Shellac Shanty

Ah the great world of music, and people who love it :) I was looking at one of the people that have been leaving comments' sites, one Lady Domi, from La Belle France, and her very very kind comments about the Shanty. I will give you the BabelFish translation of what she said forthwith:

Being of morose mood and so much is not very sadistic in this rainy Sunday, I do not resist the pleasure of recommending the blog of Brad to you, which on the other side of the Atlantic prevails (and more precisely in Colorado) under the soft name of "The Impaler", and whose "Shellac Shanty" (the "Hut with the shellacs", the shellac being matter whose the 78 turns were made) conceals some completely dispensable scarcities.
Not need to be anglophone: it is enough to click on the titles of pieces... Hold, for example, this "Where Did my Snowman Go" interpreted by Patti Page and a chorus of children as you never heard some before (to be downloaded in own way of weapon defensive, very practical to make flee a guest who encrusts yourselves)...
But, I exaggerate. There are also at Brad very full with curiosities very sympathetic nerves: inter alia, two songs hawaiiennes with matched guitar - very pleasant to listen while the rain tambourine with the windows.


Merci beaucoup, my friend :) I speak and read the language somewhat, so I got the gist of her kind words, but Babelfish helped in the intricacies...

Ah, it does the heart good to be commented upon positively :) Her site is VERY good when it comes to the realm of jazz and reviews of same... if you read French, you can go directment to her Jazz Corner. If you don't read French, there's always Babelfish :)

In honor of her very kind words, I think I'll share some shellacs aux Francais that I encoded up a few years ago with you fine folks... I enjoyed these when I got them, and going back and listening to them again make me wish I was somewhere in the French countryside with a basket full of wine, cheese, breads, and my portable gramophone... watching the world go by... a spring day perfect for romance. The artist I speak of is Jean Sablon, a voice not very familiar with American listeners, but he should be (at least I think so)...

La Chansons des Rues

Melancolie

Un Poisson Dans l'Eau

Vous Qui Passez Sans Me Voir


All of these are from Columbia 78s recorded and mastered in France but pressed in the US. If I remember correctly, the releases came after WW2, perhaps 1946 or 47. They sound good, or they WOULD sound better than these encodes are... reason being: I encoded these YEARS ago on somewhat slower computers and inferior equipment. If I can find the discs I want to re-encode them, because (1) they are sonically very interesting, very 'warm and comfy' in the recording room, and (2) I like the material.

Oh sure, there are a BUNCH of releases by Jean Sablon, Charles Trenet, even Maurice Chevalier available on CD, but I find that getting the shellac disc, cleaning it, recording it into the computer, and then sitting back with a nice glass of wine on a sunny Sunday afternoon as they merrily play along (and not having to worry about scratching or dropping or breaking the disc), what could be better?

Lady Domi, I wish for you sunny, breezy Sunday afternoons, but if it rains, I wish for you (and all my readers) a warm fire, a sense of quietude, and many cabinets (or hard drives full) of good music to wash away the melancholy of the day.

Shellac, good companionship, good wine, and cats. Can it get any better?