Volume One (1917-27) chronicled Paramount's improbable rise from also-ran to jazz-blues juggernaut, launching the recording careers of giants like King Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Alberta Hunter, Blind Blake, Ethel Waters, Ma Rainey, Papa Charlie Jackson, Big Bill Broonzy, and Fats Waller.
But just as it seemed Paramount might be losing steam, it began a second act that threatened to dwarf its first. This astonishing second act is the subject of The Rise & Fall of Paramount, Volume Two (1928-32), the final chapter in our commemoration of America's greatest record label.
In its final 5 year push from 1928-32, Paramount embarked on a furious run for the ages, birthing the entire genre of Mississippi Delta blues recordings and issuing some of the most coveted records in the history of wax - a staggering playlist including Skip James, Charley Patton, Son House, Tommy Johnson, Willie Brown, King Solomon Hill, Tampa Red, Lottie Kimbrough, Rube Lacy, Meade Lux Lewis, Buddy Boy Hawkins, Jaydee Short, George "Bullet" Williams, Cow Cow Davenport, Clifford Gibson, Ishman Bracey, Louise Johnson, Geeshie Wiley & Elvie Thomas, The Mississippi Sheiks. and hundreds of other artists.
Paramount simply killed. But more than that, it changed how this country thought of itself. It was the first enterprise of any kind to capture what America really sounded like in the 1920s and '30s - on its street corners, at its fish fries and country suppers, in its nightclubs and dance halls and showtents. In the process, it was profit-minded Paramount - not a preservationist body like the Library of Congress - that inadvertently created the most significant repository of this young nation's greatest art form.
Six LPs, 800 digital tracks, two definitive large-format books. All housed in a polished aluminum case evoking the era's high art deco stylings and America's own Machine Age take on modernist design.
A joint release by Third Man and Revenant, co-produced by leading Paramount scholar Alex van der Tuuk, with all Paramount masters issued under license agreement with GHB Jazz Foundation. The Rise & Fall of Paramount, Volume Two (1928-32) is available for pre-order beginning TODAY. Learn more about the set, and pre-order your copy HERE
And, if you're in the New Haven area, make sure to spend your evening tonight with Jack White, Greil Marcus, Dean and Scott Blackwood, Adia Victoria, and Daphne Brooks, exploring the history of Paramount Records. 7pm at the Battell Chapel at Yale University.
Funny how often words sound better in a foreign language. I definitely like the sound of “acumuladores” over “collectors”. And, since I haven’t been able to get Skip out of my mind since Tuesday night, I gotta do this: Here’s a little primer for anyone who’s not familiar with him— http://kalidurga.blogspot.com/2011/08/i-used-to-have-some-friends-but-they.html
And may I say I also have a lot of packages from TMR…In Mexico people call us “acumuladores”, but at least we’re selective. @BruceDickinson i agree with Kali, TMR doesn’t store them in numerical order. I won’t mind an extra pay to match the serial numbers, but they’re a small company.
@Kali Durga heyyy, another crazy girl who storaged this box…I’m not the only one. And may
The serial number is on the outside of the cardboard box. But they definitely did not store Volume 1 in numerical order or sell it that way. I bought my Vol.1 at Third Man the day it was released last year and it’s number 1,000-something. The one I ordered on-line at the beginning of December for my boss’s Christmas gift is number 411 (I still have the cardboard box under my desk, don’t ask why). But, dude, a stack of 50 of these babies would in no way be small ;) Boxes and serial numbers aside, can I just say how glad (pun fully intended) I am that Skip James is going to get recognition from Volume 2? Only shame is that my favorite of his songs, Washington DC Hospital Center Blues, won’t be in this collection ‘cause he didn’t write it until he was re-discovered by Fahey. Though that’s an infinitesimal shame.
Oh, come on, give me a break. This is Third Man Records we’re talking about; they are totally capable (and should) pull it off (matching serial numbers). Sure there would be a couple more steps in the assembly/packaging process like possibly, writing the serial number on the outside of the box or keeping the boxes in numerical order. I have worked with serialized tags before and guess what, they aren’t just loosely thrown into a 5 gallon bucket from the company that makes them. They are usually in small stacks of 50 (I’m sure the number is different depending on the thickness of the tag and how it is being attached to the item) with a band around them and they are in numerical order. Third Man might not be doing a Holiday Bundle for Volume 2 this year but I can totally see it now “Order The Rise and Fall of Paramount Records Volume 2 anytime between November 30th and December 13th and we will MATCH the serial number to your Volume 1!” I would be willing to pay an EXTRA $50 just so they would match the serial number to my Volume 1. They could even make it an EXTRA $100 ($50 back pay fee for Volume 1 and $50 fee for Volume 2). In my opinion, with the Rise and Fall of Paramount Records being a two-part release as well as being historically monumental, it is paramount that they match serial numbers (^_-) or ;)
@Kali Durga The first one, it’s great to find people in those places who doesn’t look at me as crazy addict and who understand and enjoy the same things. This place feels like home, and There’s no place like home, right?
ROJA: And isn’t it absolutely wonderful to be able to be able to come to places like this and talk to people who understand the seemingly crazy decisions we make? For all the issues of the internet, that’s one thing about it that I’m exceedingly grateful for. Though you could also flip that around and look at this place as a bunch of addicts hanging out in their pusher’s house enabling each other. Take your pick.
@Kali Durga: No regrets, that’s it, I also have to wait to get this beauty because of the Lazaretto tour shows, and some posters and merchandise I’ve bought, and as you, no regrets, life is made of small decisions, I’ve made mine…not to spend in new car, vacations, clothes and so; but in this things that make me smile or cry when I listen or watch them. Have I said Thank you TMR? Have a bloody Devil’s Night
Imagine going through 5,000 of these, most of which are probably either being warehoused somewhere else or are being put together as orders come in, to find specific serial numbers for specific orders. That’d be challenging even during a slow time of year, if TMR ever had slow times of the year. Aside from pointing that out, I’d also like thank Yale University, Daphne Brooks, Jack, the rest of the panelists, and Swank for the beautiful event in Battell Chapel. I’ve been whining to anyone who’ll listen that I can’t afford to order Volume 2 right now because I spent so much money going to shows on the Lazaretto tour, and yet I didn’t hesitate to spend the equivalent of a Vol.2 set going up to Connecticut just to hear a discussion of it. Perverse, huh? I’ve no regrets. The set will be available for a while and I’ll just have to pine away until I can justify buying it. What I felt in that sacred place the other night, listening to the songs played and the ideas discussed in such a beautiful atmosphere, couldn’t be bought in any store.
Third Man responded to my email and they will not be matching Vol.1 and Vol.2 numbers :(