New Arrivals and Selected Restocks - spring 2013

“Lord You’re So Good” is the second volume in an ongoing retrospective of Rev. Charlie Jackson (1932-2006), one of the all-time great gospel guitarists.  This collection continues to draw from Rev. Jackson’s extensive archive of private recordings that were usually made live-in-the-church on a portable cassette recorder as he traveled throughout Louisiana and Mississippi from ~1970-2000. 

Whenever there was an opportunity to join in and praise the Lord, Rev. Jackson was eager to be involved. In addition to performing his own songs, he served as a guitar accompanist to a wide range of solo singers, quartets, and bands. He would also sometimes provide a musical background to sermons and testimonies, accenting and punctuating them at key moments. Even when not performing, he could often be found close to the action, shouting encouragement.

The church services at which these collaborations often took place offered structured yet impromptu circumstances where Rev. Jackson needed to be prepared to spontaneously follow and respond to vocalists, congregations, and even members of his own groups. When introducing a singer, Rev. Jackson would sometimes note that he didn’t know what song was forthcoming, and occasionally mention afterward that the selection was a complete surprise, one that they hadn’t done before.  At the same time, since he was a frequent visitor to many churches in Louisiana and Mississippi, Rev. Jackson also developed a rapport with some singers who had favorite songs that they would revisit at many different services. 

Regardless of the situation, Rev. Jackson was an enthusiastic, inspiring, supportive collaborator, who gave the same degree of commitment when an accompanist as he did when he was a leader or soloist.  Heartfelt praise of God, rather than personal glory, was the goal.  And, as his widow Laura Jackson has said, they also had good Holy Ghost times.

"Lord You're So Good" includes several collaborations with these outstanding and as-yet-unidentified singers, as well as what appears to be a previously unreleased solo studio recording, taken from a tattered, once-unplayable 8-track tape.

- First pressing of 550 copies on high quality RTI-pressed vinyl
- Beautiful old school "tip-on" Stoughton sleeves
- Insert includes unpublished photos + notes by Kevin Nutt of CaseQuarter Records / WFMU
- Audio restoration by Ian Nagoski of Canary Records
- Vol. 2 in a series of at least 3
- 50 Miles of Elbow Room is the sole distributor of this LP; retailers please get in touch to deal direct
- CD & digital versions will follow eventually

Praise for “Lord You're So Good: Live Recordings, Vol. 2”:

"The recordings are surprisingly clean for having come from old cassettes and the music is as pure as it gets. Jackson's guitar is an extension of his body - a part of his preaching. He beats the guitar like a drum to drive the song, builds the intensity with his voice and strumming, and then goes for the kill with a vicious, naked guitar tone matched by searing vocals. Like the best gospel evangelists, Jackson is a master at building a performance slowly while making the audience putty in his hands. ... A must for any fan of deep, raw, guitar driven gospel. Rev. Charlie Jackson is as good as it gets." - Brett J. Bonner, Living Blues

"If you like guitar-based Gospel, this is it!  Staple Singers, Rev. Louis Overstreet, shoot, even Jerry McCain's home recordings come to mind.  WILD and WOOLY!...Comes with a color booklet with commentary and notes on songs, great pictures...aaah man, you need it!" - Goner Records

"Wonderous live gospel performances from around Baton Rouge, LA, with heavily distorted electric guitar.  As more & more of Jackson's stuff makes it out into the world, more & more of it turns out to be harrowing, hypnotic, cathartic volcanoes of sound." - Weirdo Records

"Then there's the gospel standard 'Stand By Me,' found on a tattered eight-track, with Jackson in duet with his talking guitar while punching out a raucous vocal that would even have James Brown cowering." - Steve Barker, The Wire

"This second volume of Rev. Charlie Jackson's live-in-the-raw church service recordings brings forth more fiery examples of his infamous electric guitar-driven gospel sermons, filled with smoking, percussive six-string pyrotechnics, passionate vocal performances, and loads of call-and-response work with the crowds and congregations. All of this was recorded live, direct to tape, aside from a lone studio recording thought to be lost, but salvaged and anthologized here. If you enjoyed the magic brought forth on Volume 1, which sat high atop our 2011 Best Of chart, you'll find much to love here, as these cuts equal and possibly even top the ecstatic wonder brought forth on that collection. This is some of the most wild, intense gospel and blues you're likely to hear before shuffling off this mortal coil." - Other Music, from their Best of 2012 list. 

“Represencing is the second installment of the Joshua Abrams sound world introduced on his 2010 Eremite album Natural Information.  Recorded at home in Chicago summer of 2011, Abrams again organizes small group statements around the resonant grooves of the North African ceremonial instrument the guimbri with a unique & broadly assimilative compositional voice.  Sources from traditional musics to minimalism, jazz to krautrock, animate Represencing, but Abrams is always grounded in the solidity of true working musicianship & he proves himself an artist fluent not just in styles but traditions.  Abrams' guest musicians embrace his polyglot approach.  Goaded (the guimbri is partly constructed from animal-hide) by Abrams to focus on a particular facet of their musical vocabularies, Jeff Parker & Emmett Kelly appear as finely contrasting rhythm guitarists, Michael Zerang gets virtuosic on a tambourine & David Boykin devotes himself to altissimo long-tones & circular breathing.  Others perform more structural roles, such as Jason Stein's bass clarinet, or, as with Nicole Mitchell's diaphanous choir of flute parts, function as landscape.  The Moondog-influenced ‘Sungazer’ is an aria for Tomeka Reid's spirited cello.  Throughout the album gong rhythms, synthesizer ‘sub’ bass, harmonium & organ return as unifying coloristic elements.  Abrams likens the overall concept to ‘entering a forest from different directions,’ & cites the AACM, Sandy Bull's duets with Billy Higgins, Don Cherry, Arnold Dreyblatt, Hamza el Din, Popul Vuh, & Pharaoh Sanders as inspirations.

“Eremite is pleased to again present new work by a musician we consider one of the most distinctive of his generation.  Represencing is presented in a heavyweight Stoughton ‘laserdisc’ sleeve with an elaborate screen-printed repro of Lisa Alvarado's cover painting by Alan Sherry/siwa (who also screen-printed the dust sleeves & the record labels).  Mastered by Michael King at Reel Recordings, vinyl cut at Sterling by Steve Fallone & manufactured by RTI. edition of 550 copies, VINYL ONLY.” – Eremite

“Not since the early days of MC5 at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, circa 1968, had there been such an organic melding of sheer metalesque maelstrom and free jazz. These archival recordings from the legendary punk club CBGB capture a moment in time when open-minded musicians from the 'downtown scene' were exploring the possibility of bringing Lou Reed's feedback-infested Metal Machine Music together with Albert Ayler's Love Cry. Dissipated Face guitarist Kurt "Hologram" Ralske and special guest saxophonist Daniel Carter provided that implausible link between punk rock and avant garde jazz on these 1986 live recordings. Fueled by the throbbing rhythms of Steve "X Dream" Popkin and Ben "Face" Munves, who alternated on bass and drums, Ralske's twisted, thrashing power chords and shrieking licks blend with Carter's cathartic alto sax wailing to make the perfect union of disparate worlds.

Ralske would go on to attain a certain level of indie rock fame with Ultra Vivid Scene and subsequently make an impact as a London-based producer-conceptualist-avant-popmeister and visual artist. Carter would become one of the most ubiquitous figures on New York's free jazz scene, recording with William Parker, David S. Ware, Billy Bang, Alan Silva and Matthew Shipp and the cooperative bands Test and Other Dimensions in Music. But for this one moment back in 1986, their paths crossed with bandmates Popkin and Munves, and the results were frighteningly intense.” – Bill Milkowski. Cover artwork by Raymond Pettibon.

Follow up to the Bronze Horse LP, by Zack Hay.  Numbered edition of 321, 180 gram vinyl, Stumptown sleeve. Another restock on this very popular title.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdByFSStRNw

“Moving to the outer fringes of psych-folk, The Dove Azima is a deeply American recording. This solo project of Zack Hay has folk sensibilities much like John Fahey’s and hearkens to roots music from an era before the cultural tributaries of rock, country, and folk had parted ways. American avant-gardists have also crept much more into Hay’s sound since his last, more straightforward album, Bronze Horse. Hay himself had written of his interest in naïve experiences with guitar and he seems to have stumbled upon the steel string’s extended faculties a la Eugene Chadbourne; extended guitar techniques in general are almost never as visceral and hypnotic as they are on this LP, however. Hay’s detuned meditations can sometimes sound as weird as Jandek or sometimes lush and heady like Harry Partch’s microtonalities. Like a decayed American flag you found buried in the woods, The Dove Azima is one of the more brilliant pieces of Americana I’ve ever heard. It begs for many repeated listens and one oughtn’t neglect such a request.” – Nat Roe, WFMU

Very scarce LP by Fire Into Music (Jemeel Moondoc, Steve Swell, William Parker, & Hamid Drake) recorded live in Marfa, TX, on October 8, 2004.  Moondoc and Swell each contribute a tune that gets a side-long going over from the band.  Strong solos from everybody, some deep Parker/Drake grooves, well-done cover art, all bases covered.  Furthermore, you get to hear Parker solo accompanied by a passing train (must've been an outdoor gig), drawing some hollers from the audience.  Only 500 copies of this LP were pressed and most were sold by the band members while on tour.  Had this years ago, very glad to get a few more.  Get it at this very nice price while it can be got. 

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

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.

Lightnin' Hopkins' discography can be tough to navigate, but a good rule of thumb is that his records on Herald are often particularly strong. This recent reissue pairs two of his most raucous sides for the label: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCI4dFciWiE / http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhpEmdQrIN8

John Lee was a blues artist from Alabama whose exceptional, propulsive slide guitar technique suggests Memphis or Mississippi. This recent reissue is of 2 sides he cut for Federal in 1951, which are held in justifiably high esteem.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mq7FknlzsAc

Rev. Louis Overstreet's sole full-length release on Arhoolie is, with very good reason, often considered to be among the great gospel guitar records: powerful, energetic, soulful, intense...it's all there. Lesser-known is that he also privately pressed a couple 45s and another LP on his own Overstreet Records imprint, plus another 45 on Loadstone Records. These are rare records indeed --- in my many years of searching, I've seen each of them offered only once. While the Arhoolie release was recorded live in the church, these records were cut in a studio and give a slightly different twist to Rev. Overstreet's music. He has some backing singers (in this case, Templette's) and piano, which adds a bit of color to the songs while also maintaining the drive. And that guitar could really only be Rev. Overstreet. The song titles give a sense of where he was coming from: Rather Fight than Switch / There is No Future in Gaining the World and Losing Your Soul. Deep and wonderful music.

Understated and underrated solo acoustic blues that goes down real easy from John Tinsley, who came out of southwest Virginia.  His LP on Outlet Records is a longtime favorite around here.  This song isn't found on this album, but gives you an idea of his approach: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp6MfjbUp2Y

Very nice solo recordings on guitar & piano from Henry Townsend (1909-2006), one of the great blues musicians from St. Louis.  This session dates from 1981 and contains 11 original compositions.

My New Year's resolution for 2013 is to buy more raggedy Louisiana music.  Then right on cue this wonderful Arhoolie collection drops: 27 Cajun country rockers, weepers, and waltzes, originally issued via George Khoury's various labels between 1947-57.  Comes bound in a CD-sized hardback book / case, with 88 pages of detailed notes by David Sax + lots of terrific, previously unpublished photos.  I am a total sucker for this sound. And Nathan Abshire's "Boora Rhumba"?  Good night!  http://www.npmusic.org/Abshire_BooraRhumba.mp3

"Compilation of early gospel recordings spanning from 1927 - 1955.  Sanctified blues by the Two Gospel Keys, Mother McCollum, Blind Roosevelt Graves, Lottie Bracey, Sister O.M Terrell, & Rev. IB Ware. Beautiful slow country gospel by the Anglin Brothers & Delmore Brothers. Intense vocal performances by the New Gospel Keys, Elder Richard Bryant, the Silent Grove Baptist Church Congregation, & much more!  All killer no filler compilation that rocks hard & gets deep & sad too.  Old school "tip on" cover.  Limited one-time pressing of 1200." - Mississippi.  [just want to note that the great Bozie Sturdivant is heard singing lead with the Silent Grove Baptist Church, rather than with Elder Richard Bryant as stated on the sleeve]

"Based on four years of fieldwork throughout the state, the Florida Folklife Program released the two-album, 27-track 2LP 'Drop on Down in Florida' in 1981. The album was intended to highlight African American music traditions for a statewide public audience, blues and sacred traditions in particular. In recent years, the Folklife Program sought the opportunity to produce an expanded reissue of the album that would include previously unissued fieldwork recordings and photos. Drawing upon extensive fieldwork materials now housed in the State Archives of Florida, the expanded reissue includes nearly 80 previously-unreleased minutes of music on 28 new tracks, plus numerous photos documenting the musicians and communities that perpetuated these traditions.

"Notable among the previously unreleased tracks are additional musical selections and personal narratives from one-string musician Moses Williams, four-shape-note Sacred Harp singing from an African American community in the Florida Panhandle, and recordings from the Richard Williams family in the blues and gospel-blues traditions. The reissue also includes new track notes from respected music scholars David Evans and Doris J. Dyen; reflective essays from past and present folklorists with the Florida Folklife Program, including Peggy A. Bulger, Dwight DeVane, Doris J. Dyen, and Blaine Waide; and an extensive essay on African American one-string instrument traditions by David Evans.

"The 2012 edition of 'Drop on Down in Florida: Field Recordings of African American Traditional Music 1977–1980' highlights the significance of the previously unreleased material. In addition, it calls attention to the importance of the original LP and makes its contents available once again, this time to a larger audience." - Dust-to-Digital.  One of my all-time favorites --- so great to see it reissued / expanded / done right.

Original vinyl pressing of this seminal, elusive title now just reissued in expanded form by Dust-to-Digital (see above).  Heavy gatefold sleeve, thick booklet, the works.  A personal favorite.  Sealed copies, the sleeves show minor storage wear at the corners.  Restocked and moving fast. 

All-time killer gospel comp finally reissued. "A collection of spiritual and gospel songs performed in informal non-church settings between 1965 and 1973. Most are guitar-accompanied and performed by active or former blues artists. 'Most records of black religious music contain some form of gospel singing or congregational singing recorded at a church service. This album, though, tries to present a broader range of performance styles and contexts with the hope of showing the important role that religious music plays in the Southern black communities and in the daily lives of individuals.' --David Evans, from the liner notes. LP, 16-page 11"x11" booklet, tip-on sleeve, 16 photographs." - Dust-to-Digital. Hear Robert "Nighthawk" Johnson: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiW3Loz2aw0, Blind Pete Burrell: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXG-yVEo1rc, Eddie Lee Jones: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTE_3TT37ZE, and oh man Pattie Rosemon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvyvqIqhwsw

After working as a sideman in the early-mid 1950s with Rosco Gordon, Clifton Chenier, Lonesome Sundown, and others, Phillip Walker didn't hold anything back when he cut his first single for Elko in 1959, inspiringly raw, blown-out, and still catchy music. Recent reissue. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41jdcsV9iS4

"J.W. Warren was born in 1921 in Enterprise, AL. In a family of eleven children, he was the only one to take up music, starting at the age of fifteen or sixteen. He entered the military as a young adult and served for 14 years. After serving in the military, he started farming and began to play barbeques at house parties in southeast Alabama.

"'I came up the hard way. I never had a break whatsoever. In other words, I never had a break in my life. I was born in the wrong part of the world and then again I didn't go any place else. My daddy gave me a good raising and I know how to treat people, how to be respectful to folks. I like that. But I had too much trouble in my life. I didn't do anything with the talent I had because I didn't have much education. When you got a back break like I had you doubt yourself, you know it's rough man!' J.W. Warren died of a heart attack at his home in Ariton, AL, on the afternoon of August 5, 2003." - George Mitchell.  Mitchell recorded these tracks in 1981 and it seems many of them were subsequently issued by Fat Possum as Life Ain't Worth Living.

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, and 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.  I've also got a couple copies that show a bit more wear such as staining to the outer edges of the pages that are $14.  Please specify your preference.

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 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 more significant 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.  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)”

Reissue of 2 of Bukka White's great sides recorded for Okeh in 1940, with Washboard Sam joining in as an accompanist.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzX-cYGek24

Double-barrelled electric blues 45 from Johnny Young c.1965, with a hot band that includes Otis Spann on piano and James Cotton on harmonica.  Hear both sides: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aU3-LL8I7o and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66aKgVFmysQ .