Louis Armstrong - Hot Fives and Sevens - the Best one?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by SolitaryMan, Feb 5, 2005.

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  1. John R. T. Davies was the Steve Hoffman of cd transfers from 78's (in many many peoples' opinions). He apparently did not use digital declicking or compression, most of his work happened in analogue. He made every attempt to get the most natual reproduction from clean 78's onto cd, and JSP was the label that released the bulk of his work. He mastered blues, jazz, country & western (and western swing) comps, anything from the pre-tape era. Great bio on the allmusic site.

    Sadly, Davies died just in May 2004 (of cancer), and so all those great boxed sets made from 78's are history, they may stay in print but you'll never get any new transfers out of him. He was born in 1927 and could still hear a 14k note.

    here is an interview: http://www.bluesworld.com/JRTDavies.html

    Here are some photos of him, including his low tech mastering studio: http://www.jazzoracle.com/team/

    I thought the JSP box knocked Columbia's in the dirt, especially the earliest material. I own both. The Columbia packaging was guaranteed to tear up your discs as well.
     
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  2. Jerry

    Jerry Grateful Gort Staff

    Location:
    New England
    About a year before he died, John RT Davies replied to an email I sent him concerning the best sources for Billie Holiday music. He told me the Columbia/Sony remasters sounded dreadful "...if you heard the original 78's..." He said he recommended finding the Teddy Wilson cds he remastered on the Hep label out of Scotland. He wrote me a rather lengthy reply, taking the time to talk to a stranger and exhibiting his love for music and good remastering.
     
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  3. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    Nice to see those pictures of John. He was a great guy and a great talent; we all learned something from his 78 RPM remastering style..
     
  4. Todd Fredericks

    Todd Fredericks Senior Member

    Location:
    A New Yorker
    Steve, I have the complete 6-eye versions. Are the reissues better? Also, I think the JSP box sounds wonderful.
     
  5. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven

    In the UK, they are public domain recordings though. This is how JSP could reissue the complete Hot Fives and Sevens recordings very inexpensively.
     
  6. mambo

    mambo New Member

    Location:
    Spain
    I agree! The JSP is satisfying and as you will never likely hear clean 78's you will never know what you are missing! I had the Columbia issue of this and the JSP is the best on digital.
     
  7. arnie35

    arnie35 New Member

    Location:
    New Jersey
    I lost my 78s in a fire in 1955 but I have the 2 Columbia LPs as well as some earlier 45s from Columbia, Phillips, and Parlophone. The 45s sound better.

    The JSP set is far richer and natural sounding than any of those LPs or 45s (to my ear). They were remastered from the 78s by the late John R.T. Davis. I highly recommend them.
     
  8. Matti Saari

    Matti Saari Senior Finn

    Location:
    Vantaa, Finland

    I just ordered one.
     
  9. arnie35

    arnie35 New Member

    Location:
    New Jersey
  10. Mike B

    Mike B Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York City
    Even though I already have the Columbia set, I now ordered the JSP. This forum costs me money. I hope you're all very proud of yourselves.
     
  11. lschwart

    lschwart Senior Member

    Location:
    Richmond, VA

    Indeed we are! And rich, too. I get 5% of every purchase made as the result of a recommendation here.

    L.
     
  12. mambo

    mambo New Member

    Location:
    Spain
    I was looking at the interview with Mr Davies above. I wonder if anybody knows anything about the indestructible, anti static and totally silent vynil he mentions that the patent was suppressed for????
     
  13. sberger

    sberger Dream Baby Dream

    the 6-eyes are good, but not as good as the orginal early 50's masterworks series. and while the jsp box is fantastic(and complete) the 4 lp's in this series(particulary if you can find them reasonably clean) are well worth picking up.
     
  14. Todd Fredericks

    Todd Fredericks Senior Member

    Location:
    A New Yorker
    Thanks!
     
  15. bresna

    bresna Senior Member

    Location:
    York, Maine
    The JSP box is such a great set. Very good sound at a very cheap price... and the music!

    The JSP discs were much better than the original CBS/Legacy CDs. It wasn't even close. When they put out a new box a few years ago, I figured they would out-do Davies on the JSP. After all, they have original source material, right? Well, having those sources didn't help. The JSP discs still rule.

    Kevin
     
  16. I have the JSP CDs which I enjoy (bought individually before the boxed set became an option). Since it is unlikely that I'll buy a record player for 78s (although it is tempting), I too was looking for the best LP version. Are you referring to the 1951 four volume set of the Louis Armstrong Story (ML4383 to 4386)? I expect these are on the Columbia maroon label. My understanding is that when a record was pressed in this era, the 6 eye era, and 2 eye, etc., that the maroon label version generally sounds best. Of course, finding a clean copy is challenging (I'm still looking for a playable maroon label copy of Billie Holiday's Lady Day).
    -David
     
  17. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    David,

    Yes, you are correct.
     
  18. SolitaryMan

    SolitaryMan Senior Member Thread Starter

    Thanks for all your input, guys. It's been great to read this thread, with recommendations that go all the way back to the first 78's. Obviously, the JSP set is the one to get on cd, the Columbia 1970 reissue the one to get on lp, if you can't get the original 78's.
    BTW, my grandfather, who personally met Louis Armstrong, can't explain why his "St James Infirmary"/"West End Blues" disc is broken. Unfortunately, he routinely dismisses Armstrong's music as ni**er music. Only my grandmother seems to be open to jazz.
     
  19. Doug Sclar

    Doug Sclar Forum Legend

    Location:
    The OC
    Sorry to hear about your grandfathers attitude. We have a thread running about what music would be like today with out the Beatles influence, but if we take the black music out of the equation there would have likely been no Beatles. In fact, I might be bold enough to say that the early American black music was more significant than the Beatles, though it's tough to compare the significance of one group with a whole genre of music.
     
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  20. Roland Stone

    Roland Stone Offending Member

    That would be the understatement of the year.
     
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  21. RZangpo2

    RZangpo2 Forum Know-It-All

    Location:
    New York
    I don't think "more significant" is the right phrase. The Beatles's music was built largely on American R&B.
     
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  22. Robin L

    Robin L Musical Omnivore

    Location:
    Fresno, California
    Finally got the JSP Hot 5's & 7's at work today. Slapped it on our warehouse stereo in the back of the store. All I could do was smile, smile, smile. :agree: :agree: :agree:
     
  23. Roland Stone

    Roland Stone Offending Member

    Can someone post the barcode number of the JSP Louis Armstrong set? It's awful hard to figure out which one it is in my distributor's catalog. The barcode (not just the label number) would immediately narrow it down.
     
  24. Jerry

    Jerry Grateful Gort Staff

    Location:
    New England
    barcode is : 88065 01002

    Refered to as " JSP LOUISBOX 100" by the manufacturer. Happy hunting!
     
  25. Robin L

    Robin L Musical Omnivore

    Location:
    Fresno, California
    The barcode # or UPC is 788065010027, though the Label # is clear enough: JSPLOUISBOX 100. The individual UPCs within the box are 788065301224, 788065301323, 788065301422 & 788065301521. RZangpo2 has mentioned elsewhere that this set is a compilation of previously issued JSP discs.
     
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