Ron Chaplin began this theme referring to the Zimmerman recording of Scott
Joplin's "complete works" on 5 Laserlight CDs.  I found what must be the
same recording of the "complete works" on just 4 CDs, on Bescol (Bescol
4/4), in a single two-part jewel case.  To make sure they are the same, it
would be interesting to see if the total time of the 5 Laserlight disks
equals the total time of the 4 Bescol disks, which is 269 minutes (4 hours
29 minutes).  The Bescol booklet insert is a tri-fold sheet, with 5 of the
pages or sides reproducing "Notes on the Selections" by Zimmerman himself,
the selections listed (and played) in copyright-date order.  There is no
clue to the date of original recording or production of this Bescol edition
in the inserts or on the disks.  I am not familiar with the Bescol label,
but the inner rim of the CDs is inscribed "mastered by Nimbus." I cannot
remember how much I paid -- is Bescol a Nimbus budget label? By the way,
for comparison with Laserlight, the individual Bescol CDs are timed as
follows:  1 -- 69' 05"; 2 -- 68' 33"; 3 -- 70' 20"; and 4 -- 61' 11".
These are reasonable timings per CD.  I have found that Laserlight
sometimes increases its income by decreasing the time per CD.  A set of
several CDs on one theme may be issued in separate jewel cases and the
timings may be only 25 to 35 minutes each.  My guess is that Laserlight may
have stretched the Zimmerman set by one additional CD for business rather
than technical reasons.  It would be interesting to know the history of
this recording -- the date and label of the original and the dates of its
issue on Laserlight and Bescol.  Someone on the list probably has the
appropriate references.

Keith A. Dixon