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March 18, 2013 - I'm now using various file sites with varying success. With over 200 albums listed here, obviously I cannot upload everything at once. So if you're dying to hear something, please post a comment on that particular post and I will move it up in the priority queue. Enjoy!

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07 April 2010

There's A Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder


I've fallen behind in my posting, so by request, here is an extended post of old Al Jolson from his glory days. Since I had to do some research on this anyway, this post marks a brief change in that I decided to include two additional collections which I had downloaded via a pay site. As for the label of the first CD, or lack thereof, I no longer have the booklet of this out-of-print disk (formerly an LP) that was issued by an Italian company and was unable to find one on the internet. The set also included records by Marlene Deitrich (I'm missing that booklet, too) and Cab Calloway (which I didn't get because his music is covered on Classics Chronological. If you have an invitation to Reci's Oldies blog, you can see the Calloway cover there. They were identical except for the photo and number of tracks of the featured artist.

Ok, on to the music! The first half of the cd includes recordings from the 1920s, while the latter half are re-recorded versions from late in Jolson's career (1940s). For some unfortunate reason, these latter recordings used a process that makes them sound as if they were overdubbed in an echo chamber, not to mention string sections taking the place of some fine jazz of the originals. From what I can tell by listening to Jolson in other media (e.g, old radio shows such as Eddie Cantor, Bing Crosby), he still had the pipes to sound good without using such a crutch.

The additional sets are listed below, and are nearly entirely transfers from original 78s. Surely there are better copies of Jolson discs in circulation that they could have used? Not even at Columbia? Oh well, at least we get to listen to him in his prime, even if these are simple transfers of low-fidelity recordings made with the use of a horn. Jolie sure could give a performance, that's for sure. As usual, Columbia's Art Deco series does not fail to satisfy, and includes sides from 1913 to 1925, when Jolson was in his prime. The other set, Black and White, has a mere 12 tracks, yet includes tunes likewise not heard on most Jolson collections. Disclaimer: the bitrates range from 96 to 192, and though I didn't hear any issues with the files, they are what they are and I cannot re-rip them should there be any problems. IFinally, I was initially going to add my own Jolson 78s, but most are covered in the additional collections which probably sound cleaner anyway. I am sure that I had several more sides, but apparently I may have sold them before recording them. Never be in a hurry to get rid of vintage records! Enjoy.  + + +

Tracks

Al Jolson: 25 Phonographic Memories

1. California, Here I Come - March 1924
2. The One I Love (Belongs To Somebody Else) - March 1924
3. I'm Sittin' On Top Of the World - December 1925
4. Miami - December 1925
5. Tonight's My Night With Baby - May 1926
6. Golden Gate - December 1927
7. My Mammy - 1927
8. There's A Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder - August 1928
9. Why Can't You - April 1929
10. Liza (All The Clouds Will Roll Away) - August 1929
11. When The Little Red Roses (Get The Blues For You) - 1930
12. Swanee
13. Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With A Dixie Melody
14. Sonny Boy
15. You Made Me Love You
16. For Me And My Gal
17. Let Me Swing And I'm Happy
18. Give My Regards To Broadway
19. Alabamy Bound
20. When The Red Red Robin Goes Bob Bob Bobbin' Along
21. Toot Toot Tootsie (Goodbye)
22. Carolina In The Morning
23. April Showers
24. Ma Blushin' Rosie (Ma Posie Sweet)
25. Easter Parade

You Ain't Heard Nothin' Yet: Jolie's Finest Columbia Recordings (Columbia 1994) Art Deco Series

1. That Little German Band
2. Everybody Snap Your Fingers With Me
3. Back to the Carolina You Love
4. Revival Day     Berlin
5. Sister Susie's Sewing Shirts for Soldiers
6. Yaaka Hula Hickey Dula
7. Where Did Robinson Crusoe Go (With Friday on Saturday Night)?
8. Down Where the Swanee River Flows
9. I Sent My Wife to the Thousand Isles
10. Tell That to the Marines
11. I'll Say She Does
12. On the Road to Calais
13. Swanee
14. In Sweet September
15. Avalon
16. O-Hi-O (O-My-O)
17. April Showers
18. Toot, Toot, Tootsie, Goodbye
19. Morning Will Come
20. Stella
21. Waitin' for the Evening Mail
22. Hallelujah, I'm a Bum
23. You Are Too Beautiful
24. Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With a Dixie Melody

Black and White (Magnum Collections, 2001)

1. Snap Your Fingers (And Away We Go)
2. The Spaniard That Blighted My Life
3. My Yellow Jacket Girl
4. A Sleep in the Deep
5. That Lovin' Traumerei
6. Brass Band Ephraham Jones
7. That Haunting Melody
8. Rum Tum Tiddle
9. The Pullman Porter's Parade
10. You Made Me Love You
11. Sister Susie's Sewing Shirts for Soldiers
12. When the Grown Up Ladies Act Like Babies

10 comments:

B.why said...

Thank you very much his original Columbia records are far better than any of the later versions.
Too bad you don't have more of his Brunswick records, like "All alone", I have heard the original version on youtube it's such a great song.

Campbie™ said...

My comments are Long overdue. Your taste is impeccable. I would never have heard of Chick Bullock but for you. This site has lead me to go out and buy a lot of stuff that i would never have heard of otherwise.
I thank you

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Chester Proudfoot said...

I checked the other Jolie files I have, and no "All Alone" unfortunately. While a lot of his later recordings lacked the energy of his Columbia sides, I do like his duets with Bing Crosby (e.g., The Spaniard That Blighted My Life, and Alexander's Ragtime Band).

Campbell, thanks and you're welcome. My next post will have a song about my favorite city up North.

Go Habs!

B.why said...

Do you have Sophie Tucker Origins of the Red Hot Mama, 1910-1922?
Actually I'll be glad to hear anything from the 1910s. Apart from the Original Dixieland Jazz Band this is the first thing I have heard from this decade and it seems they had very good music indeed.

Chester Proudfoot said...

What, you're tired of Al already? The only Sophie I have is already posted here (scroll down and check the labels to the left).

Campbie™ said...

Go Habs ? Gone are the glory days. Yr taste in sports as well as music are admirable and both harken back to , at least for me, better days.
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Chester Proudfoot said...

Yeah, I can't believe it's been 17 years since the last Cup. And the Caps the best in the league? The universe is off kilter. I think I'll watch "The Rocket" on dvd again...

Joe said...

Good day Chester, like Campbell I feel I really should have complimented you long before. What an incredible resource Volstead has become! I'm a total convert to your way of thinking. I especially love the Jolson, Cab Calloway and Benny Goodman in your collection - keep up the good work sir!

Joe, UK

Chester Proudfoot said...

Cheers, Joe. My way of thinking? Um, I better stick to the music. LOL. Glad you're enjoying the site.

Anton said...

Chester,

I just wanted to let you know that, after a couple of months of inactivity, I just published a whole article on Al Jolson on my Vintage Bandstand blog. It actually deals with the great Art Deco Series compilation that you have here and that I acquired several years ago before it went out of print. (By the way, it is too bad that the Art Deco Series releases are mostly out of print!). If you are interested, you can read the article at:

http://vintagebandstand.blogspot.com

Cheers,

Anton.