Jim, I think someone with your ear can make use of the better sound on these recordings. Hope I haven't steered you wrong!

I got mixed up on a couple of the songs.

It's actually Two Step de Elton that was reworked by Austin Pitre under the title Bayou Teche Two Step.

One Step de Oberlin is a different tune. It's a tour de force, all right. It's an independent, an original.

Today I reread the liner notes to the Arhoolie CD, Amédé Ardoin, I'm Never Coming Back, and they are by Michael Doucet. Very moving in his homage to the great musician! And Marc Savoy makes a couple of comments. The notes on the Tompkins Square release do not compare. FWIW (for what it's worth).

Neal- Any difference in production/mastering, even if it's either small or great would be a breath of fresh air. Just to have it alone is fine by me.

I'm so drawn to Amede's playing, I just wish I could incorporate some of his style in my own playing. Now that's something to strive for.

Neal, Thanks for the review and the history of the various tunes. This is really helpful. My copy's on order!

Hi All,

I really appreciate the conversation and interest in the new Amede Ardoin collection that I produced & remastered for Tompkins Square. Since Ardoin is one of my favorite musicians I did want to clarify a few issues.

First, every 78 used on this collection of the complete recordings of Ardoin is the "best known" copy. I am friends with the small community of pre-war 78 collectors that specialize in early hillbilly and in the sub-category of early Cajun 78s and I arranged the borrowing of all the sides that I needed that I already didn't posses in prime condition. I have in my own collection six test pressings (from metal masters) of the first six sides that Ardoin & McGee recorded and to my knowledge four of those pressings are unique/singular. I also have in my collection eight out of the ten sides that Ardoin & McGee recorded for Brunswick, with six of these eight sides on Brunswick file copies, in New condition. I was able to borrow the New file copy of another Brunswick from Ron Brown. The other Brunswick does not exist as a file copy but I have in my collection an E-/V+ copy that is the best known copy. It is the Amede Two-Step & Valse à Thomas Ardoin.

The Bluebird recordings (six sides) were the most problematic as file copies & test pressings do not exist (at least outside of BMG). I have in my collection an E+/E copy of Les Blues de Voyage/La Valse de Amitié...the best known condition copy. I have an E- copy of the Blues de Crowley/Oberlin and a V- copy of the Sunset/Tout Que Reste C'est Mon Linge. However, I borrowed better copies of these two Bluebirds but still the Sunset & Tout Que Reste C'est Mon Linge were quite worn and noisy.

There are file copies of all the Decca sides but some of these had eccentric peak wear at the highest frequency spots due to an inferior cartridge/stylus used for playback in the 1960s. Also, any copies made of the Decca sides would have been reproduced at the incorrect speed of 78.5 RPM. Decca (and ARC) ran their recording lathes at a higher speed in the late 1930s (approximately 81.5) so anything issued or taped or transferred prior to my work would have been at the incorrect speed, therefore at the incorrect pitch.

Most early Cajun 78s canvassed in Louisiana & Texas are extremely worn so locating and using the best condition copies is of paramount importance.

A note on the remastering: Ardoin & McGee (like many other pre-war artists that sung & played in a fairly wide dynamic range) were arranged in a recording room in such a manner as to optimize the lead singer (Ardoin) and the lead instrument (accordion) at the expense of the supporting instrument (McGee's fiddle). Adding to this was the fact that most of Ardoin & McGee's recordings were subject to analogue compression (to limit the dynamic peaks of Ardoin's singing). Finally, most of the material recorded by Ardoin was done so in New Orleans, a town with relatively high humidity and no effective air-conditioning (at the time). These three factors influenced greatly my approach to remastering these superb recordings.

First, I really wanted to bring out McGee's always tasteful (and sometime spectacular) back-up fiddling. Most (but not all) previously remastered versions emphasize Ardoin's accordion & vocals but allow McGee's fiddle playing to become almost non-existent. So, the only way bring out all the musical information is to decompress the mono signal by playing both sides of the groove wall of the record and then enhancing the frequency of McGee's fiddle.

Second, the original analogue compression keeps Ardoin's vocals & accordion playing within a set dynamic range (i.e., within the peak range of the accordion). This would have resulted in a "thin," unnatural, limited range of Ardoin's singing and also would have "muddied-up" the articulation of his words. By decompressing the signal (by playing both sides of the groove wall & enhancing the mid-range)one gets a much more articulate vocal, with a warm, natural dynamic range. The downside of this approach is that it does introduce more surface-noise (and non-musical artifacts).

Third, the humidity in the air during most of these sessions would have naturally impaired the production and capture of sonic vibrations. There's not much you can do about this other than to make the upper mid-range frequencies as clear as possible (for clarity & separation of tones). This also would introduce a little extra noise.

I hope that I've done justice to the musical legacy of Amede Ardoin & Dennis McGee with my approach.

I do apologize if any feel that the notes were not informative. My approach to producing (and note-writing) is neither scholarly nor didactic. I guess it is "enthusiastic." I like to bring more people outside of the music to the music...people that would not normally even be aware of what pre-war music is. I'd like people to love the music (and musicians) as much as I do (but possibly for different reasons). I think I accomplished this with an earlier collection: "People Take Warning! Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs: 1913-1938." I hope to accomplish it with an upcoming project: "Aimer et Perdre: Songs of Love & Loss, 1927-1934." Plus there are wonderful forums, like this one, which are much more informative than any static set of notes. Dialogue, learning & information thrive on forums like this.

I hope to see some of you all at Augusta this year...I plan on attending some of the classes.

With Sincerity & Warmest Regards,

Chris King

This is completely over my head, and totally cool! Thanks so much for the long and detailed explanation of your process. My copy should arrive shortly and now I can't wait!!

Hi Patrick,

Thank you...I look forward to your review of the CDs. The process of analogue remastering does sound a bit complicated but really no more so than trying to learn Cajun accordion...I just got a beautiful Acadian accordion, probably from the mid to late 1970s that I'm having tuned & serviced right now.

Best,
Chris

Chris,

Just wanted to let you (and the rest of the board) know that I've listed all the way through a couple of times and the sound quality, compared to the other CD versions, is simply amazing. I don't think I'll ever be able to figure out what he's actually doing, but the listening experience is so much better. Many thanks for all your work!

Yes, thanks Chris; got my copy recently, well done job! Since the track listing is not (yet?) in the CDDB database, f.i for Mp3 player conversion, heres a TXT file i made for the CDs:

-------------------

Amede Ardoin- Mama, I'll Be Long Gone TRACK LIST

CD 1:
01 Madam Atchen 3:05
02 One Step Des Chameaux 2:51
03 Valse De Mon Vieux Village 3:10
04 Les Blues De Voyages 2:58
05 Taunt Aline 3:00
06 One Step D'Oberlin 2:52
07 Valse De Ballard 3:19
08 Aimez Moi Ce Soir 3:05
09 Amadie Two Step 3:08
10 Valse Brunette 3:19
11 Sunset 3:06
12 Blues De Basile 3:07
13 Valse Des Chantiers 3:05
14 Les Blues De Crowley 3:09
15 Valse De Gueydan 3:01
16 La Turtape de Saroied 3:05
17 Two Step de Eunice 3:19

CD 2:
01 Two Step de Prairie Solieau 2:58
02 Valse Des Opelousas 2:55
03 Le Midland Two-Step 3:10
04 La Valse de Amites 2:50
05 Two Step de Mama 3:08
06 Valse a Alcee Poulard 2:54
07 Les Blues Prison 3:09
08 Si Dur D'etre Seul 3:07
09 La Valse A Austin Ardoin 3:04
10 Tortope D'Osrun 3:10
11 Tout Que Rest C'est Mon Linge 3:05
12 La Valse a Thomas 3:05
13 Tostape de Jennings 3:06
14 Oberlin 3:07
15 Two Step D'Elton 2:59
16 Valse de la Point D'Eglise 3:04
17 La Valse Ah Abe 3:09

--------------------
- Nout

Thanks a lot, Chris, for your comments and notes on the recordings, and congratulations on the sound! I know that good source 78s must be rare, and metal masters ever moreso!

It's especially great that this set includes the first 6 songs done together by Ardoin and McGee, as they are some of the most important ones. Standards. McGee really comes though too! Those 6 tunes weren't on Arhoolie's previous cd release (I'm Never Coming Back,) so I guess they didn't have good sounding sources to work with.

I might be alone in this, but I personally thought that the notes on the Arhoolie release were a bit of a stretch, trying to draw a connection between Ardoin and zydeco music that is just not as strong and real as the connection between him and Cajun/Creole music. Upthread I went through each song and labeled the ones that became standards in Cajun and Creole music, and I do not find any comparable overlap between his repertoire and the earliest recorded zydeco music. That's probably of little interest to the potential listener who has never heard his music before. Connecting him with Charley Patton and the mystery men of the blues was helpful! I like it when our music is seen and discussed within a broader context that way.

It is just amazing that this music was recorded and commercially released in the first place! You are so right about that.

Thanks Neal,

I appreciate your comments very much. I'm glad that you enjoyed the set.

Best,
Chris

Hello, Chris...A most articulate and interesting post. I will purchase a copy based on that alone. Good luck with the accordion...hopefully you will be a regular poster here now. Have you been to a Balfa Heritage Camp?

CharlieB.

Hi Charlie,

Thank you & I do hope that you enjoy the CD. Yes, I will be posting regularly as soon as I get my accordion back from being tuned/set-up. I've been playing fiddle & guitar for almost 20 years so I'm hoping some of that music will transfer to the accordion. I've not been to a Balfa camp but I plan to attend Augusta and hopefully another camp this year.

Best,
Chris

I have added a section on Recommended Recordings to my Web site in the area on the 1920s and 30s.

http://npmusic.org/artists.html#20s30s

Recommended: We are very fortunate today to have so much music from the 1920s and 1930s available on CD, much more than was available even when this Web site began in 2002.

As a young man in the 1970s I was introduced to the old time Cajun and Creole music of the 1920s and 1930s through a remarkable series of lps (long-playing records) put out by the Arhoolie Records label. I will always be grateful to producer Chris Strachwitz for making that music available! Some of these outstanding lps are still available from the Arhoolie Web site, with these titles: Louisiana Cajun Music Volume 1, First Recordings (OT108); Louisiana Cajun Music Volume 2, The Early 30s (OT109); Louisiana Cajun Music Volume 3, The String Bands of the 1930s (OT110); Louisiana Cajun Music Volume 4, The 30s to the 50s (OT111); Louisiana Cajun Music Volume 5, 1928-1938 (OT114); Amade Ardoin, His Original Recordings 1928-1934 Volume 6 (OT124); Leo Soileau, Louisiana Cajun Music Volume 7 (OT125).

From 2004-2008, the JSP label put out three 4-CD sets that cover a good portion of the 1920s and 30s recordings. Look for Cajun Early Recordings (JSP7726), Cajun Country 2 (JSP7749), and Cajun Music Rare and Authentic (JSP77115). Also look for recordings by Dennis McGee and Leo Soileau, who have individual compilations available on the Yazoo label.

Recently, in 2011, Tompkins Square released an essential compilation of Amédé Ardoin recordings with much improved sound mastering by Chris King! It's just great to have all 34 of these great recordings available in a single 2-CD set! Look for Mama, I'll Be Long Gone: The Complete Recordings of Amédé Ardoin 1929-1934! This music by the great black Creole singer and accordionist Am�d� Ardoin, first with fiddler Dennis McGee and then solo, includes some of the most important and influential, not to mention beautiful, tunes and lyrics in all of Cajun and Creole history. Many of his songs became standards or well known songs in the Cajun and Creole canon, sometimes with different names, as shown here.

Neal the time and money you spend on this subject is very much appreciated. You are serving a very important part and role in preserving and passing along the music that keeps us drawn to. Thank you for what you do.
Jerry