Collectables' CD James P. Johnson: Parlor Piano Solos from Rare Piano Rolls relates to a pair of Biograph LPs recorded in 1970 and issued as Parlor Piano Solos, Vols. 1 and 2. These Biograph "Q" LPs were never easy to find when new, and when Biograph issued a handful of CDs in the early '90s, they were not among the ones made available in the new format. This collection represents a combination of both LPs, as originally pumped by piano roll expert and collector
Michael Montgomery. Although the selections on the disc are generally unfamiliar even to those who know
James P. Johnson's recordings well, they are highly desirable, as these rolls are among
Johnson's earliest, made between 1917 and 1921. The program includes some
Johnson originals that he did not revisit in his career as a recording artist, such as Innovation and It Takes Love to Cure the Heart's Disease. Likewise, some of
Johnson's work as a hand player of rolls in popular tunes by others is featured, such as his reading of
W.C. Handy's Loveless Love (a retread of Careless Love, a tune on which
Johnson later based one of his own compositions) and
Clarence Williams' Roumania.