here at the Weenie site, but if you like raggy material with absolutely stellar flat-picked back-up guitar, (by Bobby Leecan, my favorite of the early guys in that style,) and superlative harmonica (by Robert Cooksey, whew!), you may want to check these discs out.
All best,
Johnm
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They haven't sent out a newsletter about it, but Document has posted a new batch of sale stuff. No discernible theme, a lot of stuff that's been on sale before, and the prices are all over the place. But definitely worth a look.
You'd think that Document would put the complete Tampa Red, Lonnie Johnson, and Roosevelt Sykes on sale. I'd buy a ton of stuff at that sale! :D
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This is the most recent Document release:
(https://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.document-records.com%2Fimages%2F200s%2FDOCD-32-20-17.jpg&hash=bc547f416f2c5af902a9f8994b35c85c560045ea)
http://www.document-records.com/fulldetails.asp?ProdID=DOCD-32-20-17 (http://www.document-records.com/fulldetails.asp?ProdID=DOCD-32-20-17)
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"Barrelhouse Blues". This is based on Paul Oliver's latest book of that title which I found a bit turgid and really not offering an interesting analysis IMHO. It rehashes an awful lot of "Recording the Blues" from the Studio Vista series and adds his opinions on "seculars". OK, but not one to put at the top of your list like his other stuff which I regard as essential.
I just ordered half-a-dozen cd's from Document (they're waiting at the Post Office) mostly at ?1.99, which makes picking up obscurities I would not have bought otherwise worthwhile.
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hello friend,
i just picked up a few things from that sale myself. mostly stuff i had been wanting anyway, (big maceo vol.2, big bill vol. 11, & blind willie mctell's l.o.c.) but i also grabbed the blind willie mctell 3 disc (27-35) since it was so cheap. i figure that's worth it for a dozen or so songs i don't have. & best of all, i spent around $20 (american) after shipping. can't beat that!
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What's annoying me at the moment about Document is that the newer CDs (the white ones) won't play in my Marantz DV3100 at all, only in the el-cheapo DVD drive in my PC. :(
Actually I do have a second gripe - the gaps in coverage. For example, the first recordings of Walter Davis and the last ones of Butterbeans & Susie were never issued in the DOCD series, because they were covered by (long-deleted) JSP CDs which are now quite pricey on the second-hand market. My hope is that these will eventually appear in the DOCD series, like the Henry L. Castle tracks did, after many years of supposed availability on an Italian label.
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I just ordered the Barrelhouse compilation. Looks like a great track selection.
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For those of us in the U.S. and Canada, I'd like to point out that the exchange rate with the British pound is very favorable right now. A ?7.99 non-sale Document CD, if ordered today, would cost less than $12.00 US and less than $13.00 Canadian.
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Ordered a lot of Documents the other day:
Bill Gaither - Vol 5 1940 - 1941
Bumble Bee Slim - Vol 4 1935
Clarence Williams - Volume 1 Whoop It Up !
Doctor (Peter) Clayton - 1935 - 1942
Jazz Gillum - Vol 4 1946 - 1949
Ollie Shepard - Vol 1 1937 - 1939
Ollie Shepard - Vol 2 1939 - 1941
V.A. - Alan Lomax In Haiti
V.A. - Rare Country Blues Vol 4 1929 - c.1953
V.A. - Too Late Too Late Blues 1926 - 1944
V.A. - Too Late Too Late Vol 3 1927 - 1960's
Washboard Sam - Vol 7 1942 - 1949
Seems like their web site has gone down with an error message the last couple of days.
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A fine recent article by Tony Cummings on Document Records here:
http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/articles/music/Document_Records_An_unlikely_treasure_trove_of_vintage_gospel_music/39952/p1/
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A fine recent article by Tony Cummings on Document Records
Good Lord, in 1965 Tony Cummings published my first ever blues reviews in his magazine, Soul Music Monthly.
Throughout the 60s and 70s Tony was a prolific commentator on all manner of black music. I often wondered what became of him.
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Seems like their web site has gone down with an error message the last couple of days.
I just got a reply from Document that the web server hosting the site was down and they work on fixing this. They just had their email restored.
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Seems like their web site has gone down with an error message the last couple of days.
I just got a reply from Document that the web server hosting the site was down and they work on fixing this. They just had their email restored.
Web site is up again now. :)
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Thanks for the news Jostber! I'll make a visit on the site.