Well, you won’t have to wait until Black Friday to blow your whole paycheck on some sweet vinyl. In fact, you probably won’t even have to get out of your pajamas to make yourself the envy of your more economical friends because our pals at TwentyFourBit have revealed that Tom Waits and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band have, once again, joined forces to pay tribute to another one of the century’s greatest jazz men while keeping the hall alive.
On November 19th, the hall will release just 504, hand-numbered, 78 rpm records that feature takes on “Tootie Ma Is A Fine Big Thing” and “Corrine Died On the Battlefield”, which were both originally recorded by Danny Barker over 60 years ago. The tracks were recorded when Waits (along with Jim James, Pete Seeger, and Andrew Bird) visited the hall in 2009, and both cuts appeared on Preservation: An album benefiting Preservation Hall and the Preservation Hall Music Outreach Program. While “Corrine” was only on the deluxe edition’s second disc, this is your first chance to own both tracks — which were originally one of the earliest recorded examples of Mardi Gras Indian Chants – as a single.
It’s all funky as hell, and $200 will also get you a one of just a hundred limited edition, custom-made record players. If you can’t swing that then just drop a fifty and cop the record which will be available for purchase at the hall in New Orleans this Friday at 10 a.m. CST or online the next day at Preservation Hall’s official website. You can virtually test drive one side of the record, which is shown spinning on the custom turntable below. Dancing is required.