[Dixielandjazz] Emmett Miller CD

[Dick Baker]

Allow me to jump in ahead of dear Bill.  Emmett Miller was a 
brilliant minstrel show veteran who was rescued from obscurity when 
Columbia released this CD in 1996, presenting a bunch of recordings 
he made for OKeh in 1928-29, near the end of his life.  The band put 
together for the recordings was called the Georgia Crackers and used 
Tommy & Jimmy Dorsey, Artie Schutt, Eddie Lang, Stan King or Gene 
Krupa, Manny Klein or Leo McConville, Joe Tarto and others.

What's stunning about Miller is not just the jazz quality of these 
recordings.  You quickly will realize that he's the guy who taught 
both Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams how to sing.  The Amazon link is

         http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000002B10/ref=dm_dp_cdp?ie=UTF8&qid=1384556102&s=music&sr=1-1

but sadly, it appears that the CD is out of print.  A few non-Amazon 
vendors, and folks on eBay, are selling remaining new copies for 
prices starting at $40, or you can buy the tunes as mp3s.  But you 
really want the CD, as it has a great booklet telling the Emmett Miller story.

You can see a few more of the details at

         http://www.discogs.com/Emmett-Miller-The-Minstrel-Man-From-Georgia/release/1332676

But wait, there's more.  Columbia's CD presented the best surviving 
recordings of Miller, and it constitutes about half of the recordings 
he made.  I was so taken with him that I tracked down the rest of his 
records and created an Emmett Miller Vol. 2 CD for my own 
enjoyment.  I've put the files from it at

         http://dickbaker.org/EmmettMiller2/

Feel free to listen/read/download.  None of this has ever been reissued.


>Hi gang. A musician friend introduced me to Emmett Miller. He has a
>cassette with no info. The band is terrific, apparently made up of some of
>our favorite Chicagoans.
>
>Copies of the CD I just ordered are available on Amazon used for $20 Plus
>$4.00 shipping, or loads more. Also new for ca. $40.00.
>
>Bill Haesler--wanna give us more info?
>
>--Sheik

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      Dick Baker
  djml at dickbaker.org