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This box set changed my view of blues. To me the word blues always
suggest Chicago, Delta, or Downhome blues. Although I know rhythm and
blues is a kind of blues, but it was difficult for me to understand
the wide variety of blues without listening to Kansas City, West Coast,
and southwest blues.
Jim O'Neal, a founding editor of Living Blues Magazine, wrote an
excellent description of the music of Mercury Records in the booklet of
this set.
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Mercury records has never been as strongly associated with the sound of
Chicago, especially Chicago blues, as its legendary competitors Chess
and Vee-Jay. Yet Mercury may have been more represntative of Chicago in
a broader sense than any other companny. ...
When it came to the blues, Mercury apparently decided that the bucks
weren't in the downhome styles that are now popular perceived as classic
"Chicago blues." Indeed, blues historians have chronicled the Chicago
story with nary a mention of Mercury Records. In accounts written by
authorities more conversant in jazz and R&B, however, the music of
Mercury play a larger role. For while Mercury usually shunned the blues
of a different element of black Chicago back in the 1940s and '50s: not
the newly arriving masses of migrants from the rural Mississipi Delta,
but the establised South Side population which already prided itself in
its urban sophistication. The South Side had become the cultural capital
of black America, and the music favored by the community leadership was
of a decidedly refined caliber.
The entertainment section of Chicago Defender, the country's top black
newspaper, was filled with ads, photos and news from South Side lounges,
showclubs, and theaters, The music featured in the early post-World War
II issues was often blues: not the transplanted juke joint styles up
from MIssissipi, Arkansas, and Tennessee, however, but a more polished
blend that had much in common with the black urban music then played in
Los Angels, Kansas City, Houston, Harlem. While the raw guitar/harmonica
blues combos wailed away in the corner taverns and blasted their
amplified sounds to teeming crowds on Maxwell Street, the Defender
focused on the musical fare offered at the more fashionable nightspots
by piano trios, saxophone-dominated showbands, jump blues groups, jazz
ensembles, and vocalists who could croon a pop standard or belt out a
blues with equal ease. At a time when Big Bill Broonzy, John Lee "sonny
Boy" Williamson and Tampa Red were still recording hits for major
national labels and Muddy Waters and Little Walter were in the process
of revolutionizing the sound of blues, the title "King of the Blues" was
variously bestowed by the Defender on such singers as Gatemouth Moore,
Andrew Tibbs and Dr. Jo Jo Adams. News stories followed the exploits of
Dinah Washington, T-Bone Walker, Cleanhead Vinson, Cootie Williams and
especailly Louis Jordan.
Today's listenership might easily be misled because of the preponderance
of Delta-based Chicago blues recordings from this period selected for
reissue by collectors's labels, but in truth a large portion of the
blues records coming out of Chicago in the Forties and early Fifties
were decidedly more urbane, owning more to jazz and jump than to jukes
and the Conqueror roots. Independent record labels such as Hy-Tone,
Miracle, Rhumboogies, United and even Aristcrat (chess's predecessor)
directed the majority of their output towards smooth vocal sytlings,
city blues and jazz. In this field the most prolific of all the Chicago
labels was Mercury, which released some 300 records in its "Race" series
from 1946 to 1952, in addition to several released in 1945-46 before the
catalog was subdivied into different series.
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I read topic 341, "Outline of blues history and styles" written by Jay
Clark(Yeah, it's certainly a great topic), again and could understand
what Tom Parmenter had been saying there.
- Kazunori
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| Sounds like you're getting your money's worth, and more, from that boxed
set...
Certainly the more one listens, the more one hears musical connections,
the harder it becomes to categorize...
I think categorization is one of life's necessary evils... Beginners need
to be able to see the outline of the forest without being obscured by the
trees -- where the "trees" are inconvenient facts and connections. 8)
I wonder if professional musicology becomes an exercise in iterative
widening & narrowing of focus -- forest, trees, forest, trees... Prune
your outlook, grow your outlook, prune, grow... Driven by the need to
communicate your musical passions (otherwise why bother...).
You'll note that some of the musicians in the Mercury set did factor into
my blues history/styles outline. I had sections for prewar Chicago
(Vocalion and Bluebird artists whose records tend to all sound the same)
and postwar Chicago (the Chess/VeeJay/etc. artists sometimes equated with
"Chicago blues"). Artists recorded by Mercury show up in other
categories, including jump/R&B and postwar urban niches.
What's not captured is that all these threads coexisted, and thrived, in
postwar Chicago at the same time. It was the best "herding of bison" I
could achieve, on a single printable sheet, at the time.
Also, U.S. (and worldwide) cities in general were crossroads of blues,
R&B, jazz, country, and every other imaginable commercial musical form
after the war, and travel/communication across geographies had become
routine -- no categorization is going to begin to do it justice. - Jay
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Jay,
I really appreciate your musical passions. Thanks for your comments.
>I read topic 341, "Outline of blues history and styles" written by Jay
>Clark(Yeah, it's certainly a great topic), again and could understand
>what Tom Parmenter had been saying there.
What I tried to say in the above might be my misintrpretation and needs
more knowledge and intensive reading of that topic. I tried to say one's
perception of musical category could vary from when he started his
listening career and what musical scene exited at that time.
Today's listeners perceive blues, rhythm and blues, and jazz as a
distinct categories. But in the late 1940s, rhythm and blues is at its
birth, and blues and jazz are lending their hands. It's no wonder that
listeners from that age have a different perspective to today's
counetrparts. (I suggest Tom belongs to elder generation, which led to
his view that I could undestand through this box set)
I picked up two double LP sets last week which compiled from Vocalion
and Decca "Race" series in 1930s and 40s. I'll pursuit this area for a
while.
- Kazunori
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>Today's listeners perceive blues, rhythm and blues, and jazz as a
>distinct categories. But in the late 1940s, rhythm and blues is at its
>birth, and blues and jazz are lending their hands. It's no wonder that
>listeners from that age have a different perspective to today's
>counetrparts.
I rented a book written by Langston Hueges, "The First Book of
Jazz"(1955) from the public library. In the appendix there's his 100
selections of performances. It's quite interesting as an appendix of
jazz book. Here is blues/R&B conference but it must be interesting to
the audience of this conference. (I soted it by the performer's name)
- Kazunori
Andy Kirk What's Your Story, Morning Decca
Glory
Artie Shaw Star Dust Victor
Artie Shaw(with Billy Holliday) Any Old Time Bluebird
Artie Shaw(with Hot Lips Page) St. James Infirmary Victor
Benny Goodman Blues Skies Victor
Benny Goodman Quintet I Cried For You Bluebird
(with Teddy Wilson)
Benny Goodman Trio After You've Gone Victor
Benny Moten's Kansas City Yazoo Blues Victor
Orchestra
Bertha Chippie Hill Trouble In Mind Okeh
(with Armstrong)
Bessie Smith St. Louis Blues Columbia
Bessie Smith Back Water Blues Columbia
Bessie Smith Yellow Dog Blues Columbia
Bix Beiderbecke At The Jazz Band Ball Columbia
Bob Crosby Big Noise From Winnetka Decca
Bonnemere Winter Wonderland Roost
Buddy Johnson(with Ella Johnson)Stormy Weather Decca
Bunk Johnson's Brass Band When The Saints Go Marching In Victor
Cab Calloway Minnie The Moocher Brunswick
Charlie Barnet Cherokee Bluebird
Charlie Parker Lover Man Dial
Chick Webb(with Ella Fitzgerald)A-Tisket A-Tasket Decca
Coleman Hawkins Body And Soul Bluebird
Count Basie How Long Blues Decca
Count Basie One O'Clock Jump Decca
Count Basie(Jimmie Rushing) Good Morning Blues Decca
Dizzy Gillespie Salted Peanuts Manor
Doc Sausage and His Mad Lads Rag Mop Regal
Duke Ellington Dear Old Southland Victor
Duke Ellington Skin Deep Columbia
(with Louis Bellson)
Duke Ellington The Mooche Victor
Earl Hines(Boogie Woogie) St. Louis Blues V-Disc
Eddie Heywood Begin The Beguine Commodore
Erskine Hawkins Tuxedo Junction Bluebird
Erskine Hawkins After Hours Bluebird
Fats Waller I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Victor
Write Myself A Letter
Fletcher Henderson Christopher Columbus Decca
Frenchy's String Band Texas And Pacific Blues Columbia
Gerry Mulligan Quartet Carson City Stage Pacific
Glen Miller Danny Boy Bluebird
Glen Miller Chattanooga Choo Choo Victor
Hall Johnson Choir St. Louis Blues Victor
Harry James Skylark Columbia
James P. Johnson Snowy Morning Blues Folkways
Jelly Roll Morton Mamie's Blues Commodore
Jimmy Lunceford Well, All Right Then Columbia
Jimmy Yancey Bugle Call Rag Riverside
Jimmy and Mama Yancey How Long Blues Atlantic
Joe Loco Jingle Bells Tico
Johnny Hodges Tea For Two Clef
Johnny Sparrow Sparrow's Flight Melford
Jonny Moore's Three Blazers St. Louis Blues Exclusive
Jonny Moore's Three Blazers Drifting Blues Exclusive
Josh White Careless Love Asch
King Cole Trio It's Only A Paper Moon Capitol
King Cole Trio Straighten Up And Fly Right Capitol
King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band Dippermouth Blues Brunswick
Larry Adler St. Louis Blues Decca
(with John Kirby's Orch.)
Leonard Feather and Dan Burley Suite In Four Comfortable Continental
Quarters
Lewis, Johnson, and Ammons Boogie Woogie Prayer Columbia
Lionel Hampton Flying Home Decca
Lionel Hampton Hey Baba Rebop Decca
Llyod Glenn Chica Boo Swing Time
Louis Armstrong St. Louis Blues Okeh
Louis Armstrong West And Blues Columbia
Louis Jordan Old Man Mose Is Dead Decca
Luis Russell Call Of The Freaks Okeh
Ma Rainey Traveling Blues Paramount
(with Jug Washboard Band)
Ma Rainey(with Louis Armstrong) See See Rider Paramount
Marl Young's Orchestra So Long Sunbeam
Mary Low Williams Night Life Brunswick
Meade Lux Lewis Honky Tonk Train Victor,Decca
Memphis Minie Me And My Chauffeur Okeh
Morris Lane's Combo September Song Continental
Nellie Lutcher He's A Real Gone Guy Capitol
Original Dixieland Jazz Band Tiger Rag Columbia
Oscar Peterson Willow Weep For Me Clef
Paul Whiteman Rhapsody In Blue Victor
(with George Gershwin)
Paul Whiteman Aunt Hager's Blues Decca
(with Jack Teagarden)
Pine Top Smith Pine Top's Boogie Brunswick
Professor Longhair Mardi Gras In New Orleans Atlantic
Red Saunders(with Hambone Kids) Hambone Okeh
Rex Stewart Mobile Baby "X" Vault
Originals
Rex Stewart Solid Rock H.R.S.
(with Django Reinhardt)
Sister Rosetta Tharpe Sit Down Decca
Slim Gaillard and Slam Stewart Flat Fleet Floogee Vocalion
Sonny Knight But Officer Aladdin
Sonny Terry Lonesome Train Asch
Sonny Terry Fox Chase Columbia
(with Red on Washboard)
Tadd Dameron Cashbah Capitol
Teddy Wilson Miss Brown To You Columbia
(with Billiy Holliday)
Thelonious Monk Round About Midnight Musicraft
Tiny Grimes Begin The Beguine Atlantic
Tommy Dorsey Lonesome Road Victor
Tommy Dorsey Marie Victor
Tommy Dorsey For You Victor
Una Mae Carlisle He's The Best Little Yankee Joe Davis
(with Ray Nance) To Me
W.C.Handy(with narration) Memphis Blues And Others Audio Archives
Willie Smith Tea For Two Mercury
Wilton Crawley Shadow Of The Blues Okeh
Woody Herman Lemon Drop Capitol
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| > -< Langston Hueges's 100 selections of jazz >-
Those are good selections.
Actually there are dozens and dozens of excellent jazz discographies,
whether oriented toward individual performances or albums (or CDs).
Joachim Berendt, Nat Hentoff, Len Lyons, Mark Gridley, Dean & Mary Tudor,
on and on. [Nat Hentoff's brief appendix to "Jazz Is" zeroes in on some
of the real treasures...]
The best single purchase you can make to explore jazz styles is the
Smithsonian Anthology of Classic Jazz (either edition, the 1st can be
found in stateside used record stores). Between the selections, spanning
Scott Joplin/Bessie Smith/Jelly Roll Morton to Ornette Coleman/John
Coltrane/World Saxophone Quartet, and the commentary from [the late] ace
critic Martin Williams & others, it's an incredible package.
Many jazz texts and history courses (created by writers and universities
with no ties to the Smithsonian Institute) are keyed explicitly to the
Smithsonian box set.
(Other Smithsonian sets -- big band jazz, singers and soloists, etc. --
are not as necessary. On the other hand, DO NOT MISS the Smithsonian box
"The Blues: Anthology of Classic Bluees Singers".)
Did you know that jazz predated blues as a commercial form of music?
(By just a few years.)
Jazz is actually my favorite music, and I do view it as the loftiest peak
of blues-informed musical genres, but I'll save further jazz-related
rambling for FINALY::JAZZ... - Jay
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Through this box set I found the importance of Jay McShann in Kansas
City blues and jazz scene. You can hear his orchestra, his piano, with
Walter Brown, Crown Prince Waterford, and Jimmy Witherspoon as vocalists.
The booklet says Jay McShann/Jimmy Witherspoon collaboration could be
compared to Count Basie/Jimmy Rushing or Pete Johnson/Big Joe Turner.
I've known Big Joe Turner but haven't considered Pete Johnson/Big Joe
Turner works in Kansas City music scene. Now I want to hear Count Basie/
Jimmy Rushing collaboration.(I know Rushing's topics is here but I was
suprised again by the fact Rushing's, Witherspoon's, and Turner's topics
were written by the same guy, Tom Parmenter.)
Albert Ammons is the pianist known as one of boogie woogie trio. Other
two, Pete Johnson and Meade Lux Lewis, are not in this box set. I only
know Pete Johnson as a Joe Turner's collaborator, and don't know much
about Meade Lux Lewis. I'll pursuit them further.
Louis Jordan is not in this set(I believe he was the Decca artist), but
his hit "Buzz Me", played Alber Ammons and Sippie Wallace, is. When I
created a Jordan's topic, 504, my interest of him as a forerunner of R&R
era. But through this set I could understand the music of his age.(Still
he is unique)
- Kazunori
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