We get a lot of requests for Thomas Edison’s unissued personal recording of “The Liver Complaint Story,” so here it is. Walter Miller, whom Edison addresses at the beginning, was largely responsible for recording operations right up until the end in 1929. Note the muffled laughter at the conclusion.
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THOMAS EDISON: The Liver Complaint Story
Location unknown, 1906
Edison two-minute wax cylinder (unissued; Edison National Historic Site Collection, National Park Service)
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GEORGE WALKER, with BERT WILLIAMS: I Don’t Like That Face You Wear
Philadelphia: October 11, 1901
Victor Record A-987 (A-987-1)
The speed fluctuations are inherent in Victor recording of this period — a problem that was noted in his memoirs by recording engineer Harry Sooy. Although some discographies list Camden as the location of this session, that studio was vacated in September 1901, as verified by Sooy, and the equipment was moved into Berliner’s former space in Philadelphia, which served as Victor’s primary recording location until a new Camden studio was opened in 1907. The pianist is uncredited in the Victor files and on the labels.
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BERT WILLIAMS: Fare Thee! On Ma Way! Jes’ Gone!
New York: Released April 1907
Columbia 3593 (mx. [?] M-975)
With studio orchestra (probably Charles A. Prince, conductor)
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BERT WILLIAMS: Everybody
New York: c. September 17, 1915
Columbia A1909 (mx. 45907-4)
With studio orchestra (probably Charles A. Prince, conductor)
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BERT WILLIAMS: How? Fried!
New York: c. January 3, 1913
Columbia A6216 (mx. 36539-1) – 1922 posthumous release
Some more ads from National Phonograph’s million-dollar marketing blitz of 1907–1908, which employed some of the top illustrators of the period. These appeared (top to bottom) in the Edison Phonograph Monthly for February, March, and May 1908, and ran in the major national magazines. What a contrast to the early 1920s, when Edison himself quashed funding for most national advertising (details in Recording the ‘Twenties)!
These excerpts are from an interview with ARSC Lifetime Achievement Award winner John Bolig, conducted in 2003 by Barry Ashpole. The occasion was the release of John’s Caruso Records, but John’s general comments on the state of discography are more relevant than ever.
The next installment in John’s Victor Black Label Discography Series — a combined volume covering the complete 22000, 23000, 24000, V-38000, V-38500, and V-40000 series, weighing in at a whopping 560+ pages — is in final pre-press stage and will release in late summer or early autumn 2013.
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BA: In considering discography in general, what are some of the obstacles or barriers still facing researchers today?
JB: Not many, if one is willing to travel and to work in musty old archives. Victor’s archives are not as well preserved as those of EMI, but both companies are taking discography seriously today. That was not true thirty years ago. And, there are some collectors who are so generous that one cannot begin to thank them. There are a few who disappoint me, but they remain the exception.
BA: Any general comments about the quality of discographical work today?
JB: I’m not always pleased with the effort expended by some discographers. In fact, I am embarrassed by some of the hyperbole expressed by some of them. I greatly admire Caruso, but I refuse to believe that he was perfect, or that I have the right to call him by his first name.
There are some discographers whose work intrigues me. I have never met Brian Rust, Alan Kelly or Bill Moran, but I find their work invaluable… Kelly’s research is remarkable because he has to piece together information from so many different sources. My greatest regret is that the work of Fagan and Moran [on Victor] has not been completed. Another fine example of discography is Dick Spottswood’s opus on ethnic records…
I admire The Record Collector [UK], and my only criticism of this publication is that some of their featured artists were not at all important, and the authors sometimes get carried away in their estimations of their heroes’ true value. There has to be a measure of objectivity for these things to be done properly.
There are so many good discographies that I hate to single out one or two. Once in a while I’m totally disappointed. For example, the Billy Murray discography was a worthwhile undertaking that simply does not meet the test of good discography… Sometimes these things are done because of limitations placed on us by publishers (for example, to fit the last few pages of a biography), but they aren’t particularly useful, and they deserve bad reviews.
BA: Last words?
JB: I surmise that my optimism concerning the evolution of discography can be detected from the above comments, but it seems that for every two steps forward we take one backward. There are excellent models of good discographies, and researchers should attempt to emulate the best rather than rush into print…
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(Excerpted from the Spring 2003 ARSC Journal, and used with permission. Interview © 2003 by the Association for Recorded Sound Collections; all rights are reserved.) You can read the complete interview on the Mainspring Press website.
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Q. ROSCOE SNOWDEN: Misery Blues
New York: October 1923
Okeh 8119 (mx. S 71920-D)
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COW COW DAVENPORT (DORA CARR, Vocal): Cow Cow Blues
New York: October 1, 1925
Okeh 8250 (mx. 73667-A)
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JAMES P. JOHNSON: Riffs
New York: January 29, 1929
Okeh 8770 (mx. W 401565-B)
The companion volume to American Record Corporation Master Recording Dates is at press and will arrive in a few weeks. Like the ARC guide, this one is newly compiled from the original company documentation, without any speculative or anecdotal material from previously published works. It lists recording locations and exact recording dates (month-day-year) for more than 15,000 individual domestic masters in these series, many of which are not covered in The Columbia Master Book Discography:
140000 (10″ standard/budget), 150000 (10″ standard/budget), 98000 (12″ standard), 99000 (12″ standard), 236000 (10″ fine-groove), 250000 (12″ fine-groove), 255000 (12″ fine-groove), 265000 (10″ export), 351000 (10″ budget), 365000 (10″ budget), and 710000 (10″ dual-track)
Other features include remake take-numbers and dates; a summary of noncommercial and special-use master series of the period; historical introduction detailing Columbia’s adoption of the Western Electric process, and its sale to Grigsby-Grunow and ARC; and user’s guide. It’s being released in an affordable, 188-page quality paperback edition.
With this volume, our coverage of pre-CBS Columbia dates is two-thirds complete (the 1934-1938 dates are included in the ARC guide). The companion acoustic volume (1902–1924) is in development.
Silvertone 5143 and a portion of the corresponding Gennett ledger entry
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REV. J. F. FOREST & CONGREGATION (of Roger Williams Baptist Church, Birmingham): Revival for Sinners
Birmingham: c. August 27, 1927
Silvertone 5143 (Gennett mx. GEX-849-A)
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REV. J. M. GATES, assisted by DEACON LEON DAVIS and SISTERS JORDAN & NORMAN: Dead Cat on the Line
Atlanta: March 18, 1929
Okeh 8684 (mx. W 402358-B)
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REV. BEAUMONT & HIS CONGREGATION: Noah Built the Ark —
Part 2
New York: March 2, 1929
Conqueror 7754 (Cameo mx. 4120-1, renumbered from ARC mx. 8576-1)
BILLY MURRAY & WALTER VAN BRUNT (as WALTER SCANLAN): Brunswick Brevities Program U, Part 5 (“Shut the Door”)
New York: c. December 1929
Brunswick Special — (mx. XE-31655-A)
A large part of Brunswick’s business in the late 1920s and early 1930s was the production of packaged radio programs, including the company’s own “Brunswick Brevities.” Some of the “Brevities” masters were produced by combining dubs from existing recordings with spoken announcements to suggest live studio broadcasts. We don’t know if that was the case here, since the relevant parts of the 1929 Brunswick ledgers are missing. However, Murray and Van Brunt recorded two takes of this title in November 1929 (takes -A and the oddly designated -AA), one of which was issued on Brunswick 4611.
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BILLY MURRAY with B. A. ROLFE’S ORCHESTRA:
Doin’ the Raccoon
Edison experimental mx. 185 (30-rpm 12″ disc)
New York: February 11, 1929 (Aircheck from WJZ broadcast)
The “Edison Hour” broadcast for February 11, 1929, celebrated the birthday of Thomas Edison, who spoke briefly by relay from his home in Florida. The broadcast was captured as an aircheck by the Edison engineers, and pressings were made, some of which survive at ENHS. At least one copy has found its way into a private collection.
Murray previously recorded this selection for commercial release by Edison — in an initial version with the studio orchestra under Irwin Schloss, which was rejected, followed by an issued version with much jazzier accompaniment than here, by the Seven Blue Babies (a California Ramblers unit).
The speed fluctuations are a defect in the low-speed transcription, as are the occasional ominous rumblings — the latter the result of a power tube that “went Democratic,” in the words of the Edison employee who logged the recording. For complete discographical details of all late Edison commercial and experimental recordings, see The Edison Discography: The Final Years, 1926-1929, available from Mainspring Press and many major libratries.
A sampling of Eubie Blake’s 1921 Emerson recordings — from his masterful “Charleston Rag” to his futile effort to light a fire under studio-automaton Irving Kaufman, in what sounds suspiciously like a contractual-obligation recording.
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EUBIE BLAKE (piano): Sounds of Africa [Charleston Rag]
New York: c. July 1921
Emerson mx. 41886-
From a 1940s dubbing of a blank-labeled test pressing; take not noted
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EUBIE BLAKE (piano): Baltimore Buzz, intro: In Honeysuckle Time
New York: c. July 1921 (Released October 1921)
Emerson 10434 (mx. 41885-4)
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EUBIE BLAKE with IRVING KAUFMAN [as Robert Black, chorus by Billy Clark]: Sweet Lady — Medley
New York: c. October 1921 (Released December 1921)
Regal 9130 (mx. 41985-2)
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Details on these and thousands of other Emerson and Emerson client labels can be found in Emerson Records: A History and Discography (10″ / 12″ Issues), just released by Mainspring Press.
The first installment of the Emerson discography has arrived early and is in stock for immediate delivery. This volume covers the complete 10″ and 12″ series (1919-1927), as well as the thousands of corresponding issues on client and subsidiary labels, including the notoriously tangled Grey Gull and BD&M groups. (A companion volume covering the smaller-diameter issues is in development for 2014.)
This is a 360-page 7×10″ quality softcover edition, for $45 with free U.S. and Canadian shipping. For full details and secure online ordering, visit the Mainspring Press website.
We’re honored to announce the following 2013 awards from the Association for Recorded Sound Collections, presented last week in St. Louis at their annual conference:
Allan Sutton — 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award
The Lifetime Achievement Award is presented annually to an individual who, “through a body of published work, set standards worthy of emulation by others; contributed significant original approaches to his field; and exhibited persistence and dedication over an extended period in the pursuit of knowledge about recorded sound.”
The American Zonophone Discography, Vol. 1 (William R. Bryant) — Finalist, 2013 Award for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research
The Award for Excellence “recognizes the contributions of these individuals and aims to encourage others to emulate their high standards and to promote readership of their work.”
We are very grateful to ARSC and its members for their ongoing support of Mainspring Press, its authors, and its mission over the past decade, and will continue to strive to be worthy of the awards they’ve bestowed.
Victor’s August 1908 ad for “The Right Church but the Wrong Pew,” which makes us wonder whether the writer had ever actually heard Bert Williams.
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EDDIE MORTON: Wild Cherries Rag
Camden NJ: July 27, 1910 (Released November 1910)
Victor 16792 (mx. B-9326-2)
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EDDIE MORTON: The Right Church but the Wrong Pew
Camden, NJ: July 11, 1908 (Released August 1908)
Victor 5501 (mx. B-6263-3)
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EDDIE MORTON: The Oceana Roll
Camden, NJ: July 12, 1911 (Released September 1911)
Victor 16908 (mx. B-10712-1)
All accompaniments by studio orchestra (the conductor is uncredited in the files or elsewhere, contrary to some discographies)
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Details of Eddie Morton’s complete recorded output can be found in The American Stage Performers Discography, 1891-1931, available from Mainspring Press (but in very limited quantities — we’re nearly sold out).
Some welcome recognition for the mother of Tejano music, available from your local Post Office…
… And our favorite recording from her early years:
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LIDYA MENDOZA: Una cruz
Blue Bonnet Hotel, San Antonio, TX: October 25, 1938
(Eli Oberstein, recording supervisor)
Montgomery Ward M-7982 (mx. BS–28629-1)
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For the remarkable story of Lydia’s early years, and the evolution of recordings for the Mexican-American market, be sure to check out Recording the ‘Thirties, available from Mainspring Press and many major libraries.
Three scarce sides by the Original Memphis Five’s clarinetist. Pathé’s recording files are long-gone, leaving the uncredited accompanists a guessing-game. OM5 pianist Frank Signorelli was Lytell’s usual accompanist at the time, and he gets the nod based on the aural evidence. The guitarist on the first side (misidentified as a banjoist in Jazz Records and derivative works) is anyone’s guess, however — he’s been listed as Harry Reser, Tony Colucci (both primarily banjoists at this time), even Eddie Lang in various works, so take your pick……
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THE THREE BARBERS: Down Town Rag
New York: c. February 1926
Pathé 036414 (mx. 106622)
Probably Jimmy Lytell (clarinet) and Frank Signorelli (piano); unknown guitar
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JIMMY LYTELL (probably Frank Signorelli, piano): Stockholm Stomp
New York: c. December 1927
Pathé 36741 (mx. not visible)
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JIMMY LYTELL (probably Frank Signorelli, piano): Why Be Blue?
New York: c. December 1927
Pathé 36741 (mx. not visible)
Some snippets from the May 1913 Victor supplement, which featured the usual bumper-crop of stereotypical “blackface” material by white performers (although neither of Jolson’s offerings fell into that category, the illustration aside). This month marked the first release by William Halley — in a particularly obnoxious good-ol’-slave-days ditty — who left vaudeville for politics and later served as a U.S. District Court judge.
Details on these and thousands of other Victor records, compiled from the original Victor files, can be found in John Bolig’s Victor Discogrography Series. Details of Halley’s and Jolson’s recordings for all labels can be found in The American Stage Performers Discography, 1891-1932. All are available from Mainspring Press (ASPD is nearly sold out, however) and many major libraries.
