Bert Williams: The Remaining Titles 1915-1921

• Artist: Bert Williams
• Rating:
• Release Date: September 07, 2000
• Type: Compilation (best of)
• Genre: Vocal Music

Review

Bert Williams was a gifted and convincingly expressive entertainer. His thematic repertoire speaks volumes about the nature of the entertainment industry at the beginning of the 20th century. Bert Williams: The Remaining Titles 1915-1921 (Document 5661)presents 23 vintage performances lifted directly off of scratchy old Columbia recordings dating from the last six years of his recording career, with instrumental accompaniments by the Charles Adams Prince Orchestra. There are gaps in the progression; it does not represent an exact chronology of everything Williams recorded during this time period. "Bonus" track 24, a short alternate take of "The Phrenologist Coon," comes from a 7" lateral record cut for Victor in October of 1901. Although the phrase "Remaining Titles" implies the existence of other volumes by Bert Williams on Document, this appears to be the only Williams title in the Document catalog. A word about sound reproduction is in order: the Document record label specializes in early jazz, blues, ragtime, country, and vaudeville. Unlike various other historical reissue projects, Document often presents the original 78-rpm recordings in a manner that conveys the exact listening experience enjoyed by collectors of these timeworn artifacts. The sound quality of each selection seems to depend entirely upon the condition of the individual platter or cylinder from which the sound was extracted. On the one hand, it's good to preserve the marvelous textures of vintage speech and musical entertainment wreathed in authentic surface noise, a commonly encountered but by no means universal trait of the historical medium, as some truly mint condition 78-rpm records have little or no discernible "scratchiness." On the other hand, it's good to have access to other reissue compilations presented by producers who have made an effort to "clean up" the sound using high-tech "remastering" techniques. The complete recordings of Bert Williams, wonderfully restored and arranged in chronological sequence, are available in three volumes from Archeophone. True believers in the majesty of Bert Williams will also want to obtain this Document disc so as to be able to consult the informative liner notes by Rainer E. Lotz while staying in touch with that delectable scratchy antique record ambience. ~ arwulf arwulf, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Indoor Sports		Bert Williams	(3:19)
Purpostus	Bert Williams	Bert Williams	(2:33)
Never Mo'	Alex Rogers, Bert Williams	Bert Williams	(2:52)
The Lee Family	Alex Rogers	Bert Williams	(3:25)
Twenty Years	Paul Cotton, Henry Creamer	Bert Williams	(2:34)
O Death, Where Is Thy Sting?		Bert Williams	(2:54)
When I Return		Bert Williams	(2:33)
Oh! Lawdy (Something's Done Got Between Ebecaneezer and Me)	Henry Creamer	Bert Williams	(3:07)
It's Nobody's Business But My Own	Marshall Walker	Bert Williams	(2:50)
Elder Eatmore's Sermon on Generosity	Alex Rogers, Rogers	Bert Williams	(3:40)
I'm Sorry I Ain't Got It You Could Have It If I Had It Blues		Bert Williams	(3:14)
Checkers (It's Your Move Now)		Bert Williams	(3:02)
Ten Little Bottles	Ballard MacDonald, James V. Monaco	Bert Williams	(3:12)
Unlucky Blues	Ted Lewis	Bert Williams	(2:50)
Lonesome Alimony Blues	James F. Hanley	Bert Williams	(2:57)
Get Up	Michael Stipe, Robert Hood Bowers, Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills	Bert Williams	(2:50)
I Want to Know Where Tosti Went When He Said "Good-bye"		Bert Williams	(3:10)
Eve Cost Adam Just One Bone		Bert Williams	(3:06)
You'll Never Need a Doctor No More		Bert Williams	(2:49)
My Last Dollar		Bert Williams	(2:52)
I'm Gonna Quit Saturday		Bert Williams	(2:44)
Brother Low Down [Take 2]	Larry Briers	Bert Williams	(2:56)
Unexpectedly [Take 2]	Perry Bradford	Bert Williams	(2:54)
The Phrenologist Coon [7" Version][Alternate Take][*]		Bert Williams	(2:00)

Credits

Johnny Parth (Producer), Alex Rogers (Vocals), Charles Adams Prince (Director), C.H.H. Booth (Piano), Bert Williams (Vocals), Dr. Rainer E. Lotz (Liner Notes)