September 2004

September 30, 2004
 
 

Talk About Heaven
Madison Dance Orchestra                           1930
(Madison 5086 b mx 302 )
 

Blue And Lonesome
Atlanta Syncopators                                   1930
(Madison 5064 b mx 193)
 

Go Home And Tell Your Mother
Lou Gold and His Orchestra                       1930
(Madison 5097 a mx 401)
 

If the audio quality on some of this week's selections doesn't sound so great don't blame me - blame Grey Gull. 

All three selections were issued on Madison, a subsidiary of Grey Gull, a 1920s era independent record label based in Boston.  Grey Gull entered the record business in 1919 selling high quality records at premium prices.   Apparently that business strategy was not successful as the company soon moved in the exact opposite direction with Grey Gull becoming a very inexpensive bargain label.  With the drop in price came a corresponding drop in quality.  Not only were the records often poorly recorded they were pressed using low quality material.   As a result, the records did not stand up very well to repeated playings with the steel needles and heavy tone arms of the era's wind-up phonographs.   But even Grey Gull records which have survived in excellent condition frequently have lots of surface noise.   To keep costs low, Grey Gull  hired its own songwriters to write songs for use on its records' "B" sides in order to avoid having to pay the extra composers' royalties.  In another cost saving measure, Grey Gull rarely recorded big name artists and instead relied heavily on in-house studio musicians. 

Madison was a Grey Gull subsidiary label  sold through the F.W. Woolworth dime store chain.   The label first appeared in late 1926 or early 1927 and managed survive for almost a year after the last record on the Grey Gull label was issued in 1930.    Like Grey Gull, Madison records were often poorly recorded and made from the same cheap material.   Some Madison sides featured material that was also issued on other Grey Gull labels.  Others featured material that was specifically recorded for Madison. 

The sound quality one can expect to get from an old Madison record is very much hit or miss.  The surface condition of this week's records of  "Talk About Heaven" and "Blue And Lonesome" is very similar visually .  But observe that the audio quality of "Talk About Heaven" is significantly better.   I strongly suspect that both songs are examples of the  royalty-free "B" side material commissioned by the record company as I am unable to find any other references to the songs elsewhere.  The composer credit for "Talk About Heaven" is given to someone called Crescent.  The credit for "Blue and Lonesome" goes to someone called Sheppard.   The Madison Dance Orchestra and the Atlanta Syncopators both were most likely  pseudonyms for a studio orchestra.

"Go Home And Tell Your Mother" was a Field and McHugh composition from the 1930 film Love In The Rough which starred Robert Montgomery, Dorothy Jordon and Penny Singleton.  The song must have been somewhat popular  based on the number of versions which were recorded by various bands.    Lou Gold was a successful conductor of studio bands for a number of record labels during the 1920s and early 1930s. 
 
 

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. 
 

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Update:  A reader was kind enough to write and inform me that last week's recordings by the Supertone Military Band were indeed previously released on the Brunswick label.  Both recordings were originally issued  in 1927 with the performance credit going to Walter B. Rogers and His Band. 
 

"The Gondoliers" Selections - Parts 1&2
Court Symphony Orchestra
Clarence Raybould, conductor                           1932
(U.K. Columbia DX-386 mx CAX-6495, CAX-6496 )

Here is a strictly instrumental recording of a medley of songs from the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Gondoliers.   Most of the old operettas had very pretty melodies so I think it is interesting to listen to instrumental-only versions. 

Clarence Raybould was a well-known British conductor and made lots of recordings.  From 1936 to 1945 he was the Assistant Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra.   During the 1930s it was very common for radio networks around the world to have their own in-house symphony orchestra and their programs enjoyed high listenership.  During the World War II "blitz" over England, the BBC Symphony broadcasts were considered sufficiently important to wartime morale that the Government went to considerable effort to keep the orchestra intact and out of harm's way.   For more information on the BBC Symphony during World War II, visit this website. 

I have not been able to find out much information about the Court Symphony Orchestra other than the fact that an orchestra by that name is still making recordings.  In fact, they even have a CD out of instrumental versions of Gilbert and Sullivan operetta music. 

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September 23, 2004
 
 

Hesitation Blues
Art Gillham (The Whispering Pianist)           1925
(Columbia 343-D mx 140390 )
 

Second Hand Love
Art Gillham (The Whispering Pianist)           1925
(Columbia 343-D mx 140274)
 

Art Gillham was a pioneer from the earliest days of commercial radio broadcasting and remained popular as a pianist and vocalist on both radio and records into the 1930s

During the early 1920s, Gillham earned his living traveling across the country playing piano at various venues as a "song plugger" for a Chicago music publishing house.   When the very first commercial radio stations started to spring up throughout the United States in  1922, Gillham began to make on-air appearances at various stations in the towns he traveled to.  Due to his quiet singing voice, when he appeared at WSB in Atlanta in 1924, the station's program director published his photo in the local newspaper with the caption "The Whispering Pianist" - and Gillham was billed as such for the remainder of his career. 

One of the early milestones in commercial radio was election night on November 4, 1924 when the American Telephone and Telegraph Company's radio station,  WEAF in New York, served as the flagship station of one of the first nationwide  "network" broadcasts via a series of stations connected through AT&T's long distance telephone lines.  Between election updates, listeners were provided with a variety of entertainment by artists such as Wendell Hall,  Will Rogers and Joseph Knecht's Waldorf Astoria Dance Orchestra - and Art Gillham. 

The recordings featured this week are historic in that they were part of the very first recording session to produce commercially issued records using the new electrical recording technology.  The recording session took place on February 25, 1925.  Of the five sides issued from that session, the paring of "You May Be Lonesome"/"I Had Someone Else Before I Had You"  was released  earlier than the others making them  the world's first commercially issued electrical recordings.   The recording session was considered somewhat experimental and for participating Gillham received a bonus of $1,000 - rather significant sum in those days.   Gillham later speculated that he was chosen for the session because he had previous experience working with microphones as a result of his radio background. 

Gillham is credited as the composer on both "Hesitation Blues" and "Second Hand Love."  "Hesitation Blues" dates back to 1915 and was Gillham's first published composition.   He  made acoustical recordings  of both songs prior to the historic February 1925 electrical recording session but neither were issued.

Gillham enjoyed financial success for the remainder of the 1920s.  However, he lost much of his wealth in the stock market crash of 1929.  In the 1930s, he worked for local radio stations in various parts of the country.  In the late 1930s, he moved to Atlanta where he became sales manager and, later, the principal of a business college.  He continued to make occasional radio appearances in the 1940s.  In 1939 he appeared in the first demonstration broadcast in the South of a new medium - television.

For a detailed and interesting biography of Art Gillham, visit this website. 
 
 

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. 
 
 

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Gridiron Club March
Supertone Military Band                    issued 1930
(Supertone S2162)

Pride Of The Wolverines
Supertone Military Band                    issued 1930
(Supertone S2162)

Here are two rather pretty John Philip Sousa compositions.  Both were written late in his career in 1926. 

The recordings come from an old Supertone record.  Supertone was a late 1920s and early 1930s  in-house label for Sears, Roebuck and Company.  Most Supertone records were pressed by and drew material from the Gennett label.  However, in late 1930, Sears gave the contract to Brunswick which produced them until the label was discontinued in mid 1931.   These recordings are among the early Brunswick pressed Supertones.   The 1930 date listed here is merely when the recordings were issued on Supertone.  It is very possible that they were recorded and perhaps even released by Brunswick a few years earlier.

Take a look at the above image of the records label and note that Supertone claimed that its recordings were not merely electrically recorded  - they were SUPER electrically recorded! 

Update:  A reader was kind enough to write and inform me that both recordings  were indeed previously released on the Brunswick label in 1927.    The performer credit on the original Brunswick release was for Walter B. Rogers and His Band. 

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September 16, 2004
 
 

I'm Ka-razy For You
Horace Heidt and His Orchestra                  1929
(Victor 21957-B)
 

The Wedding Of The Painted Doll
Horace Heidt and His Orchestra                  1929
(Victor 21957-A)
 

This week's selections come from a recent acquisition.  Let's just say that I was "ka-razy" for "I'm Ka-razy For You" from the very moment I put it on the turntable.  I was not previously familiar with the song.  Too bad that my copy is not in the best of shape - though my restoration equipment was able to do a pretty decent job at cleaning it up.  I will definitely be on the lookout for a cleaner copy as well as versions by other bands.

"The Wedding of the Painted Doll" has always sounded to me like a song more appropriate for a cartoon soundtrack.  It was, however, introduced in the 1929 MGM film  Broadway Melody, one of the very early movie musicals made possible by the advent of talking pictures.  The film is best remembered for being the first movie to win an Academy Award for "Best Picture" and, as a result, is still available on video.   Several successful songs came out of the movie including "Broadway Melody" and "You Were Meant For Me."

The scene that featured "The Wedding of the Painted Doll" is notable in that it had to be refilmed due to its choreography being rejected.  Rather than going to the hassle and  expense of bringing back the live orchestra, the scene was refilmed to a playback of the music recorded during the first take - which made it the first ever film sequence to be performed to pre-recorded music. 
 
 

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. 

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Alma Mater
Cole McElroy's Spanish Ballroom Orchestra              1931
(Victor 22833-B)
 

Bow Down To Washington
Cole McElroy's Spanish Ballroom Orchestra              1931
(Victor 22833-A)

During the 1920s and into the 1930s, there was a fad in American popular culture for all things collegiate.  As a result, it was not unusual for dance bands to occasionally perform and record college anthems and fight songs.   Here are two for the University of Washington.  Rather pretty tunes, I think. 

McElroy's Spanish Ballroom was a very popular Portland, Oregon nightclub for many years and regularly attracted big name jazz and dance bands.

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September 9, 2004
 
 

It's Easy To Remember
Will Osborne and His Orchestra
Will Osborne, vocal                             1935
(Banner 33362-A mx 16853)
 

Down By The River
Will Osborne and His Orchestra 
Will Osborne, vocal                             1935
(Banner 33362-B mx 16851)
 

With Every Breath I Take
Will Osborne and His Orchestra
Will Osborne, vocal                             1934
(Banner 33285-B mx 16198)

Outside Of You
Will Osborne and His Orchestra 
Will Osborne, vocal                             1935
(Banner 33468 mx C976)

Yours Is My Heart Alone
Will Osborne and His Slide Music
Will Osborne, vocal                             1940
(Varsity 8260 mx USLA 21)
 

A few weeks ago I was searching ebay in hopes of finding a particular Will Osborne record that I am looking for and came across a listing for a Will Osborne autograph.  While I don't normally seek out autographs (I already have too many collecting interests as it is!), there were no other bids so I put in for the minimum bid and ended up winning.  Now I have a good excuse to put up some more Will Osborne recordings.

For me, Will Osborne is an exception to my rule of thumb that the late 1930s and 1940s recordings made by surviving 1920s and early 1930s artists rarely tend to be as good as their earlier efforts.    With the occasional exceptions, I think that Will Osborne's best recordings were made from around 1937 into the 1940s.   During those years, the Osborne band had a rather nice "big band" sound which was combined with stylistic trombone effects that Osborne called "slide music."   Prior to that period, Osborne was primarily known as a "crooner" whose style was very similar to Rudy Vallee's.   I have quite a few Osborne recordings on various "dime store" labels from around 1934 and 1935 and find the orchestral accompaniment on many to be rather bland.   The recordings featured this week include some of the better recordings I have by him from those years. 

Osborne was Canadian and was the son of Lord Oliphant which made him the heir to a barony in Scotland.   He started his bandleading career in 1924 and began to receive national recognition on network radio in 1929 when he took over for Rudy Vallee at New York's Heigh-Ho Club when Vallee left for Hollywood to star in the film The Vagabond Lover.  Osborne retired from bandleading in 1957 and became the entertainment director at Harvey's Casino in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. 

Below are updated audio files of  additional recordings by the Will Osborne Orchestra that I featured before I upgraded my audio restoration equipment a year ago.

 I'm Stepping Out With A Memory Tonight
Will Osborne and His Slide Music                           1940
Barbara Bush, vocal
(Varsity 8280 mx USLA 28)
Originally featured January 18, 2001

In The Still Of The Night
Will Osborne and His Orchestra                              1937
Joan Whitney, vocal 
(Decca 1467-A mx 62614)
Originally featured August 22, 2002

Over Somebody Else's Shoulder
Will Osborne and His Orchestra                              1934
Will Osborne, vocal
(Melotone M 12936 mx 14826)
Originally featured October 18, 2001

Additional Will Osborne recordings can also be found in the February 19, 2004 Update. 
 
 

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. 

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Thinking Of You
Sam Lanin's Dance Band                    1926
Charles Keene, vocal
(Banner 1884-A mx 16939)

Here is a recording that has been the subject of discussion on this website's message board.  It has been in the Radio Dismuke playlist for a while and was featured on the September 26, 2002 update.  Here is an updated audio file using the improved audio restoration equipment I purchased a year ago.