Paramount Record Box Set

[2crazikids]

This would be a great contest prize

[Kali Durga]

The Gatsby was $250, this is going to be over $1000.

And limited, of course.



I may cry. This is the first limited release they've put out that could possibly bring me to tears over not being able to get one.

[Jamie]

This would be a great contest prize

Or a bonus item for Vault 18.

[woodisgood]

If this thing is under $500 I'll faint. (Not before purchasing it first, though.) I too am afraid I see an $800-1000 price range for this package. Not saying it's not worth it, but . . . I'll wait for the "for the rest of the little people" version.

[Kali Durga]

I'll wait for the "for the rest of the little people" version.

Do we think there's going to be one? I could probably be happy with one of those, too, but there doesn't seem to be a mention of one.

[woodisgood]

I'll wait for the "for the rest of the little people" version.

Do we think there's going to be one? I could probably be happy with one of those, too, but there doesn't seem to be a mention of one.

I can't see them releasing something so musically and historically important and not making a version that's more financially within reach of the majority of consumers. I can't at this second think of a special edition they've made that also didn't have a corresponding regular ol' version. (Gatsby being an example.)

[Kali Durga]

I thought the same thing, but haven't they always mentioned an additional, lesser-priced version in the same announcement with all prior special releases? Rather than announcing that version later?


Though maybe another version would tie in with the world-wide release on Nov.19. Fingers crossed...

[Kali Durga]

No way... http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashville ... ing-nov-19

Wondering what to get that heard-it-all music lover, jazz aficionado or fanatical record collector this holiday season? Whoever described the project unveiled last Friday at Third Man Records as "Elvis Costello's Christmas present" was not at all off the mark.

For the better part of the year, there'd been whispers that Revenant Records, the superlative boutique label founded by the late John Fahey and former Nashville attorney Dean Blackwood, was working on a collection devoted to Paramount Records. The record-label subsidiary of the Wisconsin Chair Company, home to artists such as Ma Rainey, Son House, Blind Lemon Jefferson and King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band (featuring Louis Armstrong), Paramount recorded blues, jazz and gospel greats along with a number of long-forgotten regional and novelty artists starting in 1917, until it shuttered during the Great Depression.

Previously, Revenant issued stellar artisanal packages devoted to Captain Beefheart, Charley Patton and Albert Ayler — the last item consisting of a carved plastic "spirit box" filled with nine CDs, reproduced memorabilia, even a pressed forget-me-not. So meeting that standard seemed like a tall order — until visitors stepped inside the Third Man offices, outfitted with staffers in vintage garb and period oddities such as a working camera obscura.

The occasion is The Rise & Fall of Paramount Records, Volume One (1917-1932), the first half of a staggering label retrospective that's frankly one of the damnedest musical objets d'art I've ever seen. A fusion of archaic recordings, hand-hewn craft and spanking new digital technology — embodied by a mock-up of a metal Victrola needle that houses a flash drive and endlessly searchable discography database — it offers some 800 remastered digital tracks, a 250-page book of label reprints, a 360-page "field guide" to the songs and artists and six vinyl LPs emblazoned with hand-engraved center labels. If those contents were simply dumped in a Hefty bag and handed over to the consumer, they'd still be a treasure.

But the box, including the graphic elements designed by local Isle of Printing printmaster Bryce McCloud — how to describe this thing? First, in honor of Paramount's furniture-company origins, it comes housed in a polished wooden box shaped like a Victrola case. According to Third Man operative Ben Swank, the attention to detail was so thorough that Third Man founder Jack White (a man who knows his way around furniture and upholstery) specified the use of quarter sawn oak as well as the sage velvet inner lining. Second, McCloud's own meticulous detailing extends to a book cover made of laser-etched birch. Birch. Third, each component fits like a puzzle piece into its own neatly appointed slot, in tribute to the personal museums known as wunderkammern ("cabinets of wonder") popular in 16th century Europe.

Visiting writers in town for the Americana Music Festival geeked out unabashedly over the gorgeous packaging, the digital whizbangery and the vibrant, timeless music issuing a joyous clatter over the speakers. The official release date is Nov. 19, and to answer the question on everyone's mind: It's set to retail at Third Man for $400 — although we desperately wanted to believe White when he leaned over to Blackwood at the announcement party, gestured to the box and said, in his best Ronco pitchman voice, "This is retailing for $19.95, right? That's what I'm telling everyone."

[Jamie]

Too much for me but I'd say it's a fair price, relatively speaking.

[Kali Durga]

And, of course, one would assume that price is per volume.

[Alabama Woody]

That is a steal compared to what you got for the money with the Great Gatsby.
$400 is not cheap but if its made well.......I want one.

[3rdmwsiy]

That is a steal compared to what you got for the money with the Great Gatsby.
$400 is not cheap but if its made well.......I want one.

+1

[woodisgood]

I know many will laugh at me when I say this . . . but . . . considering what's in it and what it's made of . . . that seems a very fair price.

BUYING.

(I will then promptly faint after I get my confirmation email.)

[Kali Durga]

I know many will laugh at me when I say this . . . but . . . considering what's in it and what it's made of . . . that seems a very fair price.

I said the same thing in the comments over at Nashville Scene. It's $.50 per song. Plus all the tangible stuff.


And, yeah, I'll probably faint, too.

[woodisgood]

Dear TMR People Who Run the Vault:

Please give us subscribers first crack at ordering this.

Call me crazy, but, I really think this is going to sell out a heckuvalot faster than the Gatsby package.

Thank you for listening,
Wood Is Good