CHARLIE SPAND – The Complete Paramounts In Chronological Order 1929-1931 | DOCD-5108 (1992) RM | FLAC (tracks), lossless

Document's The Complete Paramounts (1929-1931) is an invaluable Charlie Spand anthology, reissuing all of the pianist's early sides for Paramount. Classic performances include "Got to Have My Sweetbread," "Soon This Morning Blues," "Hastings Street," and his seminal duet with Blind Blake on "Moanin' the Blues." Still, it's not an exhilarating, start-to-finish listen -- the long running time, chronological sequencing, and poor fidelity, make it hard to digest. The more serious, intellectual blues listener will find all these factors to be positive, but enthusiasts and casual listeners will find that the collection is of marginal interest for those very reasons. Thom Owens

Abridged from this album’s original booklet notes. Charlie Spand’s recordings have long been recognized by both blues and jazz enthusiasts as a “special vintage” of African-American music. The combination of a blues poet, notable for his carefully thought-out lyrics, with inspired piano playing is indeed irresistible, yet little has been written about him apart from a brief musical study by Bob Hall and Richard Noblett in Blues Unlimited. On Hastings Street, named for a street in Detroit’s black entertainment district and issued originally under Blind Blake’s name, the guitarist teases Spand about his homesickness for Detroit and in particular for his obsession with 169 Brady Street. This address is in the same district of Detroit and may be guessed to have been the residence of a lady in whom the pianist had an interest. His first recording, Soon This Morning, was popular enough to justify the recording of a Soon This Morning No. 2 fifteen months later. His presence on the Hometown Skiffle sampler is a further testimony to Paramount’s sales expectations. Blind Blake is somewhat under-recorded on Soon This Morning but comes into his own on its session mate and on the August session, which immediately preceded the recording of Hastings St. The instrumental passages on Ain’t Gonna Stand For That in particular demonstrate considerable empathy. However, it has been suggested that the prominently featured guitarist on Good Gal is Josh White. The remainder of Charlie Spand‘s Paramount recordings feature him as a solo performer, the guitarist noted by discographers on Soon This Morning No. 2 is wholly inaudible. He addresses standard blues topics like faithless and wrong-doing women and sexual needs:
I like it in the morning, I like it late at night, Now if I don’t get my sweetbread, you know I don’t feel right. (Got To Have My Sweetbread) Financial worries loomed and he twice alludes to the difficulty of surviving without resort to crime, in Hard Time Blues and Room Rent Blues, where he complains: I ain’t got no money, I ain’t got no job, Now if something don’t happen, I’ll have to steal or rob. The jaunty and exuberant She’s Got Good Stuff takes the pianist into hokum territory with a song credited to “Lamoore“, a name which appears on forty-odd Paramounts of the era. It may conceal the identity of a member of the A&R staff, or sharp practice. Spand’s Paramount career ended with the doom-laden Evil Woman Spell. He re-emerged briefly to record for OKeh in 1940. Rumours of subsequent sightings in California appear to be just rumours. DOCD-5108
Tracklist :
1    Charlie Spand–    Soon This Morning Blues 2:55
Guitar – Blind Blake
2    Charlie Spand–    Fetch Your Water 2:27
Guitar – Blind Blake
3    Charlie Spand–    Good Gal 3:17
Guitar [Possibly] – Joshua White
4    Charlie Spand–    Ain't Gonna Stand For That 3:07
Guitar [Possibly] – Joshua White
5    Charlie Spand–    Moanin' The Blues 3:14
Guitar [Possibly] – Blind Blake
6    Charlie Spand–    Back To The Woods Blues 3:20
Guitar [Possibly] – Blind Blake
7    Blind Blake–    Hastings St. 3:12
Piano – Charlie Spand
8    Charlie Spand–    In The Barrel Blues    3:05
9    Charlie Spand–    Levee Camp Man    3:01
10    Charlie Spand–    Breakdown    1:48
11    Charlie Spand–    Mississippi Blues    2:40
12    Charlie Spand–    45th St. Blues    2:35
13    Charlie Spand–    Got To Have My Sweetbread (Take 3)    3:15
14    Charlie Spand–    Got To Have My Sweetbread (Take 4)    2:51
15    Charlie Spand–    Room Rent Blues    3:13
16    Charlie Spand–    Mistreatment Blues    2:59
17    Charlie Spand–    Soon This Morning – No. 2    2:56
18    Charlie Spand–    She's Got Good Stuff    2:58
19    Charlie Spand–    Thirsty Woman Blues    3:00
20    Charlie Spand–    Dreamin' The Blues    2:46
21    Charlie Spand–    Big Fat Mama Blues    2:52
22    Charlie Spand–    Hard Time Blues    2:34
23    Charlie Spand–    Georgia Mule Blues    2:26
24    Charlie Spand–    Tired Woman Blues    2:32
25    Charlie Spand–    Evil Woman Spell    2:42