Memories of You [Original recording remastered]

Eubie Blake | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 13, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Shout Factory
• ASIN: B000098ZTM
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #151,812 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #71 in Music > Jazz > Traditional Jazz & Ragtime > Ragtime

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

When Eubie Blake died in 1983 at age 100, he was one of a handful of performers who lived long enough to see jazz evolve from its earliest roots through to its contemporary form. It's a genre Blake undoubtedly influenced over his long career, though in reality he never really stopped doing what he did best--ragtime. Memories of You features Blake's piano roll recordings from 1915 to 1973 (most were recorded in '21), and the sound quality--like the music--is excellent. The musician's take on "Charleston Rag"--written by Blake in 1899 and recorded here in 1917--might be the first jazz tune to feature a walking bass. Other compositions--1915's "Chevy Chase" and 1921's "Memphis Blues," especially--are filled with a frenzied energy that would foreshadow the shape of jazz to come. Two of his most memorable compositions--"I'm Just Wild About Harry" and "Memories of You"--are included, recorded for piano roll in 1973, when Blake was 90 and as lively as ever. Though the music catalog of Blake is in sad shape (some of his best recordings, including the definitive LP set The 86 Years of Eubie Blake, haven't yet found their way to CD), this collection is a great place to start. --Jason Verlinde

Product Description

Talk about "career-spanning"! This collection begins with Eubie Blake's first piano roll, Charleston Rag , composed in 1899. Then come nine piano-roll performances from 1917 to 1921 and two early rags, Fizz Water and Chevy Chase . And the finale? His last two piano-roll recordings, performed in 1973 at age 90! That's a lot of history on one CD.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best of the Ragtime piano players, May 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Memories of You (Audio CD)

Eubie Blake was the best of the Ragtime Jazz piano players and this disc is a gem. Dead since long before Digital Compact Discs, this Eubie Blake recording was recorded digitally, mixed digitally, and released digitally. How? They were all taken from piano rolls Eubie Blake cut in his prime. If you think about it, piano rolls were the first digital recordings.

This disc includes Blake's famous Charleston Rag and the song he is best remembered for I'm Just Wild About Harry. However, the stand out highlight is his own interpretation of my favourite standard Memories Of You. He starts it out straight, as a ballad, but halfway through he gives it the Eubie Ragtime Jazz treatment. A real joy to behold.

Now if only somebody would be smart enough to re-release The 86 Years of Eubie Blake, I'd be a happy man. Are you listening, Sony?

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best Ragtime Recordings..., May 23, 2004

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Memories of You (Audio CD)

This is one of the best recordings of straight-ahead ragtime around. Eubie Blake rivals Scott Joplin, James Scott, and Joe Lamb as one of the original American ragtimers. The recording is fine: original piano roll techne realized on a 1910 Steinway player piano, and recorded with DDD. The tracks are classic rags.

A little confusion on Amazon's listing, however: the label is not Sony, but Biograph--which also issued great piano roll tracks by James Scott, Jelly Roll Morton, Fats Waller, and James Johnson. All highly recommended.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Eubie Piano Rolls and Two Late Recordings, April 16, 2007

By 

Doug - Haydn Fan (California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Memories of You (Audio CD)

Eubie Blake recorded most of these piano rolls right before jazz emerged and ragtime fell back out of fashion. The sound is clangy and not very attractive, but gives some approximation of his style. For more sophisticated sound of recording pianos I suggest you consider the Pierian CDs. Both the Granados and the Debussy are superior reproduction to most of these things.
Eubie Blake lived a long full life, and made many regular recordings, so listeners are not limited to just the ersatz sound of piano rolls. While the selection of titles on this CD is first rate, the sound of the piano roll reproduction is too limiting to award it a top rating.