New Arrivals - April and July 2008

“Dock Boggs was a singer and banjo player who sounded as if his bones were coming through his skin every time he opened his mouth. In the mountains of eastern Kentucky/western Virginia in the 1920s he forged a highly personal music of such singular intensity it retains the power to shock seventy plus years after it was recorded.

Over 60 minutes of music, including Boggs's 12 original 1927 and 1929 released recordings, 5 never-before-issued 1929 outtakes, and 4 1920s cuts by Boggs's Kentucky compatriots Bill and Hayes Shepherd.”  Double LP set, clear vinyl, and an oversized 12-page booklet of notes and photos.  CD version currently unavailable.

“Rob Brown is an awesome alto saxophonist, a mercurial improviser who is perpetually inventive, and AUM Fidelity has recorded him many times over the years as a foundation member of the groups of William Parker. In this time, Brown has revealed himself to be a composer and group leader of distinct gifts; this is our first release with Mr. Brown as leader.  A principal focus of Crown Trunk Root Funk is deep grooves, often dark and ominous, with brightness provided by Brown’s beautifully indelible melodies and the highly exploratory work of this extraordinary band.  Parker provides the root bass, and drummer Gerald Cleaver brings his supremely sensitive musicality and Detroit-bred funk.  Pianist and fellow Detroit native Craig Taborn is likewise endlessly inventive within this tremendously rewarding sonic ecosystem.”

Credits:
Rob Brown: alto saxophone
Craig Taborn: piano, electronics
William Parker: bass
Gerald Cleaver: drums

A personal favorite of RL Burnside’s electric blues output, no small thanks to the life-affirming ruckus kicked up by drummer Calvin Jackson, who delivers some of the most suspenseful drumrolls this side of ESG.  A landmark Robert Palmer production for Fat Possum, recorded in April 1993.

Four of the very greatest hits from RL Burnside’s incredible first recordings: “Just Like a Bird Without a Feather,” “Skinny Woman,” “Goin’ Down South,” and “Poor Black Mattie”.

Two numbers from Clifton Chenier’s Sings the Blues album, with the King of Zydeco offering some sage advice to those down-and-out at the end of the trailride on the A-side and lifting spirits again with a cover of Boozoo Chavis’ classic “Paper in My Shoe” on the flip.

Very hip session!  “A LIVE performance recorded on February 25, 1968 at the Affro-Arts Theater, a cultural center in Chicago operated by Cohran from 1967-1970.  This concert was a tribute to the late Malcolm X in the form of a suite of 4 tracks, each capturing a period of his life, ‘Malcolm Little,’ ‘Detroit Red,’ ‘Malcolm X,’ and ‘El Hajj Malik El Shabazz.’  The personnel and instrumentation are almost identical to Cohran’s ‘On the Beach’ session.  This historic and mesmerizing concert was originally an LP issued on Cohran’s Zulu label.  Original copies of that record are very rare collector’s items and sell for hundreds of dollars.  Kelan Phil Cohran is an unsung hero of jazz history and a cosmic treasure.  He played with Sun Ra in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s and was a co-founder of the world famous AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians).  In a manner similar to Art Blakey, Chico Hamilton and Betty Carter, Cohran identified and nurtured young jazz talent, many of whom went on to achieve worldwide recognition.  The Malcolm X Memorial material is in a category all its own.  Cohran lives in Chicago and continues to compose and perform at the age of 79.”

Very hip session!  “A LIVE performance recorded on February 25, 1968 at the Affro-Arts Theater, a cultural center in Chicago operated by Cohran from 1967-1970.  This concert was a tribute to the late Malcolm X in the form of a suite of 4 tracks, each capturing a period of his life, ‘Malcolm Little,’ ‘Detroit Red,’ ‘Malcolm X,’ and ‘El Hajj Malik El Shabazz.’  The personnel and instrumentation are almost identical to Cohran’s ‘On the Beach’ session.  This historic and mesmerizing concert was originally an LP issued on Cohran’s Zulu label.  Original copies of that record are very rare collector’s items and sell for hundreds of dollars.  Kelan Phil Cohran is an unsung hero of jazz history and a cosmic treasure.  He played with Sun Ra in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s and was a co-founder of the world famous AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians).  In a manner similar to Art Blakey, Chico Hamilton and Betty Carter, Cohran identified and nurtured young jazz talent, many of whom went on to achieve worldwide recognition.  The Malcolm X Memorial material is in a category all its own.  Cohran lives in Chicago and continues to compose and perform at the age of 79.”  Lovely gatefold cover!  Also available on CD.

Sleepy John Estes plays acoustic blues with a plaintive heartbreaker of a voice and the warm thud of a booted foot dropping in time.  His pre-war material is some of my favorite music and these tracks recorded in Brownsville, TN, in 1962 also hit the spot. 

“John Fahey's final album, Red Cross Disciple of Christ Today. An intensely personal project for John which he completed a few months before his death and originally intended for release in 2001, Red Cross can be heard as Fahey coming full circle, reinvigorated, at peace with both past and present.

“Includes spine-tingling interpretations of Irving Berlin's "Remember" and the Gershwins' "Summertime," alongside a number of stellar new Fahey originals. Featuring the acoustic fingerpicking of yore as well as some shimmering electric guitar vamps, Red Cross Disciple of Christ Today touches those peculiarly Faheyian regions in the heart and mind. A final, sparkling gem from a true American original.”  This record is pressed on 180 gram black vinyl and comes with a cool booklet of notes written by Glenn Jones.

Heavy triple LP set of rockabilly boppers, country weepers, and tough-to-categorize unruliness from the legendary Charlie Feathers.  This set compiles Feathers’ singles for labels such as Sun, Flip, King, Meteor, Kay, Walmay and Holiday Inn, along with demos and some previously unissued recordings, the biggest ringers being two tunes with Junior Kimbrough.  As of this writing the CD version of this is currently unavailable, so that gives more incentive to dig into the beautifully packaged vinyl edition.

Fire Into Music’s live LP on Ballroom Marfa flew out of here, a hit with jazz fans and investors alike.  Their follow up is this vibrant studio date, which features classic Parker/Drake grooves behind the vital Swell/Moondoc frontline.  This one hits me right from the word go, particularly Swell’s majestic “For Grachan” and Moondoc’s exquisite “For Arthur Williams”. 

Steve Swell: trombone
Jemeel Moondoc alto saxophone
William Parker: bass
Hamid Drake: drums

Scarce seven-song 12” of Guitar Nubbit’s hard country blues, recorded circa 1962.  Our man Nubbit played solo acoustic guitar, somewhat in the tradition of artists such as Lightnin’ Hopkins.  His “Georgia Chain Gang” is a badass classic, an engrossing talking blues that spins a tale of murder, hard labor, and hoodoo.  Lines like “I whistled to my shotgun and it crawled down off the wall, I pulled its tongue and she bellowed and barked, to the floor my buddy did fall” put it in a class of its own.

First ever recordings of the great Jessie Mae Hemphill.  Two sweet-voiced a cappella gospel numbers (“Home Going” and “I Want To Be Ready”) on one side and an interesting interview on the other, where she discusses learning to play music from her grandfather, the legendary Sid Hemphill.  Recorded in Senatobia, MS in August 1967, back when she was still known as Jessie Mae Brooks.

Real hard to top Skip James in 1931.  Maybe impossible.  “Skip James was the most soulful musician in blues, a unique genius whose style relies on an unusual minor-key guitar tuning and eerie falsetto vocals. … James's 1931 recordings … are one of the greatest bodies of work in American music, ranging from meditative guitar moans to examples of James's anarchic, brilliant piano work. Every blues fan needs this album, and it has a power and depth that transcends the genre and should make it obligatory listening for anyone who likes serious music or any sort.” – Elijah Wald

I'm So Glad
Cypress Grove
If You Haven't Any Hay (Get On Down the Road)
Drunken Spree
Yola My Blues Away
Devil Got My Woman
Hard Time Killin' Floor Blues
Jesus is a Mighty Good Leader
Special Rider Blues
How Long?
Jesus is Gonna Come
Illinois Blues

“Paul Jones of Belzoni, Mississippi, a small town with a rich blues heritage in the heart of the delta, is a professional welder. He lives with his wife Bessie Mae in a house he purchased with the sweat of his brow. Before becoming a welder, Jones worked in a Delta cotton gin; before that, like many of his Delta neighbors, he worked on a farm. And throughout his adult life, Paul Jones has been a bluesman, known and admired by a number of his fellow Delta musicians but seldom venturing far from home. His style is deeply rooted in the rural blues of the delta, but so distinctly original and idiosyncratic that his sound will not easily be mistaken for that of any other artist. Rock-solid bass-string drones, expansively sonic guitar textures, a seasoning of wah-wah riffs, and a voice that can sound vinegary, molasses-like, or simply, urgently passionate, as the song demands - these are some of the qualities that make Paul Jones a unique and formidable talent.

New zine from the folk at Ri Be Xibalba, featuring an extensive interview with David Nuss of the No-Neck Blues Band. (You old-timers will recall his contribution to the first issue of 50 Miles of Elbow Room.) You’ll also get Rob Millis of Climax Golden Twins writing about Korean 78s, Sir Richard Bishop’s travelogue, an interview with Alan Sondheim, and more.

Two very nice acoustic numbers from Furry Lewis: “Good Morning Judge” b/w “Furry Lewis Careless Love”.  A similar sweet rolling style is employed on each side, with more of a percussive approach on the flip.  Recorded in Memphis, TN, in 1962.  Time done been, won’t be no more.

Guitarist and singer Kansas Joe McCoy had a long and varied musical career, playing blues in duos with his then-wife Memphis Minnie and his brother Charlie McCoy, performing jazzier material with the Harlem Hamfats, and cutting records under a bunch of pseudonyms (religious material as “Hallelujah Joe”, etc.).  This collection gives a hint of the scope of his work, with gently rolling pieces like “You Know You Done Me Wrong”, the potent slide guitar on “My Wash Woman’s Gone”, his take on Skip James’ “Devil Got My Woman” (“Evil Devil Woman Blues”), bookending sermons with upbeat gospel, and so forth.  Limited stock.

Track listing:
I Want That
That Will Be Alright
Can I Do It For You?
Pile Drivin’ Blues
Shake Mattie
My Wash Woman’s Gone
You Know You Done Me Wrong
Joliet Bound
Evil Devil Woman Blues
Going Back Home Blues
Meat Cutter Blues
Hole In the Wall
One In a Hundred
One More Greasing
The Prodigal’s Return
If I Be Lifted Up
Look Who’s Coming Down the Road
The World is a Hard Place to Live In

Abe McNeil played some cool acoustic country blues and cut a fine figure, but the most crucial reason to grab this three-song EP is “Drink Drink Drink,” where he claps and does the hambone behind dazzling harmonica player Richard Driggs, which is wild enough to give you the spins.

"Between 1968 and 1977 Mingering Mike recorded over fifty albums, managed thirty-five of his own record labels, and produced, directed and starred in nine of his own motion pictures. In 1972 alone he released fifteen LPs and over twenty singles, and his traveling revue played for sold out crowds the world over.

"How is it that such a prolific musician has gone under the radar for the more than thirty years? The answer is that all took place in Mike's imagination, and in the vast collection of fake cardboard records and acapella home recordings that he made for himself as a teenager in Washington, D.C. in the late 1960s.

"In 2003 two record diggers (Dori Hadar and Frank Beylotte) stumbled into the world of Mingering Mike at a flea market. There they discovered a collection of albums that were made solely of cardboard, each intricately crafted with gatefold interiors, extensive liner notes, and grooves drawn onto the "vinyl." The crates contained albums not only by Mingering Mike, but also other unheard of artists such as Joseph War, the Big "D," and Rambling Ralph, on labels such as Fake Records, Inc., Decision, Sex, and Mother Goose. There were even soundtracks to imaginary kung fu films and a benefit album for sickle cell anemia.

"Hadar posted pictures of the albums on Soul Strut and Mike instantly became a cult hero. He tracked Mike down and eventually Mike revealed his story of how as a lonesome teenager he dreamt of being a soul singer, songwriter and producer. And how he lived out his dream by creating an amazing imaginary career for himself.” – http://www.mingeringmike.com

First recorded by Alan Lomax in 1959 and subsequently extensively documented by the Blue Ridge Institute, Spencer Moore has spent most of his almost 90 years playing the traditional, old time songs of the Appalachia.  As of 2006, he was still playing a weekly gig near his home of Chilhowie, Virginia, so he’s kept in good practice.  88 years old when he cut this session, his songs have a warm, lived-in, and evocatively weathered feel to them.  Featuring simply Mr. Moore playing his acoustic guitar and running through fourteen numbers from the hundreds of songs in his repertoire, it’s low-key and charming.

Warm and inviting blues from the great St. Louis Jimmy Oden, who is perhaps best remembered these days as the composer “Going Down Slow,” which became a standard recorded by Howlin’ Wolf and many others.  On this LP, Oden is often accompanied on piano by Roosevelt Sykes and his vocal delivery provides a reflective, end-of-the-night vibe, which is one that frequently resonates with me these days.  On a couple tracks there is nice accompaniment from an unknown violinist, somewhat in the Mississippi Sheiks style; indeed “Six Feet in the Ground” is to the tune of “Sitting on Top of the World”.  The two songs with Muddy Waters and His Blues Combo (circa 1948) are also standouts, with Muddy taking some barbed, honey-bee style guitar solos.  Limited stock.

Track Listing:
Patrol Wagon Blues
Warning Spirit Blues
My Dream Blues
Six Feet in the Ground
Pipe Layin’ Blues
Some Sweet Day
Silk Worm Blues
The Road to Ruin
Thick and Thin
Come Day Go Day
Lost Ball Blues
St. Louis Woman Blues
Can’t Stand Your Evil Ways
My Story Blues
Florida Hurricane
So Nice and Kind

Dating as far back as his debut LP Through Acceptance of the Mystery Peace, William Parker has shown an interest in and an affinity for writing for strings, but it has never been given as much prominence on a recording as it is on this lovely disc where Parker’s working quartet collaborates with four younger string players to create music inspired by Jean Luc Godard’s “Alphaville”.  A refreshing and varied set that takes them to some new and often beautiful places. Leena Conquest also guests on two short tracks. 

William Parker: bass
Rob Brown: alto saxophone
Lewis “Flip” Barnes: trumpet
Hamid Drake: drums
Mazz Swift: violin
Jessica Pavone: viola
Julia Kent: cello
Shiau-Shu Yu: cello
Leena Conquest: vocals

“Corn Meal Dance again makes abundantly clear William Parker's multi-faceted talents as bassist, composer, poet, bandleader and songwriter. Raining On The Moon is the extraordinary group which seamlessly fuses all of these prodigious gifts: his long-standing Quartet with Hamid Drake, Rob Brown, Lewis Barnes is here exquisitely augmented by singer Leena Conquest breathing further passion into William's lyrics once again, and pianist Eri Yamamoto for the first wonderful time. William Parker’s soul-nourishing poetry and supremely catchy melodies and grooves are brought to scintillating life by a group featuring some of the finest improvisers in the world. Further to the full-group work here are a pair of supremely tender Leena and Eri duets on 'Prayer' and 'Poem For June Jordan'.” – AUM Fidelity

William Parker: bass
Lewis “Flip” Barnes: trumpet
Rob Brown: alto saxophone
Leena Conquest: vocals
Hamid Drake: drums
Eri Yamamoto: piano

“The rabbit and the terrapin had a race / the terrapin put it in the rabbit’s face / just workin’ it slow…”

Fun-loving and fantastic double (single?) entendre blues/hokum from Rufus and Ben Quillian, who recorded several 78s for Paramount and Columbia from 1929-1931.  The track listing alone will clue you in that this is music designed to accompany or create good times.  It’s surprising that this music hasn’t turned up on many compilations other than one song on Please Warm My Weiner, when they had hilarious, catchy numbers like “Jerking the Load”: “They’ll give you lovin’ / they’ll give you dough / they’ll never say they can’t use you no mo’ / just as long as you really know exactly how to jerk that load.”

Regarding their repertoire, Ben Quillian, quoted in Bruce Bastin’s Red River Blues, states “most of them were kinda indecent for that day … We had a lot of fun, played a lot of house parties, small dances.”  Those must have been some times. 

I’ve had crotchety moods that were quickly erased when I put on these tunes.  If available, I would have bought up lots of copies of this record.  Unfortunately, I could only get a few, so move fast if you need it.  Some rough source material here and there, but if you’re into pre-war, you know how to ride. 

Track listing:
Sweet Miss Stella Blues
Jerking the Load
Take It Out Too Deep
Ragged But Right
All In Down and Out
Good Feeling Blues
Keep It Clean
Good Right On
Working It Slow
I Got Everything
Satisfaction Blues
It’s Dirty But Good
Holy Roll
Workin’ It Fast
Shove It Up In There
Loose Me from This Woman

“For a truly despairing, spectral high-lonesome sound, Ralph (keening tenor, banjo) and Carter (earthy baritone, guitar) Stanley--the Stanley Brothers--stand alone in bluegrass. This collection features their earliest recordings, beginning in 1947 for the Rich-R-Tone label, and presents the duo at their rawest and most unbridled.”  Packaged with Revenant’s usual class, it features a gatefold sleeve, clear vinyl, and informative liner notes.

Perhaps best known for their killer version of “Two White Horses in a Line”, Two Poor Boys (Joe Evans and Arthur McClain) straddled the songster/old-time/blues fence, with the occasional nod to the pop music of their era, delivered with an agreeably laid-back vocal style.  You may recognize a few of these songs from Revenant’s American Primitive Volume 2 set.  Limited supply, just a few on hand.

Track listing:
Little Son of a Gun (Look What You Done Done)
Two White Horses in a Line
John Henry Blues
New Huntsville Jail
Take a Look at that Baby
Mill Man Blues
Georgia Rose
Old Hen Cackle
John Henry Blues
New Huntsville Jail
Sitting on Top of the World
My Baby Got a Yo-Yo
Sourwood Mountain
Down in Black Bottom
Down in Black Bottom
Shook it this Morning Blues

“77-minutes of gut-bucket, early gospel from the collections of Gayle Dean Wardlow and John Fahey.  Included... Charley Patton, Rev. I.B. Ware with Wife & Son, Booker T. Washington - “Bukka” White, William & Versey Smith, Blind Willie Davis, Frank Palmes, Bo Weavil Jackson, Elder Otis Jones, Blind Roosevelt Graves, Blind Joe Taggart, Blind Mamie Forehand, Jaybird Coleman, and more.”  Double LP, gatefold sleeve, liner notes by John Fahey.

Many shades of longing / wistfulness from recent immigrants to the United States, recorded from 1927-1948.  Rebetika, Cajun, Hawaiian, calypso, and more flow together in lovely and ear-opening fashion.  Includes a fetching sleeve that takes off on the cover to the classic Really! The Country Blues album.

Cleoma Falcon – Prends Done Courage
Two Gospel Keys – I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore
Wilmouth Houdini – Blow Wind Blow
Marika Papagika – Zmirneikos Balos
Mme. Riviere’s Hawaiians – Edward the VIII
Sexteto Bolona – Te Prohibido el Cabaret
Jacob Hoffman & Kandal’s Orchestra – Diona & Hora
Blind Uncle Gaspard & Dela Lachney – Baoille
Mike Hanapi’s Ilima Islanders – Hilo Hula
Lydia Mendoza – Palida Luna
Blue Sky Boys – Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone?
Unknown – Sorban Palid
Big Boy Cleveland – Quill Blues

Stellar collection of prewar blues and gospel, some of the greatest hits alongside other fantastic lesser-knowns.  Hard for me to argue with any compilation that includes Robert Wilkins, Geechie Wiley, Sister O.M. Terrell, and Robert Petway’s “Catfish Blues”. 

Track listing:
Geechie Wiley – Last Kind Words
Kid Prince Moore – Church Bells
Robert Petway – Catfish Blues
Sister O.M. Terrell – I'm Going To That City (To Die No More)
Lottie Kimbrough (The Kansas City Butterball) – Rolling Log
Louis McDaniels & Cid Smith – It's Hard To Leave You Sweet Love
Lulu Jackson – Careless Love
Robert Wilkins – That's No Way To Get Along
The Anglin Brothers – Money Cannot Buy Your Soul
Blind Willie & Kate McTell – Don't Let Nobody Turn You 'Round
Cannons' Jug Stompers – I'm Going To Germany
Isiah Nettles (The Mississippi Moaner) – It's Cold In China
Memphis Minnie & Kansas Joe McCoy – I Called You This Morning
Rev. Edward Clayborn – Death Is Only A Dream

Hot post-war gospel compilation put together by Mike McGonigal of the great Yeti zine.  Lots of terrific music on here, but perhaps most noteworthy is the gospel collector crowd’s recent “discovery” of the Straight Street Group, who hit a massive, joyous sacred guitar groove.  You also get one of Rev. Anderson Johnson’s absolutely off the hook first recordings, Elder Beck’s barnstorming “Rock & Roll Sermon”, Rev. Lonnie Farris’ early sacred steel, and plenty more to get you doing the holy dance.  Note that this second pressing does not contain the bonus 7” that was included on the first go-round.

Track listing:
Utah Smith – Take a Trip
Rev. Lonnie Farris – A Night in the House of Prayer
Sister O.M. Terrell – Life is a Problem
Straight Street Group – Angels Keep Watching Over Me
Rev. A. Johnson – Lord Will Make a Way
Elder Charles Beck – Rock & Roll Sermon, parts 1 & 2
Crumb Brothers – Seat in the Kingdom
Bishop Perry Tillis – I Found a Solid Rock
Utah Smith – I’m Free
Willanette Singers – Pray On
Professor Johnson – Standing in the Safety Zone
Tom Dutson – Lil’ School Song
Oakland’s Famous One Man Band – Amazing Grace

A quite lovely collection of African pop music, “Love Is Love is a beautifully compiled twelve-song LP of incredibly hard-to-find African pop music. The recordings are from between 1965 and 1972, and span the entire continent from places like Ethiopia, Kenya, and Sierra Leone. Styles are culled from R&B, highlife and acoustic guitar folk. Includes tracks from S.E. Rogers and Alemayno Eshintay (whose song gives the compilation its title).”

Alemayno Eshintay – Love is Love
S. E. Rogers – Toomus Meremereh Nor Good
Peter Tsotsi, Nashil Pichen, and the Equator Sound Band – Pole Musa
Miss Smodern – S’modern
Leribe – Sax Jive
William Siwale and Friends – Castle Beer
Jimmy Amukamua – Khukhaua Minyinzi
W. John Ondolo – Kerena
George Kazoka – Ulayinda Kubota
W. John Ondolo – Tumshukuru Mungu
Eliga Ishmael – Jumbe Nipelek Kwetu
Unknown – Chemirocha

Several years ago Fat Possum bought the rights to the recorded archive of folklorist George Mitchell, which resulted in the release of several CDs and a slew of 7”s, a fair number of which are also stocked here.  Right before this update was about to go out, word came in of this budget-priced 7CD box which compiles all of the material released on those 45 7”s, plus a full CD of additional material.  Mitchell’s recordings and books such as Blow My Blues Away and Ponce de Leon have had a substantial impact on 50 Miles of Elbow Room, so this will get a special mention in these parts. 

For many years, the recordings made by George Mitchell as he traveled the south needed to be procured in a similar manner to which Mitchell learned about the musicians he recorded: following up on a lead here or a reference there, analyzing some scrap of information that might prove to be key, and generally a lot of asking around.  A music enthusiast from an early age, Mitchell’s first trip to hang out with blues musicians took place in 1961, when he was only 17 years old.  Over the next 20 years, he proceeded to periodically record, interview, and photograph many great blues artists.  Along the way he made the first recordings of some artists who later went on to great renown, such as RL Burnside and Otha Turner, as well as some of the earliest “revival” sessions with pre-war stars such as Sleepy John Estes and Furry Lewis.  Mostly he recorded people who remain largely unfamiliar to modern listeners, but whose music offers great rewards: the massive “Georgia Drumbeat” stomp of James Davis, the deep and inscrutable blues of Cecil Barfield, the stately slide guitar gospel of Leon Pinson, the ancient-sounding blues of Lonzie Thomas, the stunning high and lonesome tunes of John Lee Ziegler, beautiful a cappella spirituals, and on and on.  Particularly noteworthy is the amount of material from the Chattahoochee Valley region, which was largely ignored by other folklorists of the time. 

Though these recordings are consistently outstanding, what makes this material truly special to me is the manner in which it transports the listener to a different place and time, giving a sense of how the blues existed during a period when the status of the musicians who played it was often starting to fade in their communities.  That said, the performances often have an intimate and relaxed feel to them, as befits a music played for the joy of a few.  In his liner notes to this box set, Sam Sweet sums it up quite well, “A detailed picture of 20th century black musical culture in the rural South emerges from the recurring themes in Mitchell’s archive: kids learning instruments from their relatives or family friends; musicians spending their entire life within the distance of one or two towns; musicians forming irreplaceable and lifelong musical partnerships; people staging non-church-related concerts and parties for themselves in the woods and fields near their homes.  What Mitchell amassed over his 20 years in the field is as good a picture of that world as any of us are ever going to get.”

For this project, Qbico Records brought together a bunch of open-minded musicians from a multitude of backgrounds and generations, with the objective of everyone coming together for a collective throw-down.  Side B is a notable hoot.  Recorded live at Tonic on March 18, 2004.  Found a couple more of these, very last copies. 

“Thunderously heavy two LP set from Qbico documenting a night in New York where some of the hardest working lungs still in the service of liberated fire - Arthur Doyle, Perry Robinson, Daniel Carter, Charles Waters, Shanir Ezra Blummenkranz and Andrew Barker - plotted various tactical formations with brains of a whole other order, including Ed Wilcox of Temple Of Bon Matin, Nuuj of Pengo/Asthmatic, Dave Cross Of Coffee, Leslie Q and Vinnie Paternostro. Freely-improvised avant-guerilla spurt in the spirit of the LAFMS/MEV and avant/rock coalitions like BAG. First time Doyle has played together with Robinson and Carter since the loft-scene days of the 1970s... Comes in absurd full-colour gatefold sleeve with poem from Steve Dalachinsky.” – David Keenan, The Wire / Volcanic Tongue

side A:
Steve Dalachinsky- Phenomena of interference (excerpt)
Andrew Barker/Charles Waters duo & trio with Daniel Carter
side B:
Andrew Barker/Charles Waters/Daniel Carter/Shanir-Ezra Blumenkranz/Perry Robinson 5et
side C
Arthur Doyle/Nuuj duo
Arthur Doyle Electro-Acoustic Ensemble with special guests Daniel Carter and Perry Robinson
side D
Arthur Doyle Electro-Acoustic Ensemble with special guest Daniel Carter
Arthur Doyle solo

“Double LP set documenting two Qbico hosted nights in Denmark that featured a big band free jazz wig-out led by saxophonist Daniel Carter (Test/Other Dimensions In Music et al) and featuring Vin Paternostro on soprano sax, Marc Gade on tuba, Pernaus Salon on recorder, soprano sax and clay flute 'Qbico' on balalaika, vocals, percussion and violin and Ed Wilcox (Temple Of Bon Matin et al) on drums and harmonica.  There's also some premier trio blats led by Carter alongside Paternostro and Wilcox that succeeds in raising the roof and a particularly massive side-long work from Denmark's own Family Underground.” – Volcanic Tongue

Side A:
Global Experience Orchestra
Side B:
Family Underground
Sides C and D:
Daniel Carter/Vin Paternostro/Ed Wilcox

Nice collection of early African-American gospel song out of New Orleans, mostly in an unaccompanied jubilee style.  Pressed in 1989, this one’s long out-of-print and has always been hard for me to find.  Includes an 18-page 11”x11” booklet of notes by Lynn Abbott.  It smells a bit musty, so it's available here for cheap.

St. Mark’s Chanters – Buked and Scorned
St. Mark’s Chanters – Live Humble
St. Mark’s Chanters – So High
Rev. A. A. Gundy – The Old Account Was Settled Long Ago
Rev. A. A. Gundy – While the Blood’s Running Warm in Your Veins
Rev. A. A. Gundy – Lift Him Up
Original Valentin Choral Club Quintette – Give Me that Old Time Religion
Original Valentin Choral Club Quintette – Sing On
Black Billy Sunday – The Red Horse and its Rider
Alma Lillie Hubbard – The Old Ark is a’Movin’
Wesley Trio – Every Time I Feel de Spirit
Wesley Female Quartet – Reign Massa Jesus Reign
The Second Zion Four – The Second Zion Four are We
The Second Zion Four – Praise Him Shining Angels
The Second Zion Four – On Flowery Beds of Ease
New Orleans University Glee Club – Climbing Jacob’s Ladder

An enjoyable collection of blues and good-time music, recorded in Memphis by George Mitchell and Roger S. Brown in the early ‘60s.  The cuts by Sleepy John Estes and Furry Lewis are among the strongest post-war material I’ve heard from them.  Estes had one of the most expressive and affecting singing voices around, and he’s in fine form here.  On “Wine-Headed Man,” Will Shade delivers an excellent improvised number that pokes fun at the visiting white boys, a tradition that is often executed but seldom commercially released.   After listening to Jennie Mae Clayton sing, I’d probably fail a Breathalyzer test.

It took me a number of years to find a copy of this release on vinyl.   Luckily, a few of them were hiding in a herd, so I am able to offer it to you good people.  Limited stock.

Sleepy John Estes – Floating Bridge
Sleepy John Estes – Special Agent
Sleepy John Estes – Mr. Pat
Sleepy John Estes – Rats in My Kitchen
Furry Lewis – Brownsville Blues
Furry Lewis – Mistreatin’ Woman
Furry Lewis – Fare-Thee-Well, Old Tennessee
Will Shade – Kansas City Blues
Will Shade and Gus Cannon – The Train
Furry Lewis – Boll Weevil Blues
Will Shade – Wine-Headed Man
Furry Lewis and Will Shade – Furry Lewis Rag
Charlie Burse and Will Shade – Beale Street Shuffle
Will Shade and Jennie Mae Clayton – What Must I Do?
Will Shade – Jump and Jive

Published in 1988 and now very scarce. Front and back covers are clean. Staples show rust that slightly stains the centermost pages. Feature articles:
“Paramount, Part 1: The Anatomy of a ‘Race’ Label” by Stephen Calt
“Trev Benwell: ‘Man and Legend’” by Russ Shor
“Polk Miller and the Old South Quartette” by Doug Seroff
“Collecting Ethnic” by Dick Spottswood
“’Big Foot’ William Harris” by Gayle Dean Wardlow
“Gennett-Champion Blues: Richmond, Indiana (1923-1934), Part 1” by Tom Tsotsi
“The Rarest 78s (A-B)”
“A White Man’s Integrity” by Stephen Calt (interview with Skip James)

Highly desirable issue of 78 Quarterly that features R. Crumb’s illustration of Robert Johnson on the cover, an interview with the great music historian Frederic Ramsey, Jr., tales of Paramount Records, and more.  Staples show rust that slightly stains the centermost pages.  Back covers show slight rubbing; front covers cleaner.  Very few copies on hand.  Feature articles:
“Paramount, Part 2: The Anatomy of a ‘Race’ Label” by Stephen Calt
“Fred Ramsey Speaks Out!” an interview by Pete Whelan
“Robert Johnson” by Stephen Calt and Gayle Dean Wardlow
“The Idioms of Robert Johnson” by Stephen Calt
“Remembering Big Joe” by Henry Renard (subtitled “The life and times of Big Joe Clauberg and his Jazz Record Center – New York’s famous [and bizarre] hangout for collectors, celebrities, musicians, alcoholics, and hobos…”)
“Paramounts in the Belfry…” by Bob Hilbert
“Gennett-Champion Blues: Richmond, Indiana (1923-1934), Part 2” by Tom Tsotsi
“The Rarest 78s (C-D)”
“Postscript to the McKune Story…” by Bernard Klatzko

Published in 1990 and now very scarce.   Staples show rust that slightly stains the centermost pages.  Front and back covers show slight rubbing.  Features include:

"The Buying and Selling of Paramounts, Part 3" by Stephen Calt and Gayle Dean Wardlow
"Rarest 78s (F to G)"
"Louie Bluie, Part 1" by Terry Zwigoff
"100 Years from Today" by Doug Seroff
"When the Wolf Knocked on Victor's Door" by Dick Spottswood
"Gennett / Champion Blues, Part 3" by Tom Tsotsi
"Portrait of a Blues Singer" (Skip James) by Stephen Calt
"Six Who Made Recorded History" by Gayle Dean Wardlow

Published ~1990 and now very scarce.  Schlitz Jug Band on the cover.  Staples show rust that slightly stains the centermost pages.  Front and back covers show slight rubbing.  Features include:
“Paramount Part IV: The Advent of Arthur Laibly” by Stephen Calt and Gayle Dean Wardlow
“The Rarest 78s (H-I-Ja)”
“Louie Bluie, Part 2” by Terry Zwigoff
“100 Years from Today: A Survey of Afro-American Music in 1890 as Recorded by the Black Community Press” by Doug Seroff, Lynn Abbott, and Ray Funk
“The Myth of Rock and Roll” by Stephen Calt
“Booker White on Bullet Williams” by Cal Stephens
“Gennett-Champion Blues: Richmond, Indiana (1923-1934), Part 4” by Tom Tsotsi

Published in 1992 and hard to come by.  Gennett Recording Laboratories truck on the cover.  The copies of this issue are pretty clean – nice covers and no rusty staples.  Features include:
“Paramount’s Decline and Fall (Part 5)” by Stephen Calt with Gayle Dean Wardlow
“The Man Who Bought Paramount” by Pete Whelan
“The Rarest 78s (Je-K)”
“Lizzie Miles: Her Forgotten Career in Circus Side-Show Minstrelsy, 1914-1918” by Lynn Abbott and Doug Seroff
“First and Last Days in Lynchburg: A Last Look at Lynchburg Luke” by Don Kent.  Lynchburg Luke is Luke Jordan.
“100 Years from Today: A Survey of Afro-American Music in 1891 as Recorded in the Black Community Press” by Doug Seroff and Lynn Abbott
“The Bohee Brothers (1844-1897 / 1856-1926[?]): Were these Afro-Canadians the Best Banjoists Ever?” by Dr. Rainer E. Lotz

Frank Stokes on the cover. No publishing date listed, but presumably this is from the early-mid 1990s. Staples show rust that slightly stains the centermost pages.  Front and back covers show slight rubbing.  Featured articles:
“H. C. Speir (1895-1972)” by Gayle Dean Wardlow
“Gennett Records: Capturing America’s Musical Grassroots” by Rick Kennedy
“Portrait of a Blues Singer, Part 6” by Stephen Calt (excerpt from Calt’s book on Skip James)
“The Rarest 78s (L-M-N)”
“Southern Echoes” by Tony Russell
“Gennett-Champion Blues: Richmond, Indiana (1923-1934), Part 5” by Tom Tsotsi
“Sweet Mattie Dorsey: Been Here, but She’s Gone” by Doug Seroff and Lynn Abbott
“Foolishness Rag: The Perception of Ragtime in Europe” by Rainer E. Lotz
“The Earliest Boogie Woogie” by E. S. Virgo
“American Ragtime Performers in Britain” by Mark Berresford

Henry Sims and Muddy Waters on the cover. No publishing date listed, maybe from the mid 1990s? Staples show rust that slightly stains the centermost pages.  Back cover shows rubbing.  Featured articles:
Frederic Ramsey Jr. obituary
“Henry ‘Son’ Sims” by Gayle Dean Wardlow
“The Rarest 78s (O-P-Q)”
“Clarence M. Jones (1889-1949): Almost Forgotten (But Not Quite)” by Rick Kennedy
“Black Music in the White City: African-Americans at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition” by Doug Seroff and Lynn Abbott
“Take My Picture, Make it in a Frame: The Wiley Barner Story” by Don Kent
“The Paramount L Master Series” by Max Vreede and Guido Van Rijn
“A Portfolio of Fake Paramount Ads” by Tony Mostrom
“Southern Echoes Part 2” by Tony Russell
“100 Years from Today: A Survey of African-American Music in 1892 and 1893 as Recorded in the Black Community Press” by Doug Seroff and Lynn Abbott
Book reviews, including of “I’d Rather Be the Devil: Skip James and the Blues” by Stephen Calt. 

Published mid-late ‘90s? Saucy old-time ladies on the cover.  Staples show rust that slightly stains the centermost pages.  Front and back covers show slight rubbing.  Only a couple copies here.  Features include:

"E. Belfield Spriggins: First Man of Jazzology" by Lynn Abbott
"The Rarest 78s (R thru S)"
"The Most Complete Biography of Johnny Dodds" by Bernard Klatzko
"Lonnie Johnson Goes to Cincinnati" by Gary Fortine
"The Broadway 5000 Series" by Rolf Von Arx
"Lost Man Blues: Who Was Sugar Underwood?" by Jim Lyons
"The Origins of Ragtime" by Doug Seroff and Lynn Abbott

Contains a very extensive Black Patti cover story (82 pages!). Staples show rust that slightly stains the centermost pages.  Front and back covers show slight rubbing.  Featured articles:
“Black Patti” by Tom Tsotsi and Pete Whelan, with Joe Bussard, Matt Mintzell, and Rolf von Arx
“The Rarest 78s (T thru V)”
Bernard Klatszko obituary
“A Glimpse at the Golden Years of Ida Cox” by Rolf von Arx, with numerous clippings from The Chicago Defender
“Sis Quander – Duke Ellington’s First Vocalist?” by Kip Lornell and Rohulamin Quander

Features an incredible Paramount Records cover story that will set crate-diggers hearts racing.  Perfect-bound (no staple trouble!), clean covers.  Featured articles:
“Gold in Grafton!  Long lost Paramount photos, artwork, 78s surface after 70 years!” by John Tefteller
“Ma Rainey and Her Jazz Hounds – 1917/1922/1931” by Jim Prohaska
“Try Me One More Time – Marshall Owens Spiced with a Bit of Curry” by Alex van der Tuuk
“Bayless?  Bailey? – A Rose By Another Name” by Christopher C. King
“Gennett’s Mystery Label: The Superior 300 Series” by Tom Tsotsi
“The Rarest 78s (W thru Z)”

Raw and rocking Natchez Mississippi blues circa ’97 in the classic Fat Possum mold (“Insane Instrumental” and so forth).  Drummer Hezekiah Early is best known as the leader of the great Hezekiah and the Houserockers and his swinging, fife-and-drum influenced style on cuts like “Mother’s Dead” is a great foil for Elmo Williams’ wild, distorted electric guitar riffs.  They can also lay down a steady groove when the song calls for it.  Hard to figure out why this didn’t get as big as other Fat Possum acts of that period, but this July they’ll be playing their first gigs since quite a while back, in Minnesota of all places, so maybe there’s hope yet.  I’ll get sound clips up here one of these days, but in the meantime, you can hear samples at http://www.myspace.com/elmowilliamshezekiahearly