Update: Okay, so... 10 sets of these came in today and there's only one set left. Hopefully we can get some more--if these are something you're interested in, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) pronto so I have an idea of how many more sets we'll need.

Update 2: Since I'll be ordering some more of these, now's your chance to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) if there are other MR titles you need. A list of other in-print Mississippi titles follows the list of Lomax releases.

Update 3: We're sold out!

As predicted, we're the first store in the city to have the new Mississippi Records Alan Lomax releases in stock. There are five titles in the series and we expect these to sell FAST. Each volume is being sold separately with its own distinctive packaging. All come with a 12 page booklet featuring many never before published photos. Old school tip on sleeves & beautiful sound. Here's a breakdown:

Wave the Ocean, Wave the Sea
In 1959 and 1960, at the height of the Folk Revival, Alan Lomax undertook the first-ever stereo field recording trip through the American South to document its still thriving vernacular musical culture. He traveled through Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Georgia, and North Carolina, making over 70 hours of recordings. The trip came to be known as Lomax's "Southern Journey," and its recordings were first issued for the Atlantic and Prestige labels in the early '60s. Those, however, as well as subsequent releases on New World and Rounder Records, are now all out of print. To remedy this, and to celebrate the Southern Journey's 50th anniversary, Mississippi Records and the Alan Lomax Collection have collaborated on five commemorative LPs, spanning the breadth of Lomax's '59-60 Southern recordings, drawing on new transfers of the original 1/4" tapes, and featuring a considerable amount of previously unreleased material. The five LP volumes feature singing siblings Hobart Smith and Texas Gladden from Saltville, Virginia; menhaden fishermen's chorus the Bright Light Quartet; the Young Brothers' Mississippi Hill Country fife and drum band; Blue Ridge instrumentalists Wade Ward and Charlie Higgins; Bessie Jones and the Georgia Sea Island Singers; work songs and hollers from Parchman Farm; congregational hymns from African American and white Appalachian meeting-houses; Alabama's singing washerwoman Vera Ward Hall; the 1959 United Sacred Harp Convention; and the debut recordings of bluesman Fred McDowell, among much else.

Worried Now, Won't Be Worried Long
Second installment in the Field Recordings From Alan Lomax's "Southern Journey", 1959-1960 series, featuring recordings from blues singer Sidney Carter, seventy year-old Norman Edmonds, Rosa Lee (or Rosalie) Hill performing on Fred McDowell's porch, two Mississippi gospel groups, the United Sacred Harp Convention in 1959 Alabama, the first-ever recordings of the fife and drum music of the Mississippi Hill Country and The Bright Light Quartet, a group of fishermen recorded in Virginia in 1960.

I'll Meet You On That Other Shore
Third installment in the Field Recordings From Alan Lomax's "Southern Journey", 1959-1960 series, featuring recordings from Fred McDowell, Carlos "Bookmiller" Shannon's rendition of "The Eighth of January" (another variation of which -- "The Battle Of New Orleans" -- was a Billboard charting hit by Johnny Horton in 1959), a medley of classic African American spirituals by Virginia's Union Choir of the Church of God and Saints of Christ, lined hymns from Kentucky's George Spangler and a Baptist Church congregation, Ozark balladeer Neal Morris, work songs from Mississippi State Penitentiary, a previously unissued version of "Moses Was A Servant Of The Lord" performed by Charles Barnett (vocal and washtub) and Arkansas' Almeda "Granny" Riddle performing "Rainbow Mid Life's Willows," based on a British broadsheet originally published in 1631.

I'll Be So Glad When the Sun Goes Down
Fourth installment in the Field Recordings From Alan Lomax's "Southern Journey", 1959-1960 series, featuring recordings from Blue Ridge instrumentalist Wade Ward performing alongside an eighty-one year old Charlie Higgins, sought-after Mississippi church singers James Short and Viola James, more from Fred McDowell ("Woke Up This Morning"), a locally composed religious piece written from words spoken by Mountain View, Arkansas resident Joseph Looney while on his deathbed, Hillsville, Virginia's The Mountain Ramblers, spiritual singers from the Georgia Sea Island of St. Simons and banjo master Hobart Smith's "Banging Breakdown."

I'm Gonna Live Anyhow Until I Die
Fifth installment in the Field Recordings From Alan Lomax's "Southern Journey", 1959-1960 series, featuring recordings from North Carolina's Mountaineers, migratory labor songs from fishermen The Bright Light Quartet, a stark religious meditation on the end of days from Virginia service station owner E.C. Ball, Bessie Jones (later a touring performer) singing the spiritual "Daniel In The Lion's Den," an evening worship service at a Pentecostal Temple in Memphis, Emma Hammond's dance tune "Shout Lula," an excerpt from Alabama religious radio testimony and music performed on caned panpipes (or quills) at a country picnic in Senatobia, Mississippi.

$16.99 each or save a fin when you buy all 5 for $80.

And as mentioned in the second update, here's a list of other Mississippi Records titles that were in print the last time I checked. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) if there's any you need. Prices vary from about $13 to $17, depending on how badly customs hits us:

V/A - Been Here All My Days (Selections from the George Mitchell Archive)
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, George Mitchell recorded extensively in the South. Mitchell concentrated mainly on local blues traditions recording some famous bluesmen and many otherwise ignored artists. The George Mitchell Collection was originally released as a series of forty-five EPs on Fat Possum, this LP contains our favorite fourteen tracks. This LP represents songs from many well known blues musicians such as Fred McDowell, Furry Lewis and Joe Calicott as well as some from criminally under represented artists like Jessie Mae Hemphill, Rosa Lee Hill and John Lee Ziegler. Comes with a short booklet of photos, discographical notes and recollections.

Orchestre Regional de Mopti - Les meilleurs Souvenirs de la 1ere Biennale artistique et culturelle de la Jeunesse (1970)
Recorded in 1970 as part of the First Biennale of Arts and Culture for the Young in Mali. The Regional Orchestra of Mopti was a state funded orchestra that participated in country wide music festivals and competitions. A hypnotic band featuring electric guitars & a large horn section. This is the first in a series of six Mali music LPs we will be reissuing this summer from Sterns. A serene and droning record that is both sorrowful & celebratory.

Michael Hurley - Blue Hills
New recordings by Michael. On this LP we find Hurley stretching out on six longer than usual compositions that are heartbreaking & beautiful as anything he's ever done. Side one features Hurley on a creaky pump organ. Side two starts out with two newer compositions - just Michael on guitar & vocals. The record ends with a stunning version of Tea Song (which Michael originally wrote & recorded way back in 1963). A sustained feeling of loss & need for redemption haunts this record.

V/A - Fanajana: A Collection of Recordings and Photography from Madagasikara
Over a three year period in the late 1990s, Charlie Brooks embarked on two long field recording trips in Madagasikara. Brooks primarily concentrated on the more remote north and west regions of the island. Upon his return in 1999 he pressed 200 copies of a triple record and stored them under his bed for the last ten years. The three themed Lps: Vocal, Valiha Marovany and Miscellaneous Instruments were released as the now out of print MR-061 Fihavanana. This single lp collection compiles seventeen tracks from Fihavanana. Comes with a twelve page booklet of photography and notes.

Mirah - Don't / The Tears That Fall 7"
Mirah (K Records) has gratiously blessed the Mississippi label with a beautiful 45. This piece of wax contains two original Mirah songs, celebrating the classic girl group era of the '60's. Loosely following this format, and with the accompaniment of some individualistic musicians, something unique was born. Backing musicians from Evolutionary Jass Band, Pink Widower and Golden Bears. Recorded at The Pool Recording Studio in Portland, OR with Alex Yusimov. Old-Style Full Color Tip-On Sleeve.

CHIN CHIN -Sound Of The Westway
In 1985, Sound of the Westway was released on Chin Chin's own Farmer Records. As a progression from their first 7", SOTW proved to be a brilliant mix
of post punk and pop sensibility. The band's fierce DIY stance and girl-positive ethics have echoed down through the indie scene. Mississippi and Slumberland are excited to collaborate on this classic reissue. On vinyl only, remastered by Tim Stollenwerk and new original artwork by Alec Icky Dunn. Includes Free Download Card.

ERIS - The Feast of the Appetites of Eris (Domino Sound 026)
Each year, on the Sunday prior to Mardi Gras, a rag tag group of musicians assembles to provide the soundtrack for the progression of the parade of the Krewe of Eris. This past parade, a food based banquet, the sounds of this 62 piece band was captured on cassette and two microphones towering overhead. Brass and percussion working through seven originals and a cover through the streets of New Orleans, with accompaniment of paraders, bottles, sirens, and food. Field recording that sounds just like it sounded. A pressing of 1,000 with an insert and silk screened covers. And then they ate cake...