FLYING DUTCHMAN RECORDS
pickwick33
8,946 Posts
One of the weirdest, wildest, most diversified record labels ever (ca. 1969-76). On one side, he had old veterans like Johnny Hodges, Willie "The Lion" Smith, and Louis Armstrong; on the other, young, angry Afrocentric poets and musicians like Stanley Crouch, Angela Davis, Gil Scott-Heron and Leon Thomas. Not only did he have a blues subsidiary (Bluestime) recording the likes of Joe Turner and Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, but he also started a reggae sub-label (titled Reggae!) in 1970, a good three years before island music made any kind of splash in the U.S.. (But what were they thinking, having AMERICAN musicians recording JAMAICAN music back then?) Their biggest seller was probably jazz-funk icon Lonnie Liston Smith. Label owner Bob Thiele wasn't too proud to record his family, not only his wife (Teresa Brewer) and his son (who played in a band called Biscuit Davis), but himself (Bob Thiele & the New Happy Times Orchestra). Plus, there were oddities like the Plaster Caster Blues Band (based around noted Chicago penis sculptress Cynthia Plastercaster; all reports say that this album, which Cynthia had nothing to do with, is basically nondescript blooze-rock). When Bob Thiele came out with his autobio, I was disappointed to find out that there weren't any FD stories (although Impulse, the label he had previously, gets a generous bit of space). With Flying Dutchman, Thiele seemed to be shooting off in a thousand different directions, and I keep wishing that Both Sides Now would print an FD discog.This is more or less an appreciation thread, so floss your fave (or not fave) FD albums here!! Who was in their prime on this label? Who jumped the shark? And if anybody has any info or opinions on the FD Reggae or Plaster Caster records, by all means, you got the floor...
Comments
Best Flying Dutchman LP I think I own is Esther Marrow "Newport News". The track "Mama" is heart melting
Interestingly, I think it would be hard to argue that most FD artists were in their prime while on the label, although Gil Scott Heron was certainly at or nearing his prime imo. Small Talk, Pieces of a Man, and Free Will, while representing his early period, are all freaking incredible.
I would be inclined to argue that Leon Thomas was in his prime on FD. Specifically, I'm thinking of Spirits Known and Unknown, which to me is his best album.
maybe Harold Alexander? I like 'Sunshine Man,'but he has such a limited catalog of solo LPs that the argument isn't particularly meaningful.
The Horace Tapscott LP is nice. Not sure if it catches him in his prime though. It could've been his prime period but I agree with sentiments expressed by some of his sidemen that they feel the performance recorded that day in the studio was not their best.
i think it's interesting how Thiele mimicked the packaging of Impulse with the glossy, heavy gatefolds
I've certainly not listened to the majority of FD records, so I"m ready to be schooled. My friend was just telling me about a hot 45 he has, can't remember the name...
I'm not even sure I know anything about non-FD releases from Leon Thomas, what other labels did he record for?
Did it have all them FD sub-labels like Amsterdam, Bob Thiele, Reggae and Bluestime?
I just know of two on FD, plus a later Atlantic album. Does he have any more? And is he still alive?
...right down to the pictures of the sidemen! Well, since he had left Impulse by then, which had given up the original format, he had just as much right as anybody to use it (it was his idear in the 1st place).
I started to say...I know he made a comeback album in the late '80s for a CBS subsidiary (I wanna say Portrait?), but apart from that, everything I've seen on him was on FD.
Also, wasnt that Oliver Nelson SKULL SESSIONS on FD?
And Chico Hamilton went WAY out (the most ouet he ever got) on that EXIGENTE lp on FD.
There was a FD compilation out a few years ago...wasnt there?
that's correct. Leon Thomas Blues Band. never heard it.
i think RCA put that out.
and yeah, Oliver Nelson's Skull Session was an FD release
no it didn't
I just know of two on FD, plus a later Atlantic album. Does he have any more? And is he still alive?
No others that I know of. no idea if he's still alive.
Never heard any of these! I've always wanted to hear that Louis Armstrong but have never come across one.
AM-12002 Never Again [/b] "The factual story of Israel through the voices of its leaders and people: Golda Meir, Aba Eban, David Ben-Gurion, and Moshe Dayn ; David Perry, narrator.
AMS 12003 Wyse, Lois[/b] Love poems for the very married Poems read by the author, with orchestra; Tom Scott, arranger-composer-conductor.
AMS 12004 Dirty John's Hot Dog Stand [/b]Return from the dead
AMS 12005 Euclid [/b]Heavy equipment
AMS 12007 Cyrkle [/b]The minx
AMS-12008 Jurgens, Dick [/b]Here's that band again
AMS 12009 Louis Armstrong and his friends [/b]
AM 12010 Whyton, Wally [/b]Leave them a flower
AM-12011 Jurgens, Dick [/b]Here's that band again, today
AM 12012 Brewer, Teresa [/b]Singin' a doo dah song
AM 12013 Brewer, Teresa[/b] Music, music, music
AM 12014 Biscuit Davis [/b]Playing on the moon
AM 12015 Teresa Brewer in London with Oily Rags [/b]
Terd-o-licious!
cosine and add on nearly every release from gato on FD. i would go so far as to say that he was in his prime on FD, and jumped the shark afterwards by venturing into highly suspect fusion territory.
...LEONE?[/b]
i like Gato on FD but like his Impulse stuff a little better...
i've seen Leon Thomas billed as "Leone" before but can't remember where...
The Louis was reissued on CD (on RCA/Bluebird, I think) under the title It's A Wonderful World (a remake, not the hit version from Good Morning Vietnam).
Yeah, these were the LP's I had in mind when I thought about Flying Dutchman putting out some odd, unexpected stuff...but I couldn't remember the artists' names. I've seen 'em in stores. We tend to think of F.D. as being this hipster jazz label, so it's surprising to see records like these! I think the Wally Whyton is poetry as well, I remember that album sat unsold in a local shop for months on end, and I remember thinking that this record looked highly unlikely coming from the same folks that gave us Gil Scott-Heron and Lonnie Liston Smith.
the teresa is pretty ordinary jazzy/show vocals. the whyton is indeed partial poetry but its a neat blend of folk and such too.
This one has nice production, but more on the dixieland side of things.
Another one that's not so hot:
BDL 1-0829 Bobby Hackett with Zoot Sims, Bucky Pizzarelli, Hank Jones, Mel Lewis & Richard Davis-Strike Up The Band (1975)
This is when the label had RCA distribution. Again, nice production, decent musicianship, but nothing special.
I only have a few, but the ones I do like are:
Steve Marcus/Count's Rock Band-Sometime Other Than Now
Larry Coryell-Barefoot Boy
George Russell presents The Esoteric Circle with Jan Garbarek-s/t
George Russell-Electronic Sonata For Souls Loved By Nature
This is a good one too, in fact all of the work he was doing around the same time is worth checking out.
and it's
The version of "The Creator Has a Master Plan" on this is so dope, and there's a nice version of "Song for my Father" as well. Orgy in Rhythm have another one of Leon's FD releases available, get your grab on.
I'm kinda answering ass backwards, but I knew of the Amsterdam subsidiary, but not of Bluestime (I know of the Bluesway subsidiary for ABC), Reggae, or Bob Thiele Music, and let's not forget Doctor Jazz and Red Baron.
There was also Contact and Mega. Normally Mega was a country label (their biggest hit was Sammi Smith's "Help Me Make It Through The Night"), but they had a few jazz releases distributed through FD (like this one Bernard Purdie LP).
As far as Bluestime, Thiele was involved with both that label and Bluesway (in its' earliest days). There were several artists who recorded for both companies.
Yeah, Thiele, for all his forward-thinking avant-garde tendencies, made sure dixieland and other older styles of jazz were well-represented on FD. Especially after the brief ragtime craze around '74 or so.
BTS-9001 - The Plastic Caster Band-The Plastic Caster
BTS-9002 - Joe Turner-Real Boss Of The Blues
BTS-9003 - Various Artists-Super Black Blues
BTS-9004 - T-Bone Walker-Every Day I Have The Blues
BTS-9005 - Harmonica Slim-Return Of Harmonica Slim
BTS-9006 - Otis Spann - Sweet Giant Of The Blues
BTS-9007 - Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson-The Original Cleanhead
BTS-9008 - Malcolm & Chris-Just The Blues
BT-29009 - Various Artists-Super Black Blues Volume 2
BT-29010 - Various Artists-Blue Time