2005/03/30

1926

From 1900, we jump ahead to 1926. These four tracks come from a record collector friend of mine in Holland, who for the past forty years has been collecting any old time recordings he could get a hold of (78s, 33s, tape, mp3, etc); and for about the past thirty years he has been in the painstaking process of restoring these recordings through a mix of digital and analog means (with some homemade equipment). The results are just incredible. Here is a sample of four of remarkably awesome tracks from artists who unlike Louis Armstrong, Ma Rainey, or King Oliver never managed to make their way into many (if any) of these big 1920s revival box sets you find in your local Virgin mega store.


Billy Murray & Aileen Stanley

Collected Recordings (1926)
Any Ice Today Lady?
"Billy Murray (25 May, 1877 - 17 August, 1954) was one of the most popular singers in the United States in the early decades of the 20th century. While he received star billings on Vaudeville, he was best known for his prolific work in the recording studio, making records for almost every record label of the era. He was probably the best selling recording artist of the first quarter of the 20th century."
"Aileen Stanley (died 1982, age 89) projected a blues-influenced sensuality that was rare in white female vocalists of that era. She was one of Billy Murray's regular singing partners in the 1920's. Aileen also recorded many hits with other collaborators and as a solo artist, most notably "Sweet Indiana Home" (Victor 18992 in 1922) and "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street' (with Gene Austin on Victor 19585 in 1925)."


Dixieland Jug Blowers

Collected Recordings (1926)
Banjoreno
"Combining the sophistication of 1920s jazz bands with the raw energy of country string bands, the Dixieland Jug Blowers were in the vanguard of the early Louisville music scene. Their repertoire covered the spectrum of turn of the century American music - blues, rags, ballads, stomps, fiddle tunes and much more - in such performances as Barefoot Stomp, Blue Guitar stomp, Everybody Wants My Tootelum, National Blues and others."

California Ramblers

Collected Recordings (1926)
She Knows Her Onions
"The Ramblers adopted a slightly different playing style for the various labels they recorded for, thus enabling the record companies to have their own "sound". It wasn't until the development of electrical recording in 1925 that the true depth of the Rambler music became apparent and especially the Columbia company with its superb recording technique and smooth-surfaced records managed to capture the band in full glory. Although only one microphone was used and long before the days of dubbing, artificial reverb and stereo, the recorded sound has a tremendous perspective that even today baffles the listener. Also, these Columbia recordings were rather jazz-orientated, allowing for plenty of improvised solos and for what may already be described as "swing"."

Annette Hanshaw

Collected Recordings (1926)
Six Feet of Papa
"Annette Hanshaw was a popular singer and radio star of the 1920s and early Thirties who had many Jazz overtones in her singing style. She stepped out of her role of a torch singer and improvised and had a great deal of swing that harkened to the Big Band singers of the 1930s. She was viewed by the public as the epitome of a flapper."


For more information the reader is strongly urged to go check out: The Red Hot Jazz Archive they have more information than most people probably need, and tons of tracks in streamable Real Audio format.

2005/03/24

1900

Oh, oh, oh, I can barely type I'm so excited. I just got this collection of recordings from 1900, really 1900, not the 1900s but 1900! I am tingly. Enough typing, here are the songs.

Columbia Quartet
Camp Meeting Jubilee
"The name Columbia Quartet was not used for early Columbia discs known as Climax discs. Instead, the Climax Quartet sang on early discs. After the record company switched from its early Climax disc label to the Columbia label, the name Columbia Quartet was cited in spoken announcements. As late as 1908 or so Columbia used the generic "vocal quartette" on labels for performances that had been cut years earlier and remained in the catalog, but by 1906 for new performances the company sometimes put Columbia Quartette on discs."

Edna May
Purity Brigade
"Few people today have heard of Edna May but 100 years ago she was the toast of London and New York. Millionaires sought her hand in marriage, train loads of admirers would follow her where ever she went, she commanded some of the highest fees of her day, and her exploits were reported on both sides of the Atlantic....Edna May first took to the stage at the age of 5, when she played Little Willie Allen in a production of "Dora". By the age of 7 she had joined a children's opera company and performed Gilbert & Sullivan productions in Syracuse." This is so much what I imagine when I think of what music was like in 1900.

Dan W. Quinn
Vaudeville Specialty
"The singer was born in San Francisco, perhaps in 1859 since Jim Walsh reports in the December 1961 issue of Hobbies that Quinn was 79 years old when he died. Posing with other Edison artists of 1900, Quinn appears to be around 40 years old in a photograph that is reprinted in the January 1971 issue of Hobbies. He was occasionally identified as a baritone but most often as a tenor. Quinn was a boy soprano in an Episcopal choir and was evidently a vaudeville performer when he was a young man. His photograph is on the cover of sheet music of the 1890s."

2005/03/23

Tin Huey

hey, I'm Sophia, recent Vslam recruit. Though my main blog's The Soundkeeper, you'll likely be catching occasional updates from me here as well. Anyway, on to ze music...


Tin Huey formed in the early '70s in Akron, Ohio -- a scene that also birthed bands like Devo and the Rubber City Rebels. They're really cute -- geekish lyrics, huge melodies, gleefully messy, and obviously enjoying themselves a lot when they play. The enthusiasm of Robert Chistgau and a locally-popular cover of "I'm a Believer" got the band signed to Warner Brothers, where they released Contents Dislodged During Shipment in 1979. Despite being a pretty fun slab of offbeat new-wave pop, the record sold disappointingly and the band was dropped from Warner Brothers, leading to its subsequent break-up. (Reunited in 1999, though, to record Disinformation.)

Since I revel in all of those interesting band-connections... Chris Butler went on to form the Waitresses, record a handful of solo albums, and write "The Devil's Glitch," which, according to the Guinness Book of Records, is the longest recorded pop song (and was nominated for a Grammy in 1997). Stuart Austin worked on-and-off with Todd Rundgren. Ralph Carney played with the B-52s, Oranj Symphonette, Big Noise, and the Swollen Monkeys, as well as recording several solo albums.


Tin Huey

Contents Dislodged During Shipment (1979)
The Revelations of Dr. Modesto
Hump Day

Centro-matic, Will Johnson, South San Gabriel, Varnaline, Slobberbone, Okkervil River, Peter Schmidt

will is the brains (& brawn) behind the legendary Centro-matic, the slightly less legendary (but no less great) South San Gabriel; an open band usually consisting of at least will & scott danbom (the heavenly fiddle/cello/keyboard player) with notables like anders parker (Varnaline), brent best (Slobberbone), howard draper (Okkervil River), and so forth sitting in, and a few solo albums. oh and he was the drummer for the pretty well unknown funland band, prior to all this, with local good guy peter schmidt (genius behind the Legendary Crystal Chandelier) and clark something or other from the Toadies.
following in a long tradition of super-prolific texas songwriters, will has released 15 albums since 1997's release of redo the stacks, plus half a dozen 7 inches and tapes and a few singles turning up here and there on compilations. even more amazing than his seemingly non stop songwriting is the fact that every song is great. some are so great that you swear you've heard it before. it was maybe the most difficult thing i did all day to narrow it down to these three tracks. (guess i wasn't really in a rock out sort of mood, these are all pretty down-tempo.)

Centro-matic

The Static vs. The Strings Vol. 1 (1999)
Say Something / 95 Frowns
one of my favorites from an album i always forget about (its actually a collection of home recordings and leftover songs, not an album)


Will Johnson

Murder of Tides (2002)
Re-Run Pills
listen closely and you can hear the cicadas in the background (god i love that)


South San Gabriel

The Carlton Chronicles: Not Until the Operation's Through (2005)
I Feel Too Young to Die
i just got this album, and this song struck me from the first listen


other tracks from:

Varnaline

Songs in a Nothern Key (2001)
Still Dream


Slobberbone

Everything You Thought Was Right Was Wrong Today (2000)
Trust Jesus


Okkervil River

Black Sheep Boy (2005)
Black Sheep Boy


Various Artists
[sorry no artwork available]
Observer: Scene, Heard Volume 3
Peter Schmidt - All The Umbrellas In London