I'm looking through a list of Falcon's records on the Arhoolie website and I'm realizing that Falcon put out a lot of records. Over 100? Has anyone attempted to put together his early music? (Pre-"Live at the Triangle Club).

I'm really surprised there isn't a CD with his earlier recordings.

Does anyone have some of those records digitized? (The ones that aren't easily found on youtube, etc)

Never saw something like one CD with Joe Falcon's music until now.
On discogs they have an Arhoolie cd 459 with Joe Falcon :blush:
I have some Cajun Music sets with all kind of old artists inclusive Joe Falcon with Cleoma Breaux. Further I could download some music(mp3) from the internet.
Also some vinyl(33 rpm) with recordings of Joe Falcon on a set of 6 LP's.
It's on part 1,2 and 3
Of course there are collectors who have very old records (schellac/78rpm) with Cajun Music and I suppose they also have Joe Falcon in their collection.
Good luck with searching.

The answer to your question is a bit complicated. I do not believe that there is any "complete compilation " of Joe Falcon's recordings; but many of his recordings are on a lot of "Cajun music compilations" Probably the best way to start is the complete list of his recording. That list is available on Tony Russell's book "Country Music Records 1921-1942." In his discography, he lists 68 recordings by Joe Falcon, recorded between 1928 and 1937. A slight complication is that Cleoma Breaux Falcon Cleoma played on all (I think) of his recordings, and the listing includes many recordings by Cleoma Falcon.

Many of their recordings are included on several large compilations on the JSP label(JSP 7726, JSP 7749, and JSP 7715). One other compilation is titled :Cajun & Zydeco - Miletones of Legends. This is a 10 CD package. CD 3 has 10 songs by Joe and Cleoma. There are also other compilations - too many to list here.

Two people who probably know more about their recordings are Wade Falcon and Neal Pomea. Both of them have been regular contributors to this Board in the past. Look at their websites - they should be easy to find.

It would be nice to have their complete recordings in a single compilation, but it would be a big job to do it. It's nice to know that you are interested.

Jack Bond

I can answer this.

There is no comprehensive Falcon (nor Breaux) CD/digital set. There are a loose collection of some of their materials in several CD box sets, many discontinued. In fact, there are some original Falcon/Breaux materials that haven't actually been found in playable condition since their initial release in the 30s (most of that missing on Decca). These 2 families recorded for Columbia (some coissued on Okeh), RCA's Bluebird, ARC's Vocalion, and Decca. Of course, there's some post-war LP reissues and that live performance still available, ......and plenty of ripped internet MP3 bootleg projects (such as Miletones of Legends, eh hem)

I've personally embarked on seeing this project get kicked off and it's been through some ups and downs. Projects like this involve a defined scope. They involve professionals from different backgrounds. Collectors. Transfer engineers. Masterers. Media producers. Maybe even marketing, depending upon how big of a reissue label agrees upon. Below gives the high level view of what this entails.....

The first step in something like this is obviously obtaining the cleanest (sometimes file) copies of these rare 78s. Also, rarely does one find this in one location. It usually involves obtaining the permission of multiple collectors/achivists/institutions to agree to utilize their copies, and it comes with a cost. Lucky for us, there are some collectors out there (and even a producer) that holds onto some of the cleanest copies available. As you can imagine, it comes down to money.

Second, it requires someone not just a professional at mastering music, but someone who has experience transferring music from pre-war 78 RPM recordings. These come with noise/hiss that takes a specially training engineer to work with. Needle sizes need to be accounted for dealing with the proper groove size. Technical expertise here.

Third, even when the transfers are complete, sound levels need to be adjusted and certain amounts of noise needs to be removed, but not everything. Knowing the right balance on all of this requires experience. Naturally, that costs.

Fourth, if physical media, there's liner notes, information, photos, packaging art if any. Stuff like that.

Then you need(?) a label, major or indie, willing to take on the upfront costs of producing the box set and selling. If you're talking about a digital release (Bandcamp or Spotify), then this tends to be minimal. Quite popular today. But generally, the quality isn't the same once compressed. If you're talking about physical media (CD or LP reissues), that cost can be substantial depending on the scope of the project. Given a) CD sales are all time low causing companies to rarely produce them, and b) Cajun music projects are never big sellers comparatively, labels generally shy away from these knowing they may never break even. (Even Tompkins Square that produced the last Ardoin CD admitted dismal sales and cringed at any more Cajun music CD projects)

Speaking of labels, there's always the nasty copyright/royalty agreements needed that indie labels must acquire. Yes, even 100 yr old recordings still fall under this and much of their music's publishing rights is now owned by Sony Music Corp and Universal Music Group. Two of the biggest titans in the industry that acquired these rights. In fact, obtaining rights can be THE biggest logistical nightmare and other larger reissue projects have struggled in this area. It's rights management that usually holds back any good reissue project, relegating it to the dustbin of wishful thinking. You would think they could care less about someone making money on old music from the 30s, however, just ask the guys that produced the Paramount blues box set. Had to learn that lesson the hard way!

So where are we today with getting this done? There has been a few interested industry parties in wanting to see this happen. Two of them are highly respected collectors. One of them had planned to kick off a quasi-complete version of the project, but since 2018, he seems to have soured on the idea. Some others have expressed some mild interest in helping out. Clearly, they would all have to do this as a "labor of love" project, with only limited hopes in breaking even. I'm not giving up but i'm also realistic that all the cards have to line up for this to happen.

In the meantime, here's a list of the CD's you'd need to acquire to get most of what's out there....
Cajun Early Recordings - Various Artists (JSP 7726)
Cajun Capers: Cajun Music 1928-1954 (Proper BOX 91)
Cajun: Rare and Authentic (JSP 77115)
Cajun Vol. 1 Abbeville Breakdown 1929-1939 (CBS 467250)

If you have any other questions, let me know.

WF

That's a good summary, Wade!

I wonder if this lp is available on eBay?

Cleoma B Falcon A Cajun Music Classic

Most but not all of these recordings have Joe Falcon on them too. Some feature fiddle, like Lulu's Back in Town.

Clearly still a worthwhile project in any medium.

28 of them here, of varying sound quality. Most of them from the collection of Lyle Ferbrache. He put them on a CD for me.

http://npmusic.org/artists.html#joefalcon

It's a sin that we can't get all the recordings of the Falcons and Breauxs!

If anyone is interested in hearing these recording from 1928-1937…

https://downhomecajunmusic.buzzsprout.com/1216445/8266373

https://downhomecajunmusic.buzzsprout.com/1216445/8457086

https://downhomecajunmusic.buzzsprout.com/1216445/8491647

This is really a fantastic contribution to this forum.
Thanks for all the information :blush: