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Post by Jim Boylston on Jun 20, 2007 5:50:55 GMT -5
That Robert Johnson box is indispensable as far as I'm concerned. I'm also a big fan of Jimmy Reed and Slim Harpo. I just picked up a new Reed bio that I haven't had a chance to dig into. The recording though, that gives me chills is Skip James' "Devil Got My Woman". Jim
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Post by TRK on Jun 20, 2007 8:14:50 GMT -5
I like prewar and postwar Blues, leaning more toward the latter.
Howlin' Wolf ranks high on my list. He was a hard working guy, always trying to improve himself. They say even when he'd made it as a performer, he'd take night courses, and would bring his homework into the clubs and work on it during breaks.
Slim Harpo... that guy was like no other. He had a nasal, even-handed vocal delivery that never got too excited, but just stayed at a steady simmer. That swampy guitar with heavy tremolo is something John Fogerty studied on hard. Harpo played some clean & simple-sounding guitar patterns that are anything but simple if you try to replicate them (I'm thinking of "Hip Shake").
Jimmy Reed is the guy a lot of rockers studied in their formative years. Neil Young, to name one, cites him as a major influence. Reed's playing was economical, tasty, and accessible.
The Robert Johnson box set is great. In the late 1990s, Columbia put out a reissue of "Robert Johnson: King of the Delta Blues Singers." I resisted buying it, thinking it was redundant, but last year a friend played me tracks from the reissue, followed by the same tracks on the box set, and there's a definite sonic difference--I'd call it an improvement--in the "King of" reissue. There's generally less crackling, and the vocals and guitars seem more immediate.
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Post by Jim Boylston on Jun 20, 2007 8:32:55 GMT -5
Yeah, the RJ remaster has better sound quality than the box. There is a website online where a guy hypothesizes that RJ had been either recorded or mastered too fast on the original recordings. He digitally slows some tracks down and posts them on his site. It is an interesting contrast, his vocals much deeper, his guitar in a different key. It's worth a listen. www.touched.co.uk/press/rjnote.htmlJim
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Post by Allen Wiener on Jun 20, 2007 9:33:26 GMT -5
Have you ever heard Gene Autry's earliest recordings? They are all blues that virtually mimic Jimmie Rodgers (various Blue Yodels, "Waiting for a Train," etc.). Since I grew up on Autry's cowboy music and movies, I found it a real stitch to hear this stuff many years later.
I don't have the RJ box, but I do have the 1990s reissue of "King of" LP. I notice in the credits that they used various source material for this, including metal masters and stuff from various collections; remastering was done by Stanley Weiss (who did the box set recordings?). These remastering guys can be very different in their approach. I once interviewed Steve Hoffman regarding his remastering of some McCartney stuff (I think they were on those over-priced DCC Compact Classics gold CDs). I then interviewed Peter Mew in England, who was remastering a bunch of McCartney's stuff. Mew swore by the noise-reduction software he used, while Hoffman said that no-noise stuff was "the kiss of death." I thought both guys did a terrific job, despite their different methods. I think the key factor was that both really knew what they were doing and, in that sense, were talented artists in their own right, while other remastering jobs have been done by hacks, on the cheap, or in a big hurry. I thought the Beatles CDs all sounded awful.
Bottom line is -- don't get rid of those vinyl discs. Even though I can now copy them onto my computer and then onto CDs or the iPod, I ain't never throwin' that stuff out.
AW
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Post by Jim Boylston on Jun 20, 2007 9:58:21 GMT -5
Mastering is an integral part of the recording process and can make or break a record. Some of the earliest CD releases were horrible, rushed out to meet demand. JSP is a budget line that releases a lot of archival blues, C&W, and early country boxed sets. I've found that they do a good job, but 5 discs of Blind Lemon Jefferson may be more than the casual listener wants. They release some really great stuff though. I've also enjoyed the sound quality on most of the Catfish label issues. They're based in England, but many of their titles, particularly compilations, are readily available stateside. I have their three disc Charley Patton set, which I love. I have a Sony Gene Autry compilation that sounds pretty good. They released a series of cowboy and Western Swing albums some years ago that were good. OF course I threw down on the 10 discs of Bob Wills radio broadcasts that Rhino reissued some time back. Love that Wills. As for the Beatles, up until "Abbey Road", the mono releases were the way to go and were always considered by the group to be the 'official' versions. The stereo mixes were an afterthought.
On another note, are you guys hip to Rhino's "Handmade" series? They're all limited edition reissues of collectibles that have either never been in print or have been out of print for a long time. These titles aren't available in stores, web sales only. I recently purchased a great T Bone Burnett release of "Proof Through the Night", "Trap Door", and "Behind the Trap Door" from them. It's stellar, and 75% of it has never been available on CD. Their releases are a little pricey, but you can't get them anywhere else and when they're gone they're gone. The T Bone is limited to 5,000 copies world wide. Jim
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Post by TRK on Jun 20, 2007 10:52:40 GMT -5
[Quoting Jim] "JSP is a budget line that releases a lot of archival blues, C&W, and early country boxed sets. I've found that they do a good job, but 5 discs of Blind Lemon Jefferson may be more than the casual listener wants. They release some really great stuff though."
Agreed; I have seven or eight JSP box sets. Love the ones they did on Jimmie Rodgers and Louis Armstrong's early "Hot" bands. There's one that covers the early Detroit years of John Lee Hooker, and it's a riot: for example, there's a series of three or four songs where you can hear his amp, which is about shot on the first song, get progressively worse...and John Lee is seeming to dig on the increasing distortion, almost getting into a meditation-on-guitar, probing the sonic possibilities of the torn speaker.
Proper is another British budget label that puts out great 4-cd box sets (Blues, Jazz, Western Swing) for little more than the price of a single cd. The Bob Wills box is particularly good. They have boxes on Louis Jordan, Lonnie Johnson, T-Bone Walker, and many others. Proper also has some cheap, one-cd "An Introduction To ___" releases that are very good. That's one way to get some of the early Memphis Howlin' Wolf on the cheap.
[Quoting Jim:] "On another note, are you guys hip to Rhino's "Handmade" series?"
I've heard of them but haven't sprung for any. They're limited issue, right? So, if you see one that looks good, better jump on it.
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Post by Jim Boylston on Jun 20, 2007 18:53:19 GMT -5
I have the Armstrong, the Rodgers, the Blind Lemon, and the Blind Blake JSP sets, and think they're all good. I was tempted to pick up the Blind Boy Fuller, but figured I have a lot of his stuff already and didn't need to be a completist. What I'd really like is the Revenant Patton box, but I can't let myself spend that much money. I think that set is pretty inclusive and includes the stuff John Fahey wrote about Patton. Speaking of Fahey, he's another one I really like, especially "Blind Joe Death". Vanguard did a great job on that reissue, and included both Fahey's early home recorded version and the later more widespread release. Jim
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Post by TRK on Jun 20, 2007 20:41:48 GMT -5
Quote: "What I'd really like is the Revenant Patton box, but I can't let myself spend that much money."
I read you. I had to settle for the JSP "Complete Charley Patton" set. Paul Geremia recently played here, and he introduced a C.P. song with some patter that went like, "This next song was by Charley Patton. Now, Charley's a guy who you REALLY have to want to listen to, because all his record masters are so scratchy and hard to hear..."
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Post by Jim Boylston on Jun 20, 2007 20:44:52 GMT -5
Paul Rishell does some good Patton covers too.
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Post by TRK on Aug 14, 2007 18:12:32 GMT -5
I recently caught a show by an outfit called Professor Louie and the Crowmatix. They are a Roots/Americana/Blues group based out of Woodstock, N.Y. They put in a solid set of blues originals, mostly culled from their album "A Century of the Blues," then did a long set of semi-obscure songs by the Hawks and Dylan and The Band in their Basement Tapes period...stuff like "Don't Ya Tell Henry," "Do the Honky Tonk," "Orange Juice Blues," "Yazoo Street Scandal," and "Ain't No More Cane (on the Brazos)."
The Professor is an ace keyboard player, who spent his time equally between a Roland keyboard, Hammond B-3 organ, and an accordion. I was unfamiliar with this group, but I'll sure vouch for them now. If you get a chance to see them, jump on it.
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Post by Jim Boylston on Aug 14, 2007 18:20:51 GMT -5
I caught John Hammond, Jr. a couple of weeks ago on a bill with Hot Tuna. Last Friday my son and I saw Brad Paisley...he isn't blues, but man that guy is a monster guitar player. Like a revved up James Burton. Jim
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Post by TRK on Aug 14, 2007 19:35:19 GMT -5
Yep, Brad Paisley is one of the modern masters of the Telecaster. There are a lot of serious fans of electric guitar who hold him in very high regard.
Another Tele guy I've heard a lot of good things about and hope to see someday is Redd Volkaert. He's played with Haggard and on his own, and his name comes up a lot in interviews as a favorite of many famous pickers.
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Post by Jim Boylston on Aug 14, 2007 20:08:20 GMT -5
Isn't Redd one of the Twangbangers with Bill Kirchen?
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Post by TRK on Aug 14, 2007 20:19:28 GMT -5
He sure is.
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Post by sloanrodgers on Aug 14, 2007 21:27:53 GMT -5
Yep, Brad Paisley is one of the modern masters of the Telecaster. There are a lot of serious fans of electric guitar who hold him in very high regard. Another Tele guy I've heard a lot of good things about and hope to see someday is Redd Volkaert. He's played with Haggard and on his own, and his name comes up a lot in interviews as a favorite of many famous pickers. I've seen Redd on a few things and he's always impressed me. He's a funny guy too. I'd like to see him in person whenever he come back to Texas.
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