Paradise of Bachelors

Friends, we are delighted to announce the release of Paradise of Bachelors’ inaugural album, “Said I Had a Vision”: Songs & Labels of David Lee, 1960-1988 (PoB-01). This first-ever anthology of David Lee’s career as songwriter, performer and recording artist, record label owner, producer, record store proprietor, and all-around impresario includes fourteen songs by ten artists, twelve of which have never before been reissued. Each package includes a 150g vinyl LP, a coupon for free digital download of the entire record, a SCOP Gospel newsletter from 1988, and a deluxe 8-page 11 x 11″ booklet containing more than 10,000 words of essays, track-by-track notes, and discographical information drawing from several years of friendship, research, record collecting, and personal interviews.

The first pressing of 500 copies sold out before its official release date of November 26, 2010. We are now offering a repressing of 500 additional LPs. To purchase copies, please follow the below PayPal link. Each LP is $16 plus shipping.

A digital version of the album, albeit without all the inserts and bonus material, is available for purchase through iTunes, Amazon Music, and other online digital music retailers.

The one-sheet press release is available for download here, with details and track listing.

Preview Side A and Side B below.

Additional information and bonus archival photographs and recordings are available throughout this site. Search for “David Lee.”

If you have already purchased the LP, you may enter your case-sensitive download code at this link to retrieve your free MP3 copy of the entire album.

Thank you for your attention, and please don’t hesitate to contact us. Paradise of Bachelors is here to serve you.

Acknowledgements

“Unlike many releases of its kind, this is no revel in obscurity for obscurity’s sake. David Lee made some outstanding records. In fact, with such a slim discography to his name, you could say that nearly all of his records were outstanding — and all of them, of course, have been long out of print until now… Sacred and secular, white and black, it’s all killer and no filler… The Paradise of Bachelors team has left few if any stones unturned in compiling their tribute to David Lee — their extensive liner notes put the triumphs and travails of the Washington Sound principals in fascinating geographic and historical contexts, and what emerges is a charming, complex, and sympathetic portrait of Lee, who will turn 75 this year and who, judging by his reminiscences in the booklet, has no regrets concerning his career. “Said I Had a Vision” is a labor of love in the great David Lee tradition, and it made for one of this listener’s favorite records of 2010.”

-Nathan Salsburg, for Other Music
Twos & Fews Records; Root Hog, or Die blog; Association for Cultural Equity/Alan Lomax Archive

“Paradise of Bachelors is a brilliant new record company dedicated to releasing under-recognized musical treasures. Brendan Greaves and Jason Perlmutter bring rare vision and talent to our understanding of Southern music.”

- William Ferris
Joel R. Williamson Eminent Professor of History; Adjunct Professor in Folklore; Senior Associate Director, the Center for the Study of the American South, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill