78tk-BLUES-PLANET 101/102-Snooky and Moody- ******VERY RARE CHICAGO BLUES

$

522

This record grades about VG/VG+ condition.. Nice copy,moderate wear....no scratches,slight centerhole damage....

Very few known copies...

From Red Saunders Research Foundation site:

Chicago's postwar recording boom produced a number of remarkable blues recordings by small boutique recording companies. Among these were Planet (with just three known releases) and Marvel (with just two). Planet and Marvel helped pioneer an electrified country blues style by releasing the first-ever recordings by Snooky and Moody, Johnny Young, and Floyd Jones, all three acts becoming Chicago blues legends. The labels also came out with a Jimmy McCracklin record, picked up from the West Coast label Trilon, and a jazz combo release by the Bob Perkins Trio. Planet and Marvel 78s are exceedingly rare today, because in a fairly short time—most likely a few weeks—the records were picked up by Old Swing-Master, a larger operation established by Egmont Sonderling and deejay Al Benson.

PM1. Snooky and Moody

Chicago, November or December 1948

Some copies of Planet 101/102 have a plain label, like the one pictured here. The matrix numbers are the release number. In the wax on each side there is also a monogram that looks like an MP tied together. Other copies are extant with a Saturn logo that has "Planet for platters" written across the rings; we assume these came out a little later. (See the cover of Blues Unlimited, 137/138 (1980) for a photo of the PL 101 side of one of these.)

The Flyright (1969) and Magpie (1986) LPs, each issued as Snooky Pryor, are identical and both originated from the UK. The CDs on Flyright (UK) and Paula (USA) are identical and again released as by Snooky Pryor (1991). The Charly CD was issued as Chicago Blues: The Golden Era(1997), the Indigo CD was called Chicago Blues Hard Times (1999), and the Westside CD was called Pitch a Boogie Woogie If It Takes Me All Night Long—Seminal Post-War Chicago Blues (2001). This last was billed as by Snooky Pryor and Friends.

James Edward "Snooky" Pryor was born on September 15, 1921, in Lambert, Mississippi. His style on the harmonica was derived in roughly equal parts from John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson and Aleck Miller (aka Sonny Boy Williamson #2). He got the idea of amplifying his harmonica while serving in the military during World War II, and in 1945 began performing at the Maxwell Street market with portable PA system he purchased at a store at 504 South State. As the first to amplify a harmonica, Pryor should rightly be recognized as a blues pioneer. As he boasted to Living Blues, "I started the big noise around Chicago."

The sides that he made for Planet and Marvel were his first recordings. A Billboard review in May 1949 covered Old Swing-Master's reissue of Snooky & Moody's "Telephone Blues" and "Boogie." It was typically negative ("not especially inspired"), yet today the record is seen as a classic of postwar Chicago blues. Mike Rowe said of the two sides, "It is the lilting swing imparted by Moody's guitar that makes the record sound so modern for the time. Equally rhythmic is Snooky's singing and the interplay of the voice, harmonica, and guitar is particularly exciting."

"Boogie" is a spirited number, which swings with verve, and Pryor with his piercingly sharp harp sound blows with élan. Moody moves the number along with a robust boogie beat. The number is mostly instrumental, but Pryor talks the lyrics in places, opening with a reference to his neighborhood:

These are my grades ,E-,VG++,VG+,VG,VG-,G+......Highest to lowest for 78s.I only use E or E+ when the record looks like new and unplayed or almost perfect. E- or indeed VG++ are very nice and and will be more than satisfactory to discerning collectors.

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