Deadwax 78's

Whistling did a significant amount of cultural work, as the act itself and the people who performed it were at the center of dramatic changes in how nature sounds were recorded, presented, and consumed in America. Because sound recording technologies were confined to studio spaces and generally immobile through the late 1920s, popular performers adopted a variety of imitative techniques to transport listeners into scenes and settings that the technology itself could not access--places such as farms, forests, fields, zoos,  . Among these imitative practices, whistling proved to be both remarkably popular and enduring. 

Victoria Spivey is a legendary Blues singer who gained popularity in the 1920s and 1930s, mostly due to her powerful and emotive voice. She was one of the most successful female Blues singers of her time, and her incredible talent and contribution to the Blues genre have cemented her place in music history. While her career was a remarkable one, there were a lot of ups and downs in Spivey's life, and the path that led her to greatness is a fascinating one to explore. 

Although the stage and screen hit Funny Girl is inspired by the life of singer-actress Fanny Brice, the plot is mostly fiction with an occasional fact thrown in. Both the play and movie were produced by Fanny Brice's son in law, Ray Stark, who had the unenviable task of appeasing Fanny's surviving family and associates -- including Nick Arnstein. With Nick only too eager to initiate a lawsuit, Stark had to reshape history. And as Nick's character was fictionalized, other aspects of the story had to change too. Who was Fanny Brice 

 A Graphophone was a phonograph made by the Columbia Phonograph Company under one of its many corporate identities. There were Graphophones that played both cylinder and 78rpm records. A Grafonola was an internal horn phonograph made by the Columbia Phonograph Company that played 78rpm records. Columbia began selling disc records and phonographs in addition to the cylinder system in 1901, preceded only by their “Toy Graphophone” of 1899, which used small, vertically-cut records. For a decade, Columbia competed with both the Edison Phonograph Company cylinders and the Victor Talking Machine Company disc records as one of the top three names in American recorded sound. The firm also introduced the internal-horn “Grafonola” to compete with the extremely popular “Victrola” sold by the rival Victor Talking Machine Company.

Emerson Records was an American record company and label created by Victor hugo Emerson in 1915.Victor was the chief recording engineer at Columbia Records. In 1914 he left the company, created the Emerson Phonograph Company, and then Emerson Records the following year. He began producing small records, 5-inch discs that sold for 10 cents and 7-inch discs that sold for 25 cents. under the brand name G Clef, an homage to Emerson's original beginnings ..who would have thought the Emerson Radio Corporation one of the United States' largest volume consumer electronics distributors and has a recognized trademark in continuous use since 1912, all began with a scandal 

The first Edison Talking Doll record to benefit from optical scanning was a tin cylinder, The small metal ring had been so severely distorted from its original cylindrical shape decades ago, that the out-of-round record could not be properly played by a traditional stylus-contact based approach. The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, used IRENE 3-D to create a digital model of the tin record's modulated surface. Their software analysis revived the voice of a young woman reciting the first stanza of the nursery rhyme "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." let the nightmare begin 

The Sons of the Pioneers were the most successful western harmony group of all time, enjoying a career longevity that began in the early 1930s and still continues today, with, of course the obvious personnel changes. They were formed originally as The Pioneer Trio because of Ohio-born Leonard Slye's , love of harmony singing and his desire to be part of a vocal group. The name change came about when a radio announcer introduced them as ‘The Sons of the Pioneers,' because, he argued, they were too young to be pioneers. And the name stuck. Oh ya .... Leonard Slye ... later changed his name to Roy Rodgers

Among America's greatest treasures is John Philip Sousa, "The March King." The music of this beloved bandleader and composer, whose most prolific period straddled the turn of the 20th century, continues to fill hearts with a wave of national pride and patriotism. Sousa's "The Stars and Stripes Forever" is, in fact, the national march, and his creative medium, the marching band, has become an American institution. 

The band names on the labels are meaningless; the records were also used to cover groups including the so-called Grey Gull house band. They introduced a new method of selling phonograph records...one which would much later become standard practice in the record industry. Grey Gull would place display racks offering their latest product in newsstands, cigar stores, and other well-frequented businesses, returning on a regular basis to restock the racks and settle accounts with the merchant (a system known today as  rack jobbing. ....who was Grey gull records 

The words of one of this famous musician song could very well been his epitaph .. oh why was I so soon forgotten ...James A. "Jimmy" Bland, the greatest Black writer of American Folk Song composed over seven hundred songs, a number of which were outright contributions to Americana. You might not know this name but you probably know a few of his songs Most famous in this era is “Carry Me Back to Old Virginny.” which was the official state song of Virginia from 1940 to 1997 Unfortunately, there don't seem to be any recordings of Bland performing his songs, but many have been covered by other artists like Ray Charles, Bing Crosby, and Louis Armstrong. 

The Standard Talking Machine Company was an American record label that was created in October 1901 and operated until March 1918. The Chicago, Illinois based company distributed several models of phonographs from Columbia Graphophone Company parts and issued single-sided and double-sided disc records from Columbia Records masters. Despite the label name, the discs were not quite 'Standard'; the spindle hole at the center of the discs was 9/16 inch, larger than the industry standard. This made discs produced by other companies such as Victor and Columbia unable to be played upon Standard Disc phonographs, entrapping the buyer into purchasing only Standard Disc records. There were three affiliated companies — Harmony Disc, United, and Aretino — all with increasingly larger diameter spindle holes and record spindle holes. Collectors refer to these four related companies today as the ‘Chicago scheme companies'. 

The name derives from Aeolus, the mythical ancestor of the Aeolians and son of Hellen, In Greek mythology, Aeolus, was the ruler of the winds encountered by Odysseus in Homer's Odyssey. To ensure safe passage home for Odysseus and his men, Aeolus gave Odysseus a bag containing all the winds, except the gentle west wind. And we know what happened ... The Aeolian Company was a musical-instrument making firm whose products included player organs, pianos, sheet music, records and phonographs. Founded in 1887, it was at one point the world's largest such firm. 

It seems obvious to us today that disc records would always have two sides, but they didn't The story behind such an apparently simple idea was fraught with the usual patent wars, false starts and stops, and the appearance of a bevy of talented, even tragic, inventors on three continents.  Ademor Napoleon Petit might have been rather petite in physical stature (he stood 5ft 3in tall) and he might have liked the idea of petite typewriters. But he was pretty big on ideas, and his most lasting legacy being the two-sided record. 

The oldest known recording of the song, under the title "Rising Sun Blues", is by Appalachian artists Clarence "Tom" Ashley and Gwen Foster, who recorded it on September 6, 1933, on the Vocalion label Ashley said he had learned it from his grandfather, Enoch Ashley, Several notable musicians cite Ashley as an important influence. Now Foster with his dark skin, and an oriental look acquired the nickname "China" pronounced “Chinee.” Gwen “entertained them when the work slowed down and they thought his French harp (harmonica) was as powerful as a pipe organ. Gwen ruined a flour barrel full of harps by his constant playing”

In the 1880s, the record industry began by simply having the artist perform at a phonograph. In 1924, the trade journal Talking Machine World, covering the phonography and record industry, reported that Eddie King, Victor Records' manager of the "New York artist and repertoire department", had planned a set of recordings this perhaps the earliest printed use of A&R man. Actually, it says neither "A&R man" nor even "A&R", an name perhaps coined by Billboard magazine in 1946, and entering wide use in the late 1940s 

Bob Hicks was one of Atlanta's most popular Bluesmen in the 20s. His gruff voice and 12-string bottleneck style got him a recording contract when a Columbia scout went to a Barbecue where Bob would cook, serve and sing! His ‘Barbecue Blues' and ‘Going Up the Country' were among his hit records and he put down many interpretations of classic Piedmont Blues, Bob's records showed his wide repertoire and distinctive voice, but he is not a well known figure in Blues history 

One of the most influential of popular singers, her early career found her working in vaudeville. As a consequence, It is reputed that she was the first singer to perform W. C. Handy's “St. Louis Blues” in public, and she later popularized blues and jazz-influenced songs such as “Stormy Weather” and “Travelin' All Alone,” also scoring a major success with “Dinah.” She first recorded in 1921,  A buoyant, high-spirited singer with a light, engaging voice that frequently sounded “whiter” than most of her contemporaries, her career was an object lesson in determination and inner drive. Her appalling childhood problems and troubled early life, were overcome through grit and the application of her great talent. Ethel Waters

Little Wonder Records were single-sided five inch discs, the same size as a modern CD, but containing just a single song, running for little more than a minute.The label was the brainchild of former Columbia Records Executive, Henry Waterson. It gave ordinary Americans their first affordable access to recorded sound.Securing a Woolworth endorsement proved lucrative for Waterson, with sales topping half a million records a week!

With 134 phonograph-related patents to his credit, Thomas Edison was unquestionably the dominant inventor in the field — but he was far from alone.  The Patent History of the Phonograph 1877-1912 lists no fewer than 1,028 optimistic inventors who no doubt all envisioned future glory and fortunes in their patented improvements on the phonograph. If only it were that simple. Louis Devineau was among this army of now forgotten inventors, a middle-aged man with dreams of quitting his job as a clerk and becoming a wealthy inventor. 

Often called the “Mother of the Blues,” Ma Rainey she bridged earlier vaudeville and the authentic expression of southern blues, influencing a generation of blues singers. She was known for her deep-throated voice and mesmerizing stage presence that drew packed audiences and sold hit records in the early twentieth century. Also a songwriter, her lyrics and melodies reflected her experiences as an independent, openly bisexual African-American woman. 

Sidney Bechet was the first important jazz soloist on records in history (beating Louis Armstrong by a few months). A brilliant soprano saxophonist and clarinetist with a wide vibrato that listeners either loved or hated, Bechet's style did not evolve much through the years but he never lost his enthusiasm or creativity. A master at both individual and collective improvisation within the genre of New Orleans jazz, Bechet was such a dominant player that trumpeters found it very difficult to play with him. Bechet wanted to play lead and it was up to the other horns to stay the hell out of his way. 

Charles Marchand helped gain recognition for the oral tradition by performing the repertoire that Marius Barbeau had assembled; Marchand contributed to Barbeau's efforts. And From 1922 to 1926 he made many solo recordings for Edison and Columbia in New York and the Starr studios in Montreal. Marchand helped bring French Canadian songs into the cause of “la bonne chanson,” Marchand. office holder, baritone, folklorist, journalist, and artistic director 

Charles Cleveland “Charlie” Poole embodied the wild and reckless spirit of the 1920s. Known as a rambler and a rounder, banjo player, singer, and bandleader, Poole was a popular recording star from 1925-1931, With his group the North Carolina Ramblers, Poole made notable and influential recordings of “Don't Let Your Deal Go Down Blues,” “White House Blues,” “If I Lose, I Don't Care,” “Sweet Sunny South,” and many other well-known songs and tunes. Though few today play in his banjo style, Poole's three-finger picking technique was influential amongst the next generation of banjo players, who developed the bluegrass style. 

He shattered box office records during his many trips to the U.S., where he became one of radio's first mega-stars, and was, according to one account, “the best-paid concert singer in history.”

Anyone who plays jazz guitar can thank Eddie Lang; he was the first guitarist to play as a soloist, and was an influential factor in the guitar replacing the banjo in jazz ensembles. Lang was a versatile player who could back Blues singers, play Classical music, and jam with the greatest musicians of his day. He was the house guitarist at Okeh from 1926 to 1933. Using the pseudonym of Blind willie Dunn

An itinerant blues singer named smith who accompanied himself on the guitar while circulating throughout Texas during the 1920s and early '30s. And Between September 1930 and April 1935 he made phonograph records for Vocalion as a solo act and in the company of a few of his friends. Out of more than 50 sides involving Smith that were listed in the studio logs, more than half were never issued and have since disappeared and his career ended abruptly when he slew a man during an argument either about money owed or a woman regarded as his property. Sentenced to 25 years in the pen, he is said to have perished in his cell around 1940. or did he ... While other record labels have touched upon his legacy, who was Funny Papa/Funny Paper Smith ... john t smith the howling wolf . 

In the 1950s, he wrote numerous vehement letters to newspapers, radio, and television shows, stating that he was the true and sole inventor of jazz music, damaging his credibility and provoking a backlash against him and his reputation and career. Nick La Rocca claimed to have invented Jazz and often complained that African-American musicians have been given too much credit for the birth of Jazz. He was so obnoxious about this, that many people tend to try and overlook the important contributions he made to the music and the role that the Original Dixieland Jass Band played in popularizing Jazz around the world. 

Possession of truly rare records comes at a price You have to bear in mind, scarcity is not the same as quality. There is often a reason why something is rare – possibly it didn't sell, because it wasn't very good. To the collector, scarcity has a value all of its own, and exclusivity, being one of the few or only people in the world who owns it. It is a mild version of the art collector, who enjoys being the only person in the world to own that painting, 

Bix Beiderbecke was one of the great jazz musicians of the 1920's; he was also a child of the Jazz Age who drank himself to an early grave with illegal Prohibition liquor.His hard drinking and beautiful tone on the cornet made him a legend among musicians during his life and The legend only grew larger after he died.

So a chicken farmer a mechanic a farm hand and a blind musician walk into a room ... and thats how you end up with a legendary country groupWhen Gid Tanner teamed up with blind guitarist Riley Puckett and signed to Columbia in 1924, they created the label's earliest so-called "hillbilly" recording. Gid Tanner formed The Skillet Lickers in 1926. The first line-up was Gid Tanner farmer, Riley Puckett blind musician, Clayton McMichen mechanic and Fate Norris. Farm hand and Between 1926 and 1931 they recorded 88 sides for Columbia, 

In 1917, with its knowledge of extruded shellac compounds, Scranton Button began pressing phonograph records, which were rising in popularity. After constructing yet another building at the site, the company was able to press approximately 25,000 records daily. By the 1930s it had become one of the largest record manufacturers in the country, employing 1,200 workers and pressing 46,000 records a day.

Remember nipper listening in on the horn of a gramophone? The horn acts as the speaker that amplifies the sound coming from the vibration created by the needle. Apparently The longer the horn, the louder the sound will be.

The US entry into World War II had a potentially devastating effect on music. Blackouts, late-night curfews, and a 20% entertainment tax closed ballrooms, dance halls, and nightclubs all over the US. The rationing of rubber and gasoline drove many bands off the road, a shortage of shellac curtailed the recording of music, and some companies stopped making jukeboxes and musical instruments for a time because they were unnecessary to the war effort. On August 1, 1942, the American Federation of Musicians ordered its members to stop making records- other than the "V" discs intended for servicemen- until record companies agreed to pay them each time their music was played commercially. Capitol and Decca record companies settled, Victor and Columbia records held out, but musicians would not return to the studios for over two years.

Richmond has sometimes been called the “Birthplace of Recorded Jazz,” Gennett records produced a wide range of music, and many different genres had their earliest recordings created in what was sometimes called “Starr Valley.”

'the advertisement in the Johnson City Chronicle read .... Can You Sing Or Play Old-Time Music? ... actual tryout for the purpose of making columbia recordsThe auditions were part of a search for native Appalachian-Blue Ridge Mountains musical talent. Frank Buckley Walker was a pioneer, as was Ralph Peer of Victor Records, in the art of remote recording, which was deemed more effective than bringing musicians to New York City or larger northern cities to record. They thought the unsophisticated amateurs would perform more comfortably in their accustomed surroundings. considered by music scholars as important recordings of early country music that influenced a whole generation of revivalist folk musicians of the 1950s and 1960s, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Doc Watson. ...... The Johnson City Sessions ..

The roots of the recording studio go back to 19th-century inventors such as Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham, who laid the groundwork for the phonograph industry. By the time of the First World War, recording studios were appearing in major cities throughout the world, The key difference with the best recording studios is that they had their own sound and so became an indispensable part of the process of creating marvelous music

Some of the earliest albums recorded for popular commercial distribution were comedy albums. For example, various collections of humorous short stories recited by vaudeville comedians Records of comedy songs became popular, with vaudeville and musical comedy stars The Okeh label pioneered the practice of on-location recordings, In the 1920s, Okeh printed thousands of records But the record most commonly associated with the label might be “The OKeh Laughing Record.”

The earliest recorded sounds that can be heard today come from wax cylinders recorded by Edison and his colleagues , for purposes of experiment and exhibition in 1888. These cylinders are the incunabula of sound recording,  just as Gutenberg Bibles are the incunabula of moveable-type printing

He was mentor and teacher of Louis Armstrong. His influence was such that Armstrong claimed, It was my ambition to play as he did. I still think that if it had not been for Joe Oliver, Jazz would not be what it is today.”. a pioneer of what would become known as the Harmon trumpet mute, Joe “King” Oliver was a key figure in the first period of jazz history..

The first wave of independent record labels were primed to take advantage of the recording phenomenon after Gennett Records successfully sued the Victor corporation in 1921 which along with Columbia had been fiercely guarding the technology through patent laws, but the ensuing court victory removed Victor's rights to exclusivity over the method of making lateral cut 78 RPM records. some labels thrived with recordings by jazz greats but the majors were still reluctant to put black artists on record, creating a schism between the majors and independent labels for the next fifty years. enter the race record , sound recordings of the early 20th century that were made exclusively by and for African Americans. The term is sometimes said to have been coined by Ralph S. Peer, who was then working for OKeh Records.

Johnson may be thought of as both the last major pianist of the classic ragtime era and the first major jazz pianist. , he is considered an indispensable bridge between ragtime and jazz time

The title of “The King Of Jazz” which Whiteman was billed as seems somewhat politically incorrect these days, but in the 1920s he dominated the scene and hired the best White hot musicians Whiteman and his Orchestra were the most popular band of the 1920s and represented the apex of jazz to the general public. Over the years, critics and some musicians , have not had kind words to say about the band and have tended to represent Whiteman as a bad influence on the music in his attempts to “Make a lady out of Jazz”.

When Emilio De Gogorza  first records appeared early in the 20th century the phonograph was still a crude toy scarcely suited to capture high art ... many of De Gogorza's first efforts and of contemporary De Bassini did not appear under their real names ... but rather an imaginative array of pseudonyms .. and this was the beginning of a wide spread practice in the recording industry .... so what is your real name anyway ??

Today Annette Hanshaw has a bit of a cult following in England but is unremembered in her native America. Her recordings reveal the swinging syncopations of the jazz age performed by some of the greatest musicians who ever lived. They also provide the roots of the big band sound which will be developed by the musicians on these recordings. And providing the anchor on these songs for all this raging musical talent is the sweet voice of Annette Hanshaw.She was viewed by the public as the epitome of a flapper.

Both Herbert Berliner and Romeo Beaudry wanted to increase the Canadian and francophone presence in a market that until then had been monopolized by American firms. While Berliner created the francophone series for His Master's Voice Beaudry successively introduced the Starr series that presented thousands of recordings of popular French-speaking artists over a period of about twelve years .... 

A stylus or plural styli or styluses or maybe just needles ... Antique phonograph needles come in many types and sizes and can be considered the secret weapon to making lovely music on these treasured players. Which specific ones you choose can depend on the period that your phonograph was made in and the type that it is, but their low costs makes them a must-have for routine maintenance and peace-of-mind.

It takes 20 years to make an overnight success..... No other entertainer proved successful in as many fields as Eddie Cantor during the 1920s and '30s. Nicknamed "Banjo Eyes" and "the Apostle of Pep" for his endless reserves of energy and showmanship  he began his career touring in vaudeville, was promoted to the more legitimate theater of Ziegfeld's Follies, recorded many hits for Columbia, translated the success to film during the late '20s, became the biggest radio star of the '30s with the Chase & Sanborn Hour, and later moved to television as well.

In Quebec, the turlutte is a form of traditional popular song, which is associated with specific melody It is more accurately characterized as a song or vocal style in the French chanson tradition based on the Quebec and Irish folk traditions. Mary is considered an expert turlutte.La Bolduc has had a definite influence on the evolution of the chanson in Quebec and, though she has had many imitators, she has had no equals.

The human voice has an amazing power — to communicate, to thrill, to inspire. And Portia White had one heck of a voice. As the first Black Canadian singer to reach world-renowned status, the Truro nova scotia native became one of the most inspirational women in Canada's history but it wasn't easy. she said “First you dream,” “and then you lace up your boots.” 

The odds against success were tremendous. , the American music business was fiercely competitive in 1924. Lombardo's band didn't even have a distinctive style. Its earliest recordings - made four months after the departure from London Ontario - reveal a competent but unremarkable jazz group with none of the traces of the famed Lombardo sound. As things stood, the band was on the road to nowhere.

A nearly deaf man who birthed the recorded-music industry is just one of the extraordinary contradictions that define Thomas Edison, whose reputation has tended to vary wildly. he was a genius or a thief, a hero of American capitalism or a monster of greed, history's greatest inventor or a just hall-of-famer And not only did he have bad hearing, but he also was thought to have a fairly poor taste in music.