I thought I'd just cut and paste this posting from "Great Bear" over on the Woodshed as it contains some rather interesting stuff.
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Conversation with Paul Swinton regarding BLJ Picture
Hi Guys,
I've just had two amazingly long and great conversations with Paul Swinton.?
Paul has produced and remastered many fantastic blues reissues, and contributed a vast array of photographs, adverts and research to various CDs, books and magazines. R-E-S-P-E-C-T. This guy is a true blues expert, much like Stefan, and will be occasionally posting here in the future. Haven spoken to him criticisms over the "Not to be reproduced without written permission" line do not stick. He's a great blues enthusiast who is willing to let anybody with a research or academic interest have access to his vast collection. Rightfully, Paul only wants any material or photographs to be reproduced with taste, respect, perspective and substance. This is why he chooses good outlets like Blues & Rhythm, Document and Legacy to release said material.
Paul was gracious enough to talk for some considerable time about the second Blind Lemon Jefferson picture and many other blues discoveries, despite the fact that he had just got back from a field trip and was extremely busy. Y'all won't believe some of the great discoveries, but I'll leave that for Paul to post. As for the second Jefferson picture.
THE HEAD SHOT:
The head shot is completely genuine. This comes from a St. Louis music sheet/advert. The sheet contains 3 small head shots of Blind Lemon Jefferson, Elzadie Robinson and Jimmy O'Bryant. This is in Paul's possession and will appear in his upcoming Blind Lemon Jefferson biography. The "Twist Of Lemon" article from Blues & Rhythm was just Paul's initial research notes. Since then he has gathered far more detailed and informative material so the book is shaping up to be major piece of work. It will be divided into two parts a biography and a music section. Sounds great.
THE BODY SHOT:
As for Jefferson's body this is where the computer enhancement has taken place. I don't know who owns the complete picture or who computer enhanced it, but Paul does not own this picture, thus the reason for the "Not to be reproduced without written permission" line in the article. The full body copy has been analysed at dot level, and there doesn't appear to be any fraud or mischief, but without the original this is not definitive.
No other material of interest was found in the same box as the BLJ picture. This picture and the studio portrait are the only known photographs of Blind Lemon Jefferson.
PAUL ALSO INFORMED ME THAT:
There are many other unpublished blues photographs including Papa Charlie Jackson and Tampa Red, that will all be released in due time. Also, there are 10 (count them 10!) unreleased Memphis Jug Band alternate takes, 3 new Blind Willie Mctell tracks which I think are from his last session, and the master for Charlie Patton's Jim Lee Blues has been discovered.
GB
