[78-L] another batch of burning questions

[Rod Brown]

Fellow wrecord wraiths,

I thought I might take advantage of the lull in posts to ask more of my
Babe In The Woods level questions. I'd be interested in hearing from any of
the knowledgeable, either directly or via the listserv. Approximately four
none-too-deeply esoteric questions follow:


What is meant by "high hat," used as a verb? I've heard this in the Memphis
Slim song, "Mother Earth." From memory:

You may high-hat me all the time
And you may never come my way
Mother Earth is waiting for you
There's a debt you have to pay

It sounds like to "high-hat" is to display an attitude of superiority, but
does anyone know their way around this term?


Speaking of Memphis, I wonder why my copy of Memphis Minnie's record, Okeh
06288, sounds so noisy, distant, thin, and otherwise bad.

(C 3765  Me And My Chauffeur Blues  /  C 3771  Can't Afford To Lose My Man)

The record looks well-played, but basically glossy and VG-ish. I heard it
via my default styus, a Stanton D6827, which I understand is a shade under
3 mils wide (maybe .027). I normally get satisfying sound out of it. I
found myself wondering whether Okeh might have dubbed these tracks from an
earlier record, rather than from metal parts, resulting in poor sound. Has
anyone heard a good-sounding copy of this Memphis Minnie release, or do
they all sound ratty?


Am wondering too about Perfect 15481 "Sugar Blues" and "Black and Tan
Fantasy" by Harlem Hotshots. I thought it was a pretty good record, and
have looked for info about them on-line, but didn't turn up much. Search
results are mostly about much more recent groups. Can anyone point me to
info on the musicians using that name who recorded for the Perfect label?
Any other good performances I should seek out?


One more, and I'll escort myself back to Lurk Town: Another recent find is
Columbia A2755 (78435) "My Sugar Coated Chocolate Boy" sung by Campbell and
Burr, backed with (78426) My Swanee Home, by the Sterling Trio. I've never
before encountered an inter-racially friendly record from those days. Much
more often, it's dark this and n-word that, so this record was a pleasant
surprise. Is this as unusual as it seems to me, or are there plenty of
other examples of racial empathycompassion to be heard on 78 rpm from early
in the 20th century?

Thanks all.

Rod