In honor of H.P. Lovecraft's 120th Birthday, Reber Clark (Lovecraft Paragraphs) has kindly offered free downloads of Blind Lemon Jermyn's long lost recording Cthulhu Blues to readers of Unfilmable.com! Downloads will be available here through the end of the month...
The recording is also available through Amazon.com for $0.99. Information regarding the discovery can be found below...
In 2010 an old 78 rpm recording washed up on the recently night-black shores of New Orleans. The image above is of the restored album cover (Sanberry Restorations, Inc., Lake Charles, La.). Cthulhu Blues was performed by Blind Lemon Jermyn sometime in 1938 and was recorded for posterity by E. "Scooter" Zann, Jr.
Curiously the label indicates that it is in "stereo" which wasn't widely available in 1938 and the recording itself is mono. Another curiosity is that the label indicates "Side 2," however the other side is completely blank.
The choir is credited obscurely as the "Starry Wisdom Voices." Apparently there was a bassist, a clarinet player and a trumpet player on the gig as well. If anyone has more information on any of these artists please don't hesitate to contact Reber Clark. Any info appreciated.
For the purposes of copyright this recording is © & (P) 2010 by Reber Clark
(Thanks to Reber Clark)
Posts
This is one of the most important finds in BLUES HISTORY. I've heard about this song for years, but I thought all copies where lost. I'm glad it finally surfaced again. I wish my Grandfather could of lived long enough to hear it one more time, he use to hum it constantly..... Blind Lemon use to be his favorite performer.
ReplyDeleteFAKE! That is a picture of Frank Edwards taken at his home in Atlanta.
ReplyDelete