Customer Reviews

Red Heads, 1925-27

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Red of the title was Red Nichols, and the Red Heads was the studio group he led and which recorded for Pathé between February 1925 and September 1927. Personnel varied, but Miff Mole (trombone), Jimmy Dorsey (clarinet, alto sax), and Vic Berton (drums) were fairly regular fixtures. Included in chronological order are ten sessions where the Red Heads provided accompaniment to Cliff Edwards ("Ukulele Ike") as His Hot Combination, and one where they were billed as Jay C. Flippen & His Gang.

In addition, each disc concludes with alternate takes of particular numbers, producing a total listening time of over 200 minutes. To sound a couple of notes of caution, the Pathé recording process was not a recipe for clarity, and Cliff Edwards' idiosyncratic vocals take some getting used to. The music varied between outright jazz and pepped-up popular songs of the day, which means that musically this compilation is something of a mixed bag, but when they get the chance the group show their paces.

But those limitations deserve to be tolerated, because what's here is well worth listening to. The late John R.T. Davies has worked wonders in remastering which together with the amount of work that's gone into producing the accompanying 32-page illustrated liner note and discography justifies the fifth star.

If any proof was needed that John R.T. Davies was not God, here it is. Digital artifacting is present on many of the tracks here, but more annoying is the fact that that most of the tracks were remastered at the wrong pitch. This was Davies' achilles heel: he seemed to ignore the fact that many acoustic sides were recorded at 76 RPM and will sound unnatural if transferred at 78 RPM. Given that he was a musician, it's even more perplexing - it's obvious to me that the pitch is sharp just by listening to the Cliff Edwards' vocals (there are plenty of late-20s electric recordings by Edwards to compare these sides against). It's even more obvious when one encounters the Arthur Fields' vocal on "Poor Papa" and it's hard to recognize his very recognizable voice! I have a theory that older collectors who did not have access to variable-speed turntables in the 50s and 60s just got used to hearing these 76 RPM sides at the wrong pitch and they don't notice the discrepancy. Whatever, if you have a CD deck with variable playback speed you'll enjoy this set a lot more. The fact that this set is available means that it is unlikely that any other concern will reissue these sides properly pitched, so what should have been cause for celebration becomes a big disappointment.