Origins of the Red Hot Mama, 1910-1922 [Box set]

Sophie Tucker | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 25, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Box set
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Archeophone Records
• ASIN: B002L2K1HW
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #133,265 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. That Lovin' Rag

2. My Husband's in the City

3. That Lovin' Two-Step Man

4. Reuben Rag

5. Phoebe Jane

6. That Loving Soul Kiss

7. Some of These Days

8. Missouri Joe

9. Good Morning, Judge

10. Knock Wood

11. Won't You Be a Dear, Dear Daddy to a 'Itta Bitta Doll Like Me? (with Her Five Kings of Syncopation)

12. I'm Glad My Daddy's in a Uniform (with Her Five Kings of Syncopation)

13. Please Don't Take My Harem Away (with Her Five Kings of Syncopation)

14. Everybody Shimmies Now (with Her Five Kings of Syncopation)

15. Don't Put a Tax on the Beautiful Girls (with Her Five Kings of Syncopation)

16. You Can't Remember What I Can't Forget (with Her Five Kings of Syncopation)

17. Learning (with Her Five Kings of Syncopation)

18. It's All Over Now (with Her Five Kings of Syncopation)

19. Jig Walk

20. High Brown Blues

See all 24 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic, Historic, Rare Sophie Tucker!, August 26, 2009

By 

John L Frigo "Music Man" (Shaker Heights, OH, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Origins of the Red Hot Mama, 1910-1922 (Audio CD)

This is the finest set yet from Archeophone Records. The hard cover 72 page book with the CD attached to the inside front cover is a masterwork. It is full of new information from Miss Tucker's scrapbooks, and the full color illustrations of sheet music covers, period photographs, and record labels, make the CD sized book more than worth the price asked for the disc! But the best is yet to come. The remastering of the recordings is unmatched by anyone else today except Ward Marston, who reissues classical music on his Marston label.

The ten Edison cylinders made in 1910 and 1911 are scarce, and the three Aeolian Vocalion records are, indeed, rare, but the one record Sophie made on her own label in 1921, may be unique! It is what they call 'mythologically rare.' These recordings are all included here. The last six sides on the CD were made for OKeh, and have fine sound. I have never heard Edison cylinder recordings sound so good! These were recorded well to begin with, but after almost 100 years, it took a lot of searching to find these clean copies. The Vocalion sides are a different story. Originally, they were not recorded well, and it took a lot of patience on the part of Richard Martin, who remastered these, to get them right, but he did it! The OKeh recordings have really great sound for the period, and are highly recommended.

This set will be known as a reference recording. Not even collectors have heard most of these performances. Now you can hear and enjoy them as I do. I've waited too long for this set, but it's worth the wait. All of the Archeophone releases are of high quality and are highly recommended.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding and revelatory, September 7, 2009

By 

When Swing Was King - See all my reviews

This review is from: Origins of the Red Hot Mama, 1910-1922 (Audio CD)

An outstanding achievement in every respect. This set makes it easy to see why Sophie Tucker was such a force during her early years. Taken in the context of early 20th century popular music, she comes across as almost revolutionary, with a luminous, three-dimensional presence and personality. The rare Edison cylinders of 1910 (I once considered myself lucky to find only the box and lid to one of her Edisons - no cylinder inside!) are a revelation. The sound is absolutely incredible, especially for the easily-damaged Amberols. Tucker's subsequent (and equally scarce) Aeolian-Vocalions are more difficult on the ears, but the remastering makes them as good as current technology allows. The final cuts find both Sophie and the recording process in their 1920s prime. The lavish packaging, with illuminating liner notes and dozens of fascinating photos, is beyond anything a major company would ever devote to an artist who made her first recordings a century ago.

I initially purchased "Origins of the Red Hot Mama" simply for its historical importance. Now it's on my iPod for the daily commute. No one makes acoustically recorded material more accessible, or treats it with greater respect, than Archeophone. Thanks so much!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An American Original, October 27, 2009

By 

Words&Music (Washington State, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Origins of the Red Hot Mama, 1910-1922 (Audio CD)

This album --and the book that comes with it--are a bargain. The book provides wonderful, well-written context, and the music brings a whole era to life. We tend to think of people in the past, past art forms, as rather tame, coy; the notion of Vaudeville screams hat, cane, and the soft shoe. But no one can hear Sophie singing about her husband being in the city and have any delusions as to what, exactly, is under discussion here. Sophie Tucker was an American original: one of those people who made herself up as she went along. And she went along for a very long time, seemingly never running out of strength or schtick. Some of the music here is so indelibly American you feel like it's the ground under your feet: it has always been there. "Some of these Days" feels like a secular "Amazing Grace:" you know it because you know it; you don't have to hear it in church. Some will be refreshingly new. They are all delightful. Archephone Records performs a wonderful service to Americans in preserving our culture in sound and story. From a label that releases non stop outstanding, unique material, Origins of the Red Hot Mama is a standout. You can listen to this album for the sheer fun, the grit of the delivery, or as an avenue to a lost, but very important era in the evolution of American music and entertainment. The book and discography are essential reading as well. Bravo, Archephone.