[78-L] Article on John Tefteller and his Paramount collection in Antique Week

[soundthink at aol.com]

It's pretty obvious the writer of the article doesn't know what the heck a 78 is. Says Tefteller "owns 3,000 'albums,' many of which are one-of-a-kind - strictly blues from the 1920s and 1930s," unless there are LPs from the 20s and 30s that we don't know about. 

Cary Ginell


-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Ramm <steveramm78l at hotmail.com>
To: 78-l 78-l <78-l at 78online.com>
Sent: Mon, 2 Mar 2009 2:08 pm
Subject: [78-L] Article on John Tefteller and his Paramount collection in Antique Week




t's in the archives so I thought best to copy it.
 
Enjoy! The published article had photos. This doesn't.
 
Steve
 


One man’s quest to save lost Blues records

Way down in Lula, hard livin’ has done hit 
ay down in Lula, hard livin’ has done hit 
ord, your drought come an’ caught us, an’ parched up all the tree 
Aw, she stays over in Lula, bid that ol’ town goodbye 
tays in Lula, bidding you the town goodbye 
Fore I would come to know the day, oh, the Lula well was gone dry 
ry Well Blues, by Charley Patton (recorded 1929-1934) 
n the song, bluesman Charley Patton was telling a story, accompanied by his 
lide guitar, about the Delta town of Lula, Miss. 
here’s much in these stories that has long compelled (and driven) blues 
ollector and scholar John Tefteller. The music is honest; it’s raw, and 
eminal. It growls with hunger; and then, suddenly and unexpectedly, it will 
urn and laugh raucously in defiance. =0
Datton defined the life of the early bluesman. He played and drank at all-night 
ountry dances, fish fries and juke joints. He reportedly had a total of eight 
ives. He had seen the inside of county jails. He traveled extensively, never 
taying in one place for too long. 
efteller, too, is a bluesman traveling from town to town. However, there much 
f the similarity ends. Tefteller is a white guy, from Oregon, with a house, 
ife, kids and a mortgage. He travels the countryside in search of a long lost 
istory and culture. Much of it began with Charley Patton, back within the 
ertile Mississippi Delta during the 1920s and 1930s. 
atton, during his short and hard life of some 37 years, had the course, earthy 
oice that defined the Delta’s hard times and hand-to-mouth living. He played 
he guitar loud and rough, often thumping the side of the instrument in a 
orceful mesmerizing – almost demonic – drive. 
he shades between the Delta blues and gospel often overlap, shifting and 
liding. During the 1920s, bluesman Blind Lemon Jefferson recorded more than 40 
ecords for blues label Paramount Records. But, he also made several gospel 
ecordings under the pseudonym Deacon L. J. Bates. 
he transition was not difficult. Gospel and blues music have many of the same 
oots, emanating from the “call and response” or “field hollers” on the Delta 
otton plantations. This music gave rhythm to the pain and drudgery of field 
ork. 
ith the blues, Pat
ton, Jefferson – and their Delta successors Son House, 
owlin’ Wolf, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter and 
ohn Lee Hooker – wrote and played about their lives. They pulled no punches in 
heir lyrics about sex, drinking, railroads, jail, drugs, murder, poverty, hard 
abor and love lost. 
ften spurned by history, the music was a darker underside of our American 
eritage: Jim Crow laws, gut-wrenching poverty, and coping with such natural 
isasters as the boll weevil and drought. 
s is often the case, succeeding generations tended to ignore – to bury – the 
lues. 
It was just seen as old useless stuff,” Tefteller said. “A lot of it was just 
umped into the trash, no one wanted anything to do with it. The African 
merican community has long embraced jazz, but the blues has been a different 
tory. I think they’ve been a little embarrassed – it was all about poverty, the 
epression and oppression … it was seen as not respectful, there was nothing 
ultivated about it.” 
ut, there is little room for denial in that the Delta blues was the building 
tone upon which rock and roll was created. Those architects of rock and roll – 
lvis, The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, John Mayall, Eric Clapton and others – 
uilt the house of rock and roll on the foundations of the Delta blues. That has 
ong been an established fact among Europeans, according to Tefteller; but, a =0
Dlow fact for the American culture to grasp. 
It’s unfortunate, embarrassing that the English, French, German and, even the 
apanese, have more interest in that aspect of American culture,” he says. “It’s 
 very distressing that we have let this piece of culture slip through our 
ands. But, that’s been the result of a racist nature of generations of 
mericans.” 
s a result, real vintage, “gut-bucket” blues material is hard to find. And 
aluable. 
efteller is, by trade, a record dealer. From his business, “The World’s Rarest 
ecords,” he deals in more than 300,000 records, comprising 50s and 60s rock and 
oll, girly bands, surfer music, rare Beatles, and rhythm and blues. 
ut, he’s also a collector. He has 3,000 albums – many of which are one of a 
ind – strictly blues from the 1920s-1930s. These are “untouchable,” Tefteller 
ays, not for sale … maybe for trade, but never for sale. 
or his part, Tefteller, has played a key role in bringing the blues back to the 
ublic. 
everal years ago, Tefteller uncovered a huge cache of material from the largest 
roducer of “race records,” the Paramount label in tiny Grafton, Wis. The label 
arketed their records to African Americans, most notably in the pages of the 
hicago Defender, the weekly African American newspaper, and sent promotional 
aterial to select record stores and distributors. At the time, he bought the 
rtwork fro
m a pair of journalists who, “thinking there was value” in the 
aterial saved from a rubbish heap behind the plant. 
he material was left after the Depression killed off Paramount’s advertising 
udget, so many of the images were never sent out. Essentially it was “new old 
tock.” 
ears later, suspecting that more existed, Tefteller bought the entire Paramount 
arketing inventory. From that acquisition came many “important finds.” 
or years, the only existing photo of Patton was a tiny head shot, showing a 
ortion of his bow tie and a tip of a shoulder. Sifting through the files, 
elfteller discovered a full-length advertising poster of Patton, holding his 
uitar, staring dead-on into the camera. 
That picture is now the iconic photo of Patton,” says Tefteller, who has 
ublished the photo in his annual calendar of blues events, and accompanying CD. 
“I invested over $100,000 for Paramount,” Tefteller says. “I made the purchase 
n three different segments. I mortgaged my home for that warehouse … my wife 
asn’t too happy about it at the time … but it is the single most important 
inding in blues history … I told her, we’d make the money back, that was six 
ears ago, and we’re almost there.” 
ric C. Rodenberg 

2/20/2009
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