Umm Kulthum on EMI Dubai CD's
The following listings are from an ongoing reissue of early Umm Kulthum material that has been said to be completed in 8 volumes of which 5 have already been released on the market. As there is almost a complete overlap with the reissues on the Club du Disques Arabe, I think some words to describe them are in place.
What could the virtues of reissueing almost identical material to what is already available on the market be?
For the EMI reissue the originals have all been culled from the Grammophone (EMI) archives at Hayes. The CDA 78's comes from collectors. The EMI originals have been cleaned at the Abbey Road Studios in London and have in some instances been adjusted for speed in an interesting way. UK's voice that sounded rather more highpitched on the 78's lays at the speed given on the label sounds again more deeper and the instruments accompanying her have in some cases been balanced and sounds a bit more clear. The CDA reissue on the other hand that certainly also has very good originals seems not to have been cleaned so heavily for noice and the voice of UK are in most instances given a more prominent role in the mixing with the instruments.
The informative linernotes by Paul Vernon in the EMI-reissue compared with the rather meagre information given on the CDA reissue also adds to the value of this set of CD's. Never being able to choose I have choosen to have both sets. But it seems to me that it is a mater of taste in how sound should be restored and for those who are looking for completeness there are some tracks on the EMI-reissue that were not available before. I have tried to indicate below how the issues compare as far as overlapping goes and also included information about other reissues that I know of that also repeats some of these tracks.
Omme Koulsoum - La Diva I - EMI 094635270-2 4
01 El Chakke Yehyi el Gharam (1926-28) [x/x] x [AAA 024]
02 Whehakkak ental Mona Waltalab (1926) [x/x] x [AAA 005]
03 El Bood Allemni El Sahar (1931) [x/x] x [AAA 026]
04 Ana Hali Fi Hawaha Agab (1926) [x/x] x [AAA 005]
05 Ollel Bakhilat (19??) [x/x] x [AAA 024]
06 Lehadde Emta Matdari (1928) [x/x] x [Nil] same as: Wil-hadd imta ?
07 Khallil Demoue Leeni (1930) [x/x] x [Nil] same as: Khalli il-dumu' di li- 'aynayya?
08 Matrawak Dammak (1930) [x/x] x [Nil] same as: Ma tirawwaq dammak?
Omme Koulsoum - La Diva II - EMI 0946310953-2 4
01 Amanam Ayohal Amar El Motel (1928) [Ibn El Nabih El Mastry/El Cheik Abou El Ela Mohamed] 6:53 [Voix du Maghreb 82914-2][AAA-024]
02 Akhast Sotek Min Rohi (19??) [Ahmed Rami/Mohamed El Assabghi] 6:18 [AAA-005]
03 Sahih Khessamak (19??) [Ahmed Rami/Mohamed El Assabghi] 6:10
04 Terai Chem Watabtabem (19??) [Ahmed Rami/Mohamed El Assabghi] 6:20 [Nil]
05 Habet Wala Banch Aleh (19??) [Ahmed Rami/Mohamed El Assabghi] 5:41 [Nil]
06 Charraf Habibal Alb (1930-31) [Ahmed Rami/Daoud Husni] 7:22 [AAA-025]
07 Zekra Saad Zaghloul (1926) [Ahmed Rami/Mohamed El Assabghi] 4:30 [AAA-024? Dzikra saad] see: In yaghibu 'an Misr Sa'd
Omme Koulsoum - La Diva III - EMI 0946310957-2 4
01 Techouf Omuri (1930) [A. Rami/M. El Assabgi] 6:21 Omme Kolsoum [Voix du Maghreb 82914-2][AAA-005]
02 Al Sabbe Tafdahaho (1930) [A. Rami/Abou Ela Mehamed] 5:09 Omme Kolsoum [Nil]
03 Sadak We Hobbek (1928) [A. Rami/M. El Assabgi] 6:26 Omme Kolsoum [Sono 139]
04 Khayalek Fil Manam (1929) [A. Rami/M. El Assabgi] 4:29 Omme Kolsoum [Nil]
05 Ya Assia El Hay (1926) [Ismail Sabri Pasha/Abou Ela Mehamed] 6:18 Omme Kolsoum [AAA-024]
06 En Kont Assameh (1928) [A. Rami/M. El Assabgi] 6:45 Omme Kolsoum [Nil]
Omme Koulsoum - La Diva IV - EMI 0946310958-2 4
1. El Boode Tale (1929) Lyrics A. Rami; Music M. Kassubgi; Time 5:33
2. Ya Rohi 1928) A. Rami M. Kassubgi 6:37
3. Aykazti Feya 1928) A. Rami M. Kassubgi 6:30
4. Ya Ritni Kont Nassim 1928) A. Rami M. Kassubgi 6:42
5. Albak Ghadar Bi (1928) A. Rami M. Kassubgi 6:23
Omme Koulsoum - La Diva V- EMI 0946310959-2 4
1.Tebe'ini Leh (1931) Hussain Hilmy; M. Kassubgi 5:44
2. Ya Fayetni ouana Rohi Ma'k (1931) A. Rami; M. Kassubgi; 5:40
3. Akoun Saeed Hussain So'bhi (1932) Riad Sombaty 6:15
4. Mali Foutintou (1924-25) Ali Eljarem; A. Najridi 7:47
5. Araka Assi Addami (1932) Alhamadini Abdou Alhamouli 5:59 (LVdM 82914-2, )
6. Leh Tilaweini (1931) A. Rami M. Kassubgi 6:06 (Not in VD? maby: il-Layl yitawwil wi-yikidni?)
7. Enti Nasyani (19??) A. Rami M. Kassubgi 6:29(Not in VD?)
8. Yama Nadait (1932) A. Rami M. Kassubgi 8:26Omme Koulsoum - La Diva VI - EMI No?
not yet released
Omme Koulsoum - La Diva VII - EMI No?
not yet released
Omme Koulsoum - La Diva VIII - EMI No?
not yet released
Any information (like dates and location of recording and settings pertaining to the music listed above is very welcome and any information, especially about music not listed above and not in this preliminary discography is most welcome indeed!
Please send e-mail to: mrfung@nada.kth.se if you have any supplementary information, or if you find errors in any of the above.
SC = Sonocairo LP's distributed by Sonodisc France [ ?? titles issued before
1995.12.16]
Sono = Sonodisc CD's distributed by Sonodisc France [64 titles issued by 1995.12.16]
AAA = Archive Artiste Arabe [vols I-VIII]
SIDI = Saudi Information Development Industries
EMI = EMI Dubai
CXGCD = Cairophone (Beirut distribution EMI Greece)
SonoCairo-E =SonoCairo DIGITAL PRESS HELLAS =(Seems to have lost their license from
1996)
SonoCairo Egypt = SonoCairo-Audio & Video Co, Egypt
Om Kalsoum, Oum Kaltsoum, Umm Kulthum Oum Koulsoum etc...