[Dixielandjazz] Distortion on Clarence Williams CD's

[Robert Smith]

Gerard,
I only have a few Clarence Williams tracks from 1933-34, and they're all on the same LP: "Clarence Williams no.1 jug & washboard band 1927-1935". The tracks I have are:
Beer Garden Blues
Chizzlin' Sam
He's A Colonel From Kentucky
High Society
Mister Will You Serenade
Ooh Looka There, Ain't She Pretty
Organ Grinder Blues
The Shim Sham Shimmy Dance
You Ain't Too Old
I've just finished listening to all the above tracks, and there's no hint of a scratch on any of them. In fact, the only distortion is some over-recording on the last few bars of Organ Grinder Blues, and one misplaced washboard "swish" from Floyd Casey.
As was pointed out on a previous thread regarding Bessie Smith's "gurgling", John R.T. Davis used analogue techniques for his remastering, so someone else is responsible for the digital remastering.

As the problem occurs on several copies of the same CD's, then I would suggest the problem lies in the digital remastering. I assume that the "scratches" occur in exactly the same place on every playing, thus eliminating any suspicions of faulty earthing on your equipment.

Cheers

Bob Smith