The Blues.

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steenoe said:
On a totally different note, I did a search on "Blues" here on DIYaudio at some point and found nothing! Nada! I mean, come on!! Being a US based forum, there is nothing about the Blues to be found?? Heck; a darn guy from Denmark should start all this:D
I am happy about this thread developing as it does! Lets have those resources comming in.

It makes perfect sense. Without Europe most blues and jazz artist would starve. I believe Denmark is pretty much the jazz mecca of the world. I'm pretty sure Monica Zetterlund was bigger in Denmark than here.
 
steenoe: " ... I beleive your first link is about my favourite guitar player, Robert Johnson ..."

See: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/..._0/203-9862453-0070337?ie=UTF8&n=283926&s=dvd ... The image alt tag says Burnside is one of the many players ... an interesting looking DVD video unavailable here in the states. Wonder if it is any good? (PAL / zone?)

Robet Johnson ... the writer of more of the blues covered by modern groups than just about anyone else, only a few original recordings of his work remain, as you note = rare and expensive. Best DVD video on Johnson IMOP : http://www.amazon.com/Martin-Scorsese-Presents-Robert-Johnson/dp/B0000A0AZB/ ... shows his recording technics and the cover artists who perform are superb (narration is so - so).

Has anyone heard this? : http://www.amazon.com/Crossroad-Blues-Robert-Johnson/dp/B000BK8G0K/ ... apparently a CD reproduction of his lib o' congress recordings & commercial releases.

(Worst modern Robert Johnson CD: Eric Clapton / "Me and Mr. Johnson", a very decent studio session spoiled by the mix down, digital compression and engineering ... Eric probably only heard the studio masters before he signed off on this release = hopefully someone will rescue this otherwise fine piece of work and put it out on DVD-A.)
 
phn: " ... Without Europe most blues and jazz artist would starve. ..."

Keep the faith. Jazz, maybe, Blues not! ... "US Blues", "Motherless Son", "Blues is here to stay", "An' Don' Forget It"

... and view this whole DVD video set: Great renditions, generally fantastic to very good quality audio and well worth the denaro : http://www.amazon.com/Martin-Scorsese-Presents-Blues-Musical/dp/B0000CBHOI/ ... (don't bother getting the CDs = compressed versions of this sound track, decent enough for the car player, but mediocore to poor on a quality hifi ... Scorsese does a wonderful job on the video but somehow failed the follow through to CD = he shoulda' done 'em in DVD-A)
 
Has anyone heard this? : http://www.amazon.com/Crossroad-Blu.../dp/B000BK8G0K/ ... apparently a CD reproduction of his lib o' congress recordings & commercial releases.
I didnt hear that particular compilation, but it seems that one important song is missing; "Hellhound on my trail". Other than that, its a very fine collection. Dont know about the sound quality. It might be just as well to buy the "Complete recordings" 2 CD set to get every song he ever recorded except one! Go figure how Sony could miss one single song and include it in a later compilation:D You guessed it, one would have to buy the following compilation to be really complete:)

Steen :)
 
Mr. Dylan was refering to his lates album "Modern Times" in an interview in Rolling Stone magazine. His point being that his studio masters sounded a lot better than gthe mass market release of the same sounds = his publisher, Sony, being the ring leaders in an effort to make CDs sound bad so that they can make their other products sound good (like "super audio" CDs and "blue meany ray", HD TV and DVD movie audio tracks, etc,.)

And as everyone who can play DVD-A discs knows, 16 bit CDs do in fact suck a huge one when compared to 24 bit audio. :mad:
 
Thank you for clarifying Bob Dylan’s quote. Yes, unfortunately we are stuck with this 40 year old technology, the 16 bit format, unless we are willing to:

1) Throw out our current music libraries
2) Buy again our music libraries in the new optical format
3) Give up on the Fair Use* rights like backing up an optical medium or extracting the digital data contained in it.

And the last one is really the deal breaker in my case. I had CDs stolen from my car in 1998 and never played originals outside my house again. Since that incident, I only bring to the car CD-Rs as either straight backups or mixes.

Now, to legitimize my ramblings above and get back on topic, I would like to suggest the Jimmy Rogers’s Blue Bird CD. The material is great and so is the quality of the recording. Highly recommended.

(*) U.S. legislation regarding copying music medium.
 
1) Throw out our current music libraries

Yes, I am in the process of giving all of my CDs to my wife's car collection = the car being the only place that CD quality is ignored 'cause of background noise.

2) Buy again our music libraries in the new optical format

Yes. I buy nothing but DVD Videos (24 bit / 48K to 24 bit / 96K) and DVD-Audio (24 bit / 96K or better) and SACD (24 bit / 96K or better mastering via Sony's equal to 24 bit / 48K scenario)

3) Give up on the Fair Use* rights like backing up an optical medium or extracting the digital data contained in it.

No, I never, ever give up any of my rights to find a way to be entertained, even if I have to boycott Sony, et al, publishers and pirate their output when unavailable in a decent audio format.

Listen, most professional musicians understand that they have to get their wares into the public perview to generate sales. And most of them know that if their output stinks because their greedhead publishers are manipulating their products, folks will go elsewhere for the better sounds, eventually. And most of them, overtly or covertly, will agree with Bob Dylan that their studio masters are being trashed at their expense. I, for one, will borrow the LP and cut the DVD-A as a pirate, rather than pay good money for bad noise.

DVD-A = bandidth > 110 db
LP = bandwidth > 90 db with rounded clipping (some say more)
SACD = bandwidth > 90 db with sharp clipping
ordinary CD = bandwidth > 80 db on a good day with sharp clipping

Latest example: Santana "Supernatural"
http://www.amazon.com/Supernatural-Santana/dp/B00000J7J4/ ... the CD is good enough, but does suffer from over compression.
http://www.elusivedisc.com/prodinfo.asp?number=ARIDA51054... because of the use of the original studio master sources (multi channel 24bit / 192K bandwidth >110 db) this is a truely amazing recording, vastly improved to the point that it is like listening to a whole new group of sessions and mixes. The entire band can be heard as individuals without crushing the vocals. A truely fine listening experience, IMOP better than the LP. This DVD also includes thebroadcast MTV videos (which sound very much like the CD versions, only better) and other extras. :cool: :cool: :cool: = three stars
 
A couple of my favorites...

Junior Wells - Better off with the blues (Telarc CD-83354)

Kelly Joe Phelps - Shine eyed mister zen (Rykodisc RCD 10476) - more white guy blues

Hank Dogs - Bareback (Hannibal HNCD 1413) - British blues / folk

Memphis Slim - The Blues are everywhere

That last Memphis Slim album I only have on vinyl and it must have been a really early stereo recording as all the instruments are panned HARD left or HARD right! Its vocals and guitar over there... and drums right over that way... way over there...
 
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