Question about 78 RPM Pressings
Greg Freerksen
the 1920's and 1930's. I notice that there are several recordings of the
same song. These are not alternate takes, but actually entirely different
recordings which were released by the same artist of the same song.
I have heard that the masters of the 78 pressings were made directly from
the disc recorded by the artist in the studio. When the original master
wore out the only way the record company could have another original master
was to record yet another original master by having the artist make another
original master in the studio.
Is this true? If so, how many versions of the classic Robert Johnson, Blind
Lemon Jefferson ect recordings are there out there? Are the differences
significant?
Greg Freerksen
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Fred Dabney
Blind
> Lemon Jefferson ect recordings are there out there? Are the differences
> significant?
I can't answer the question as posed, but as a fan of prewar music in
general,
I can tell you there were several things that might happen.
First, many labels had an artist record a song several times at a session,
then the A&R people would select one for issue. There was a limit to
the number of times stampers could be pulled from a given master before
the process degraded the master. But remember that there were seldom
enough records needed of a particular for that to be a problem. Sales of
some such records might number in the hundreds or even fewer with some
Genet and Paramount being issued in dozens or fewer. A far more limited
market existed for most blues and jazz records then than now. Some of
the big names like Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey of course could sell thousands
but that was more the exception.
Some labels also were known for taking what seems to be a random master
from the vaults for successive issues.
Also, if a session wasn't going well, the band or artist might be called
back
later to redo some or all of a session, These don't quite qualify as
"alternates"
although they might carry master numbers in the same series. Some labels,
some artists the A&R folk might want a near-perfect record to issue,
others "close enough" was just that, and obvious flaws might be ignored.
Finally, some artists might record the same song for more than one label.
The all time champ for that was Duke Ellington when he was being managed
by Irving Mills. He was well known for marching the band into several
different studios on the same day, recording the same tune using a whole
bunch of different names for the band in the process. By the same token,
the same name (Irving Mill's Hotsy-Totsy Gang" ) might be many different
bands for different songs., or a name like the "Charleston Chasers" might
be a house name for whoever was handy for a session.
The other side of this coin was that there might be a given master that
would be pressed under several labels intended for sale through different
outlets. There were many "dime store" labels for instance. Depending
on the specific outlet, some might be pressed on better material with
the results that collectors often seek specific labels for some songs.
As a result of this, along with the fact that almost none of the original
labels
are still in business, and the nature of reissue labels in general, you
might
find several different performances of the same song on one CD reissue.
Collectors become familiar with matrix series to id the different labels
that
did the original recordings. There are entire books devoted to sorting
these things out.
This actually points out one of the things I most dislike about modern
studio production techniques.
I fear the days of the collector rejoicing in a new, unknown alternate
take, at least for contemporary artists are gone. Those days, recording
was close to the concept of "Direct to disk". You did it right or did it
over, no patching bits and pieces of tape together to get an issuable
master tape. And if you had to do it over very often you might have
to go find a different way of earning a living.
One other matter: some artists tended to get a performance and freeze
it, seldom changing it later. Others created anew each time they performed
any work. One of the things that fascinates collectors is hearing how
different performers behaved in this way. Some jazz and blues artists
really improvised with alternates being quite different, others quickly
developed a routine for a song and deviated little if at all from version
to version.
Fred D.