John Motto-Ros is having me recut an A-roll that I enjoyed very much.
It is Automatic A-1476, "Pesticatin' Blues".  It's hard to believe that
a roll this nice was made by Automatic; in hearing it without knowing
it was an Automatic I would have guessed it was a Capitol, it's that
well done.

The player is a class artist, maybe James P. Johnson, but definitely
not one of the regular stable.  The music is well-developed, no formula
stuff here.  I found myself really listening to it and appreciating the
musicality.  The roll is from the late '20s, probably 1928, but it
looks toward the '30s in style, not the '20s.  The last tune has a lot
of swing to it.  The artist seems to be warming up on the first tune,
which I found to be not exceptional, but then he hits his stride and
the rest is "Wow!"

This roll is from the late Ed Sprankle's collection, and it is marked
with the red star that he used for his best rolls.  I can only agree
with his opinion.  Contact John Motto-Ros for a copy:
mottoros@sbcglobal.net.geentroep [delete ".geentroep" to reply]

The tune line-up is:

 1. Washboard Blues
 2. Tango Blue
 3. Blue Yodel
 4. Fowler's Hot Strut
 5. Friendless Blues
 6. How Long, How Long? Blues
 7. Up the Country Blues
 8. The Snakey Blues
 9. Goin' down
10. Doin' the New Low Down

Bob Billings
Reno, Nevada
perforator@sbcglobal.net.geentroep [delete ".geentroep" to reply]