Update On Links

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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24 August 2013

Hittin' The Ceiling


I've wanted to post this for a long time, and now it's been a full 15 years since it was first released and this blog is nearly 5 years old. It feels like a good time. Not enough can be said about this box set, in my view. And that's not merely for the several Chick Bullock sides, though that surely only boosts the overall value. The track and artist selection is exceptional, the sides are very clean, and the book is very informative as well as pure eye candy for audiophiles of this era. I heartily recommend picking up a copy for yourself, you won't be disappointed. "Bear Family Records presents an 88-track anthology of what are now termed Depression Era phonograph recordings cut between May 31, 1929, and April 10, 1940. This stretch of time takes in the last few months of the U.S.A.'s already flawed and disintegrating prosperity, the devastating Wall Street crash of October 29, 1929, and the nation's agonizingly gradual economic recovery throughout the 1930s. Musically, this massive compilation maps the mainstream mingling of real jazz with the predominant dance band and pop vocal aesthetic of the decade. Even months before the day when, as visiting Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca put it, the New York Stock Exchange "...lost various billions of dollars, a rabble of dead money that slid off into the sea," Tin Pan Alley composers were already fixating upon what was to become the ever more elusive pursuit of happiness by penning an almost alarming number of "happy" songs, such as "Get Happy" and "Happy Days Are Here Again." As the social fabric of a nation came apart at the seams and swiftly began to unravel, a subgenre of melodies with conspicuously comforting and persistently optimistic lyrics filled the air with phrases like "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams," "Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries," and "Let's Have Another Cup of Coffee." Sobering responses to the disparity between harsh realities and sugary reassurances included "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?," "Remember My Forgotten Man," "Hallelujah, I'm a Bum," "Cheer Up! Smile! Nertz!" (almost angrily delivered by an exasperated Eddie Cantor), and a remarkably cynical opus entitled "It Must Be Swell to Be Laying Out Dead." With the inauguration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1933 and the implementation of his New Deal programs (see Louis Armstrong's "W.P.A."), a series of frustratingly slow-paced improvements inspired monetarily motivated ditties with giddy titles like "We're in the Money," "We're Out of the Red," "What Have We Got to Lose?," "Buy America!," and the quaintly romantic "With Plenty of Money and You," sung to perfection near the end of this collection by the Ink Spots. The Great Depression has inspired a number of fascinating musicological retrospectives; this one belongs among the best of the lot." (Allmusic.com). Enjoy! +

Tracks

01 - Smith Ballew Orchestra - Hittin' The Ceiling
02 - Ambrose Orchestra - I'm In The Market For You
03 - Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra - Happy Days Are Here Again
04 - Marion Hardy Alabamians - Song Of The Bayou
05 - Eddie Cantor - Eddie Cantor's Tips On The Stock Market
06 - Hotel Pennsylvania Music - A Cottage For Sale
07 - Ted Wallace & His Campus Boys - Get Happy
08 - Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra - Sweeping The Clouds Away
09 - McKinney's Cotton Pickers - Laughing At Life
10 - Sam Lanin's Orchestra - It's A Great Life (If You Don't Weaken)
11 - Hotel Pennsylvania Music - Cheer Up Good Times Are Coming!
12 - Eddie Cantor With Phil Spitalny's Music - Cheer Up!
13 - Ted Lewis Orchestra - Singing A Vagabond Song
14 - Jack Teagarden Orchestra - Son Of The Son
15 - Al Jolson - Hallelujah! Im A Bum
16 - Annette Hanshaw - Big City Blues
17 - Blue Steele Orchestra - There's A Tear For Every Smile In Hollywood
18 - Ruth Etting - Ten Cents A Dance
19 - Ruth Etting - Cigarettes Cigars
20 - Johnny Marvin - Just A Gigolo
21 - Libby Holman - Love For Sale
22 - Smith Ballew Orchestra - We Can Live On Love

14 comments:

lugworm said...

Interesting post and informative write-up. I have yet to listen to what looks like an interesting album. Thank you.

Steinar said...

Thanks Chester!

Will you be posting the remaining of the box set?

Btw, have you seen this one?
http://thepiratebay.sx/torrent/5851464/1929__The_Great_Depression

Chester Proudfoot said...

Yes, I've uploaded the other three and should be posting this week.

Thanks for the link, Steinar. Is that the PBS documentary from years ago? I posted the soundtrack here a long time ago and have been looking for a copy of the video ever since. There's also an interesting 1975 Australian film called Brother, Can You Spare A Dime that doesn't have any narrative, only using videos and movies from the era. Unfortunately I only have it on VHS and no player. :-(

Bill said...

Wow, what a lineup. Thanks!
Do you guys know Andy Senior?
He has a GREAT weekly podcast of jazz. Check out the playlists and subscribe. Tell him I sent you. Bill
http://radiolablog.blogspot.com/

Chester Proudfoot said...

I've been listening to Andy for a few years now. He graciously allowed me to use some sides in the Prohibition set that is here elsewhere, and has offered advice on digitizing as well as repairing 78s.

The link to his Live365 station is to the left in 'My Links'.

Phillip said...

Wonderful share, Chester. Many thanks indeed.

Unknown said...

Good stuff, Chester! Thanks!
Jack

Steinar said...

http://thepiratebay.sx/torrent/5851464/1929__The_Great_Depression

"Steinar, is that the PBS documentary from years ago?" - I can not say "yes" or "no"... :) Only that it is a Roche Productions / Arte France documentary [Dominique Tibi & William Karel] - a two episode mini series (50x2 minutes) from 2009.

I might have found the one you are referring to - I will let you know if and when I have managed to grab it.

Chester Proudfoot said...

I managed to get the Arte documentary, which I found very interesting. It was nice to hear the perspective of someone like Howard Zinn. I also found the PBS via torrent, but I've been too busy to get through it yet. The first episode was promising...

Steinar said...

The PBS version - did you manage to actually fetch the all? The torrent I found seemed to have stopped at around 43%-something - but as I saw a Seeder in Swarm I had hopes. It had been stuck at 43%-something for about 14 days - but suddenly...just right now, the torrent has reached 97%! :) Fingers crossed!

Chester Proudfoot said...

The PBS is 4.21gb, which I managed to get fairly quickly a couple of weeks ago. Brother, Can You Spare A Dime is now currently at 98.3% and still downloading for me as I type. This was at 43 for a while for me as well.

Chester Proudfoot said...

Got the whole thing now!

Steinar said...

Great! That "Unfortunately I only have it on VHS and no player." is history now (literally)! :)

sakilov said...

Thank you very much for this!