Unreissued American Music II: Charles Thompson

Way back in 2014 I promised some more 78s from the American Music label that had not been reissued. It took me awhile, but here is some prime piano ragtime and blues from Charles Thompson.

Charles Thompson (1891-1964), not to be confused with jazz pianist Sir Charles Thompson, was a formidable ragtime pianist and composer. Born in ragtime's "capital," St. Louis, Thompson is probably best known for his composition "The Lily Rag," and for winning the massive 1916 ragtime competition at the Booker T. Washington Theater in his hometown, where he emerged triumphant over Tom Turpin and 66 other pianists.

Bill Russell, the jazz historian who owned the American Music label, moved back to his hometown of Canton, Missouri in 1947. Canton was only 150 miles north of St. Louis, and in December of that year, Russell met Charles Thompson and decided to record him. His attempts to get Thompson on wax were seemingly jinxed. They got four good takes at Technisonic Recording Laboratories in St. Louis on December 30, 1947, but when the engineer dubbed the chosen takes onto a single disc for processing, they were overcut and distorted. Russell did not get the master discs back for many years.

Russell tried again on August 4, 1948, again at Technisonic, but was apparently disappointed with the quality of the performances. He wrote "no good" in his log beside most of the takes. Two tracks from this session were later issued on CD, however.


Finally, on August 2, 1949, Russell and Thompson successfully re-recorded the same four sides that Russell had planned to issue from the 1947 session. This time drummer Bill McCall was added, providing some fairly unobtrusive accompaniments. Russell issued two records on American Music, each featuring a rag backed with a blues.

By the time the revived American Music label issued a CD which paired Thompson with New Orleans/California pianist Dink Johnson, the long-lost 1947 master discs had been returned to Russell. So those were used for the CD issue. That means the 1949 78s have never been reissued. I seldom use the term "mint" to describe the condition of 78s, but these pretty much fit that description.

AM 527: The Lily Rag
                Derby Stomp

AM 528: Delmar Rag
                Lingering Blues