BluesTone 88-Note Blues Roll New Releases - Spring 2000
Following are the latest BLUES additions to the BluesTone roll catalog. There is an equally big list of the latest RAGTIME additions if you like. Don't miss the complete lists of all 88-note ragtime & blues rolls available from previous catalogs, elsewhere on this web site.
137341 It's Right Here For You played by Eubie Blake
$11
(originally issued on Mel-O-Dee S2948 / Feb. 1921) - lyric sheet
included with roll
137342 War Bride Blues played by Eubie Blake $11
(originally issued on Mel-O-Dee S2961 / March 1921) - lyric sheet
included with roll
Here are a couple of neat Eubie Blake rolls. It's Right Here For You (If You Don't Get It, 'Tain't No Fault Of Mine) is a 1920 tune by the famous black composer Perry Bradford (what a great subtitle!). War Bride Blues is a 1917 tune about the sad wife of a man going off to fight in World War I. Both tunes are reprinted in Richard Riley's great "Early Blues Vol. 1" folio, and both feature Eubie's full, orchestral arrangements and nice solo sections. This War Bride Blues roll has never been reissued before!
137343 Black Eyed Blues played by James Blythe $11
(originally issued on Columbia 450 / Nov. 1922) - lyric sheet
included with roll (but no color label)
137344 Black Snake Blues played by "Lew"
Jackson $11
(originally issued on Mel-O-Art 1052 / ca. May 1926) - lyric sheet
included with roll
Black Eyed Blues is one of Blythe's earlier rolls (©1922). In this case the black eyes belong to a beautiful señorita who occupies the mind of the composer. You'll hear a nicely swinging tune with a touch of Spanish Tinge, as Jelly Roll Morton might say. This is the first time this Blythe roll has ever been recut!
Black Snake Blues is one of the hottest rolls on this list!! It
has a great, gutbucket feel to it and a very interesting story behind it.
This is a tune by Victoria Spivey, which she recorded in 1926. Blind Lemon
Jefferson then recorded the same tune as his own Black Snake Moan, and got
Victoria mad at him! It is interesting how different this roll sounds from
Victoria's recording, and yet how effective this rendition is. If
you like low-down blues then this will probably be one of your favorites.
It comes highly recommended!
137345 Look What A Fool I've Been played by James P. Johnson
$11
(originally issued on QRS 1831 / Feb. 1922) - lyric sheet included
with roll
137346 If You've Never Been Vamped By A Brownskin,
You've Never Been Vamped At All played by James P. Johnson $11
(originally issued on QRS 1644 / September 1921) - lyric sheet
included with roll
137347 Make Me A Pallet On The Floor played by James
P. Johnson $11
(originally issued on QRS 3626 / September 1926) - lyric sheet
included with roll
Here are three new James P. Johnson recuts, all great examples of James P.'s great roll playing (sorry, bad pun). (If You Don't Believe I Love You) Look What A Fool I've Been is a Clarence Williams tune from 1921. This roll features two nice 12-bar solo verses, a hot double-time coda, lots of blue notes, and 3 choruses with different arrangements each time.
If You've Never Been Vamped By A Brownskin is an outstanding arrangement of the Sissle & Blake tune, which starts with a nice, easy gait then switches to a hot pace after the 1st chorus for the duration of the roll. We are treated to 4 different choruses of excellent James P. Johnson stylings.
Make Me A Pallet (a.k.a. Atlanta Blues) is an old New Orleans tune by W. C. Handy. This is a later roll than the other two, and James P. plays it at a lovely relaxed tempo and smoother, more sophisticated, jazzy style than the earlier ones. Once again every chorus features a different piano arrangement.
All three of these have been unavailable for many years now, and are
well worth picking up and enjoying.
137348 Decatur Street Blues played by J. Russel Robinson
$11
(originally issued on QRS 1913 / June 1922) - lyric sheet included
with roll
137349 Never Let No One Man Worry Your Mind played by J.
Russel Robinson $11
(originally issued on QRS 1179 / Sept. 1920) copy of original
sheet music included with roll
Decatur Street Blues is another New Orleans tune (see also Make Me A Pallet on the Floor, #137347) with lively, upbeat lyrics and melody written by Clarence Williams. All 3 choruses feature different piano arrangements, and all are nicely done. There's also a neat (but short) coda at the end.
Never Let No One Man Worry Your Mind has two tasty 16-bar solo
verses and a neat, swaying "shimmie" feel all the way through.
Like many of his best rolls, these J. Russel Robinson rolls have a special
feel to them, which is hard to describe. There is a lot of variety in the
tricks he uses to fill in the melody; lots of breaks where just a few notes
are played; lots of blue notes and interesting filigrees.
137350 Muscle Shoals Blues played by Chet Gordon $11
(originally issued on US Music 40258 / March 1921) lyric
sheet included with roll
137351 Caldonia Blues played by the composer George
W. Thomas $11
(originally issued on US Music 42255 / October 1924) lyric
sheet included with roll
137352 Washwoman Blues played by the composer George
W. Thomas $11
(originally issued on US Music 42563 / January 1925) lyric
sheet included with roll
137353 New Orleans Hop Scop Blues (©1916-1923 George
W. Thomas) / arranged roll $11
(originally issued on Kimball 50186) lyric sheet included
with roll
Here comes my George W. Thomas feature! Thomas was an important composer out of Texas who wrote some great blues standards. Muscle Shoals Blues is probably his best-known tune, and is played here in a neat, driving style by Chet Gordon. It has a much different feel than the James P. Johnson roll of this tune, with more of a Southern or rural style as opposed to James P.'s New York style.
Caldonia Blues has a primitive feel as well, as played here by the composer. George often inserts 2 extra bars after the first 8 of this otherwise 12-bar blues form, giving it a loose and free feel. He also uses some walking bass and an up-in-the-air ending like Jimmy Blythe. This is good blues shoutin' material!
Washwoman Blues is more of a strutting blues with some nice walking bass. This rare original roll has never been recut before. Thomas wrote this right around the same time (©1924) as several of his greatest pieces: Underworld Blues, Suitcase Blues, and Hersal Blues.
New Orleans Hop Scop Blues is one of George's earlier pieces
(before moving to Chicago) but was revised and updated several times up
to1923. The "Hop Scop" is a dance they do down there "until
daylight". I have also heard this tune sound great on a Wurlitzer PianOrchestra.
The walking bass during the choruses is nice, and it has the overall feel
of some of W. C. Handy's fine, early blues.
137354 Squealin' Pig Blues played by Pete Wendling $11
(originally issued on QRS 916 / November 1919) lyric sheet
included with roll
137355 Hula Blues played by Pete Wendling $11
(originally issued on QRS 1232 / November 1920) lyric sheet
included with roll
What's a roll list without a few Pete Wendling rolls?!! Squealin' Pig Blues is so hot you won't believe it. It's another tune about the "jass" bands in New Orleans (like New Orleans Hop Scop Blues, above) and features two terrific 16-bar solo verses in the middle. Pete has a way of setting up a rollicking "shimmie" beat, splashing a few hot breaks here and there, and strutting like nobody's business. You're gonna love it!
Hula Blues is one of those smoother, swaying, more relaxed Wendling
blues (you never would have guessed from the title, eh?). It also features
two fine 16-bar solo verses in the middle, and hot breaks in just the right
spots. You will also enjoy the different piano arrangements in each chorus.
Great stuff...
Peruse the latest RAGTIME additions by clicking here.
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