Category Archives: ARTICLES

The bulk of my active field-work was done over two decades, from 1968 to 1989, with recordings taking place between 1970 and 1980 – the results are 333 rolls of tape with around 1600 musical selections. It all began with … Continue reading →

One of the great labels of the post-war era was Savoy Records, the product of the mind of Herman Lubinsky, and begun in a small way in 1942. After WW II, things had become interesting in the music business as … Continue reading →

MIXED BAG: #3 1.)   It was THE NEW YORKER’s jazz critic Whitney Balliett who first used the phrase “the sound of surprise” to describe the effect of a good performance on the listener. Now while Balliett was using it in … Continue reading →

Of course, most of my “real” blues activity for Joe Fields took place after he had purchased the secular Savoy catalogue from the boys at Arista Records (Clive Davis hadn’t a clue). Joe embarked upon a major program of releases … Continue reading →

Over the years I’ve been involved with a variety of projects for Joe Fields’ various labels. Joe has been in the business for many a decade, surviving where others have fallen (including yours truly!). I attribute that success to many … Continue reading →

MIXED BAG: #2 (1.)           One evening in the middle seventies, Pink Anderson performed at Izzy Young’s Folklore Center in Greenwich Village (NYC). This was sort of Pink’s farewell world tour, organized and shepherded by Roy Book Binder – in NYC … Continue reading →

One of the benefits of coming of age (more or less) during the late 50s/early 60s (and there were not that many) was the availability of interesting Black radio in the New York area. There were stations (AM only) such … Continue reading →

Record collecting takes many forms, from creating a sound-track for one’s life (!) through historical interest and preservation to the obsessively compulsive behavior of the truly addicted (this last include many discographers, I’m afraid.(2) I tend to fall into the … Continue reading →

While an undergraduate at Princeton University in southern New Jersey, I belonged to something like a fraternity; “eating clubs” were somewhat less macho than frats, but were somewhat more snobbish. It was the club that was the location for all … Continue reading →

The other artist that I recorded in Chicago was the inimitable Homesick James. Actually, I think he was the one to stimulate Jim O’Neal to prod me as Homesick had never before recorded as a solo performer. Jim had had … Continue reading →