1925 Bennie Washington's Six Aces Okeh 8269

$

45

  Hello again, fellow 78 rpm buffs.  The job hunt is not going so well; looks like I'm going to have to start selling off some of my record collection.  I've been avidly collecting pre-WWII 78's for over twenty years, so be sure to check my other periodic auctions for goodies.  The selection will get better and better as I get more desperate.  The first batch started Wed. and Thurs. of last week (28 & 29 Apr.) and runs for ten days.  The next batch starts Wed. & Thurs. of this week, and that will be it until probably in the Fall, at the earliest.  Shipping will be by either Media Rate or Priority Mail shipment (your choice) in the US (or Priority Mail Int'l for international shipment).  Ebay now mandates that sellers are responsible for the safe arrival of your package (yet cannot charge buyers for insurance), so insurance is included in the final auction value.  And don't worry - I pack very well (even though it's expensive - I'm spending approx. $300 for boxes and packing materials).  I'll probably end up paying more to pack and insure some records than I'll make off of them, but that's just the new cost of doing business on eBay, I guess.  I will of course combine shipping in cases of multiple wins by one bidder, but, rather than your using eBay's automated checkout in those cases (which unduly complicates matters), we should communicate by e-mail after you're done bidding on things, so I can send you an accurate, economical invoice .  Also, I stand by my record grading, but if you are dissatisfied, you may return the record for a full refund of the final auction value.  Some of the label pictures look kind of blurry, but this is only scanner schizz.  So, here we go with the next item up for bid.

COMPTON AVE. BLUES: BENNIE WASHINGTON'S SIX ACES / GET IT FIXED BLUES: CLIFFORD'S LOUISVILLE JUG BAND, on VV- Okeh 8629 (plays very well - please read second paragraph below).  What a terrific, classic jazz performance on the first side !  This is one I would never part with without a dupe.  Drummer Bennie Washington directs Andrew "Big Babe" Webb - cornet / Harvey Lankford - trombone / William "Weedy" Harris - clarinet, alto sax / Harold Este - clarinet, tenor sax / John Arnold - piano, and Pete Patterson on banjo, recorded 4 Nov. 1925 in St. Louis.  I can't recall off the top of my head if any of these guys ever pop up on any other record except for Patterson, who had recorded a day or two before with his more usual band, Charlie Creath's Jazz-O-Maniacs.  At least two of the soloists (Harris, and Lankford, whose local popularity was evidently such as to merit the then-unusual label mention by name) have an "instrumental Bessie Smith" quality similar to that attributed by one author to the members of Jesse Stone's Blue Serenaders.  Pity they only made one side - sounds like they could've given Creath's maniacs a run for the money.  Clifford Hayes' Louisville jug band on the reverse are in their finest form on the May 1925 Chicago-made sides such as the one here.  Either Curtis Hayes or Cal Smith on banjo suffuses the performance with a minstrelsy flavor hearkening back to Stephen Foster days in the Ohio River valley, and Earl McDonald gets more music out of a jug than anyone else.

Music plays clearly and fairly strongly (both sides sound like field trip acoustics) over relatively light-to-moderate sizzle.  There is some occasional light crackle and pop, but not brash or overly conspicuous.  There is some moderate 'swishiness' in the beginning of the Hayes side.  A tight, inaudible rim-to-label hairline crack is stabilized at the edge of the disc with two-part epoxy, biased so that the stylus 'steps down' over it rather than hitting a wall.  Labels are a bit scuffed, but not too badly.  I got this record five years ago on eBay from a reputable dealer, described as a cracked 'V', and was not at all disappointed.  I was thrilled to finally have a copy, and one that plays quite decently at that, for only fifty bucks.  The crack 'clicked' at that time; I reset it as described above so that it's practically inaudible and won't harm the stylus.  Have only seen one other copy before or since.  Docks' 6th Ed."E" value would be $ 250-up.  I have set a low reserve.                             

PLEASE SEE MY OTHER RECORDS UP FOR SALE.