July 2005

July 28, 2005
 

 

I Want You For Myself
Andy Sanella And His Pennzoil Orchestra
Chick Bullock, vocal                                1931
(Conqueror 7779-A mx 10431)

For You
Society Night Club Orchestra 
Mildred Hunt, vocal                                 1931
(Conqueror 7779-B mx 10485)
 

San
Alabama Red Peppers
Arthur Fields, vocal                                 1928
(Cameo 8109 mx 2788)
 

Here are some selections from two recently acquired records that I consider to be quite good.

I am especially fond of  "I Want You For Myself" and it already ranks among my favorite 78 rpms in my collection.   Andy Sannella (the label on this week's recording incorrectly spells his name with only one "n") was a famous saxophonist and guitarist in the late 1920s and early 1930s.  In addition to leading his own bands, he also frequently recorded as a sideman for a number of record company in-house studio orchestras.  This recording comes from an old Conqueror record.  Conqueror was an in-house label for Sears and Roebuck pressed by the American Record Corporation.   It is likely that the recording was also issued on other ARC produced labels as well. 

The "Society Night Club Orchestra" and the "Alabama Red Peppers" were both recording pseudonyms for Bob Haring and His Orchestra. 

"For You" is a very pretty waltz that was popular in the early 1930s.   Unfortunately, I do not have any biographical information about vocalist Mildred Hunt.  She had a nice voice and made a lot of records during the late '20s and early '30s and is sadly all but forgotten today. 

"San" is an excellent hot jazz recording.  This recording has been in my collection for a number of years now but my copy was in very poor condition.  A few months ago, I came across copy in much better condition at the Austin Record Convention and immediately snapped it up.   Among the sidemen on this recording were Andy Sannella on clarinet, alto sax and steel guitar and Jimmy Dorsey on clarinet and alto sax.   This recording was also issued in Britain under the pseudonym of Jay Wilbur and His Orchestra. 

 
 

EXTRA

This section will  present 78 rpm recordings that do not fall within the range of the vintage pop and jazz  fare that I usually  present.  Here I will feature recordings from a wide variety of eras, musical genres and nationalities as well as occasional spoken word recordings. 
 
 
 
 

The Love Dance
Prince's Orchestra                        1910
(Columbia A925 mx 4872 )

The Birth Of Passion
Prince's Orchestra                        1910
(Columbia A925 mx 4873)
 

Here are two selections from the operetta Madame Sherry which opened on Broadway at the New Amsterdam Theatre on August 30.1910.   The music was composed by Karl L. Hoschna.  Born in Austria-Hungary, Hoschna studied the oboe at the Vienna Conservatory.  In 1897 he came to America where he played oboe in John Phillip Sousa's band.  He later got a job with a Tin Pan Alley music publisher and began arranging and composing.  Teamed with lyricist Otto Harboach, Hoaschna composed the score for several productions that made it to Broadway between 1908 and 1911.  Unfortunately, his career was cut short  when he died suddenly in December 1911 at the age of 34.

July 7, 2005
 
 

 
Vibraphonia Number 2
Joe Venuti And His Blue Four                1935
(Decca 669 A mx 39438)
 

Send Me
Joe Venuti And His Blue Four                1935
(Decca 669 B mx 39437)
 

Joe Venuti is considered to be the father of the jazz violin.  Born on a ship while his parents were immigrating to American from Italy, Venuti began training at an early age to be a classical violinist.  Venuti, along with his childhood friend, guitarist Eddie Lang,  performed with a number of bands in the late 1920s and early 1930s including the Jean Goldkette and Paul Whiteman orchestras.  The two cut a number of recordings together under their own names until Lang's unexpected and tragic death as a result of a botched tonsillectomy in 1933.  Venuti's career began to slowly fade after Lang's death but experienced a resurgence of sorts after a 1967 television appearance. 

 

EXTRA

This section will  present 78 rpm recordings that do not fall within the range of the vintage pop and jazz  fare that I usually  present.  Here I will feature recordings from a wide variety of eras, musical genres and nationalities as well as occasional spoken word recordings. 
 
 

Marriage Bells
Van Eps - Banta Trio                        1920
(Pathe 022492 B )

Song Of Omar
Van Eps Banta Trio                           1919
(Emerson 1038 mx 4268)

Chinese Chop Sticks
Van Eps Banta Trio                           1919
(Emerson 1038 mx 4267)
 
 

Fred Van Eps was one of the top banjo players of the early 20th century.   Ven Eps became interested in the banjo when he heard it played by a conductor on the Jersey Central Railroad.  He perfected his technique by listening to Edison and Columbia cylinders of pioneer recording artist and banjoist Vess Ossman.  In 1897, Van Eps began making cylinders of his own for the Edison company where he was teamed up with pianist Frank P. Banta, an Edison staff musician.   By the 1910s was frequently teamed up with Frank P. Banta's son, Frank Jr. who appears on these recordings.

My copy of "Marriage Bells" was among the very first 78 rpm records that I acquired when I was still in grade school.  The record absolutely fascinated me.  Not only was it my first exposure to ragtime styled music,  the ornate artwork on the label and the stylized Pathe logo were so unlike the 1970s gaudiness that was epidemic in the culture at the time.  It was one of many leftover relics I had discovered from the early 20th century that made me begin to realize that there had once existed a wonderful popular culture that stood in sharp contrast to the ugliness of the 1970s.  Not only that, the decorative border on the label was shaped in such a way that it appeared to be almost animated when it was placed on a spinning turntable which was fascinating to me.   For me, the label art combined with the music ("Velma" by saxophonist Rudy Wiedoeft is on the flip side) gave the record an enormous mystique and I was convinced that it had to be extremely rare and valuable.  It isn't - but to this day I still keep it in an extra safe location separate from most of the rest of my record collection. 

I consider myself to be a fan of banjo ragtime of which "Song Of Omar" and "Chinese Chop Sticks" are both excellent examples.