The Big 18 - Celery Stalks at Midnight?

Everything about the swinging music we love to DJ

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JesseMiner
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#31 Post by JesseMiner » Tue Jan 29, 2008 6:10 pm

morte100 wrote:When I came up as a dancer/dj in 2001/2, I heard so much hype about the Big 18 from well-regarded DJs (and this forum), that I began that holy grail search for the albums. When I found them I was a bit disappointed because I was expecting GREAT and I got good.
Slightly-related note: I have found that the longer I look for a hard-to-find album I have heard or had recommended, the more disappointed I am when I finally find it. Not sure if that has to do with the hype I have built through expectation or with the actual quality of the music.

Jesse

PS. I love the Big 18 and continue to play at least one of their tracks almost every time I DJ. I might not put them on the same level as Basie, but they are none-the-less an essential staple in my DJ collection.

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CafeSavoy
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#32 Post by CafeSavoy » Tue Jan 29, 2008 6:26 pm

morte100 wrote:
CafeSavoy wrote:a studio band with two recordings
FYI, I have a 3rd album by many of the same folks called Live Echoes Of The Best In BIG BAND BOOGIE. The band's moniker was changed to The Will Bradley Johnny Guarnieri Band. I liked this the least of the 3 by far, but thought some of you might find it interesting to look for it. I doubt it was put out on CD. The biggest problem with this one is that one or both of the band leaders had the less than bright idea of singing on it.
Ha ha. Maybe they were channeling their inner Woody Herman.

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#33 Post by Eyeball » Tue Jan 29, 2008 6:32 pm

As far as I recall - these were all bands assembled for particular sessions in NYC and as such were as good as they were going to be and no better.

You guys have to understand that the spirit of the 30s and the 40s that you may be looking for died before 1950. All these sessions were largely attempts to sell LPs, rather than make good music, in HI-FI and then stereo.

I've heard so many of these type sessions and they are invariably disappointing in the long run - it's all there except the spirit of the earlier era.

Anyone heard "Chatter Jazz" (on RCA Victor) with Rex Stewart and Lawrence Brown? Hot names; dismal records, pure pop - what someone was once trying to market as "Polite Jazz".

There's lot of great and swinging big band Jazz and some Swing, but it is really hit and miss.

Try the RCA LP of Nat Peirce called "Last band at the Savoy" or something. That came off pretty well.

The Fletcher Henderson Reunion Band sessions came out pretty well - try and find them, tho. Maybe now on CD.

In the 60s I even enjoy some of the Ted Heath releaes on London Records -great sound, hot British band doing Swing classics, great ensembles, decent solos "SWING IS KING" - good album.

Into the 50s and 60s, Harry James was still cranking out great Swing music, some of it now 'Basie-style', bur not all of it. The stuff he did for MGM in stereo in the early 60s wails with Buddy Rich.
Will big bands ever come back?

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JesseMiner
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#34 Post by JesseMiner » Tue Jan 29, 2008 7:03 pm

Eyeball wrote:Try the RCA LP of Nat Peirce called "Last band at the Savoy" or something. That came off pretty well.

The Fletcher Henderson Reunion Band sessions came out pretty well - try and find them, tho. Maybe now on CD.
I will definitely keep my eyes peeled for the Nat Pierce album. Sounds interesting.

The Fletcher Henderson All-Stars album The Big Reunion is indeed available on CD, and I love it! The only downside is that even though the songs swing like mad, they are mostly on the long side. I do occasionally play "Sugar Foot Stomp" clocking in at a brief 4:13.

Jesse

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Eyeball
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#35 Post by Eyeball » Tue Jan 29, 2008 11:49 pm

Long tracks, though.

Image

Also -

Image

Featuring HARRY JAMES, Buddy Rich, Nick Buono, Ray Sims, Corky Corcoran, Dave Madden, Jack Perciful, and others.
"SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY, CHEROKEE, IF I COULD BE WITH YOU, KING PORTER STOMP, HARLEM NOCTURNE, FLYING HOME, IN THE MOOD, SOPHISTICATED LADY, STRING OF PEARLS, FRENESI, TUXEDO JUNCTION, ONE O'CLOCK JUMP"

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CafeSavoy
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#36 Post by CafeSavoy » Wed Jan 30, 2008 12:06 am

Eyeball wrote:

Try the RCA LP of Nat Peirce called "Last band at the Savoy" or something. That came off pretty well.

The Fletcher Henderson Reunion Band sessions came out pretty well - try and find them, tho. Maybe now on CD.
nice stuff. especially the reunion band. i like the 7th avenue express on the nat pierce too.

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Lawrence
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#37 Post by Lawrence » Wed Jan 30, 2008 12:59 am

Lawrence, I see what you mean. To expound, it sounds like the main difference is that, in my opinion, The Big 18 is good music not GREAT. When I came up as a dancer/dj in 2001/2, I heard so much hype about the Big 18 from well-regarded DJs (and this forum), that I began that holy grail search for the albums. When I found them I was a bit disappointed because I was expecting GREAT and I got good.

I don't think of gap-ad era tastes as twittish - just young and unevolved. I was into swing music way before I was into swing dancing, and I was elated when my generation was starting to listen to "swing" music as pop on the radio. I didn't like the music, but I thought it was a step in the right direction. I think The Big 18 was another step in that evolution, and thank goodness for whatever creative DJs introduced them to that next digestible step. I wonder how many DJs that have been on this forum followed that same progression to their current mature taste.
Fair enough. Like Jesse noted, the expectations probably tainted the discovery. For me, without any predisposition or even knowledge of it, I was astonished. They are not the greatest albums ever recorded, but they are a staple of my collection.


The other thing I just realized... I tend to lump the Big 18 in with the CD of another all-star band that I own (below; featuring unspecified Basie and Ellington alums) because I compiled the best of the Big 18 and this other All-Star band onto the same CD-R for DJing. To moderate your expectations, it sucks, but you should still get it. 8)

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anton
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#38 Post by anton » Wed Jan 30, 2008 6:16 am

morte100 wrote: FYI, I have a 3rd album by many of the same folks called Live Echoes Of The Best In BIG BAND BOOGIE. The band's moniker was changed to The Will Bradley Johnny Guarnieri Band. I liked this the least of the 3 by far, but thought some of you might find it interesting to look for it. I doubt it was put out on CD. The biggest problem with this one is that one or both of the band leaders had the less than bright idea of singing on it.
Interesting! Do you have the track listing?

Image

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morte100
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#39 Post by morte100 » Wed Jan 30, 2008 9:48 am

anton wrote:Interesting! Do you have the track listing?
Image
This is a euro press copy I found online that for some reason left the "live echoes of the best of" part of the title off. Seriously though, I do not recommend it. It looks like the less than ideal singing was Clancy not the band leaders.

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#40 Post by Toon Town Dave » Wed Sep 03, 2008 3:37 pm

I got the Big 18 on the 1974 LP release a while back but had no way of playing them. Finally, a local dancer volunteered to digitize them for me. Finally got them last night. I'm with Solomon, there's some good, fun stuff.

I'm particularly keen on Blues on Parade, Liza and Swingtime in the Rockies. I like the fact that the arrangements are a little different.

My only complaint is that sometimes the horns are a little too dominant at times. Well, that and the fact that there are a few pops and a bit of hiss coming from LPs.

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Travis
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#41 Post by Travis » Wed Sep 03, 2008 4:17 pm

Toon Town Dave wrote:
I'm particularly keen on Blues on Parade, Liza and Swingtime in the Rockies. I like the fact that the arrangements are a little different.
I really like Liza and SitR off the Big 18 CDs.

I DJd Celery Stalks one night and almost faded it out early because it was so boring.

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#42 Post by anton » Wed Sep 10, 2008 6:21 am

Another complaint one might raise is that the recordings are drenched in reverb. It works fine for Easy Does It, since it's so slow and soft, but it becomes a bit tiresome on the faster tracks.

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#43 Post by Yakov » Mon Mar 19, 2012 6:43 pm

in 2012 the Big 18 is easily found on one disc for $15 on Amazon prime:
http://www.amazon.com/Legendary-Swing-S ... s_ep_dpi_1

Still no audible samples, though, anywhere on the internet. Anyone want to upload a 30 second clip of one of the tracks maybe?

thanks

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#44 Post by dogpossum » Mon Mar 19, 2012 9:28 pm

Yakov wrote:in 2012 the Big 18 is easily found on one disc for $15 on Amazon prime:
http://www.amazon.com/Legendary-Swing-S ... s_ep_dpi_1

Still no audible samples, though, anywhere on the internet. Anyone want to upload a 30 second clip of one of the tracks maybe?

thanks
You can totally find audio clips of these Big 18 albums, all over emusic, itunes, etc. Get your google on, dood.

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Yakov
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#45 Post by Yakov » Tue Mar 20, 2012 5:15 am

Do you have a link, dood? Cuz I definitely tried that...

itunes search: http://cl.ly/F9pW
emusic search: http://cl.ly/FAeW

and plain google search got me nowhere. I tried some downloading sorts of searches but what that mostly got me was episode 18 of "Big Bang Theory."

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