The Feelies / Joseph Spence

Format: LP
Update on two essential albums mentioned earlier. It's been a good month. First, The Feelies' Crazy Rhythms (Stiff Records, 1980) is reissued by Bar/None on vinyl and the sound is incredible. (Nice work, Andreas Meyer at Tangerine Mastering in Weehawken.) And then, if that weren't enough, devoted philanthropists Eric Isaacson, Warren Hill, and Tim Stollenwerk at Mississippi Records reissue Joseph Spence's otherworldly classic, Good Morning Mr. Walker (Arhoolie, 1972). This album also holds up (or will hold up) as an artifact: thick cardboard jacket with pasted-on cover in Folkways fashion.

Washington Phillips

Album: What Are They Doing in Heaven Today?
Format: LP
Label/Info: Mississippi Records MR-006

Album: The Key To The Kingdom
Format: CD
Label/Info: Yazoo 2073

Phillips was a pioneering gospel performer in the 1920s. Born in Texas in 1880, his entire musical catalogue consists of 18 or so unique performances. Recorded between 1927 and 1929, these tracks feature Phillips self-accompanied by an instrument that sounds like a fretless zither. This instrument, which has been variously identified as a Dolceola, a Celestophone, and a Phonoharp (and also is considered by some to be an instrument entirely home-made by Phillips) creates a unique sound that is immediately charming and intriguing. For Phillips' complete recordings consult the Yazoo CD.

Joseph Spence

Album: Good Morning Mr. Walker
Format: CD or LP
Label/Info: Arhoolie CD contains bonus tracks. Originally released as Arhoolie LP in 1972.