Sunday, October 14, 2007
Ruth Elliot, Jimmy Smith, Red Foley
I had a chance to talk with Ruth Elliot this last week. Ruth was one member of the trio that backed up Ted Newman on Plaything. She is a staple of the music scene in Phoenix, Arizona, and currently has a big band that she she is in charge of and plays piano for. A wealth of information, she accidentally ran into Ted Newman at his 50th high school reunion. I have updated my Ted Newman page with some interesting information she provided.
Another week without too many additions to my record collection. I did find an early Jimmy Smith instrumental. It was released on the Power label (112), and may be the first issue on the label. It was part of the Bruce label, and the releases before and after it, are Bruce label records. I would then date it from 1954. It pre-dates the Blue Note issues of Smith, but I can't confirm if it was his first record as a single artist shown on the label. I only have a few Power releases in my collection, which includes the Royal Teens and the Shytones. The latter is not related to the doo wop group, and is an instrumental.
The Firebirds, a group from the UK, sent me another CD of their material. Previously, they sent Doo Wop volume 1, which is a really great CD, and mostly uptempo - just the way I like it. This CD is a mixture of several styles, and is called Dance Girl Dance. The last track, Crazy Little Guitar Man, is shown on the booklet as unknown. I associate it with Red Foley, though I'm sure others have recorded it. I saw a great vintage clip of it on Youtube, and even though it's Red Foley, known for classic C+W, the record flat rocks!
So I am a Halloween record collector. Well, I thought I was. The records are getting so expensive to buy, that it may be pricing me out of that collector category. The only way to buy them now is to try and find them buried in 45 RPM lists on the internet. Ebay has just too many collectors willing to fork over a ton of dough. So, it's time to get creative!
Another week without too many additions to my record collection. I did find an early Jimmy Smith instrumental. It was released on the Power label (112), and may be the first issue on the label. It was part of the Bruce label, and the releases before and after it, are Bruce label records. I would then date it from 1954. It pre-dates the Blue Note issues of Smith, but I can't confirm if it was his first record as a single artist shown on the label. I only have a few Power releases in my collection, which includes the Royal Teens and the Shytones. The latter is not related to the doo wop group, and is an instrumental.
The Firebirds, a group from the UK, sent me another CD of their material. Previously, they sent Doo Wop volume 1, which is a really great CD, and mostly uptempo - just the way I like it. This CD is a mixture of several styles, and is called Dance Girl Dance. The last track, Crazy Little Guitar Man, is shown on the booklet as unknown. I associate it with Red Foley, though I'm sure others have recorded it. I saw a great vintage clip of it on Youtube, and even though it's Red Foley, known for classic C+W, the record flat rocks!
So I am a Halloween record collector. Well, I thought I was. The records are getting so expensive to buy, that it may be pricing me out of that collector category. The only way to buy them now is to try and find them buried in 45 RPM lists on the internet. Ebay has just too many collectors willing to fork over a ton of dough. So, it's time to get creative!
