Topic: Recommendations for Blind Blake and Amede Ardoin purchases

[LeftyStrat]

Fellow Blues Enthusiasts,

In my browsings of the web while looking for possible new music, I've run across the JSP Blind Blake set at a price I might be able to afford, but I'm wondering if its a good idea, or if there might be a better, perhaps more concise way, to begin with Blake (A new artist in my collection, if you will).

The reason I ask is that I read something somewhere that has me thinking that starting with his complete recordings may be, for lack of a better way of putting it, biting off more than I can chew.

I'm almost certainly gonna pull the trigger on buying a 2 disc set of Amede Ardoin (more zydeco perhaps than country blues).  The only problem there, I suspect,  is that I'd almost certainly need to find someone who spoke Creole to help out with the lyrics 

(If I've put this in the wrong place, feel free to move it.  My apologies)

[Cleoma]

I haven't seen the 2 CD set of Amedee Ardoin - that must have his entire recorded output - but Arhoolie has a CD that has a lot of his stuff - 26 sides - and the booklet has excellent notes and all the lyrics.  I'd go for that if I were you, rather than the 2 CD set.
It's such amazing music!!!!!

[Stuart]

I'd go with the JSP Blind Blake set. It's the most bang for the buck--and you don't have to listen to it all at once. With the availability of iTunes and other programs that have the "create your own playlist" option, you can select what catches your ear and leave the rest for later. A couple of the U.S. Amazon Marketplace sellers have it for around $23. There are a few other cuts that surfaced post-JSP, but you can always run them down later.

I haven't seen or heard either of the Amedee Ardoin CDs, so I'm of no help in this area. However, both Arhoolie and Tompkins Square are solid labels and each release seems to have its strong points. Since Suzy has experience with the Arhoolie package, she's your best guide.

[Rivers]

I got both Ardoin titles during a recent foray into the roots. I'm biased to the Arhoolie for the simple reason the Tompkins Square CD 2 won't play, rip or anything else other than function as a coaster. I should have returned it for replacement but was too busy at the time. Probably not their fault, damaged somewhere in the supply chain. Lovely packaging as usual on the Tompkins.

[Randy Meadows]

I have the complete works of Amede Ardoin CD...
Mama, I'll Be Long Gone
I definitely reccomend it!

[Stuart]

...the Tompkins Square CD 2 won't play, rip or anything else...

You probably just got a clunker. Send Tompkins Square an e-mail and ask if they'll do an exchange. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

[Randy Meadows]

Below is a link to an NPR Broadcast on Amede Ardoin

http://www.npr.org/2011/04/24/135638265/long-lost-love-songs-from-a-cajun-music-pioneer

[Rivers]

You probably just got a clunker. Send Tompkins Square an e-mail and ask if they'll do an exchange. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Good idea Stuart, I will do that.

[LeftyStrat]

Well, I think I'm gonna go with the Blind Blake JSP set eventually...once I save up some cash.  Hope I've got enough room on the MP3 player for it

Ordered the Arhoolie disc(s) for Amede Ardoin last night (the lyric transcriptions finally swayed me), and I'll probably download the tracks that are on the Tompkins Square set, but not on the Arhoolie.

Thanks for the input, everyone!

[Papa Pea Vine Patton]

That Arhoolie Amede Ardoin CD is an excellent production all around. 

[ArthurBlake]

I bought the entire Blind Blake set of 5 CD's and very glad I did because there are some amazing gems there that are not available elsewhere to my knowledge. There's one with him and a kazoo that rocks and two recordings with the great Johnny Dodds on clarinet that are pure gold and a lot of other great tracks. But then again I am totally nutty about Blind Blake, my favorite guitar player of them all. A bit over 100 songs on there, a few are really hard to hear which is a shame because on most of those he is simply carving it up with riffs and licks not played anywhere else. A truly great box set if ever there was.

[Blind Arthur]

The JSP set has a great "clean" version of Ice Man Blues and all three takes of West Coast Blues and Dry Bone Shuffle respectively

[belewfripp]

I realize that this thread is old, but one set of recordings I haven't seen mentioned anywhere on the forum are the Rough Guide sets.  They aren't comprehensive, and are definitely aimed at neophytes, but with the exception of the Charlie Patton set (several tracks of which suffer from digital artifacts), I've found them to be among the best-sounding versions out there.

There is one for Blind Blake, and if you buy it digitally you get 20-some-odd tracks of Blake, and an additional bonus set of related tracks by other artists.  There are other releases that have been discussed elsewhere, but this is the one I started with and on which I've seen the least amount of other opinions or info.

[Slack]

Fripp, we like it when folks resurrect old threads.

Never heard of "rough guides" --- here is an old review of them - A Rough Guide to the Rough Guides...  they cover quite a few genres.

http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/a-rough-guide-to-the-rough-guides/Content?oid=897715

[belewfripp]

Slack,

Same label/distributor (World Music Network) as the genre-based Rough Guides discussed in your link, but within the past 1-2 years, they have been doing a series on Jazz and Blues Legends that focus on specific artists.  Here's a link to their site:

http://www.worldmusic.net/store/browse/label/jazz-and-blues-legends/

I found them on Amazon's digital music store and find that, especially for the Paramount-recorded artists, the sound is really good, relative to other releases (save for the caveat about some of the Patton tracks).  The bonus/extra music is nice, too, seems to focus on lesser-known artists (though not all).  Good value for the money, too - digital versions are $10  for between 40-50 tracks per set.