Cecil Gant (immensely popular as "The G.I. Sing-Sation") was a legendary post-war blues singer, songwriter, and piano maestro whose hybrid style heavily shaped early rhythm and blues.

Owl Stew (Side A, Matrix 76712): A driving, rhythmically complex vocal blues tracking traditional Southern folk expressions.

Playin' Myself The Blues (Side B, Matrix 76713): A deeply expressive, masterfully self-accompanied slow-drag performance channeling his signature late-career emotional depth.

Recorded in mid-1950, this release captures a critical cultural and commercial transition across the post-war American urban landscape. As hundreds of thousands of African Americans moved to metropolitan industrial manufacturing hubs during the Second Great Migration, the blues transformed from country strings into a louder, amplified piano ensemble style designed for crowded city venues.
Major record labels like Decca launched specialized rhythm and blues marketing lines like the 48000 series to compete with aggressive independent operators. Owl Stew and its lyrical themes of resilience and displacement served as a vital sonic soundtrack for newly independent, working-class youth navigating the financial complexities of Northern city life.

This item is sourced directly from the estate archive of Michel Chaigne, widely regarded as one of France’s most meticulous and dedicated post-war blues discographers. A passionate researcher and a contemporary of foundational European blues scholars, Chaigne spent decades building a highly curated library focused heavily on the historical trajectory of American roots music. His collection is celebrated internationally for its strict preservation standards and its comprehensive representation of influential blues musicianship. The inclusion of this item in his personal archive serves as an authentic stamp of historical significance and quality curation.

This specific copy features rare, authentic studio session ink annotations on the Side A label. The bold handwritten text reading "Bad Side" and "B Side" with small arrows indicates how a radio disc jockey or label rep mapped the record's primary commercial potential for broadcast scheduling.

The matrix numbers W76712T2A and W76713T2A are deeply and cleanly stamped into the runout wax fields, confirming these are secondary master takes from the original session blocks.

Because these specialized 48000 series promotional items were only distributed to select radio programmers, they completely escaped the high destruction rate of coin-operated commercial jukeboxes.

Condition Report

Overall Grading: E/EE+ (Excellent to Excellent Plus) [VJM System]
Visual Appearance: Outstanding state of preservation. The shellac retains an immense level of its original deep-black factory luster and mirror shine. Surfaces look remarkably clean, free from deep scuffs, grey tracking tracks, or visible storage pitting.
Audio Performance: Exceptional, robust audio presence. Cecil Gant's rolling piano and forward vocal delivery effortlessly dominate the room with a wonderfully low surface noise floor that is remarkably quiet for early 1950s shellac.
Labels: Iconic, beautifully sharp Decca "Sample Copy; Not For Sale" dual-color white and blue promo layout. The typography remains fully sharp and readable across both fields. Side A carries the historical turquoise ink radio markings ("Bad Side / B Side"), adding phenomenal broadcast character.

Postage, Packaging, and Handling
We understand the immense historical value of pieces from the Chaigne archive and treat their transport with absolute care.
The record is sandwiched securely between multiple sheets of thick card stiffeners.
The assembly is wrapped in heavy-duty bubble wrap to prevent shock damage.
It is placed centrally inside a custom, oversized, doubleskin corrugated cardboard box.
All remaining void spaces are filled to eliminate any internal movement during transit.

Please add our store to your saved sellers list, as we are continuously making further selections from the Michel Chaigne archive available over the coming weeks.

Rest assured, your purchase will be carefully packed and promptly dispatched.