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Joan Selects - the complete Joan Selects Collection

Big Ten Inchers - 78rpm rips by El Enmascarado


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Saturday 23 February 2019

Joan's 78s Volume 1 - Stop Rockin' That Train


Record 1 - King 4443
01. Stop Rockin' That Train - Ivory Joe Hunter
02. She's Gone Blues - Ivory Joe Hunter

Record 2 - Savoy 750
03. Just Can't Get Free - Little Esther
04. Cupid's Boogie - Little Esther

Record 3 - Rainbow 184
05. Who Can Be True - The Five Crowns
06. $19.50 Bus - The Five Crowns

Record 4 - Aladdin 3178
07. Broken Hearted - Lynn Hope
08. Morocco - Lynn Hope

Record 5 - United 129
09. Security Blues - Roosevelt Sykes
10. Walkin' This Boogie - Roosevelt Sykes

Record 6 - Aladdin 3214
11. My Saddest Hour - The Five Keys
12. Oh! Babe! - The Five Keys

Record 7 - Savoy 859
13. Them There Eyes - Varetta Dillard
14. You Are Gone - Varetta Dillard






Perhaps the first of a new series? Back in the 1970s Joan came across a massive stash of unplayed 78 rpm records in the back room of a music shop in Hudson NY. For sale at one penny US each. Like something out of "American Pickers." Car filled and then a return visit for a second load. Third visit - some NYC collector had been in and emptied the joint. Never mind, loads of 1950s R&B, vocal groups, blues and country platters already in the hands of Joan. Fast forward to California in the 1980s and Joan archives the records on CD. Fast forward again and the music is transferred to digital files on computer, in low bitrates for this is in the days before you could buy 4Tb external hard discs.

The collection was subsequently sold and all that remains is a bunch of low bitrate (128 kbps or less) M4A and MP3 files. A few weeks ago Joan asked if I would be interested in hearing these files. "Och aye," I replied and received 20 folders of 'em. Going on for 550 tracks. The M4As were pretty low volume while the MP3s were considerably louder with a bit of "presence" about them. All the files featured pretty heavy hiss and some crackling, but I was knocked out by the sheer accumulation of music. I found myself listening to some familiar sides, but there were dozens and dozens I'd never heard before.

I've started putting them through the Magix Audio Cleaner software I use to rip vinyl and I think I've come up with a listenable selection. Please bear in mind these were all MP3s of around 128 kbps. After putting them through Audio Cleaner to get rid of the hiss I re-ripped at 320 kbps, but that doesn't improve the sound quality.

The files are presented as a 78 rpm album from before the days of LPs. These were "albums" in the sense that they had thick card or board outer covers and inside, contained in individual sleeves, were 78 rpm singles. I've cheated slightly, as from what I've read most such albums contained only 4 or 5 discs.

So here we go. Let the virtual needle fall on the virtual shellac, sit back and enjoy a lo-fi selection, courtesy of Joan.


 
Big Ten Inch Facts:

King 4443 - Ivory Joe Hunter - Stop Rockin' That Train / She's Gone Blues: released April 1951.

Savoy 750 - Little Esther - Just Can't Get Free / Cupid's Boogie: released June 1950.

Rainbow 184 - The Five Crowns - Who Can Be True / $19.50 Bus: released November 1952.

Aladdin 3178 - Lynn Hope - Broken Hearted / Morocco: released April 1953.

United 129 - Roosevelt Sykes - Walkin' This Boogie / Security Blues: released October 1952.

Aladdin 3214 - The Five Keys - My Saddest Hour / Oh! Babe!: released December 1953.

Savoy 859 - Varetta Dillard - Them There Eyes / You Are Gone: released July 1952.

On the front cover: Varetta Dillard, Ivory Joe Hunter, Lynn Hope.

Labels adapted from discogs.com and various record sales websites.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

WHOA!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Anything from Joan's treasure trove is very welcome. So nice to hear the back story to Joan's collection and sharing via you.

Cheers Marlon

Chocoreve said...

Thanks for sharing Joan's gems with us.

enoch said...

Outstanding! Once again, many thanks to Joan for providing the files and to Woody for all the clean-up work and providing a platform on which to share these. If i am to be afforded a vote, I say yes to the start of a new series.

Great stuff!!

enoch

Bob Mac said...

Many thanks BW & Joan...certainly some classics in this lot, hope there are many more to come.

La musica è vita said...


Great stuff, and thank you a lot, but when I try to download Joan's 78s Volume 2 (Zippy)it says it is volume 1 (?)

boogiewoody said...

Oops - my fault! There isn't a volume 2 yet. I must have been thinking ahead ... I've changed the zippy link to what it should be - volume 1.

There may well be a volume 2 in the near future!

BW

Anonymous said...

Many thanks to BW and Joan and hope that it is, indeed, part 1 of a series.

Cowculator said...

Thank You! Yours and Joan's generosity is unquestionable. Looking Forward toMore In This series. John

boogiewoody said...

O.K. folks - you got it. Volume 2 is in preparation.

BW