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Blues Images 2005
Calendar & CD

THE BLUES ALBUM
Rare source material from the Mainspring Press collection

PARAMOUNT RECORDS

• Paramount Book of the Blues (1927): Front cover
• Paramount Book of the Blues: Papa Charlie Jackson
• Paramount Book of the Blues: Blind Lemon Jefferson
• Paramount Book of the Blues: Ma Rainey
• The 1929 "Masked Marvel" Contest (Charley Patton)
• Paramount Metal Mother and Storage Sleeve (Skip James, 1931)

LABEL IMAGES

• Early Blues Records: A Label Sampler

BLACK SWAN RECORDS

• Black Swan January 1922 Catalog
• False advertising on Black Swan record sleeves (1921-1922)

COLUMBIA RACE RECORDS

• Advertisement from The Talking Machine World, featuring Bessie Smith (1924)

EMERSON RACE RECORDS

• Advertisement from the Chicago Defender (1924)

VOCALION RACE RECORDS

• Series announcement from The Talking Machine World (1926)
• Pages from Race Records flyer (1927)
• Race Records best sellers poster (1929)

ARTICLES (from THE MAINSPRING online journal)

• THE EDISON BLUES
  by Allan Sutton
  Thomas Edison's personal notes and memos reveal a man at odds with his staff and determined to stay out of the race record market at all costs.



• WHITE PERFORMERS ON BLACK SWAN RECORDS: A PSEUDONYM LISTING
  Depsite Harry Pace's claim that Black Swan would use only black talent, many issues are actually by white performers using aliases.



• BLACK SWAN'S OTHER STARS
  Harry Pace set his sights high for his pioneering black-owned and -operated record label. "While it is true that we will feature to a great extent 'blue' numbers," Pace told the press, "we will also release many numbers of a higher standard."



• MAMIE SMITH ONLINE DISCOGRAPHY
  The latest edition, from Brian Rust's Jazz and Ragtime Records.



• SORTING OUT PURITAN
  Paramount's less-glamorous sister label led a checkered past that continues to challenge discographers and collectors today.