Topic: 2013 Blues Images Calendar

[Rivers]

Great spotting Chris. Here they are blown up a tad. I surmise that since the original half-tone dots are pretty big they must have been reproduced very small originally:

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[banjochris]

Thanks for scanning and blowing those up, Rivers!

[CF]

Hey ya, those are great, & you CAN see more of the actual person(ality) of Henry Thomas here. I'm sure the pristine original photo will turn up in an attic soon 

[Rivers]

Looking at it again I believe I see a set of quills hanging down on Henry Thomas's chest. Or it could just as likely be the bib of an overall he's wearing. I'd say quills though due to the dark shadow below the ends of the pipes, and that he seems to have a jacket on, which you wouldn't generally wear under bib overalls.

[banjochris]

I think they are the quills -- I seem to recall one ad where it used a line drawing of the photo and it was more obviously the quills in that.

[uncle bud]

It's cool to see a pic of Lil McClintock, as well as a new one of Memphis Minnie. I'm very happy to hear the Blind Willie Davis tracks from a much better record. And more Lemon.

[misterjones]

Hey that's great news, PEACH ORCHARD MAMA is listed twice in B&GR, one recording in c. March 1929 (Pm 12801) & another c. August (also listed as Pm 12801 but each has their own matrix #s). My JSP box lists the c. March recording on the back of Disc D but says in brackets '(Untraced Master)' so that must be what we're dealing with . . . freakin' A, more 'new' Blind Lemon!! 

Has anyone listened to this?  Is it a different version?  If so, how different?  Also, how's the sound quality?

[uncle bud]

It is a different take. Not radically different, though the vocal is different in many places. The lyrics have slight variations. Haven't gone through the guitar part. The sound is better than the other take, though surface noise throughout.

[misterjones]

Thanks.  Good news, but not great.  Perhaps one of these days really new BLJ tracks(s) will surface.  But I'm not holding my breath.

[Johnm]

Hi all,
What's with the cuts that are attributed to Freddie Spruell and Washboard Sam?  That is certainly not Freddie Spruell singing, sounds like Sam and it's Bill Broonzy playing guitar, by the sound of it.  So what exactly is Freddie Spruell doing on these cuts, "Ocean Blues" and "Y.M.V. Blues"?
All best,
Johnm

[alyoung]

Yep, it's Washboard Sam -- these are his first recordings. And from memory (my references aren't handy) the Good Book (DGR) cites Carl Martin and Freddie Spruell, guitars. The main guitar does sound like CM, so I'm guessing that Spruell  provided the fairly basic bass runs. So it beats me why these should be presented as Spruell tracks; they ain't. 

[dj]

It's not just the Washboard Sam songs that are misleadingly labeled.  The "never-before-seen" photo of Memphis Minnie appeared as plate 7 in Paul and Beth Garon's Memphis Minnie biography, and Blind Blake continued recording after accompanying Laura Rucker on "Fancy Tricks", which Tefteller describes as his "very last recording".  Tefteller's fact checker must have been on vacation the week the calendar copy went to the printer.   

[CF]

The Spruell labeling of a Washboard Sam vocal is bewildering, I agree. Was this how the record was originally advertised? I would think that Sam would have a bit more weight as a selling point but I guess they're both obscure enough not to matter much to the world at large. We have so many Sam recordings it's really too bad this wasn't a Spruell vocal, I was excited by the prospect before we learned what the record contained. This is a very rare record though & I believe it has never been released on CD before so I'm glad to have it.

I could have done without another copy of Johnson's 'Cold Was the Ground' & Blake's 'Diddy-Wah-Diddy' as well despite them being excellent records. I guess John doesn't have to convince 'us' so much to buy his excellent product so adding some obvious heavy hitters might be for the benefit of the more casual fan or buyer. Anyway, this is, as always, an amazing package & I'm very happy they're continuing to be produced. This is one of the only sources for 'new' stuff . . . can't wait for the last two Blakes in 2014!!

[uncle bud]

dj, thanks for pointing out the Minnie photo - I thought there was something about it, but figured I was confusing it with something else. FWIW, I've found there have been small errors and dubious details in the calendar before. Shouldn't stop anyone from buying it, of course, since it's the artwork and music that is important. I continue to be pleased by the much better copy of the Blind Willie Davis with this calendar.

Interesting that main guitar on the Washboard Sam/Freddie Spruell tracks. Does sound much like Broonzy at the start, using a stock riff of his, but then those insistent bends throughout sound very Carl Martin-like. Wonder who it actually is. Freddie Spruell is certainly an inconsequential element - unless the walking bass lines that overwhelm the recordings make it his record.

[uncle bud]

That's a pretty gorgeous copy of Clifford Gibson's Ice and Snow Blues, too. The Document version was pretty good, but this one is great.