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New: Robert Johnson -The Complete Original Masters

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Pale Blue

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Feb 17 11 8:46 PM

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May 8, 2011, marks the 100th birthday of Mississippi Delta bluesman Robert Johnson, who, according to legend, sold his soul down at the crossroads of Highway 61 and Highway 49 in a midnight bargain that has haunted the music world for three-quarters of a century. The �deal� brought forth Johnson�s incandescent guitar technique and a run of 10-inch 78 rpm singles for the Vocalion, Oriole, Conqueror and Perfect labels recorded in San Antonio in 1936 and Dallas in 1937. Those songs have become a cornerstone of Columbia Records� identity, and will be celebrated on two CENTENNIAL releases from Columbia/Legacy, a division of SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT.

Over the years, Johnson�s influence has resounded in the music of Muddy Waters (�32-20 Blues�), Elmore James (�I Believe I�ll Dust My Broom�), Junior Parker (�Sweet Home Chicago�), John Hammond Jr. (�Milk Cow�s Calf Blues�), the Rolling Stones (�Love In Vain,� �Stop Breakin� Down Blues�), John Mayall (�Ramblin� On My Mind�), Cream (�From Four Until Late�), Eric Clapton (�Cross Road Blues�), Johnny Winter (�When You Got a Good Friend�), Paul Butterfield and Bonnie Raitt (�Walkin� Blues�), Fleetwood Mac and ZZ Top (�Hellhound On My Trail�), Led Zeppelin (�Traveling Riverside Blues�), Keb� Mo� (�Preachin� Blues�), Cassandra Wilson (�Come On In My Kitchen�), and countless others. It is by far the most empowering body of work in American history to emerge from one solitary blues figure.

As recently as this year, John Mayer was nominated for a Grammy Award� for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance, for his cover of �Crossroads� on his Battle Studies album, Columbia, 2009. �Cross Road Blues,� of course, gives Eric Clapton�s annual Chicago music festival its title.

full article, including details, here

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LD50

#1

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Posts: 710

Feb 17 11 8:52 PM

QUOTE (J.A.W. @ February 17, 2011 08:46 pm)

QUOTE

May 8, 2011, marks the 100th birthday of Mississippi Delta bluesman Robert Johnson, who, according to legend, sold his soul down at the crossroads of Highway 61 and Highway 49 in a midnight bargain that has haunted the music world for three-quarters of a century. The �deal� brought forth Johnson�s incandescent guitar technique and a run of 10-inch 78 rpm singles for the Vocalion, Oriole, Conqueror and Perfect labels recorded in San Antonio in 1936 and Dallas in 1937. Those songs have become a cornerstone of Columbia Records� identity, and will be celebrated on two CENTENNIAL releases from Columbia/Legacy, a division of SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT.

Over the years, Johnson�s influence has resounded in the music of Muddy Waters (�32-20 Blues�), Elmore James (�I Believe I�ll Dust My Broom�), Junior Parker (�Sweet Home Chicago�), John Hammond Jr. (�Milk Cow�s Calf Blues�), the Rolling Stones (�Love In Vain,� �Stop Breakin� Down Blues�), John Mayall (�Ramblin� On My Mind�), Cream (�From Four Until Late�), Eric Clapton (�Cross Road Blues�), Johnny Winter (�When You Got a Good Friend�), Paul Butterfield and Bonnie Raitt (�Walkin� Blues�), Fleetwood Mac and ZZ Top (�Hellhound On My Trail�), Led Zeppelin (�Traveling Riverside Blues�), Keb� Mo� (�Preachin� Blues�), Cassandra Wilson (�Come On In My Kitchen�), and countless others. It is by far the most empowering body of work in American history to emerge from one solitary blues figure.

As recently as this year, John Mayer was nominated for a Grammy Award� for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance, for his cover of �Crossroads� on his Battle Studies album, Columbia, 2009. �Cross Road Blues,� of course, gives Eric Clapton�s annual Chicago music festival its title.

full article, including details, here

From the description, this sounds like it's modeled after Fahey's Patton box!

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cih

#2

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Deepest Blue

Posts: 1283

Feb 17 11 9:15 PM

pic -

--------------------
Click here to view the attachment

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Tom Rushen

#3

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Deepest Blue

Posts: 4476

Feb 17 11 9:29 PM

QUOTE (LD50 @ February 17, 2011 04:52 pm)

From the description, this sounds like it's modeled after Fahey's Patton box!

Sure does!

I hope they don't screw up the audio as they did in 1990 on these, but it's Sony, so I don't have high hopes.

And my heart sank when I read these words in the prospectus:

An additional sleeve will house a smaller book that includes a new 1,500-word essay written by Ted Gioia, Texas-based pianist and music historian, and the author of Delta Blues: The Life and Times of the Mississippi Masters Who Revolutionized American Music (2008)

If Mr. Gioia's essay is as pompous and pretentious as his hideous Delta Blues book, I might have to hang myself.

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cih

#4

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Deepest Blue

Posts: 1283

Feb 17 11 9:36 PM

If I was cynical (and I am) I'd say this was more of a money-making exercise than the Patton box ever was.

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jpeters609

#5

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Posts: 24

Feb 17 11 9:37 PM

Visit the site mentioned in the article (www.thecompleterobertjohnson.com), and you'll find the price for the set: $349.

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ForumerDeletedUser

#6

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Pale Blue

Posts: 0

Feb 17 11 10:09 PM

QUOTE (jpeters609 @ February 17, 2011 10:37 pm)

Visit the site mentioned in the article (www.thecompleterobertjohnson.com), and you'll find the price for the set: $349.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see that price anywhere on that site - it says �316.47 or $435.55.

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jpeters609

#7

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Posts: 24

Feb 17 11 10:19 PM

This is the page that came up for me (in the U.S.) when I visited the site:

http://www.sonymusicdigital.com/robert-joh...details/5747793

It says $349. Maybe you're taken to a different page (and price) if visiting outside the U.S.?

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JellyRoll Baker

#8

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Deepest Blue

Posts: 2745

Feb 17 11 10:21 PM

QUOTE (J.A.W. @ February 18, 2011 09:09 am)

QUOTE (jpeters609 @ February 17, 2011 10:37 pm)

Visit the site mentioned in the article (www.thecompleterobertjohnson.com), and you'll find the price for the set: $349.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see that price anywhere on that site - it says �316.47 or $435.55.

I get AU$356.61.

I think the site adjusts the pricing it displays based on your IP address.

The Juke Joint on PBS 106.7FM
Thursdays, 1-3pm (Melbourne time)
Looking for airplay in Australia? Send your CDs to:
Attn: Matt, The Juke Joint
PBS 106.7FM
PO BOX 2917
Fitzroy MDC, 3065
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ForumerDeletedUser

#9

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Pale Blue

Posts: 0

Feb 17 11 10:22 PM

QUOTE (jpeters609 @ February 17, 2011 11:19 pm)

This is the page that came up for me (in the U.S.) when I visited the site:

http://www.sonymusicdigital.com/robert-joh...details/5747793

It says $349. Maybe you're taken to a different page (and price) if visiting outside the U.S.?

I keep getting the prices I mentioned. I guess you're right, it's probably a country- or continent-dependent site.

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LD50

#10

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Posts: 710

Feb 17 11 10:28 PM

QUOTE (cih @ February 17, 2011 09:36 pm)

If I was cynical (and I am) I'd say this was more of a money-making exercise than the Patton box ever was.

And I get the impression that while Fahey may have liked it if the Patton box made money, he didn't really CARE whether it did!

Also I see there are no surprises on the 'Rare Victor Blues' CD except for two unissued tracks by one 'Samuel �Fat� Westmoreland' -- who the hell was he?

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Tom Rushen

#11

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Deepest Blue

Posts: 4476

Feb 17 11 11:41 PM

QUOTE (jpeters609 @ February 17, 2011 05:37 pm)

Visit the site mentioned in the article (www.thecompleterobertjohnson.com), and you'll find the price for the set: $349.

Good lord.

I could have purchased TWO of Larry Cohn's super DEEELUXE Blind Willie McTell box sets at that price!!!!

Waiting for that box set to arrive is about as futile as waiting for Godot.

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JellyRoll Baker

#12

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Deepest Blue

Posts: 2745

Feb 18 11 12:00 AM

QUOTE (cih @ February 18, 2011 08:36 am)

If I was cynical (and I am) I'd say this was more of a money-making exercise than the Patton box ever was.

A company selling a product in order to make money?? I'M SHOCKED!!!!

Heck, the original RJ recordings were a money making exercise as well.

The Juke Joint on PBS 106.7FM
Thursdays, 1-3pm (Melbourne time)
Looking for airplay in Australia? Send your CDs to:
Attn: Matt, The Juke Joint
PBS 106.7FM
PO BOX 2917
Fitzroy MDC, 3065
AUSTRALIA

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LD50

#13

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Posts: 710

Feb 18 11 12:19 AM

The real question: will Robert Johnson's son get royalties? Or will they, uh, go to Sony?

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JellyRoll Baker

#14

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Deepest Blue

Posts: 2745

Feb 18 11 12:25 AM

Well, the need to license the music so I'm guessing yes.

The Juke Joint on PBS 106.7FM
Thursdays, 1-3pm (Melbourne time)
Looking for airplay in Australia? Send your CDs to:
Attn: Matt, The Juke Joint
PBS 106.7FM
PO BOX 2917
Fitzroy MDC, 3065
AUSTRALIA

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wreid75

#15

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Posts: 166

Feb 18 11 2:08 AM

if only other worthy delta boys could get this kind of attention. it would be nice if it spilled over and Willie Johnson got the same treatment, or Skip, or etc.

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Muddylives

#16

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Deepest Blue

Posts: 5139

Feb 18 11 6:24 AM

QUOTE (JellyRoll Baker @ February 18, 2011 12:00 am)

QUOTE (cih @ February 18, 2011 08:36 am)

If I was cynical (and I am) I'd say this was more of a money-making exercise than the Patton box ever was.

A company selling a product in order to make money?? I'M SHOCKED!!!!

Heck, the original RJ recordings were a money making exercise as well.

Yes, Sony needs to make money. They don't function on charity, and times have been hard. As I understand, Revenant did not make money on its Patton box, due partly to the immediate pirating of their masters.

Still, $400 is a lot to pay for two discs of music.

Muddy

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cih

#17

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Deepest Blue

Posts: 1283

Feb 18 11 7:33 AM

QUOTE (JellyRoll Baker @ February 18, 2011 12:00 am)

QUOTE (cih @ February 18, 2011 08:36 am)

If I was cynical (and I am) I'd say this was more of a money-making exercise than the Patton box ever was.

A company selling a product in order to make money?? I'M SHOCKED!!!!

Heck, the original RJ recordings were a money making exercise as well.

There's a BIG difference between a big company spotting a big anniversary and churning out some recycled product JUST in order to cash in, and a labour of love like Revenant, with something important to say about the music.
Read interviews with Blackwood (can't remember where they, and can't be bothered to look).

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MaskedMarvel

#18

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Deepest Blue

Posts: 6919

Feb 18 11 7:41 AM

In the Johnnie Temple thread Gayle wrote "Too many RJ books out there they tell me.". I think "they" must check their sources because it seems "too many" doesn't apply to Robert Johnson.

All the above written is in my opinion unless it is someone else's opinion, or a fact.

Location: Zur Moshe, Israel

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cih

#19

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Deepest Blue

Posts: 1283

Feb 18 11 8:09 AM

Also, read interviews with the very humble Susan Archie, who designed the fantastic Patton box. this one looks very derivative to me.

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cih

#20

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Deepest Blue

Posts: 1283

Feb 18 11 8:55 AM

QUOTE (cih @ February 18, 2011 07:33 am)

Read interviews with Blackwood (can't remember where they, and can't be bothered to look).

apologies - got out of bed on the wrong side...

Though it's kind of irrelevant, here's a bit on Dean Blackwood and Revenant from the Harvard Law Bulletin:

The music obsessive evolved into the record executive while Blackwood was at HLS. At that time, he met John Fahey, an eccentric music savant who had inherited some money and wanted Blackwood to use it to run a record label. Since its inaugural release in early 1997, the company has produced only 16 records, but the quality inspired GQ magazine to call it "the best record label in the world."

The world's best label is run out of perhaps the world's smallest record company headquarters: a corner of a bedroom in Blackwood's Austin, Texas, home, staffed by the company's only employee, his wife, Laurie. Despite the Grammy attention, Blackwood doesn't plan to make the company bigger. His job as an in-house attorney with Dell Computer Corp. pays the bills; if he had to rely on Revenant's sales to support his family, it might not be the same record label with the same high standards, he says.

It's not that he has an aversion to success, an "indier than thou" attitude prevalent among purists, Blackwood says. He'd like everyone to have a Charley Patton or Captain Beefheart or Dock Boggs record. "We don't want to be a bunch of eggheads about it and make it dauntingly academic," he said. "We try to make it fun and great to look at but also have enough depth of scholarship and attention to detail that the real hard-core folks will want to have it as well." You don't have to be a music freak to appreciate Revenant's music, Blackwood says. He will obsess so you don't have to.

...and from an interview with Susan Archie:

My influences are my clients. Each of the label owners I work with has a succinct and distinct vision � I act as arbiter/conductor, a medium to actualize their dreams. Over the last seven years, five different clients have received Grammy nominations and three have won Grammys for packages I worked on. This is pretty remarkable due to the truly independent nature of these labels; none of these releases has sold over 10,000 copies.

I�m very fortunate to have been exposed to the depth and breadth of music collections on these labels. Tony Conrad and John Cale, Stanley Brothers, Art Rosenbaum, Captain Beefheart, Dock Boggs, Rhys Chatham, Charley Patton, John Fahey, Blind Willie McTell�. The list goes on and on. In my mind �Goodbye, Babylon� is the daddy of them all � it�s an insanely great music collection. If you love music you must save your pennies or ask grandma for this set.

So, for me, this has become my Art and my little reason for being � to contribute to these labels that recognize music as Art � and who spend the time and money to present it that way.

I always gripe about money � there is never enough � but I am so blessed to be doing the work I am doing. I still owe it even more to my partner, Janet L Smith, who allows me the freedom to work at something I love, rather than what pays the electric bill.

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New: Robert Johnson -The Complete Original Masters

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