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05 Aug 04 - 11:34 AM (#1240687) Subject: Waiting For The Reissue From: Jerry Rasmussen The first CD I ever bought was a reissue of recordings done by Charlie Christian. I was so excited when I saw it that I bought it, even though I didn't yet own a CD player. As the years have gone by, I find that most of the CDs that I buy are reissues of older recordings. Being a folkie, I suppose that's not surprising. Even more exciting to me than the Charlie Christian reissues (which were and are VERY exciting) was when they reissued Old Time Music At Clarence Ashley's, Volumes I and II. Equally exciting was when they reissued The Anthology Of American Folk Music and The Carter Family Recordings. Many companies have participated in reissuing the great old folk, blues and early country music classics, and there's a whole "Oldies" industry for early rock and roll, rhythm and blues and soul. Even Jazz has done a pretty good job, and classical music is basically golden oldies with a bow tie. Recently, I've finally found some individual recordings I've been looking for on CD for years... Don't Go To Strangers by the Orioles, which until recently was only reissued on a ten CD set. I was excited when they reissued a favorite album of mine by Sal Salvador, jazz guitarist with Stan Kenton, among others. I've been waiting for a reissue of the Arhoolie album of Mississippi John Hurt, which I have on record and far surpasses all the available reissues of recent years, in my opinion. After I post this, I think I'll check CD Universe and Amazon.com to see if they've reissued the Arhoolie album since the last time I checked. Recordings that still have not been reissued that I'd love to get are Oh Happy Day (not the gospel song) by Don Howard, and Junco Partner by James Wayne. I'm surprised in a way that they haven't reissued the Don Howard song, because it was a very pivotal recording in the history of popular music. Howard was a minimally passable guitarist and recorded the song he wrote in a Record Your Own Voice for $1.00 booth, and managed to get it released. It became a big hit, despite the poor recording quality (even the speed wasn't steady on the original recording.) I remember how much my parents and older sister hated the recording (which made me love it even more.) Tennessee Ernie Ford and others recorded covers of the song, but Howard's version was still a big hit. It opened my eyes because it made me realize that you could make music, even if you weren't particularly good, and had no musical training. I even gave a speech in college on the importance of the record in opening doors for other untrained musicians. I still have my 45 and it's in pretty good condition, but if I ever find a CD collecion with it on, I'll buy it, even if every other track is by Pat Boone. So, what recordings were you really excited about when they reissued them? Any material you're still anxiously waiting for, to be reissued? Jerry |
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05 Aug 04 - 01:51 PM (#1240724) Subject: RE: Waiting For The Reissue From: Wesley S Fred Neil's recordings on Capitol - I snatched those the first time I saw them. Now I hope they release his Electra recordings. Those were some of my favorites. I wouldn't mind finging the Moondog recordings from Colombia either. |
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05 Aug 04 - 03:29 PM (#1240805) Subject: RE: Waiting For The Reissue From: Jerry Rasmussen Good choice, Wesley. I had the pleasure of hearing Fred Neil many, many times in the early 60's. He sang at the Hoots at the Gaslight Cafe. At that time, he'd recorded a couple of singles, which impressed the Hell out of me, as I'd never met anyone who'd done a record. He was a very straightforward, modest man and friendly to everyone. Even me what had never cut a record.. Jerry |
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05 Aug 04 - 04:34 PM (#1240854) Subject: RE: Waiting For The Reissue From: GUEST,Hootenanny If you are looking for a re-issue on Arhoolie why don't you check the Arhoolie web site ? or even contact Chris Strachwitz at Arhoolie and ask if he has plans to re-issue the album on CD. Buy direct from the label and support the people that bring you this great stuff because they are enthusiasts too and we owe them a great deal. Hoot |
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05 Aug 04 - 07:41 PM (#1240944) Subject: RE: Waiting For The Reissue From: Alonzo M. Zilch (inactive) Fred Neil's Elektra albums, including the duet album with Vince Martin, have been on CD for years. They were out before Collector's Choice reissued the Capitol albums. |
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05 Aug 04 - 09:46 PM (#1241068) Subject: RE: Waiting For The Reissue From: Jerry Rasmussen Guest/Hootenanny: Thanks for the suggestion. It encouraged me to go out in the garage and find the Mississippi John Hurt album. I remembered incorrectly... it was released on the Piedmont label (now defunct.)The title of the album is Mississippi John Hurt: Folk Songs and Blues. I checked the Arhoolie website, just out of curiosity, and of course, it wasn't there. Then, I went back and browsed through all the listings on amazon.com and became curious about an album on Rounder titled Avalon Blues. My curiosity was aroused because it was a reissue of a recording done in 1963... the same year as the Piedmont recording. There was no indication that it was a reissue of the album I've been looking for, but the song titles were in the identical order, and when I listened to a snippet of Candy Man, there it was... one of my favorite lines ion the song.. "Big fish, little fish, swimming in the ater. Come back here man, and give me my quarter. Yep... it's my beloved album with a different title reissued on a different label. And I just ordered a copy. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!. Anybody know where I can get Don Howard's Oh Happy Day on CD? (Oh yeah, another great find in recent years was a CD (no longer in print) of a great album of Scrapper Blackweel and LeRoy Carr. Jerry |
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06 Aug 04 - 03:23 PM (#1241443) Subject: RE: Waiting For The Reissue From: RoyH (Burl) Jerry, Did that record start off something like 'The sun is shining, O happy day'.....? If so I remember it. It was a hit over here also, despite being marketed as 'The worst record ever made'. The music biz professionals were referring to the technical quality, which I agree was not good. But the general public, including me, recognised a sort of naive honesty about it that hit you in the gut. So they went out and bought lots of copies. Whatever happened to Don Howard I wonder. Did he release anything else? Regards, Burl. |