Search - Charley Patton :: Complete Recordings 1929-34

Outstanding value; good remastering

man from massachusetts | Boston, MA | 02/21/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"For anyone who wants Patton's complete recorded works, but who doesn't want to spend half a paycheck on the Revenant Box Set, this 5 disc JSP collection is an unbelievable value. I was flabbergasted when I discovered it online the other day; I couldn't believe it was so cheap. It contains everything on the Revenant set except the interviews and the bonus disc of music by Patton's contemporaries. It does, however, contain Son House's overpowering 1930 recordings (everytime I listen to them my stomach drops). What else is there to say? This is glorious, intense, and important music. The remastering is very good, but not without its drawbacks. I love JSP's Django Reinhardt and Louis Armstrong remasterings. The Patton recordings here have the same full, glowing sound (with more hiss and crackle, of course, because of the atrocious quality of the original Paramount 78s). Patton's voice is remarkably intense; one can gain a sense of what a powerful instrument it must have been live. Turn up the volume, and it will hit you in your gut. You can literally feel his throat's rough vibrations, his subtle bending of pitch. The slide guitar pieces ("Oh Death" and "Spoonful," for example) come through quite well. They are deep and resonant.At the same time, as with every remastering of old 78s, something is lost in the transfer. These remasterings seem vacuum-packed, as if all the all the air in the room had been sucked out. Patton's voice is brought forward, but as a result, some of his guitar work seems muffled. It is as if the remastering aimed to simulate a modern recording studio, allowing only sound from the the guitar and voice to come through. This eliminates one of the best aspects of 78s: their open, echoing sound. (This problem, however, is not nearly as bad as on the Catfish reissue.)Compare this with the Yazoo reissues (my favorites). There is more surface noise on the Yazoo albums, but this also allows more room for the sound to breathe. One can hear the full range of the sound. There is also a more vivid, lifelike tone on the Yazoo Patton, even if he seems a little distant at times. It is easier hear the wistful echoes that Patton built into his work. By contrast, the JSP recordings are much more intense; Patton's growl is right at the surface. In short, the intensity of Patton's voice on JSP is a revelation, but the set does not convey the full, sparkling range of sound found on Yazoo."

The Turnip Gives Blood!

R. R. Stewart | Baltimore, MD USA | 10/02/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"JSP has always come through in the realm of remastering essential
music from the pre-war era. This fact had me champing at the bit when I saw that they were preparing a release of The Complete Charley Patton. This set contains essentially the same music as is found on the first five discs of the Revenant Set.
All songs recorded that Cholly appears on are found in this set. The BIG difference is that "The Masked Marvel"(probably John R.T. Davies or Ted Kendall) has finally done justice remastering the existing records and has succeeded in squeezing blood from the turnip that is known as Paramount Records.(infamous for manufacturing records that sounded like sandpaper when they were brand new!) At first I was very skeptical but after listening to just a few tracks my jaw dropped. None of the ear bleeding stridency of the Revenant masters and none of that blanket over the speakers masking that I heard on the Catfish Box. The music is alive and Cholly's voice is PRESENT. Obviously, there is no cure for the physical damage that is found on some of these relics but on the remaining sides there is pure enjoyment. Along with the best Patton remastering yet, you'll get to hear Son House, Louise Johnson, and Willie Brown's historic contributions to the legendary 1930 Paramount sessions at their best too. I can't stop raving. Enjoy!!!!"

Blues With A Feeling

Gavin B. | St. Louis MO | 02/22/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Blues composer and performer, Sleepy John Estes claimed that you could hear Charley Patton's unamplified voice and guitar at a range of 500 yards. Estes may have exagerated a tad but think about the power of a voice you could hear even at the range of 100 yards. Charley Patton's recordings were made out of the cheapest available vinyl (used to make bowling balls) and were scratchy sounding even when they were released. Paramount felt that their "race records" didn't warrant high quality vinyl. One of my childhood preoccupations was listening to the Yahoo releases of Charley's material and trying to figure out what the guy was signing under the white noise buzz and pop of surface noise. Such a powerful voice and such awful recording technology. Now going on 80 years since their orginal releases, someone has finally made all of Charley's releases listenable. I could go on about Patton's widely imitated guitar playing, his dark allegorical lyrics, his consumate performing style or his carefully crafted image as a rebel, but you still will go back to that powerful voice. And now justice has been done to his awesome legacy of music... and justice has been done to the listener with the release of "The Complete Recordings" which offers this amazing 5 volume CD set at a price only slightly above the cost of a single CD. Maybe there is a Santa Claus, Virginia."