Sold Date: December 8, 2024
Start Date: September 20, 2021
Final Price: £15.00 (GBP)
Seller Feedback: 441
Buyer Feedback: 0

FATS WALLER Gold Standard Series 3 EP RCA Records 1957
Not only was Fats Waller one of the greatest pianists jazz has ever known, he was also one of its most exuberantly funny entertainers -- and as so often happens, one facet tends to obscure the other. His extraordinarily light and flexible touch belied his ample physical girth; he could swing as hard as any pianist alive or dead in his classic James P. Johnson-derived stride manner, with a powerful left hand delivering the octaves and tenths in a tireless, rapid, seamless stream. Waller also pioneered the use of the pipe organ and Hammond organ in jazz -- he called the pipe organ the "God box" -- adapting his irresistible sense of swing to the pedals and a staccato right hand while making imaginative changes of the registration. As a composer and improviser, his melodic invention rarely flagged, and he contributed fistfuls of joyous yet paradoxically winsome songs like "Honeysuckle Rose," "Ain't Misbehavin,'" "Keepin' Out of Mischief Now," "Blue Turning Grey Over You" and the extraordinary "Jitterbug Waltz" to the jazz repertoire. (Richard S Ginnell, AllMusic)
I have graded the vinyl Excellent, a wonderful little record, great condition for its age - when I opened out the little inner crispy paper that contained the vinyl a waft of pipe smoke hit me.  Clearly not played often but also clearly cherished. Playback is as good as it gets.
I have graded the sleeve Very Good Plus, nicotine yellowing on the back, which is not laminated, but if you ask me it gains from this little bit of history that it wears with a smile. My photographic picture is by Zachariah O'Hora.
Matrix Runout Side A etched H2PH 3572 (hard to read this one as letters transposed) guessing A1 Matrix Runout Side B etched H2PH 3573 (ditto!) B1 (I think the fact that the runout is etched suggests this could be a first pressing but I always pause to be on the safe side, pressings are so obscure at times)
A1Honeysuckle Rose A2Two Sleepy People B1Until The Real Thing Comes Along B2The Minor Drag
Fats played often "Stride Piano".
(C) by Radio Corporation of America, 1957.
Recording dates:
A1 New York May 13, 1941.
A2 New York October 13, 1938.
B1 New York August 1, 1936.
B2 New York March 1, 1929.
EP belongs to the RCA, RCA Victor "Gold Standard Series".

Postage : I always use UPS for overseas postage as Royal Mail takes an absolute age to arrive.  The cost of this varies, in some parts of the world it is in excess of £20 while in others it is less.  If a buyer alerts me before paying I can adjust according to location.