On the Shelf: 2023 Blues Images Calendar w/CD!

Another year is coming to a close and, yes, it’s time for the Reverend to preach his annual sermon on the joys of having a Blues Images calendar hanging on your wall. The 2023 calendar is now available and, much as with previous years, John Tefteller and his Blues Images crew have outdone themselves with another great effort!

For those of you unfamiliar with Mr. Tefteller’s annual gift to blues fans, the Blues Images calendar features vintage advertising artwork from the long-gone, legendary Paramount Records label. Each year’s calendar preserves an invaluable slice of visual history of the early years of the blues. Whereas previous publications have skewed more heavily towards early, primitive B&W pen ‘n’ ink artwork, last year’s calendar included more photo-oriented advertising. This year’s banger does even better, with several photographic ads (reproduction technology was in its infancy in the 1930s) as well as more than a few splashes of color.

The Blues Images 2023 calendar features advertising promoting Paramount releases of plastic fantastic sides like Joshua White’s “No More Ball and Chain”, Bessie Smith’s “Shipwreck Blues”, Charley Patton’s “Poor Me”, Ma Rainey’s “Big Boy Blues”, and Blind Blake’s “Worried Blues”, among other classic old-school blues 78s from folks like Blind Lemon Jefferson, Texas Alexander, Henry Thomas, and Ida Cox. Each calendar page is annotated with historical and biographical information about the featured artist, and each month also includes the birth and death dates of classic blues artists.

The Blues Images 2023 calendar cost slightly more than some cheap wall-hanger you’d buy from the mall or local bookstore, but for the hardcore blues fan, Tefteller packs a lot of value for the $29.95 (plus shipping) it costs. Each Blues Images calendar includes a full-length CD that features rare, impossible-to-find, and often one-of-a-kind tracks, many of them sourced from Tefteller’s extensive personal collection. The performances, which include the songs from the original advertising in the calendar as well as related releases, have been remastered from the original 78rpm records using the ‘American Epic’ digital process that makes the sound on these antique shellac marvels really pop out of your speakers.

This year’s accompanying CD features recordings from the 1920s and ‘30s, a fine selection that includes the aforementioned sides featured in the monthly advertisements, as well as too-cool-for-school obscurities like “Funny Paper” Smith’s 1930 track “Old Rounder’s Blues”, Brother Fullbosom’s 1931 gospel-blues “A Sermon On A Silver Dollar”, and Texas Alexander’s 1928 side “Blue Devil Blues”. Since there are only twelve months in a year, and that’s too few songs to fill out a complete CD, Tefteller has dipped into his vast record collection to include several rare tracks recorded in 1953 by ‘Playboy Fuller’, a pseudonym for bluesman Louisiana Red (a/k/a Iverson Minter). There are also songs by Scrapper Blackwell (1930’s “Springtime Blues”), Edith North Johnson, Memphis Willie Borum, and Pete Franklin, among others, 25 tracks total. The CD closes with the bittersweet “I’m Going Away Blues” by Frank Stokes.      

The annual Blues Images calendar and CD is a “must have” addition to the collection of any serious old-old-school blues fan. Blues Images sells other cool blues-related stuff, too, like posters, t-shirts, CDs from previous years, and past years’ calendars. Sadly, as Tefteller writes in the intro to the 2023 calendar, this will be the last calendar after publishing annually for 20 years. A dwindling market for this sort of thing, plus the increased cost of printing and distributing makes the yearly labor-of-love a money-losing proposition. There are many of us who are going to miss the annual calendar, but you can still grab some blues music swag from the Blues Images website. Tell John that “the Rev sent ya!”

On The Shelf: Blues Images 2022 Calendar w/CD!

The Reverend has certainly sung the praises of John Tefteller’s annual Blues Images calendar before (like in 2019 and 2020!). The annual datebook has adorned my office wall for well over a decade running, and I welcome with my usual glee the autumnal arrival of that 12”x12” box with the next year’s calendar. Well, gentle reader, I’m here to tell you that the 2022 calendar is now available and it’s a winner all around!

For those of you who haven’t gotten hip to this annual gift from Mr. Tefteller, the Blues Images calendar features vintage advertising artwork from the long-gone Paramount Records blues label, materials that noted record collector and dealer Tefteller literally rescued from a dumpster over 20 years ago. Each year’s calendar preserves an immensely-valuable visual history of the early years of the blues; I donate my slightly-used copies at the end of each year to the Bill Schurk Sound Archives at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Whereas last year’s calendar featured more photographic advertising art than the traditional pen-and-ink drawings of the past, the 2022 features an interesting balance of hand-drawn ads with little photographic inserts.

As I wrote about last year’s calendar, printing technology had improved over the years, allowing for more photographic representation, and 2022 features advertising promoting Paramount releases of plastic fantastic sides like Henry Thomas’s “John Henry,” Memphis blues legend Furry Lewis’s “Jellyroll,”  Memphis Minnie’s “You Can’t Give It Away,” and Bessie Smith’s “Homeless Blues” along with ads for 78-rpm flapjacks by folks both well-known and obscure like Blind Willie Johnson, Kansas City Jim Jackson, and Blind Blake, among others. Each calendar page is annotated with historical and biographical information about the featured artist, and each month also includes the birth and death dates of classic blues artists.

The Blues Images 2022 calendar cost slightly more than some cheap wall-hanger you’d buy from the mall or local bookstore, but for the hardcore blues fan, Tefteller packs a lot of value for the $26.95 (plus shipping) it will cost you. Each Blues Images calendar includes a full-length CD that features rare, impossible-to-find, and often one-of-a-kind tracks, many of them sourced from Tefteller’s extensive personal collection. The performances, which include the songs from the original advertising in the calendar as well as related releases, have been remastered from the original 78rpm records using the ‘American Epic’ digital process that makes the sound on these antique shellac marvels really pop out of your speakers.

Much like last year, Tefteller has expanded the scope of the calendar’s accompanying CD to include old-school blues tracks dating from the late 1920s through the mid-‘30s and featuring songs from the aforementioned legends along with Ma Rainey’s “Little Low Mama Blues,” Blind Willie Johnson’s haunting read of “John the Revelator,” Victoria Spivey’s “The Alligator Pond Went Dry,” Washboard Walter’s “Wuffin’ Blues,” and Papa Charlie Jackson’s “Hot Papa Blues No. 2” as well as tracks by Blind Lemon Jefferson, Black Byrd, and the Famous Blue Jay Singers of Birmingham. A real treat this year is Tefteller’s amazing find of nine songs by folk-blues legend Lead Belly, recorded live during a 1949 radio broadcast by WNYC in New York City.

The Blues Images 2022 calendar kicks off with a spry 1934 recording by Mr. Ledbetter, but the 1949 radio performances are a revelation. Lead Belly delivers some of his usual blend of acoustic folk, blues, and gospel music in tunes like “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” “Good Morning Blues,” and “The Boll Weevil” but it’s some of the less-well-worn songs that sound the sweetest here. Lead Belly’s wavering vocals and innate charisma shine brightly on performances like the traditional prison work song “Take This Hammer,” the obscure blues tune “Ain’t Gonna Let You Worry My Life No More,” or the mesmerizing chain-gang call-and-response of “Stewball” (itself derived from a British folk song). Ledbetter is allowed time for introductions and explanations between songs, making for a phenomenal set by a bona fide American music legend.    

The annual Blues Images calendar and CD is a “must have” addition to the collection of any serious old-school blues fan. Blues Images sells other cool blues-related stuff, too, like posters, t-shirts, CDs from previous years, and past years’ calendars. You can find it all on the Blues Images website. Tell John that “the Rev sent ya!”

The Blues Images 2020 Calendar Is Here!

The Reverend has hung a copy of John Tefteller’s incredible Blues Images calendar on his office wall for over a decade now, its brilliant imagery and blues spirit providing inspiration for my own humble creative efforts. When the leaves begin to turn each autumn, I look forward to receiving the 12”x12” square box with the next year’s calendar enclosed, and I’m happy to say that the 2020 edition is now available!

For the neophytes among you, the Blues Images calendar features vintage advertising artwork from long-gone blues label Paramount Records that noted record collector and dealer Tefteller literally rescued from a dumpster over 20 years ago. Each year’s calendar preserves an immensely-valuable visual history of the early years of the blues; I donate my copies at the end of each year to the Bill Schurk Sound Archives at Bowling Green State University in Ohio.

The 2020 calendar offers the imaginative pen-and-ink art promoting Paramount releases of plastic fantastic sides like Charley Spand’s “Ain’t Gonna Stand For That,” Leola B. Wilson’s “Ashley Street Blues,” Blind Lemon Jefferson’s “Bad Luck Blues,” and a holiday-themed December ad featuring Mississippi Sarah and Daddy Stovepipe’s “Read Your ABC’s.” There are little photos of B&W advertising artwork reproduced in the empty squares among the days as well.

This year, for the first time, the Blues Images calendar features more photographic advertising art than pen-and-ink drawing, probably because printing technology had improved by the 1930s-era date of many of these ads. As such, the calendar features rare, not-seen-for-decades photos of artists like B.B. King, Victoria Spivey, the Mississippi Sheiks, Bo Carter, “Texas” Alexander, Lonnie Johnson, and Bessie Jackson instead of the usual B&W drawings. Each calendar page is annotated with historical and biographical information about the featured artist, and each month also includes the birth and death dates of classic blues artists.
 
The Blues Images 2020 calendar cost slightly more than some cheap wall-hanger you’d buy from the mall or local bookstore, but for the hardcore blues fan, Tefteller packs a lot of value for the $24.95 (plus shipping) it will cost you. Each Blues Images calendar includes a full-length CD that features rare, impossible-to-find, and often one-of-a-kind tracks, many of them sourced from Tefteller’s extensive personal collection. The performances, which include the songs from the original advertising as well as related releases, have been remastered from the original 78rpm records using the ‘American Epic’ digital process that makes the sound on these antique shellac marvels really pop out of your speakers.

For 2020, Tefteller expanded the reach of the enclosed CD’s coverage to span from the late 1920s through the late 1940s, which encompasses a heck of a lot of great blues sides. The 2020 CD opens with a rare track from the calendar’s cover artist, the phenomenal blues legend B.B. King. “Got the Blues” is a jaunty, jazzy track released as King’s second single in 1949 by the Bullet Records label. It wouldn’t chart, but that’s OK ‘cause a couple of years (and a half-dozen singles) later, B.B. would strike gold with the R&B chart-topping “3 O’Clock Blues.” Still, “Got the Blues” sketches out the bluesy, jazz-flecked sound that King would take to the bank over the decades to follow.

Victoria Spivey’s “Blood Thirsty Blues” takes the listener back to the 1920s – 1927 to be exact – the song’s vaudeville roots apparent in its early jazzlike feel. Spivey recorded with greats like Louis Armstrong and King Oliver throughout her career, so the jazz influences heard in her vamping blues are honest. The Mississippi Sheiks’ “Baby Keeps Stealing Lovin’ On Me” is a prime slice of jug band blues dating to 1930 while Sheiks’ guitarist Bo Carter’s “Howling Tom Cat Blues” is an enchanting, underrated track from 1931.

There’s a lot of other great stuff on this year’s CD, including tracks by “Texas” Alexander with the Mississippi Sheiks (“Days Is Lonesome,” 1930), Blind Lemon Jefferson (“Bad Luck Blues,” 1930), Lonnie Johnson (“She’s Making Whoopee In Hell Tonight,” 1930), and Bessie Jackson (“Shave ‘Em Dry,” 1935), all of which are represented by cool advertising artwork across the months. The CD includes another ten tracks for which there is no artwork, but represents a treasure trove of blues music nevertheless. You’ll find three recently-discovered (and unreleased) demos by obscure bluesman Juke Boy Barner, a couple of songs by Blues Boy Bill (one of ‘em previously unreleased), and super-duper-rare recordings by folks like William Moore, Mississippi Sarah, and Joe Stone (a/k/a Jaydee Short).

The annual Blues Images calendar and CD is a “must have” addition to the collection of any serious old-school blues fan. Blues Images sells other cool blues-related stuff, too, like posters, t-shirts, CDs from previous years, and past years’ calendars. You can find it all on the Blues Images website. Tell John that “the Rev sent ya!”

The Blues Images 2019 calendar has arrived!

The Reverend has been a big fan of John Tefteller’s incredible Blues Images calendar for around a decade now, and every autumn I look forward to receiving that record-shaped box that includes the next year’s calendar. The 2019 edition is now available and, as usual, Mr. Tefteller has outdone himself once again.

The Blues Images calendar features vintage 1920s-era advertising artwork from long-gone blues label Paramount Records. Some of each month’s art includes artist photos – this year more than in the past – but typically each page offers gorgeous B&W artwork from label advertisements that noted record collector and dealer Tefteller literally rescued from a dumpster almost 20 years ago. Each year’s calendar preserves an immensely-valuable visual history of the early years of the blues; I donate my copies at the end of each year to the Bill Schurk Sound Archives at Bowling Green State University in Ohio.

The 2019 calendar offers the imaginative pen-and-ink art promoting Paramount releases of plastic fantastic sides like Blind Lemon Jefferson’s “Piney Woods Money Mama” (February), Blind Blake’s “Too Tight Blues No. 2” (May), “Dad” Nelson’s “Coon Can Blues” (August), “Papa Charlie” Jackson’s “Ash Tray Blues” (September), and Charley Patton’s “Oh Death” (October). Several pages feature rare B&W photos of blues artists like Papa George Lightfoot, Memphis Minnie, the Beale Street Sheiks, and Joe Williams instead of the drawings. Each calendar page is annotated with historical and biographical information about the featured artist, and each month also includes the birth and death dates of classic blues artists.
 
The Blues Images 2019 calendar cost more than some cheap wall-hanger you’d buy from the mall or local bookstore, but for the hardcore blues fan, Tefteller packs a lot of value for the $24.95 (plus shipping) it will cost you. Each Blues Images catalog also includes a full-length CD that features rare, impossible-to-find, and often one-of-a-kind tracks, many of them sourced from Tefteller’s extensive personal collection. The performances, which include the songs from the original advertising as well as related releases, have been remastered from the original 78rpm records using the recently-developed ‘American Epic’ digital process that makes the sound on these antique shellac marvels really pop out of your speakers.

The free CD accompanying the Blues Images 2019 calendar features a wealth of vintage ‘20s blues tunes by both reasonably well-known artists like Memphis Minnie (“Ma Rainey”), Blind Lemon Jefferson (“Low Down Mojo Blues”), Charley Patton (“Troubled ‘Bout My Mother”), and Joe Williams (“My Grey Pony”) as well as the aforementioned tracks illustrated by the advertising artwork. The disc also includes super-rare sides by obscure bluesmen-and-women like Lottie Kimbrough (“Don’t Speak To Me”), Leola B. Wilson with Blind Blake (“Black Biting Bee Blues”), Otto Virgial (“Got the Blues About Rome” and “Seven Year Itch”), and gospel-blues artist Sam Butler (“Heaven Is My View” and “Christians Fight On, Your Time Ain’t Long”) and others.

Throw in newly-discovered songs by William Harris (“I’m A Roamin’ Gambler” and “I Was Born In the Country – Raised In Town”) and Papa George Lightfoot (“Winding Ball Mama” and “Snake Hipping Daddy”) from Tefteller’s ever-evolving collection, and between the calendar and 23-track CD, you have a bona fide collector’s item. Blues Images sells other cool blues-related stuff like posters, t-shirts, CDs from previous years, and past years’ calendars. You can find it all on the Blues Images website. Tell John that “the Rev sent ya!”

Third Man’s The Rise & Fall of Paramount Records, Volume 2

Nobody has ever accused Jack White of subtlety. The former White Stripe and Raconteur has built a successful career – both solo and with his various band side projects – based on his musical creativity and keen business sensibilities. When it comes to the literal “labor of love,” nobody embraces a project like White, which was proven by the ingenuity and experimentation that went into the special features found on the vinyl version of this year’s solo release, Lazaretto.

White’s Third Man Records label has been reissuing recordings by blues legends Charley Patton, Blind Willie McTell, and the Mississippi Sheiks from the Paramount Records catalog on vinyl for the past couple of years. In 2013, however, the label released a monster box set, The Rise & Fall of Paramount Records, Volume 1, which featured six vinyl record albums, a pair of profusely-illustrated books, and thumb drives featuring some 800 re-mastered tracks from the enormous catalog of the legendary Wisconsin record label, all packaged in a beautiful, hand-crafted oak “cabinet of wonder” designed to look like an antique Victrola record player (and sporting a price tag nearing $500!).

It was an impressive labor of love and a critically-acclaimed, if commercially dubious collection, but that’s never stopped White in the past. So what does he do for an encore? How about The Rise & Fall of Paramount Records, Volume 2, a second enormous box set which covers the years 1928 to 1932, when Paramount was the undisputed king of “race records” (i.e. blues music). Like the first, this second box set was released in collaboration with Reverent Records, which released its own massive Charley Patton box set some years ago.

This second volume also includes six 180gram vinyl LPs and a high-capacity USB drive that includes all the music (800 songs) and more than 90 vintage Paramount Records ads that originally appeared in the African-American newspaper The Chicago Defender. A pair of big books (250pp and 400pp) features artist biographies and visual representations of the Paramount advertising art.

For the packaging this time, the label went with a shiny aluminum and stainless steel case that reflects the evolution of not only Paramount’s sound at the time, but also the American industrial revolution. Stylistically, the box is meant to mimic not only the hollow-body National Resonator guitar that was popular among bluesmen at the time, but also the radical design and function of the RCA Victor Special Model K portable record player that became popular in the 1930s. 

Of the boxes design, in a press release Revenant’s Dean Blackwood says, “we didn’t want Volume 2 to be a strict bookend to Volume 1. That’s not an honest reflection of the design themes. The ’30s was the beginning of industrial design coming to the fore with its own brand of modernist design; rather than embracing exotica, our version was around this streamlined modern version of Art Deco. The machine was the source of America’s might and standing in the world, our capacity as an industrial power that connected the vast plains of our country and even other nations – that’s really where we found our sweet spot.”

The Rise & Fall of Paramount Records, Volume 2 includes some of the most essential and influential blues recordings in the history of the genre, including tracks from legends like Son House, Charley Patton, Skip James, Tommy Johnson, the Mississippi Sheiks, King Solomon Hill, Willie Brown, and literally hundreds of others. Like its predecessor, the second volume is priced well north of $400, but it’s an incredible feat – historic music packaged in style and with no little love.

White and Third Man Records have taken some heat for these Paramount sets, with an alleged rights holder filing suit against the label for copyright infringement. It’s hard to believe that these 80 to 90 year old tracks aren’t in the public domain given their age, but there’s no doubt of their influence, and I commend White and Third Man for taking the risk to bring this music to the label’s young audience.

Rare Paramount Blues Record Found!

Photo courtesy John Tefteller/Blues Images

Kudos to record collector and music rarities dealer John Tefteller for his latest and greatest find yet – a rarer-than-rare 78rpm copy of Delta bluesman J.D. Short’s long-lost Paramount Records release “Tar Road Blues” b/w “Flagin’ It To Georgia.” Originally released in 1930 as Paramount #13091 (with the artists incorrectly labeled as “Jaydee Short”), this is the only known surviving copy of the record, which had been considered lost forever.

The ridiculously-rare slab o’ shellac popped up in Tennessee, where it was discovered shoved up into the back of an antique Victrola record player cabinet along with a bunch of other blues records from the same era. Tefteller bought the record from what he calls “a local picker,” and plans to include the two sides – unheard for decades – as part of the free CD that comes with his annual Blues Images calendar, a cool lil’ page-turner which features classic blues artwork from the 1920s that was originally used by the Wisconsin-based Paramount Records labels as advertisements for their records.
 
“The record is in decent shape with the only serious flaw being a small chip on the edge,” Tefteller states in a press release about his find. “It has seen its share of play on that old windup but still sounds great and it is an absolute two sided masterpiece.” Tefteller has been collecting rare and hard-to-find blues 78s for years and is responsible for discovering an impressive list of never-before-heard blues recordings by artists like Son House, Tommy Johnson, Skip James, Blind Blake, and many others.

J.D. Short is one of the lesser-known, but not lesser-talented Delta blues musicians, perhaps because of the extreme rarity of many of his recordings – few people in the modern era have ever heard him perform! Born in Port Gibson, Mississippi in 1902, Short recorded four double-sided 78s for Paramount Records in 1930, only one of which was previously known to exist, and only a single copy of it which sits…no surprise…in Tefteller’s collection. Short went on to record for the Vocalion label under the name of Jelly Jaw Short and would later release singles for the Delmark Records and Prestige/Bluesville labels before his death in 1962.

Tefteller is constantly on the prowl for rare, undiscovered pre-war blues recordings, and he made headlines last year when he bought a rare 78rpm record by Delta blues legend Tommy Johnson on eBay for a record price of $37,100. As he states in his press release, he’s hoping that publicity from his purchases will help fuel the discovery of more unfound records.

“I encourage everyone to get out there and find them,” he says. “There are still two more J.D. Short records on Paramount to find and, of course, there are still my most wanted items, the last two missing Willie Brown Paramount 78s.” If you love old-school pre-war blues – and who doesn’t? – check out Tefteller’s Blues Images website, where you can find copies of the calendar, cool posters, t-shirts and, if you want to hear some blues, there are samples of John's record collection you can listen to!