Monday, October 15, 2012

Jason Weiss On ESP-Disk, Always in Trouble


Show description for Sunday 10/14/2012 @ 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM

Our guest this week, on the 5 o'clock hour, Jason Weiss, author of Always In Trouble: An Oral History of ESP-Disk, The Most Outrageous Record Label in America

In 1964, Bernard Stollman launched the independent record label ESP-Disk’ in New York City to document the free jazz movement there. A bare-bones enterprise, ESP was in the right place at the right time, producing albums by artists like Albert Ayler, Pharoah Sanders, and Sun Ra, as well as folk-rock bands like the Fugs and Pearls Before Swine. But the label quickly ran into difficulties and, due to the politically subversive nature of some productions and sloppy business practices, it folded in 1974. Always in Trouble tells the story of ESP-Disk’ through a multitude of voices—first Stollman’s, as he recounts the improbable life of the label, and then the voices of many of the artists involved.



“ESP’s music was startling, and it was unusual to have one company bring out so many styles of music at once under the same logo. This book takes a biographical approach to the label, and presents one of the best accounts I’ve seen of a chaotic, bizarre, and thrilling time.”—John Szwed, author of Alan Lomax: The Man Who Recorded the World
Always in Trouble brims with lively, revealing stories and anecdotes. A multi-sided look at the legendary ESP record label, it is essential reading for anyone interested in the cultural explosions of the 1960s.”——Nathaniel Mackey, author of Bass Cathedral

ArtistSongAlbumLabel
Bud PowellCleopatra's DreamThe Scene ChangesBlue Note
Cannonball AdderleyAutumn LeavesSomethin' ElseBlue Note
Sarah VaughnWords Can't DescribeSwingin' EasyMercury
Sarah VaughnPennies From HeavenSwingin' EasyMercury
Hampton HawesJorduAll Night Session Vol. 1Contemporary
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Bobby TroupIs You Is Or Is You Ain't My BabyBobby Troup & His Stars Of JazzRCA
Zoot Sims featuring Mel LewisBrushesChoiceWorld Pacific
Ray CharlesBut On The Other Hand BabyGreatest HitsABC - Paramount
Clark Terry featuring Thelonious MonkIn OrbitIn OrbitJazzland
Red GarlandTake Me In Your ArmsRed's Good GrooveJazzland
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Sun RaHouse Of BeautyThe Heliocentric Worlds Of Sun Ra Vol. 2ESP-Disk
Sun RaOuter NothingnessThe Heliocentric Worlds Of Sun Ra Vol. 1ESP-Disk
Albert AylerAngelsSpirits RejoiceESP-Disk
Gunter HampelAssemblage (excerpt)AssemblageESP-Disk
Ishmael ReedThe Freelance Pallbearers (excerpt)East Village OtherESP-Disk
Sonny SimmonsStaying On The Watch (excerpt)Staying On The WatchESP-Disk
Alan SondheimRitual All 7 70 (excerpt)Ritual All 7 70ESP-Disk
William S. BurroughsNova Express (excerpt)Call Me BurroughsESP-Disk
The FugsKIll For Peace (excerpt)The FugsESP-Disk
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Albert AylerGhosts (First Variation)Spiritual UnityESP-Disk
John BeecherReport To The StockholdersReport To The Stockholders & Other PoemsFolkways
Charlie ParkerKokoThe Complete Savoy MastersSavoy
Coleman HawkinsBody & SoulJive At FiveNew World
Duke EllingtonRidin' On A Blue NoteDuke Ellington 1938-1940Smithsonian
Duke EllingtonHip ChicDuke Ellington 1938-1940Smithsonian
Duke EllingtonOld King DoojiDuke Ellington 1938-1940Smithsonian
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Steve LacyThe Forest (excerpt)The Forest & The ZooESP-Disk
Interview With Jason Weiss By Justin DesmanglesInterview With Jason Weiss By Justin DesmanglesInterview With Jason Weiss By Justin DesmanglesInterview With Jason Weiss By Justin Desmangles
Tadd DameronLook, Stop, ListenThe Magic TouchRiverside
Bud PowellBlue Pearl (AlternateTake)Blue PearlBlue Note Japan

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