Thursday, December 31, 2009

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Yulesville - Various Artists Snowballs & Highballs From Santa's Cooler!



Yulesville is coolsville -16 tracks of hipster music that will have you bopping...
Tracks include:
1. Pearl Bailey-
Jingle Bells Cha Cha Cha
2. Dean Martin- Winter Wonderland
3. Julie London-
I'd Like You For Christmas
4. Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66- The Christmas Song
5. Lionel Hampton- White Christmas
6. Leon Redbone- That Old Christmas Moon
7. Marlowe Morris- Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree
8. Claudine Longet- Snow
9. The Four Piece Suit- Let It Snow!/Santa Suit
10. Randy Van Horne Singers- It Happened In Sun Valley
11. Louis Prima with Keely Smith- Shake Hands With Santa Claus
12. Duke Ellington- Sugar Rum Cherry(Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy)
13. Holly Cole- Christmas Trees And Holly Leaves
14. Ann-Margret & Al Hirt- Baby,It's Cold Outside
15. Booker T. & The MG's- We Wish You A Merry Christmas
16. Tiny Tim- I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
It's fun stuff! Enjoy!

Yulesville

A John Waters Christmas - Various Artists


Here at The Wisconsin Music Blog we love John Waters anything. He makes the best music compilations,and has the best music in his movies.
Here's a favorite disc this time of year!
1. Fat Daddy- Fat Daddy
2. Tiny Tim- Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
3. Stormy Weather- Christmas Time Is Coming (A Street Carol)
4. Little Cindy- Happy Birthday Jesus(A Child's Prayer)
5. Rudolph And Gang- Here Comes Fatty Claus
6. Roger Christian- Little Mary Christmas
7. Big Dee Irwin & Little Eva- I Wish You A Merry Christmas
8. Jimmy Donley- Santa! Don't Pass Me By
9. Alvin & The Chipmunks- Sleigh Ride
10. Rita Faye Wilson- Sleigh Bells,Reindeer & Snow
11. The Cocktails- First Snowfall
12. AKIM & The Teddy Vann Production Company- Santa Claus Is A Black Man
Strange and fun! All at 320 KB/s with artwork. Link below elves.

A John Waters Christmas

Christmas With The Chipmunks - Happy Holidays To All!

The Wisconsin Music Blog & Stephanie Wish you a
Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays with music to share...
Thanks for coming to this blogging site!
Here's a fun disc-The Chipmunks-Christmas With The Chipmunks
Tracks:
1. Here Comes Santa Claus
2. Up On The House Top
3. Silver Bells
4. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
5. Jingle Bells
6. Over The River And Through The Woods
7. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
8. It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas
9. Frosty The Snowman
10. White Christmas
11. The Chipmunk Song
12. We Wish You A Merry Christmas
Complete with artwork, everything @ 320 KB/s
Link below Alvin! Alvin!!! Alvin!!!!!!!

Chipmunks

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Charley Patton Complete Recordings 1929-1934 Paramount Records Discs C,D & E (3 Discs)


















This will have to be a short and sweet blog post
and I'll leave it at that,I think the music pretty
much speaks for itself.

Here's the rest of the series of Charley Patton,
from the set on JSP Records. 92 sides of the
rarest blues music on Paramount Records.
And this is all from 1929-1934.
Remastered from The Masked Marvel!
Comes complete with artwork scans, and exact dates of when the music was recorded.It's not for everyone,this older blues music, but it's very cool stuff!
Enjoy!




Charley Patton Disc 3

Charley Patton Disc 4

Charley Patton Disc 5

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Computer Issues #52

I'd be posting more,but I have computer issues.See me in the photo,I am trying to fix my computer,I don't even have a monitor! Boy does this suck! Gee,time to upgrade. I think my power supply is slowly dying. So that's why I have not been able to post anything....Well, please try to understand,I'll post the rest of the Charley Patton box very soon. Sorry. Maybe Santa will bring me another computer.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Paramount Records Complete Recordings 1929-1934 Disc A & B June 1929 & October 1929.




















This music was recorded exactly 80 years
ago
for the Paramount Records Company
based in
Grafton and Port Washington,
Wisconsin.There's several of these box
sets floating around,of Charley Patton,
but I think this one sounds the best,
basically for keeping the original sound,
and not stripping away the music,
because the music comes off of old
original 78's this is all they can work
from,since this music was never recorded
on tape or the "newer" technology.
They didn't record and think this music was going to
be around all these years later,and technology wasn't as
caught up with music,as it is now.So keep that in mind
when you listen to this,some of it is rough, but some
of it is very contemporary and listenable.
Charley is "The Acknowledged King of The Delta Blues".
The originator,the father of blues,he made music that
was his own, and impossible to compare with anyone
else of the time.Charley blends all of the music near him
to form the blues tradition: local traditional
songs of the field workers,African American tradition,
white country music,and music from the
currently recorded 78's of the time. He blends these styles
to form a music made,and then handed down to others:
his near contemporaries Robert Johnson,Honey Boy Edwards,
Johnny Shines,and most likely every beginning black blues
musician knew of his work,and blended it into their own
music.You can argue this with me,but this music is
the essence of Mississippi Delta blues.Patton's lyrics are
not always easy to understand, the voice is gruff,
the phrasing eccentric, and heard through a Mississippi
accent that came about 100 years ago. His slide guitar
work was either played in his lap like a Hawaiian guitar,
and he struck the frets with a pocket knife or a conventional
brass pipe for a bottleneck. He also beat his guitar like a
drum and stomped his feet to reinforce a certain beat.
One of the first to record like this. Charley was 5'5"
tall and a spartan 135 pounds, but sounded like a man
twice his size! His gruff voice directly inspired the blues giant
Howlin' Wolf, and his guitar playing directly inspired
John Lee Hooker. Charley was also important for hooking
up other musicians to be recorded,he brought forward
fellow players Willie Brown and Son House.Charley became
within a year the most successful blues artist,thanks to
Paramount for having open ears and marketing his music.
Charley didn't live long,and his final session was done
only a couple of months before his death in 1934.These discs
I present to you, fine music fan,are thee best sounding
Paramount Records I could find.When the company went out
of business,the metal masters were sold off as scrap,some of it
was used to line chicken coops. All that's left are the original
78's rumored to have been made out of inferior pressing
material commonly used to make bowling balls (at the time)
and all of them are scratched and heavily played,making all
attempts at sound retrieval by the current noise reduction
processing a tall order indeed.

I think this label JSP did a fine fine job of making this excellent
music listenable,and I haven't been able to stop playing this
since I got it... I'm hooked on it,trying to follow his
singing,his lyrics and how it inspired countless other musicians.
Here he is, haunting my mind Disc 1 and 2 with all of the
artwork,track listings(and even with the exact Paramount
matrix numbers) When and where recorded,and even other
musicians along with Charley who recorded those same days.
(Louise Johnson,Willie Brown,a very young Son House,
The Delta Big Four,Bertha Lee,Edith North Johnson,
and Henry Sims) This is a 5 disc set,and I start you off
with discs 1 & 2. Listen to it and tell me what you think.
Charley Patton Disc 1

Charley Patton Disc 2

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Paramount Blues - Hometown Skiffle Various Artists Grafton & Port Washington Blues & Jazz Artists




















More Paramount Blues and Jazz artists,that recorded
in Wisconsin or appeared on the Black Swan label soon
to be known widely as Paramount Records.
This music is along the same lines as the earlier posted
4 disc set of Paramount blues. Here's yet another
discovered gem of ancient blues & jazz music:
1. Blind Roosevelt Graves - Bustin' The Jug (1929)
2. Blind Roosevelt Graves - Crazy About My Baby (1929)
3. Buddy Boy Hawkins - A Rag Blues (1929)
4. Buddy Boy Hawkins - Snatch It And Grab It (1929)
5. Hometown Skiffle - Part 1 (1929)
6. Hometown Skiffle - Part 2 (1929)
7. Beale Street Sheiks - Mr. Crump Don't Like It (1927)
8. Beale Street Sheiks - Jazzin The Blues (1927)
9. Tampa Red - Through Train Blues (1928)
10. Charlie Spand - Fetch Your Water (1929)
11. Charlie Spand - Soon This Morning (1929)
12. Dad Nelson - Cleveland Stomp (1927)
13. Blind Blake - He's In The Jailhouse Now (1927)
14. Blind Blake - Blind Arthur's Breakdown (1929)
15. Johnnie Head - Fare Thee Blues Part 1 (1928)
16. Papa Charlie Jackson - Forgotten Blues (1929)
17. Blind Blake - Southern Rag (1927)
18. Blind Roosevelt Graves - Guitar Boogie (1929)
19. Blind Roosevelt Graves - New York Blues (1929)
20. Will Ezell - Just Can't Stay Here (1929)


Hometown Skiffle

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Badger A Go-Go-Various Artists

Wow, if you don't have this,you gotta have it!
This compilation features one track per band of largely Milwaukee bands. Or let's just say,every band was much loved in Milwaukee, and played Milwaukee so regularly they were thought of as from there.This album came out in 1989,and released on Atomic Records,which was a pretty cool indie store,that has since closed.
A store,that the community of musicians,and music fans are already missing. You gotta have more stores selling music that doesn't have a place at the big blockbuster stores. They don't care about small bands that are local,but they sure want your local money! Well, I'm sorry to go off on that tangent. The music community is always measured by it's support by a record store that promotes,releases local talented musicians' works,or at least includes them on their racks. And that's what is important to say here. So this album was that grouping of people who were the best at this time period. Sure there could have been follow ups to this album featuring more talent,but in 1989,this was the sample of the best musicians working regularly. Some are still putting out records and playing locally. Some just have new band names. Glad they kept at it,and enjoy making music. Because I still buy their records, and at times, still manage to see them live.Watching the people come and go on this site,if you're from Milwaukee, and Wisconsin,please support the local bands...so see 'em,take your kids,so they can experience live music for the first time. Don't forget the earplugs. A lot of these tracks are exclusive to this compilation!

1. Liquid Pink- Danelectro 2. Plasticland- I'm Gonna Emphasize 3. The Squares- Downer Street
4. The Dummy Club- The American Way 5. Boy Dirt Car- K.I.D. 6. Paul Cebar & The Milwaukeeans- Can't Sit Down 7. Die Kreuzen - Seasons Of Wither (Original Version)
8. Couch Flambeau- Helvetica 9. The Blowtorch- Greivance In F#M
10. Cherry Cake- Mrs. Wilson 11. F/i - Stop At The Left,Look To The Right
12. The Appliances SFB- Play With Pain
13. Brian Ritchie & The Ghostly Trio- Blood In The Saddle 14. E-I-E-I-O-Gonna Get Gone
15. Voot Warnings- My Mother Still Likes Me

Badger A Go-Go

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Boris The Sprinkler - End Of The Century


Imitation is the most sincerest form of flattery,when it comes from The Reverend Norb and Boris The Sprinkler,they're from Green Bay Wisconsin, and make some of the best pop punk music around these parts. Geek powered writer Norb used to write regularly for Maximum Rock And Roll, and now currently writes a column for Razorcake. Obsessed with punk rock and pop culture,these guys are always entertaining, and this record is a tribute to The Ramones.
Here's the tracks,give it a spin.

1. Rock n' Roll Radio 2. I'm Affected 3. Danny Says 4. Chinese Rocks 5. The Return of Jackie & Judy 6.Let's Go 7. Baby I Love You 8. I Can't Make It On Time 9. This Ain't Hanava 10. Rock 'n' Roll High School 11. All The Way 12. High Risk Insurance. Not one song sucks either!

Boris The Sprinkler

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Couch Potatoes - Curiosity Rocks Cassette 1982


Couch Potatoes became Couch Flambeau.
And they're from Milwaukee, and
still do an occasional show here
and there. They're wildly entertaining,
and funny. The songs are catchy,clever
and the guitar playing usually borders
on punk rock meets Eddie Van Halen.
Jay will like that one. Well, he can
play! Yeah this is weird,me posting a
cassette,but that how this originally
came out, and this is from 1982.
And that's how a lot of local bands just starting
out put out their first releases in the 1980's.
They are
one of a kind,and this cassette is warts and all, so don't
expect perfection.

The first track has obvious tape issues,but then the
noise goes away,pretty quick.(I must have played this
thing 100 times back in the day)
The rest of the tape
sounds fine.
I was just warning you, dear listener.
It was recorded a long time ago, 27 years to be exact,
so deal with it. I think they've got "something", and I don't
mean
a disease or anything like that, I think they're talented,
and original.
I posted some other things from them, but this is
vintage
Couch Flambeau. I think we all thought that they
were going to get signed to a major label and they would
never talk to us little people anymore, but it didn't happen.
It's a shame they didn't get signed, because they are/were
good!
Couch Potatoes Curiosity Rocks

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Calling all musicians from Wisconsin!




















If you were in a band and put out singles and records from
the late 50's to about 1970, I really want to talk to you!
I'm doing an article about early rock music from Wisconsin
and hope it is published in a magazine. Please contact me
via garage66@live.com ,tell me what band you were in, and
lets take a trip back in time. I'm really looking for bands that
might have recorded on Wright Records, Cuca & Sara Records,
Target Records, Tee Pee Records, Trend, Feature,Coulee,
Rampro, Dynamic Sound, Big Sound, Pentagon, and any other
smaller labels, and no matter what I still want to talk to you,
because it's hard to get a feel for the times back then, without
talking to someone from that time. I also want to talk to you,
if you were a fan that went to a lot of shows, and have photos,
records memorabilia, and anything to color this article. It would
be wonderful to talk to people that went to The Scene Club in
Milwaukee,and tell me about the place,the bands,and anything
else you'd like to talk about.
Please write me soon.






Friday, August 21, 2009

Highs In The Mid-60's Volume 15 Wisconsin Part 2























Highs In The Mid-60's Volume 15 Wisconsin Part Two has fifteen
more tracks of Wonderful Wisconsin sounds.. This particular
volume came out in the mid 1980's, and was part of a series
of twenty-eight volumes of music from the early to mid sixties.
Some of the other volumes concentrate on other states, for example:
there's three volumes for California (the largest music concentration,
they also had more radio stations dedicated to music)
a couple for Michigan, one volume for Colorado,
2 or 3 volumes for the Northwest (a real hotbed of music)
there's one focusing on Illinois bands, but surprisingly two for
Wisconsin (Go Wisconsin bands!). And this is like many of
the other volumes, it's focuses on the lesser known bands
that put out singles on small labels. Featured here are The Baroques
with "Nothing Left To Do But Cry",The Shaprels "A Fool For Your Lies"
are friendly easy to like pop music, then you get to
Gord's Horde with a song called "I Don't Care" and
all hell breaks loose. A frenzy of keyboards and drums, recorded
somewhere in outer space, I believe. A song about a cheating girl,
and basically he sulks and doesn't care what she does.
The main theme of most teen/garage angst rock and roll songs.
The Challengers are my favorite,perhaps it's the strange backwards
sounding recording sound of "The Challengers Take A Ride On
The Jefferson Airplane" the actual title is an ode to the
San Francisco band,and is a playful slice of psychedelia.
And I always say, guys, please,more cowbell.
The Family with "I Wanna Do It" is a dirty little song, filled
with innuendos,repeating "I wanna do it with you", "I wanna do
it to you" easily the most basic,simple and unfortunately also a
forgettable track.
The Cannons with "Days Go By" attempt to harmonize with a
pop song that's somewhat forgettable. It does not stick to
you as soon as it's over with. But that's okay.
The Wanderer's Rest go full bore with the folk rock song
"You'll Forget",which has a fabulous Stonesy feel of
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction guitar hook in it. Fits right in
1965,right at the top of the heap with other folk rockers The Turtles.
The Mustard Men who are also a favorite of
mine with "I Lost My Baby", do a song with an R & B feel, and
terrific call and response towards the end. They must have been
the real deal live.They have a British Invasion Animals sound.
The Impalas, do a fabulous snarling punk blues rock version
of "Spoonful". Just listen to the vocals, these guys mean it!
Yes there's talent in Wisconsin, in the 1960's and these bands
prove it. Some of the music is primitive,but these are mostly teens
making music,by themselves.They recorded it, and pressed these
records, with little or no help from anyone giving them professional
direction. Maybe that's why I like this, it's raw talent, and playing.
The Spacemen with "Same Old Grind" is a direct copy of
"I'm A Man", but you can't complain, since that's a great song to cover.
It fits right there in garage rock heaven like the songs "Louie Louie"
and "Gloria". Who can resist the simplicity and stomp value?
I can't. The rest of the album is nothing really earth shaking or new.
The Mid-Knighters perhaps are the odd ones,doing a sort of
oldy moldie styled "Charlena", it has a rockabilly and country feel.
The band The Rehabilitation Cruise,has quite possibly the strangest
name,and I'm still not sure what they are singing about in "Mini Skirts".
I can't tell whether they like mini skirts or not. I keep listening to
it and wearing a groove into it, but still...I don't get it.
It will perhaps, remain the biggest mystery known to mankind.
The Fugitives "Come On And Clap" sounds like a merging of several
classic songs, with maybe a little bit of a Little Honda /Beach Boys
crescendo. What could be better? It blends the cars,girls,California,
the sunshine happy clap along theme. Only it's in Wisconsin.
Sample this wonderful album below for your own bad self.
And stay tuned for more Wisconsin music. Wait until I drag out
all of the polka records, I know you're excited.
Highs Volume 15










Friday, July 31, 2009

Highs In The Mid-60's Volume 10 Wisconsin































This is the album you must own, along with the other volumes from AIP Records,this is Highs In The Mid-60's Volume 10.
This compilation contains
some rare records from Wisconsin bands,that are next to impossible to find,so this series was created. Even copies of this compilation album seldom turn up anymore,they were released in the late 1970's early 80's. And at some point they made 28 volumes of these concentrating on each state.There's two for Wisconsin,saying yeah,there's enough cool music here to compile. Actually there could be at least 5 volumes. There's two volumes of Highs In The Mid 60's for Michigan 60's rock, several for California,a couple for the Northwest, and so on and so forth,it would be in your best interest to search them all out,if you love 60's garage music. Because recently,in the last 10 years or so, garage music singles have shot up in value, and this might be the only way people can hear this music. But never fear,dear garage music fans, there's a lot of wonderful labels, putting out this music on small labels, and it would be worth the search and time to seek them out. It's not only valuable to collect these, but the music is really fun,and addictive.You will thank me, when you hear this,well, at least I hope so. One other thing of note,is most of these singles came out on tiny labels,like Cuca,Tee Pee,Dynamic,Nite Owl, and so, this might be the only way you can hear them again. Many of these singles were pressed in limited quantity. Featured on this particular compilation is the Shag or Shags,known by both names, and their biggest single for Capitol records "Stop & Listen", from 1967,which I never get tired of listening to,since there's nothing quite like it for fuzz guitar, and if that wasn't enough,there's the Noblemen "Dirty Robber",from 1960, which is a fabulous piece of surf/frat rock/early garage rock hybrid that's also infectious.
Another song of note, is The Wanderer's Rest "The Boat That I Row" (from 1967) is a fine slice of pop garage rock,that also will stick to the roof of your brain, along with Lord Beverly Moss and The Mossmen "Please Please What's the Matter", doing the best R & B singing and playing that you ever heard, along with the wackiest guitar freakout at the end of the song,perhaps they didn't know just how to end the song,either way it's priceless. The Hinge from Appleton doing "Come On Up" (from 1968) is a terrific cover version of The Young Rascals song, The Young Savages (From Milwaukee) "The Invasion Are Coming" (1967) perhaps not to be taken too seriously -seeing as they think outer space martians are coming soon. Still it's a fun song, and sang tongue on cheek, and has neato reverb and "outer space" effects, although simple,it's effective. I do believe there is an invasion coming, but maybe they didn't know it was the British Invasion. The Deverons "On The Road Again (1965) is a fine example of the folk rock sound,in the mid 60's. The Faro's (from Neenah) "I'm Cryin'" perhaps is a little poor sounding, on the mix, which suffers a little muddy sound, but still pounds out like a good R & B cover that it is. Still for the time, this compilation record came out it was COOL enough,to start me collecting that genre of music, which I will always be glad I did. I always listen to this music. Because if you know the disease that is record collecting, it is never fully complete.So you collect all of your life, hoping to find that original rare record that isn't so much worth five or a thousand dollars, but it's the copy you must have to complete your collection. So you hear it the way the band made that single back in the day.
More of this stuff soon, because there's another volume on Highs In The Mid 60's Wisconsin Part Two, so please stay tuned.

Highs In The Mid 60's

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Milwaukee Early Punk Singles-The Haskels,Die Kreuzen & The Lubricants
























I've got 3 cool singles here, which are pretty rare early Milwaukee
punk rock legends...Die Kreuzen with The Cows and Beer EP,
The Haskels 4 song 7 inch extended play from the early 80's which
features the songs: Taking The City By Storm, Body Language,
Daddy's Girl & Baby Let's French. Also for your listening pleasure,
The Lubricants 1980 2 song 7 inch single Activated Energy and
Trans Formation Vacation. Culled from the depths of my rock
and punk vaults,just waiting to assault the public.I hope you enjoy it!
Milwaukee Early Punk Singles

The Baroques- Self Titled Album on Chess Records and The Musical Tribute To The Oscar Mayer Weiner Wagon




















The Baroques formed in 1966 in Milwaukee,Wisconsin.
In January 1967 they signed a contract with Chess Records.

By June 1967, both the album “Iowa” and single “Mary Jane”
were released and banned in the
same week. The ban was imposed
by some local DJs whose stations directors thought
“Mary Jane”
was a pro-drug song about marijuana. Jay Berkenhagen had actually
written it
as an anti-drug song but no one got it. Instead The
Baroques became infamous as “acid-heads”
due to the “far-out”
sounds on the record. At this point, Jay had never tried drugs in his life.

The Baroques had a fuzz-guitar/keyboard-damaged sound that
retained much of the garage
intensity of ’66 while plunging into the
experimentation that marked the latter part of the decade.

Sure, there are traces of the Byrds and the Zombies,
but by the time the Baroques have had their
way with a pop song,
it’s like the deformed bastard child of those bands hobbling around on
one
leg. As on “Rose Colored Glasses,” where Jay Berkenhagen’s
odd,deep vocals bounce along
with awkward (yet insanely catchy)
riffs until settling into a gorgeous, harmony-laden chorus.

“Nothing To Do But Cry” is an exceptional folk-rocker that’s
dirtied up with some nice distorted
jangling and raw power-chording.
At times they veer into chaotic fits of noise that wouldn’t sound

too out of place on a Scientists album.(the punk/garage band from
Perth, Australia-which I think might be stretching it
a bit,but what
the heck-maybe you'll check out the band because they are
awesome)
(“Iowa, A Girl’s Name” “Musical Tribute…”).
But what really sets them apart from other similarly-
minded
bands is the excessively glum atmosphere which pervades most
of the album.
The sludge-folk(a new term) of “Purple Day” and
“Seasons” may come
off too monotonous for some, but there is
something absolutely hypnotizing lurking in the
uncommonly dark
textures of these songs.

Included for your pleasure are the original album The Baroques,
the way it appeared on Chess Records,
and I include the newest
release Purple Day 1967-1968 with some ultra rare Milwaukee
recorded outtakes,
and other bonus songs,never before heard.
They are a little strange,but they might grow on you.

The Baroques

The Baroques-Purple Day

Monday, June 8, 2009

Paramount Records- The Paramount Masters- World's Rarest Blues and the music made at The Wisconsin Chair Company





































































Where have I been? Well, um researching. And it's time
I let you inon a secret, I'm obsessed with old blues,and
odd music, and can't getenough of it. I've had this 4 CD
set a while,but didn't listen to it. I wantedto savor it,like a
fine wine, and wait until I was done listening to garage,
punk,and other styles of music for a while. Now I'm ready
to let you all have a taste, and a brief, but unusual history
that is uniquely weird Wisconsin. This is what my research
told me:
Paramount Records started in 1927 and was owned
by The Wisconsin Chair Company. It's gets stranger.
Since chairs are made of wood, as were old phonograph
players and radios were like a piece of furniture, the
Wisconsin Chair Company got into making phonographs,
recordings,and when they found out it was profitable,
they started recorded artists right in Grafton, Wisconsin.
I don't know who made the decision or jump into making
recordings,but it's just lucky this company came along
and recorded some of the most interesting and rare records
ever.
The initial recordings were not made in Wisconsin, some
were made in Richmond, Indiana, and others made
in Chicago,until Paramount had a suitable recording
site in Grafton,Wisconsin.
Oddly, the earliest recording equipment was very
portable, and usually,many of the other labels recorded
artists almost anywhere.They'd get hotel rooms and
record, where is there the least noise, from trains,
street cars, and traffic, that's where they recorded.
So, it could have been anywhere for that matter.
So why they had the artists come to Grafton,
Wisconsin is confusing, but maybe that's where
they finally bought the recording equipment and made
history. It could be that they had an excellent
recording area set up, spent the money, and could
control the sound the best....I'm still learning about it
all myself. I do know that "they", the record labels of the
times,recorded as many songs as they could in a 1-2-3
day marathon, and then pay the artist a
flat rate, and said goodbye. It was all very makeshift.
Paramount recorded many different artists, not just
the earliest Charley Patton records.(or Charlie Patton)
The first recording was in 1925 was by Blind Lemon
Jefferson. And his records were an immediate success,
due to the fact that Paramount Records were really
the best advertisers of music,as well as really great at
distribution. They did a brisk mail order business.
They advertised in the Chicago Defender, the
nation's first black newspaper, and advertised in many
other small rural papers,where people, mostly African
Americans wanted to hear the blues.They targeted their
audience and knew their market, it seems.
Want to know just when Charley Patton recorded
his first record? Paramount arranged Charley to record
on June 14th, 1929 at Gennett Records' Richmond Indiana
Studios, and he recorded a total of 14 tracks that day.
The tracks he recorded that day were his best known:
Pony Blues,Pea Vine Blues, Tom Rushen Blues,and
Banty Rooster Blues among others. The records that
launched every blues performer known to man.
All were pressed into 78's and sold well. And because
of his success, he was asked to record again, but this
time in Grafton, Wisconsin, later in the year about
November-early December 1929. This is 80 years
ago, almost to the day and I wish I was there!
Meanwhile there's a New York Recording Laboratory
involved,and I don't know where they fit in, I know they
eventually maintained an office in Flatbush, Brooklyn,
New York, and that they might have been supervising
the recordings. They were created in 1917, and they
figure in somewhere, and in what my rough research tells
me, that The New York Recording Laboratories were a
subsidiary business and they made records
for various genres, and labels including Paramount.
It's high time I bought the book by Alex van der Tuuk
entitled: Paramount's Ride And Fall, A History of The
Wisconsin Chair Company and it's Recording Activities.
I'm sure that will repair my retarded research.
(hey there's 15-20 websites that have to do with
Paramount Records,and I don't know who's right or wrong)
But I'm here to expose the music. That's my job, and at least
give you a small background story to tease you about the
music,so to speak.
If you like the blues, this set of 4 CD's will really get you a
quick education of some of the earliest examples of the
Paramount Records Story. If you don't like the blues, you
will at least find these recordings strange, and haunting.
And maybe you'll delve deeper. And if you're a history buff,
you might want to listen to these recordings while reading
the fabulous book by Robert Palmer entitled Deep Blues.
Which gives you a back round on life in the
Southern Delta region, and how the blues came about.
Hands down, this is thee best book on the blues,man.
This is the best recorded I've heard of these 78's that
I can find, and hope someday people who collect these
recordings could help by making them available to more
people, so we can hear them as they were released.
John Teftteller, please donate your fabulous old records to
some museums and people who could make sure that this music is
part of our American heritage, and make sure that they make it
available to us for all to hear!
I think this is important to mention, since he's got all of the early Charley
Patton records on his website. You might want to have a look and drool.
Meanwhile, I'm still searching for more 78's in re-pressings on CD or album
but I think these 4 CD's will at least give you a great start of this music from
Paramount Records and Wisconsin. Links are in the comments section
with complete artwork,scans,etc. There's more complete information
about each recording in the booklet scans.










Sunday, April 26, 2009

More Wisconsin Radio Charts 1969-1970

Vintage Radio charts! I love these because they remind me that radio used to be more fun. Heck, some charts from the 60's had
Frank Sinatra,Dean Martin right next to The Beatles, Paul Revere and The Raiders, and then you'd see easy listening music along with country cross overs. A much less narrow minded view of what music is, and what was once allowed on the air. Remember the hits?
One week it would be The Turtles with "Happy Together" and the next week it was Frank Sinatra with Nancy doing "Something Stupid" (that's a song title for you who think that's funny).
WZMF was the new Milwaukee station that was not only better sounding in FM,but it was one of the early pioneers of album rock. Strange charts for 1969 and 1970, which still contain "the little ones with the big holes" meaning singles still dominated radio play, and long playing albums were just starting to take off. Concept albums,long players were just starting to dominate the airwaves with longer songs,and less teeny bopper pop rock. You can still see Top 40 radio chart regulars Neil Diamond along side the new Plastic Ono Band release,and Steppenwolf, Melanie along side of Johnny Cash. Ahhh...those were the days where you'd hear all kinds of music of all styles, not just hard rock,or top 40 or easy listening, but country and jazz too.

More Wisconsin Radio And Music Charts From the 1960's and early 70's

Local Radio Charts WRIT from Milwaukee, Wisconsin and WDLB from Marshfield Wisconsin.Most charts or surveys from the 1960's and 70's had advertising from the local stores on the backs of the surveys making them a cool time-piece. On the back of the WRIT charts from 1967 is an ad for Thunder Alley,which catered to the teens of the 60's. Almost all of the charts also had local bands making it to the lower chart numbers,and making a small dent in local radio airplay,if they were lucky.