Dismuke's 78 RPM Blog

“Yankee Patrol”
Band
1904 (Standard Disc Record 1795)

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Here is a one-sided Standard Disc Record that I set aside when I was searching for the 1905 Standard record of “Silver Heels” that I featured on my April 15 posting commemorating the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.

As I mentioned in the April 15 posting, Standard Disc Records were pressed by Columbia on a contract basis for the Standard Talking Machine Company of Chicago using recordings that had already been issued on the Columbia label.

For this recording the artist credit on the original Columbia issue was “Columbia Band.”  On the Standard issue it is simply listed as an unaccredited band.  However, this recording is early enough that it features an opening announcement  – and note that the announcement credits it as “Columbia Band” even on the Standard issue.   Such opening announcements were a holdover from cylinder records where the lack of surface space for label and credits made them necessary.    In 1904 cylinders still had a larger share of the record market than discs.

“Yankee Patrol” was composed by Frank W. Meacham who is best remembered for his 1885 composition “American Patrol” which, decades later, was revived in a memorable 1941  Glenn Miller recording.

“Silver Heels”
Band
1906 (Standard Disc Record 3341)

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As you may already be aware from the extensive media coverage, this past evening was the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.   A number of songs have been documented as having been played by Wallace Hartley’s salon orchestra during the voyage.  Here is one of my favorites among them.

“Silver Heels” was composed in 1905 by Charles Neil Daniels under the pseudonym of Neil Moret.  In addition to being a composer, Daniels was editorial director of the Jerome H. Remick Music Company which published a large number of ragtime time era songs.

“Silver Heels’ was promoted as an “Indian intermezzo.”   Daniels composed the very first Indian intermezzo “Hiawatha” in 1902 while on a train ride though Hiawatha, Kansas.   The rhythm of the locomotive made Daniels think of Indian drums.  The song’s publisher provided the “Indian intermezzo” subtitle and it became a popular success.    The Indian intermezzo quickly became one of the early popular music fads of the 20th century.  One commentator has suggested  that the use of the word “intermezzo” perhaps gave exotic popular music a classical respectability so that it would be appropriate for young ladies to purchase and play in their parlors.

This recording comes from a one-sided Standard Disc Record issued by the Standard Talking Machine Company of Chicago.   Standard manufactured phonographs which were sold at either very low prices or were sometimes given away as premiums.   The “catch” was that the machines had a larger than standard spindle that would only accommodate the company’s records  – an early form of what we today would call vendor lock in.   All of Standard’s records were pressed by Columbia and consisted of selections that had previously appeared on the Columbia label.   At the time the patents for conventional lateral grooved disc records in the United States were controlled by Victor and Columbia.  This recording was originally released in 1906 on Columbia 3341 with the band credited as “Columbia Band.”