Topic: Document CDs--availability, sound quality, etc.

[Coyote Slim]

Awesome..now I just need me some a that electronic money..

[Marco]

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.

[Marco]

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?

[uncle bud]

Hi Marco. Glad everything worked out. That Backwoods Blues disc is a great one, IMO.

[waxwing]

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.

[uncle bud]

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.

[Stuart]

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.

[GhostRider]

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

[uncle bud]

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.

[Johnm]

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

[Marco]

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.

[uncle bud]

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.

[Stuart]

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

[banjochris]

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

[Johnm]

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