'STONEBONE' search success ... at last

Neighbors who bothered to look might have been amused to see a grown man chase a mail truck down his street.

I had good reason. There was a pink 'sorry-we-missed-you' slip in the box instructing me to pick up my package the next day, and I wasn't about to wait. My regular carrier knew right away what was up, assured me my item was still on her truck and I could have it after signing in the right place.

After running up the hill, carefully opening the box and inspecting the contents, I've just completed listening to Japan's A&M album # 330 while simultaneously copying its 4 jammin' tracks onto cassette via my trusty 1980-vintage turntable/ tape deck. Nice way to celebrate conclusion of a 20-plus year search.

For over a year I've collected pennies, loose change and what I saved not paying for coffee while out to save for the day I'd bite the bullet and snag this album. Yes, it was expensive, but life's short and there are worse ways to splurge.

'STONEBONE' is in a typical A&M-CTI gray gatefold cover with an intact obi strip, the slightly heavy vinyl in mint shape and a brochure advertising the first nine A&M-CTI releases written in Japanese. Fortunately the gatefold liner notes are in English, and I am hopeful my scans are legible.

There's no track length information, but, judging from the 90-min. tape I used, it came in slightly short of 45 minutes, filling one side with room to spare. The credits are as follows:

SIDE ONE
Dontcha Hear Me Callin' to Ya (R. Stevenson)
Musings (J.J. Johnson)

SIDE TWO
Mojo (J.J. Johnson) -- arr. by J.J. Johnson (first three tracks)
Recollections (J. Zawinul) -- arr. by Bob James

Trombone - J.J. Johnson & Kai Winding
Electronic Keyboards - Herbie Hancock (courtesy of Warner Bros Records), Bob James, Ross Tompkins (on "Recollections" only)
Bass - Ron Carter
Drums - Grady Tate (courtesy of Skye Records)
Guitar - George Benson

Recorded at Van Gelder Studios, Rudy Van Gelder, engineer ...
... September 23, 24, 25, 1969
Produced by Creed Taylor

Cover photographs by Pete Turner; album design by Sam Antupit

If I were closer, I'd digitize it in high-res digital for you (so it would be on DVD, along with a downsampled copy for CD). Then I'd have you safely pack it away and store it under lock and key.

Glad you got it! One of the A&M "holy grail" finds for sure!

Excellent score James!!! I am so GREEN with envy!!! I keep scouring auctions looking for this LP, with the only time I ever saw it going for $800. Gotta give us a review!

Cool find - congrats.

I found some pictures on eBay, probably from the one LPJim bought:







Harry

I'm thinking this project has quite a lot in common with Pete Jolly's 'SEASONS.' Lots of experimental electric piano work is present throughout. Benson's solos are instantly recognizable. Some of the trombone duets resemble what could have resulted if the interludes from 'BETWIXT & BETWEEN' were stretched out a bit. My favorite track is 'MUSINGS,' which is relatively brief, slow and filled with unexpected chord changes. A beautiful little tune.

For years I've tried to contact some of the reissue labels about this and other reissue suggestions. My impression is with all the registration hoops to jump through, they'd rather not be bothered. There's an interesting CTI reissue program that would be good, if a person could get through to the powers that be.

Like fine wine, this music needs to be shared with those of discerning tastes here at the Corner, and I wondered about Rudy's digitizing idea. Could this be done from a cassette tape copy? It sounds pretty good and would be easy to snail-mail. Just thinking out loud at bit. It would be cool to have a CDR to play in the car.

JB

May have to travel to Tennessee for a listening session!

Jim, it is possible to digitize from a cassette, assuming the tape is in great condition. Obviously, it's always better to do it from the original source.

One would need an awfully good cassette deck and a metal Type IV tape to make it sound decent on CD-R. It would make a passable copy, but true, the original source would give the best results. The software I use for cleanup works best on a high-resolution digital transfer (24-bit/96kHz) of the original source; a tape copy would clip off the transient information that the software needs to clean it up.

Would A&M even have this master tape anymore? There is no reason A&M couldn't reissue all of their A&M/CTi recordings on a 2-CD set. Or even as a lossless download available online, which would do away with manufacturing costs.

Listening party at Jim's house.