Paramount Old Time Recordings [Box set, Original recording remastered]

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 8, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 4
• Format: Box set, Original recording remastered
• 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: Jsp Records
• ASIN: B000G8NWCY
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #176,070 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Paramount discs are perhaps the most sought-after by collectors of 78 rpm records. One reason for their collectability is the admirable 12000 series that provided some of the finest blues recordings ever made – most notably by such great names as Skip James, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charley Patton, Ma Rainey and many others. In addition, the company recorded a number of jazz luminaries: Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver, Johnny Dodds and Fletcher Henderson.

The company also recorded ‘rural’ performances of hillbilly or old time music (OTM) - an area rather neglected when it comes to re-issues. To be fair, there was a fine LP issued on the J.E.M.F. label in the 1970s, devoted to OTM artists who cut sides for Paramount, and a number of tracks on anthologies, but this is perhaps the first time a more in-depth collection or assessment has appeared.

Courtesy of Joe Bussard, the man who has preserved so much classic American roots music, JSP is proud to present 100 tracks of Paramount old time music.

There is no denying the importance of some of the musicians and singers featured on this anthology. Some may have been overlooked because interested parties have concentrated on the works of the better-known musicians. It is pleasing to be able to give a ‘new’ audience a taste of such underrated names like Emry Arthur, Frank Welling & John Mc Ghee and Hugh Gibbs’s String Band.

The label was established by the Wisconsin Chair Company, which by 1914, among other things, was manufacturing the playback mechanisms for phonographs. Four years later the company decided to share in the money being made by record companies by establishing their own - the New York Recording Laboratories. Material was first issued on the Puritan label, Paramount’s predecessor. Evidently the idea of the Paramount label was that the company could give away discs when a phonograph was sold. The label’s most enduring success was in the recording of black artists/artistes from 1922 until 1932. The company first seems to have recorded white country musicians in 1924. The results were issued on the 33000 series, which continued until 1926. Early the following year, the company replaced the 33000 series with the 3000 series which was designated solely for ‘Olde Time Tunes’. This series appears ran until late 1932, by which time the label as a whole was foundering.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For hard core OTM fans only, July 2, 2008

By 

A. Herrmann "guitar music addict" (New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Paramount Old Time Recordings (Audio CD)

JSP records out of the UK has produced a series of box sets of pre-war American blues, jazz and old time music(OTM)that are marvels for their state-of-the-art remastering of old 78s. Their task with this box set and another Paramount blues collection was daunting indeed -- there are no Paramount masters extant, only scratchy old records to work from. JSP has cleaned up the recordings as best they could but the result is uneven from pretty darn clear to pretty darn awful. However, I still rate this collection highly based on the performances by these largely lesser known OTM artists and are thankful that JSP has reclaimed these songs which would otherwise be lost forever. People with an interest in OTM perhaps should look to other collections by JSP where the recordings are more uniformly lucid should as Mountain Blues and Serenade in the Mountains, both excellent.