Charley Patton, June 14th 1929 Session at Gennett Records /Starr Recording Studio in Richmond, In.

The first Charley Patton recording session for Paramount records took place at Gennett Records /Starr Recording Studio in Richmond, Indiana. Paramount was still setting up their studio in Grafton Wisconson, so they hired Gennett to do contract work in the meantime.

This was one of the most productive and important recording sessions ever to take place IMHO. Patton cut 14 sides that day, which included most of his important 'hits' (see list below).

Even though those scratchy old Paramount 78s sound pretty awful, the music on them is stupendous, with a wide variety of original blues, rags, and general entertainment cuts. Patton was on that day. That session was a true milestone for the blues, and recorded music in general. And they were good sellers for Paramount.

The masters unfortunately are long gone, but have any Gennett session notes, or other info, ever been found?


Some good info on Gennett Records /Starr Recording Studio in Richmond, Indiana here....
Gennett Starr Recording Studio - Richmond, Indiana



Charley Patton Charley Patton, June 14th 1929, Session in Richmond, Indiana

Pony Blues
Down The Dirt Road Blues
Shake It And Break It, Hang it on the Wall
A Spoonful Blues
Screamin' And Hollerin' The Blues
High Water Everywhere Part I & II
Banty Rooster Blues
It Won't Be Long
Pea Vine Blues
Tom Rushen Blues
Lord I'm Discouraged
I'm Goin' Home
Prayer Of Death Part I & 2

 

I can't answer you,but i'll be following this thread.

 

Here's a photo inside the Gennett recording studio, and perhaps the same spot where Charley Patton recorded...... though this shot this was taken five years before, in February 1924.

This is the famous photograph taken on February 18, 1924 during the first recording session of the Wolverine Orchestra at the Gennett Recording Studios in Richmond, Indiana. From left to right: Min Leibrook, Jimmy Hartwell, George Johnson, Bob Gillette, Vic Moore, Dick Voynow, Bix Beiderbecke and Al Gandee.

 

I can't see the photo.

 

Look at that song list! good lawd.

 

Fixed.

 

High Water Everywhere,deserves a place in the top ten of ALL blues recordings.

 

Very cool picture. I have these recordings as well as the Patton ones. Good stuff.

 

It's great to see a thread addressing the music... I think High Water Everywhere is from Grafton in October, while Mississippi Boweavil Blues was from this session. Some stunning new transfers appear on recent Blues Images CDs: Lord I'm Discouraged / I'm Goin' Home (Vol. 14) and Screamin' and Hollerin' The Blues (Vol. 15).

Apparently a number of Gennett files survived, as it's reported they list Down The Dirt Road Blues as "Over The Sea Blues".

The only vintage Patton master pressing on a label other than the label of origin comes from this date (I wonder if they used this issue for the Blues Images CD):

Lord I'm Discouraged / I'm Goin' Home - Charley Peters [sic] (Herwin 92036).

Strangely, there's another Herwin 92036 by a different artist, Rev. J.M. Gates.

Notes from Blues And Gospel Records, Fourth Edition:

Prayer Of Death Part 1 / Prayer Of Death Part 2 (Paramount 12799) issued as by Elder J.J. Hadley

Most copies of Mississippi Boweavil Blues / Screamin' and Hollerin' The Blues (Paramount 12805) issued as by The Masked Marvel

Charley was able to take some breaks at the session; the intervening matrices are by Walter "Buddy Boy" Hawkins.

 

Fantástico!!!

 

Thanks! Great post........ This site has "High Water..." recorded at Richmond in June '29, but that could be incorrect....... Illustrated Charley Patton discography

 

Checking the L Matrix Series book by Guido van Rijn and Alex van der Tuuk, the Grafton dates are now estimated later than before: the first circa late January 1930, and the second with High Water Everywhere circa February '30.

 

This thread is gold!
I've been a Patton can since I got the 'Paramount Masters' 4 CD box set years ago and it unleashed a fierce love for Paramount and it's blues artists.
Next was the box set "Screamin' and Hollerin the Blues". One of the most lavish box sets ever done and even if you have to pay $200 for it, it will give you a lifetime of blues pleasure! Considering the noisy rep paramount 78's have the mastering here is honest, no overblown noise reduction, no midrange honk, the true fidelity of the Paramount 78's is there, very important historically and not a hard listen at all. Plus oodles of reading material to sink yo range into.
Out of print, but if we had justice this box would be going over a grand it's that good, but amazo n has third
Party sellers for around thev$200 price.
Pick up the cheap comps if you want a taste, but if you really git into Charley, get the box, you won't regret it.
It's that good!
Beave

 

Not to hijack this thread, but if you want to hear the best sounding Charley Patton, get the two Yazoo CDs, The Best of Charley Patton and Primeval Blues, Rags and Gospel Songs, they easily beat the Revenant box or any other Patton release other than John Tefteller's Blues Images CDs.

 

do you own the Revenant box?
Beave

 

Yes, I do. I got it when it came out.

 

J.A.W. is correct.

The Revenant box is fabulous with its documentation/articles, but sonically it is inferior to the Yazoo reissues (and the Tefteller/Blues Images CD tracks) that J.A.W. references. (And yes, I own the Revenant box, too)

There's a reason for that: Revenant was unable to use original source discs to make their own transfers for a number of titles. Instead, they had to rely on submissions by disc owners who made transfers that varied sharply at times in terms of sonic quality, the equipment used, etc. The engineers who put the Revenant box together did a very good job in the end, but there's only so much that can be done if the original transfer was compromised in some way.

Wildroot Indigo's posts here are especially interesting, I know a lot about Patton, but even I picked up a couple nuggets of info that I either did not know or had forgotten somewhere along the way. Thank you, WI!

 

I have the Yazoo and they sound great...... But I've heard that some different transfers were used for the "American Epic" CD box set, which has a few Patton songs....... Is there a full CD of just Patton's material that features the new mastering?

 

I dont hear much difference between the Yazoo and the American Epic track (Down the Dirt Road). That is the only Patton track as far as I know.

 

No, I wish there was.

 

I have to assume that the Grafton sessions overlapped January and February, and are part of one bigger session spread out over several days. The distance from the Delta to Grafton is 800+ miles. There is no way Charlie Patton made 2 trips north in the dead of winter, so far apart. Anyone with any other explanation?

 

I love the idea of Charlie Patton & Buddy Boy Hawkins under the same roof, on the same day. I wonder if they had much chance to talk, exchange conversation, etc...?

 

This session featured many classics and not much needs to be said other than that. Great music in spite of the dodgy sound quality.

 

If the stories about Patton are true, it was probably a lot of him talking and Hawkins listening.

The thing I'm impressed with is how Patton just 'stepped up to the mic' and busted out such lively and powerful versions of all these tunes, in relatively short order.

Showed what a pro he was. This was his first recording session. And recording in general was new. They said a lot of players were intimidated by the studio. Not Charley.

A little 'imagined' account of that trip to Richmond from this blog.........Charlie Patton: Father of the Delta Blues