(one of my own brown wax cylinders, this one has George P. Watson on it with Hylands on piano, recorded in c. earlier-1898)
When cylinder collectors get into talking about Columbia's phonograph company, they are usually at a bit of a loss of what to say about it. As it has, in many ways, not been documented nearly as much as Edison's company, and most collectors immediately lean toward Edison due to the superior sound quality Edison had after 1900. It's obvious that more collectors have taken more to the Edison side of recording because, those who know, will be able to actually identify the pianist without being criticized by other collectors. When it comes to Columbia, it's not as easy. As those who follow my blog know who Columbia's pianist was in its prime years with the best staff, but it's not a universally known fact. Many collectors(in fact, a majority of them) do not know of this "Frederic Hylands" chap anyway. As he as VERY rarely credited or even mentioned outside of The Phonoscope as Columbia's pianist. And those collectors who haven't really noticed his playing very much before mentioning him will be surprised that he wasn't the type of pianist showed below:
(this was a typical pianists stereotype of the 1890's, 1900's and teen's, great illustration though! the bottle on the piano is the best part!)
Hylands was the opposite type of pianist compared to the one above.
He was more like this:
Quite a difference, clearly.
These mis-fits at Columbia were very close as partners in their work, and just as friends in general. That's what was so unique about Columbia in the 1890's, all of their prime staff were friends, and could trust each other easily, even when many of them were not sober. They even had a very close relationship with their manager, "Vic " Emerson. Vic was not the best manager, and as he got older, his personality deteriorated. In the 90's however, he was one of the boys. The main swell of Columbia's sales and recording department was of course Len Spencer.
Spencer was the dude of the staff, always keeping up-to-date and having the most unusual and progressive ideas there. His energy could certainly consume any room he came into, at about 6 foot 4, over 200 pounds, white-faced, with jet black hair slit with gray strands, it was hard not to miss him. He could overtake any room or conversation that the staff got into, bringing up all sorts of things that were not previously thought of. But amid Spencer's clearly high IQ and somewhat awkward social means, he was the type who would try anything. His dedication to being a modern eccentric led him to drink terribly, and get somewhat addicted to some drugs, as some of the effects of these can be seen in the few pictures that exist of him. Spencer was only a fraction of the odd mix of close friends that Columbia had to offer. They had the daring Russell Hunting going out and keeping up with everything as it happened, such as the Edison and Tesla feud. Since they weren't at Edison, they all just watched the whole battle like a boxing match, setting their money on who they thought would win certain debates that came up. From a few issues of The Phonoscope it is clear that Hunting and the Columbia staff enjoyed the fight when it happened.
These boys were so closely associated, that when Steve Porter got his yacht all set up to sail in yacht races, he invited everyone out to the competitions out at Staten Island in the Summer of 1898:
So clearly upon reading this, it can be easily assumed that Mr. Porter had quite the heap of money to spare. He was willing to share it with all of his close friends, and to think that all of those boys that we know on those Columbia cylinders went a-sailing with Steve Porter is a funny thought. This rather gossip-natured thing just proves how close and trustworthy they all were toward one another, and proves how they were all true "sporting swells".
This little thing also says that their still rather new house pianist, Fred Hylands, was to be trusted by them already by mid-1898. They had a very modernistic relationship as fellow co-workers, and this was in the 1890's!
These mis-fits at Columbia were very close as partners in their work, and just as friends in general. That's what was so unique about Columbia in the 1890's, all of their prime staff were friends, and could trust each other easily, even when many of them were not sober. They even had a very close relationship with their manager, "Vic " Emerson. Vic was not the best manager, and as he got older, his personality deteriorated. In the 90's however, he was one of the boys. The main swell of Columbia's sales and recording department was of course Len Spencer.
These boys were so closely associated, that when Steve Porter got his yacht all set up to sail in yacht races, he invited everyone out to the competitions out at Staten Island in the Summer of 1898:
So clearly upon reading this, it can be easily assumed that Mr. Porter had quite the heap of money to spare. He was willing to share it with all of his close friends, and to think that all of those boys that we know on those Columbia cylinders went a-sailing with Steve Porter is a funny thought. This rather gossip-natured thing just proves how close and trustworthy they all were toward one another, and proves how they were all true "sporting swells".
This little thing also says that their still rather new house pianist, Fred Hylands, was to be trusted by them already by mid-1898. They had a very modernistic relationship as fellow co-workers, and this was in the 1890's!
I hope you enjoyed this!
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