[78-L] Bessie Smith album

[Cary Ginell]

I'm glad you and Leah are doing this, Mike. My letter to the L.A. Times caused nary a ripple. Even my parents didn't see it. A more formal paper at ARSC will certainly do a lot more to dispell this urban legend, but no matter what is done, Steinweiss's book cover will still say "inventor of the album cover."

 

Cary Ginell
 
> From: mbiel at mbiel.com
> To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
> Date: Mon, 11 Jan 2010 02:19:26 -0700
> Subject: Re: [78-L] Bessie Smith album
> 
> If I wake up in time (I gotta start getting to bed earlier) Leah and I
> are going to R&H to look at some catalogs and magazines and I will be
> looking to see the issue date. I do think the album was sold with the
> specific records and I think that George Blacker and I did figure out an
> album catalog number decades ago, but it wasn't easy. If I can't come
> up with a copy to photograph myself, I NEED a color scan or photo of
> it!!! Is the photo a glued-on glossy photo?
> 
> By the way, on Friday in less than three hours, Leah and I BLEW THE
> STEINWEISS LEGEND OUT OF THE WATER with some of the evidence we found at
> another branch of NYPL in journals unrelated directly to records that I
> bet nobody has ever thought to use. No further hints about this stuff
> -- you will have to go to ARSC in New Orleans to find out. It helps to
> know where to find things.
> 
> Mike Biel mbiel at mbiel.com 
> 
> 
> 
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: [78-L] Bessie Smith album
> From: "Philip Fukuda" <pfukuda at att.net>
> Date: Mon, January 11, 2010 2:23 am
> To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
> 
> 
> 
> I'm just catching up on reading my emails after my vacation, so forgive
> me if this has been discussed before.
> 
> I've been following the Alex Steinweiss thread with interest, but
> didn't have anything to add to the discussion until today. Imagine my
> surprise at finding the c1937 (Driggs and Lewine's "Black Beauty, White
> Heat" say 1938, but I think the label was defunct by then) Bessie Smith
> Album at the 78 swap meet today. It has a brown cover with a photo of
> Bessie with the names of the accompanying musicians. I tend to believe
> the 1937 date since there is no mention of Bessie's death. Did it come
> with a booklet (mine doesn't have one)?
> 
> There is no text on the inside front or back covers. The album itself
> doesn't have a number, so doesn't look like part of a series.
> Unfortunately, I only have 4 of the 6 records. Also, I get the feeling
> the records were sold individually, but the album was a "freebie" if the
> customer bought all six records. Of course, they are the last six
> records in the -D series.
> 
> Does anyone have a 1937 or 1938 Columbia catalog or monthly supplements
> to back up any of my wild guesses? 
> 
> By the way, Happy New Year to all,
> Philip
> 
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