A couple of late entries in the novelty-horn race, from The Talking Machine World. By the time these self-supporting horns were advertised in 1908, internal-horn machines were all the rage and the outside horns’ days were numbered. The Echo-Tone was made by the J. F. Frey Manufacturing Company (Brooklyn); the Ideal by the Federal Manufacturing Company (Cleveland).
.
.
ENRIQUE ESPINOZA: El Borrachito
Los Angeles: c. June 1925
Sunset 1126 (mx. 777)
Enrique Espinoza, vocal; others unknown
.
LIDYA MENDOZA: Una Cruz
Blue Bonnet Hotel, San Antonio: October 25, 1938
Montgomery Ward M-7982 (mx. BS–28629-1)
Lidya Mendoza, vocal and mandolin; others unknown
.
EL CIEGO MELQUIADES: Paulita
Texas Hotel, San Antonio: August 15, 1935
Montgomery Ward M-4870 (mx. BS-94591-1)
Melquiades Rodriguez, violin; Enrique Morales, guitar
.
Recording the ‘Thirties (available from Mainspring Press and many major libraries) includes a chapter on Depression-era recordings for the Mexican-American market.
.
AL JOLSON with ISHAM JONES’ ORCHESTRA: Steppin’ Out
Chicago: January 18, 1924
Brunswick 2567 (mx. 41Ch or 42Ch*)
.
AL JOLSON with ISHAM JONES’ ORCHESTRA: The One I Love Belongs to Somebody Else
Chicago: January 17, 1924
Brunswick 2567 (mx. 28Ch or 29Ch*)
.
AL JOLSON with ISHAM JONES’ ORCHESTRA: Never Again
Chicago: January 17, 1924
Brunswick 2611 (mx. 23Ch, 24Ch, or 25Ch*)
(No mx. numbers shown in the pressings; numbers are from the Brunswick files, which in this case do not indicate the mx’s used.)
Details of Jolson’s complete early recordings can be found in The American Stage Performers Discography (1891-1932), available from Mainspring Press and many major libraries.
The Edison 30-rpm radio transcriptions of 1928-1929 are among the company’s rarest and least-known output. After taking many twists and turns, the Edison transcription story finally ends with an unlikely Russian connection in 1931.
Full technical and discographic details of the Edison transcriptions, from the original Edison files, can be found in Ray Wile’s Edison Discography: 1926-1929, available from Mainspring Press and many major libraries. A detailed history of the transcription program is in preparation for the Mainspring Press website; in the meantime, here are some highlights from the supporting documentation:
.
This 1928 letter, from G. C. Cosden (of Edison’s Special Sales Department) to a National Radio Advertising executive, lists the disc’s technical specifications. Chicago-based NRA at that time was seriously considering the Edison transcription. But the company alienated NRA with uncompetitive pricing and overly restrictive licensing terms, and raised doubts over its ability to meet NRA’s looming deadline to start production.
.
Rebuffed by National Radio Advertising over pricing, Edison reworked its estimates. Still, Edison insisted on retaining ownership of the discs (even though NRA was to pay for their production in full), and continued to draw out negotiations for so long that by the time other issues were finally resolved, NRA’s deadline to start production had passed. NRA instead went with the much more nimble and accomodating Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, which proved to be a highly successful (and for Brunswick, lucrative) collaboration.
.
With the National Radio Advertising account lost, Edison instead contracted with WAAM, a Newark radio station. This 1929 memo lists the contents of two transcriptions prodiced for the station. They were recorded in Edison’s Columbia Street studio on April 23, 1929 (using a two-microphone setup, one for bass and one for treble) with Ernest Stevens at the organ and Cosden himself the supplying the announcements.
SERBIAN TAMBOURITZA QUARTET: Aj, Haj, Boze, Daj!
New York: March 1918
Columbia E4190 (mx. 84187-1)
.
STEVAN RADIN (accordion): Malo Kolo
New York: c. June 1917
Columbia E3638 (mx. 58373-1)
.
ABRAHAM ELENKRIG’S ORCHESTRA: Die Zilberne Chasene
New York: December 2, 1915
Victor 67569 (mx. B-16843-2)
If you’ve ever wondered why certain Hit of the Week releases are still so plentiful, this might be the answer. In 1933 Montgomery Ward bought up Durium Products’ remaining inventory (consisting of over two million discs, they claimed) and offered them in lots of twenty records for 49¢ — about 2.5¢ per record, or less than 2.1¢ each if you bought all three lots — probably making them the cheapest records ever sold.
The ad below appeared in Ward’s Fall 1933 catalog. The titles listed are among those that still turn up most frequently.
The history of these flexible cardboard-based discs is covered in detail in Recording the ‘Thirties: The Evolution of the American Recording Industry, 1930–1939, available from Mainspring Press and many major libraries.
.
.
STEVE WHITE & HIS DANCELAND ORCHESTRA: Slippery Elm
Los Angeles: c. October 1925
Sunset 1132 (no mx. number visible)
.
EDDIE FRAZIER & HIS PLANTATION ORCHESTRA: Everything Is Hotsy-Totsy Now
Los Angeles: c. April 1925
Sunset 1100 (mx. 691)
.
OWEN FALLON & HIS CALIFORNIANS: Darktown Shuffle
Los Angeles: c. October 1925
Sunset 1135 (no mx. number visible)
You can find the history of Sunset and other pioneering California record labels in Recording the ‘Twenties: The Evolutuion of the American Recording Industry, 1920–1929, available from Mainspring Press and many major libraries.
The May 1913 Italiani Catalogo Generale Dischi Doppi Columbia ran to 42 pages, comprising both domestic and Italian recordings on the Columbia A, C, E, and H series. Much of the catalog was given over to operatic arias and Neapolitan songs, but there were also popular offerings by such favorites as accordionist Guido Deiro, who had recently embarked on his American career after having become a hit in Europe. (From the Bill Bryant archive)
.
.
You can find more information on early recordings for the American immigrant markets in A Phonograph in Every Home: The Evolution of the American Recording Industry, 1900–1919, available from Mainspring Press and many major libraries.
.
CESARE FORMICHI: Aida — Quest’ assisa (Verdi)
Milan: c. 1911
Columbia A1218 (mx. 11198-1)
.
CESARE FORMICHI: Nutata ’e sentimento (Capolongo)
Milan: c. 1913
Columbia E1810 (mx. 41822-1)
,
CESARE FORMICHI: Tosca — Ella verra (Puccini)
London: 1928 (Sir Hamilton Harty, conductor)
Columbia 7156-M (mx. AX 3043-2)
An ingenious folding horn, modeled on the umbrella principle (how of these do you suppose have survived intact?), as advertised in 1908. The magazines and trade papers for that year are full of equally novel horns — folding, collapsing, self-supporting, and even one oddball item that substituted a sounding board for the bell. Unfortunately, the timing could not have been worse. By 1908 internal-horn machines were becoming all the rage, and the demand for external horns plummeted the following year.
.
