pdf available over at the internet archive
During the classic blues period, the three
major companies advertised extensively. They would describe the content of the record,
the qualities of the singer, the exceptional dedication of the company - all in
the most lowdown imitation-jive-talk prose. A full-page Columbia advertisement
in the Chicago Defender for 19th July 1924 said 'Wow- but Bessie Smith spills
fire and fury in Hateful Blues, on Columbia record 14023D'. The smaller print went
on 'Talk about hymns of hate - Bessie sure is a him-hater on this record. The
way she tells what she is going to do with her "butcher" will make
trifling fellows catch express trains going at sixty miles an hour. The music
is full of hate too. You can almost see hate drip from the piano keys. Fury
flies off the violin strings. Every note is a half-note. No quarter for
anyone.' And above a list of other Columbia releases the copywriter declared,
'Having a phonograph without these records is like having pork chops without
gravy- Yes, indeed!'
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