I'm addicted to Amazon Kindle, it's changed my reading life for the better. I'd buy B&GR again if it were available for Kindle.
Thus said Rivers elsewhere and reminded me of something once published in
Blues Unlimited to mark their 100th issue (April 1973 p.44-45). It's long but hopefully informatively amusing
THE (RETIRED) CO-COMPILER OF THE INCREDIBLE DISCOGRAPHY - "BLUES AND GOSPEL RECORDS" (1902-42) LOOKS BACK FOR US...
Reminiscences
JOHN GODRICHI was pleasantly surprised in June this year (1972) to receive a letter from Simon Napier asking if I would write something for the 100th issue of 'Blues Unlimited' as one of its founder writers. Of course I said I would, but for once I was saved racking my brains as to what to write about. Simon suggested in a footnote to the letter that I do a brief history of "Blues Gospel Records" from its conception to its second edition. As I've been
asked several times before to do this perhaps at last its time I did.
DESPERATE DAN
Simon also suggested "Discographers I have known" but I am no biographer and a poor raconteur. However there is just one delightful story I'd like to tell, concerning one of the greatest of our discographical fraternity who never really gets into the limelight as he should...a great friend of mine through correspondence. I got within an ace of meeting him personally a few years ago, but in the end had to settle for a phone conversation with him from Bert Whyatt's home in Taunton where he stayed for a short while. It was from Bert I got this story and our mutual friend is the one and only Dan Mahony, of Columbia Race Series fame.
Dan is a devoted fighter of causes, or for THE cause, as I'm sure he'd prefer it, and also one of the most methodical men in the world of discography. He records just about everything he does - the date, the time of day, the cost - in a booklet 5" x 5" which he carries with him everywhere. His discographical work is so meticulous it's incredible; an example to us all. Check and cross-check, tick and cross-tick, date and counter-date. Memory is no good - you have to note it all down, not just what but from where, whence and when. As he says himself everything is a big deal. Yet despite all this Dan's life seems to be one long series of mishaps and happenings. Nothing ever goes quite the way it was planned.
BLUES FOR QUEEN ELlZABETH !
Anyway, to get to the point, and to return to Dan's trip to England. Due to the baggage weight-limit for plane passengers he posted a couple of parcels ahead of him, care-of Bert Whyatt at Taunton. The Post Office service being what it is, no parcels awaited Dan's arrival, nor did they appear while he stayed with Bert despite their investigations at the local G.P.O. and parcels office - they just didn't want to know.
On arrival at Harpenden he typed a letter of complaint on Ron's typewriter and in time a G.P.O. official visited Bert with a foolscap size folder under his arm containing documents on the matter. There was "concern that Mr. Mahony's parcels couldn't be traced". He opened his file and there was a photostat of Dan's letter amongst all the other papers, which began "Dear Queen Elizabeth" followed on by his problems and finished off "Yours
sincerely, Dan Mahony". It was addressed to
Queen Elizabeth II,
Buckingham Palace, London S.W.1.
The latter was passed down the line for action and action was soon forthcoming. One parcel turned up at Bert's but after Dan's original date for returning to the U.S., while the other was eventually traced and sent to Harpenden. Which all goes to show that to get results, avoid the middle-men and go straight to the top!
"THE OLD TESTAMENT"
And so to a potted history of BLUES AND GOSPEL RECORDS 1902-42. In August 1961 Brian Rust's first volume of "Jazz Records" appeared, the finest work of discography that had ever been published. Which makes the beginning of B&GR a little sad in a way...unfortunately, due to Brian's personal preferences, blues coverage was disappointingly scanty and there was no gospel coverage at all. In my ignorance at that time of the tremendous amount of heartbreaking, back-aching work entailed in putting together a work of this kind, I whipped in about ten pages of additions and corrections within the first week, followed by another five the following week. I can honestly say that my only thought was to be of assistance and that this was an attempt to get blues and gospel coverage in subsequent editions.
Dismay at the lack of blues in the book perhaps blinded me to the inevitable distress I should be causing Brian by hurling this ream of corrections in his direction within a week of publication. To quote Brian after he'd gone through them: "I don't think I have ever had a more melancholy, truly heart-breaking task. It was almost as if, having built myself a home you had come along with a bulldozers and rammed it..."
So much for one's good intentions. Anyway the outcome of all this was that Brian asked Bob Dixon and myself (we'd already been researching together as a two-men team for some time) to handle the blues and gospel side of things for him. He would eventually publish our findings as a companion to "Jazz Records", leaving him free to concentrate of jazz as he preferred. How we tackled this problem is detailed in the preface of B&GR, as it has come to be known by many people, and in 1964 the first edition of "Blues And Gospel Records 1902-42" saw daylight.
DETAILS DETAILS!
As we were well aware, the work was by no means complete. Although it was as complete as we were able to make it with the information available to us at that time, much correction and addition was needed - our aim first and foremost had been to get such a book published at all, as a basis for research and further study And we soon began to realise some of the feelings that Brian had experienced as the Amendments began to roll in. Nevertheless, such a response in the way of additions was more than we had dared hope for, and greatly welcomed as a means towards the hoped-for definitive version.
Simon Napier, by allowing us plenty of regular space in "Blues Unlimited" to publish these amendments, has played a tremendous part in helping us to get nearer this goal. It is, however, a goal that can never be completely fulfilled. It is just not possible to obtain every missing detail now. Some information has been destroyed or lost forever and can never be recovered, but we feel that tremendous progress has been made thanks to all concerned who have helped with the project.
SECOND EDITION
When we considered that we had sufficient new information collected to warrant the printing of a revised edition we again approached Brian with this proposal - but Brian had so many prior commitments on hand that he would not have been able to handle it for several years. After some searching for a suitable alternative publisher we eventually heard that Storyville, who had been successfully producing their magazine of that name for some time, were considering publishing books in the jazz and blues field.
A conference with Laurie Wright and the Storyville team soon convinced all concerned that a revised edition of the book was both feasible and desirable, and in 1969 the new edition, enlarged from 765 to 912 pages duly appeared.
Somewhat against our better judgment but by popular demand a microgroove section was added. We had originally hoped to avoid this, indeed we did so in the first edition, because the book can never have any hope of becoming even near definitive once continuing microgroove issues are included. We feel they would be better covered in a separate volume entirely and should there ever be a third revised edition, this is what will probably happen.
PERHAPS ONE DAY
Amendments to the new edition were automatically transferred to Storyville magazine, and today Bob Dixon is in charge of the up-dating of material. Perhaps one day there will be a third revised edition. If that is what you want, keep sending those additions and corrections in to Bob, and continue to support "Blues Unlimited in return for the wonderful service it has given us over the years. One hundred issues of a blues magazine without a break is a wonderful achievement. Roll on the next hundred!
jgFOOTNOTES: Ironically, between John writing this and BU 100 going to press, we have run out of stock of this great volume, so the third Edition looms as more of a necessity than a far-off thought.
The address of Storyville, who still publish an Amendments column, is 63 Orford Road, Walthamstow, London, E.17. Mainly devoted to U.S. vintage Jazz and British personalities, it is a fine magazine. Six issues a year.
Though today B.U. publishes little discography, it is only due to the monster efforts of Messrs Godrich-Dixon, Leadbitter-Slaven, Rotante-Sheatsley, Chauvard-Mohr and the others, pioneers in Blues discography, that to do so is unnecessary. If you cannot get hold of B&GR any other way, your local Library (in UK) will be able to drum up one in all probability.
Ed
