Listed only(what records exist?)

(July 1898 issue of The Phonoscope  I think we all know who's on the piano behind Spencer on those record by him..)

 (Dec. 1896 issue of The Phonoscope)

(also from Dec. 1896 issue of you know what)

Many of these titles look really interesting and eye-catching for who their listed performing them. But how many of these records actually exist to-day? It's a question that many record collectors wonder about. These record lists from The Phonoscope are always interesting because they show many titles that are largely forgotten of unknown, they also become a target for sheet music collectors. The lists could easily catch the attention of sheet music fiends because of some of the rare coon songs and comic songs listed. Well over half of all of the brown wax cylinders that were made in the 1890's have either been destroyed, or broken, or rotted over with mold and mildew. And there were well over hundreds of thousands of brown cylinders made in the 1890's alone.

As to prove this example further, here is another section, this time about Len Spencer, from The Phonoscope from November 1896:

62,000 records! And that's only as of November 1896! That's not even at the height of his recording career, and yet he had already made that many records. That's a little hard to fathom. I couldn't have ever known that if I hadn't read that thing. It makes sense if you think about it for a minute, because this was written back in the days of thirty or forty takes of a single song. It's still an amazing number. But it can be assumed that less than half of all of those 62,000 or so cylinders are long gone. It's amazing to hear any of these for that matter, if any of Spencer's mid or late-1890's cylinders survive.

Here's one from 1898(with Hylands on piano!):

http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/10000/10662/cusb-cyl10662d.mp3

(beware! It's pretty messy)

 It's good that he made so many, so there are more out there than those singers who made only about a dozen(such as the very mysterious Atwood Twitchell).

Speaking of Atwood Twitchell, one of my good record friends spoke of this mysterious character last November. He told me that years ago, it was thought that Atwood Twitchell was a queer pseudonym for one of the other popular recording artists(such as Dan Quinn he told me), but this friend of mine heard a Berliner disc decades ago that was announced as being by "Atwood Twitchell"and learned that he didn't sound like anyone else in the recording business who was ever recorded. So he found that this performer was apparently a popular vaudeville singer and performer, who only made about a little over a dozen records here and there.

So getting back to the main subject, most of these great sounding title by these great singers listed do not survive to this date. We record collectors can only look through these record lists and imagine what these eye-catching titles would have sounded like by all these singers. Some of these were never reported to have been sung by these singers! They weren't until you find the record lists, here's a few odd ones:

Some of these titles get me interested and really wishing that at least one of them still exists somewhere. I have only heard descriptions of Russell Hunting's "Casey on Parade", and it must have been a comical mess, but from what I've heard, it's a fantastic parody on all of Hunting's Casey records. He did not write it though, to add to the unusual circumstances of the tune. Another composer wrote the song and of course, one of the record boys must have given it to him almost as a joke, but it was an immediate hit with him. 

Another thing odd to note above is that J. W. Myers was listed very often as a Coon song singer, but to most of the records that survive of Myers, it seemed that he preferred popular songs and ballads, even if he was considered one of Len Spencer's minstrels(i.e. the picture below):

(I do not know which one is supposed to Myers, but he would be the only one with a moustache, and I know that I have used this picture before)

We all know that Spencer is in the center though. 

If this was in 1899, Hylands and Dan Quinn would be here in this mix. 

Myers was involved in Spencer's apparently reasonable successful minstrels in the late 90's, but he didn't stay with it for very long. That was until Spencer tried to bring that back in 1905(alluding to the picture above, even though it was taken in 1907). All of the singers we collectors know recorded all of the popular songs(especially Dan Quinn), even the ones that don't seem to go with the usual types of songs they took on, well the ones that survive nowadays. Just like the fact that Edison recorded Frank P. Banta on the piano in 1902, Columbia probably did the same at some point between 1898 and 1903, and if they ever did, it probably would have been in the late 90's side of his term at Columbia. Just like most of the cylinders though, this supposed piano solo "played by Frederick Hylands for the Columbia phonograph company of New York and Paris" has long died off from all of the collections of cylinders that exist. There was no doubt they would have recorded Hylands on solo piano at some point, only because the record boys(such as Harry Spencer) would have to figure out how to correctly balance him on their piano, so a test recording or two was certainly of order. But it's long gone. 

There are a million other possibilities as to what cylinders made in the 1890's were made and listed, but don't survive the decades and playing time they got. 

I hope you enjoyed this! 

Banta's Rag-Time analyzed

Frank P. Banta at Edison's piano in c.1902

Banta in 1900.

Frank P. Banta has always been a curiosity for record collectors and Rag-Time pianists alike, only because he was long known as the only house pianist identified on those old records. He was the only accompanist on 1890's and early-1900's records who had a name for decades. If you heard an old Edison or Columbia cylinder a few decades ago, you would immediately think that it was the father of the famous 1920's pianist Frank E. Banta. He was record collectors' only choice for decades. This is why many record collectors cannot let go of the idea that Banta was on most of the old piano accompanied records, this was not true of course. 
But Banta was just as good a Rag-Timer as his recording adversary Fred Hylands, but they stole from each other, so sometimes is can be a little complicated identifying who's who. They also alternated the piano position at Victor and Zon-O-Phone, so that also makes it harder to know. Sometimes it's obvious, but other times you have to pull apart single measures on records to hear a specific difference. Banta is almost always on those late 90's brown wax Edison cylinders though, even if he's not really playing Rag-Time, it's still pretty obvious. To start with the analyzing, this first cylinder is a very early Arthur Collins performance from late-1898:
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/8000/8650/cusb-cyl8650d.mp3
This one is certainly early recorded Rag-Time, and it is played by none other than Frank P. Banta. But of course, Collins' already standing Rag-Time singer Len Spencer sang this for the Columbia phonographs just before Collins did the same year, with of course Fred Hylands playing his Rag-Time behind him, much like Banta. I have not found a recording of this Columbia cylinder for comparison, but I'm sure a copy exists out there. 
Here's another Collins and Banta collaboration from late-1900:
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/6000/6812/cusb-cyl6812d.mp3
Some Rag-Timers may have heard this tune before. Record collectors already have for sure. So this one is indeed a Ragtime number from 1900, but Banta makes it a cakewalk for sure, just listen at about 1:44 to 1:54, he does and interesting melodic pattern all in octaves in the higher register, and then into the lower notes. Also, don't forget that fun Rag-Time interlude at the end just like always! 
To keep up with the fun Collins and Banta cylinders, here's another hardcore Rag-Time tune from 1901(that also some of you Rag-Timers may have heard somewhere) where the Ragtime is all throughout the cylinder!
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/5000/5245/cusb-cyl5245d.mp3
This one is a real fun one to play along with if you're an ear player! Banta is just loud enough for the accompaniment to be clear enough to hear. This one also sounds like is was recorded in that room at Edison that Banta is at the piano in, only by the way that the piano is balanced, and also by the sound of the room. 
Now, I'm pretty sure that I shared this one quite a while ago on this blog, but it's always a good Rag-Time example(which is also with Collins) from 1902:
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/2000/2453/cusb-cyl2453d.mp3
This is one that for a while I was for sure that it was Hylands, but it couldn't be, by the fact that the improvisations are too perfect, and almost rigid-sounding. But it's just a thing that Banta did that distinguished him from Hylands, it's a bit hard to describe, but you listen to them on different records you know it. It must be in their feel on the piano keys. Anyhow, the interlude at the end is what made me think that it was Hylands, but Walter Miller would not dare to have someone as rugged as Hylands play their piano at Edison, so that solves that problem. 
This next one is not Collins, but it's a friend of Banta's and Hylands', Billy Golden. 

Golden officially signed with Columbia in 1898, so this next cylinder would have to be from either late-1897 or early 1898, because it's an Edison record. Even though the dates and record type would say Banta, some of the playing sounds suspiciously like Hylands(Hylands not drunk that is...). But the fact that there isn't any of the very quick trills like Hylands would indicate Banta, and the playing is flawless. The flawless playing usually gives it away that it's Banta. 
Anyhow, here you go from 1897-98:
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/5000/5271/cusb-cyl5271d.mp3
There's really some fun little things Banta does on this one! 
Just for a dramatic comparison, here is Golden's Columbia of this from 1898 with Hylands beating up the piano behind him, really listen for how different it is!
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/9000/9322/cusb-cyl9322d.mp3

Now, to finally prove that this "Turkey in the Straw" with Golden on and Edison is Banta, here's the early-1903 remake of it with the SAME piano accompaniment as the 1897-98 version!
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/7000/7997/cusb-cyl7997d.mp3
It's EXACTLY the same!!
Here's a good one by Will F. Denny in 1901, which is also a brown wax Edison cylinder, but Banta's playing his Rag-Time just as he did! 
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/5000/5275/cusb-cyl5275d.mp3
This one is also very fun to play along with as an ear player! Because it's full of all sorts of measly flats! This one is really a good example of Banta's Rag-Time, better than most of the examples have found, as all of his little ticks are present, and his playing style is clearly heard here(if you are a listener who can just enough tune out the loud singing.). Lots of deep notes can be heard also! 
Now, this next one is a good old favourite of Dan W. Quinn

(sorry I keep using this one, I really like that look on his face!)
This one is also a favourite by many of the collectors of his records. Here you go with "More Work for the Undertaker" from 1902 with his absolute favourite pianist ever Frank P. Banta:
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/6000/6829/cusb-cyl6829d.mp3
He's just on the verge of playing Rag-Time on this one, but its just a fun one anyway.
Speaking of this cylinder, here's the comparison with the Columbia of this from the same year, with Hylands on the piano:
I wish this recording was better, but you can notice one thing that's very different about this one from the last one, the tempo Hylands plays at(it's slower), and all of those trills!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PCTJ7qYrLA
Without a very good recording I can even tell that Hylands in on that piano, 
even if Dan Quinn had a sort of love affair(metaphorically) with Banta. 
Well, here's another good Rag-Time number by Will F. Denny with Banta from 1901:
https://ia902503.us.archive.org/33/items/WillFDenny/WillFDenny-AintDataShame.mp3
Now this one is real Rag-Time. I have heard so many versions of this old(sometimes considered an early blues song) Rag-Time rarity that was recorded by about a dozen of artists in the first three years of its popularity. Once again, like the last one, compare it with the playing of Hylands with Bob Roberts around 1902:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd-0f94xcPE
This one really shows off Hylands playin Rag-Time, just like he did in the late 1890's, really compare the two accompaniments, they're very different, and have a different feel, jut as I mentioned before what the main difference between Hylands and Banta was in their Rag-Time accompaniments. 

I hope you enjoyed this! 

Mysteries of J. W. Myers

J. W. Myers, the Welsh contribution to the earliest records. 

J. W. Myers has always been a sort of mystery for record collectors, and even back in the time of his popularity in the 90's. He has a mysterious background in many aspects. Most accounts from the time period said that he was born in Wales(where in Wales has long been forgotten) around 1864, the exact date will perhaps never be known. He was always have been said to have come overseas to the U.S. first in the 1870's, when he was about the age of 12. He(just to the likeness of Cal Stewart) worked several different jobs before he found the calling of performing upon the stage. What some of these various jobs were has never been written down, but they were most likely laboring jobs, ones that privileged immigrants could get in the 1870's and 1880's(he's privileged because he wasn't Irish, or non-white). Myers found his first amount of luck on the stage in the late-1880's, traveling in small but successful operatic companies. Not long after he began in this, the newly-formed North American record company caught wind of him wherever they found him. Myers was an instant hit with the few record companies that existed at the time(1891-92).

Here's a an amazing surviving cylinder from Myers' first year in the recording studio:

http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/9000/9812/cusb-cyl9812d.mp3

This channel rim brown wax cylinder is some survivor!

It's one of the very few records that still exist from Myers' first three years in the recording business. Just for an interesting comparison and just another  fascinating channel rim Myers cylinder, here you go from 1894:

http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/7000/7917/cusb-cyl7917d.mp3

This cylinder is only slightly haunting...

But, it's Myers, so it's good to listen to, and that piano! I have no idea who the pianist was on those North American cylinders. I don't think that it will ever be known, since the company burned to bits when they were dissolved in a devastating lawsuit the year that this cylinder was recorded. This Myers cylinder always gets to me, as the shaky speed of the record makes it even more haunting, as how the speed affects the content of the cylinder itself. It almost makes it less-than-pretty of a song. Also, at the very end of Myers' singing, he hits a note just enough too low for the weak cylinder to catch it, it's really a miserable failure...

Anyhow, back to the actual subject of this post. In 1895, Myers left an important theatrical position to become a full-time recording artist, and invest his earnings in the new recording community that Columbia was foraging at the time. In later 1896, Myers started his own record company. This company was called the Globe Phonograph Company. 
Here's an add for it in The Phonoscope:

Myers really stressed the whole "original records" thing quite a heap. 
This was a big deal in dealing records in the 1890's, if they weren't originals, they were considered cheap and not well made. As the people who weren't involved in the inner circles of the recording business thought that original records sounded clearer, and louder than copied records(even though this was not entirely true, even though there were differences). 
Myers' records for the Globe company were a success for a few months, from about November 1896 to about mid-1897, but after that, it just busted terribly. 
Here is another extraordinary record that is one of the very few that survive of the Globe Phonograph company, this one is a "double whamy" with Myers rarities. One, it's a coon song, and two, it's one of his own Globe record originals. Well, here you go for some early Rag-Time from late-1896 by J. W. Myers:
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/8000/8112/cusb-cyl8112d.mp3
Who is that Damn pianist! Who! 
That might be Hylands however, as Myers really took a beating to Hylands on most of the records of their collaborations, but he was a very close friend to Hylands at least by 1897. And he was "beating him up" if you know what I'm saying, by mid-1898, i.e. the section from you know what below 

Still makes me laugh.

Another funny thing about this thing above that makes me furious is that this tune was recorded by Myers and Hylands the very month that this was in The Phonoscope, and I was digging on one of the famous cylinder sites here in internet land, and found the very cylinder here:

http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/search.php?queryType=@attr%201=1016&query=Will+o+the+wisp&num=1&start=2&sortBy=&sortOrder=ia

(We can't hear it! Damn it!)

But for a good idea of what it would have sounded like, here's a record of it by a different singer from about 1912:

http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/9000/9295/cusb-cyl9295d.mp3

It's really something!(very dark subject...)

So the Globe company didn't last very long, but he still continued to record like a fiend in 1897 to 1900, and it was all Columbia in this time frame, as he really had the time and heart to work Hylands to death in this time. Here's a good one from late-1899 with Hylands on the piano behind him:

https://ia700405.us.archive.org/18/items/CollectedWorksOfJ.W.MyersPartFive/TheHeartBowedDown1899_64kb.mp3

He's not exactly wearing him out on this one, but there's some where it's REALLY relevant. 

Myers still recorded for Berliner and Columbia in 1899 and 1900, but when Berliner became Victor in 1900, Myers was naturally carried along into the new catalog and recording staff. He recorded dozens of Victors from 1900 to 1903, and was very loyal to them at some points of his term there. But Columbia still remained his most valued asset in recording as their talent staff was more familiar to him, and much to his personal liking. He still recorded with that same old rambunctious pianist that Columbia had employed by 1903 and 1904, but by that time, the orchestra accompaniment had become much more common than just having Hylands on the piano playing his rough Rag-Time. 

Myers was still a Columbia prize as late as 1912, as his records were still sold by 1914 for Columbia, but merciless Victor had thrown away his old takes in 1907. 

He seemed to just vanish from all of the record company's eyes, and just in general by 1914. No one knows what happened to him after that. That's the mystery of J. W. Myers, he was so popular with the record companies for twenty years, but then just disappeared from there.

To what theories have arose about Myers, many think that he went back to Wales by the mid-teen's, that theory would explain why he cannot be found anywhere. 

I believe that theory personally. It would make sense that he probably was just done with the whole recording thing anyway, and the performing life, he was just weary of it. According to most sources, Myers died around 1919. He was only about 55 when he died. And I doubt that he would have lived any longer than 1920, but who knows...

I hope you enjoyed this! 

hearing those deep notes(recording the old pianos, and Hylands)

We should all be very familiar with this great picture. 

and also this one. 

But before I dive into the subject matter of the title of this post, I would like to share an amazing observation of the picture directly above. That piano player. Who does it look like? If you look closely, it's Frank P. Banta! Really take a look! Here's a picture for reference:

(from 1900) 

It's the same pianist! It's also surely Banta because the picture was said to have been taken in 1902, which would have the dates line up perfectly. 

Now. On for the actual subject of this post. I just listened to a record I haven't heard since I met with my good friend Craig well over a year ago. It's a wonderful record really, even if it's just one of those many Collins and Harlan records

(Collins and Harlan c.1919)

They made hundreds of records, but I have always come to the conclusion that their records from pre-1910 are the best out there. After that, they just ever so slowly went downhill in popularity. Their records from the first three years of their partnership are particularly the best, and this timeframe would be 1902 to 1906. So, in saying all of this, here's the record I was talking about, recorded by Collins and Harlan in c. late-1903 or early 1904:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4pVK_54QfI

I think we all know who's on that piano. 

Old Freddy Hylands. 

Hmm...Collins and Harlan, AND Hylands, there's the "Half-Ton Duo"then ya got another "half" behind 'em!

He's not sitting at the same piano on this record though. But one thing that is so captivating about Hylands on this one is how well the bass notes on the piano were recorded, and how prominently they got caught on the actual record. The minor section at the beginning is so laggy and darkly emotional! Piano was a very hard instrument to record correctly in the late-90's and early 1900's, but a few records here and there truly catch the mastery of the great pianists behind the singers. The particularly hard part about balancing the piano was the bass notes. They either were too low for the record to hear it, or they sounded awful. So from the first picture in the post, you can actually see how Columbia balanced their lumbering and forceful pianist, on their already mediocre sounding pianos(fun fact: Columbia had two of them!).

Here's another one(that I have used before) representing a clear recording of the piano(well, with Hylands at Columbia anyway):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvNiWY1Cj3c

The point that I'm making here is at the last section of the song where Mr. Dudley had his whistling solo, for about thirty seconds at the end. That improvisation from 2:22 to 2:28, there! That's where you can hear the deep D flat octave! It's just barely audible, but you can hear the deep resonating note, even if you're not really paying full attention to the piano. Minus that thirty seconds of pure Rag-Time, the whole record is a Rag-Time masterpiece on Hylands' part(not so much for Dudley...)

(Dudley in 1896)

Now, this next example is a bit of a mystery to me. And I need some help identifying the record company of it, so I can get a better idea of who the pianist is. It looks like it might be a VERY clean brown wax cylinder, and it has very LOUD and strong piano accompaniment, leading me think more towards Hylands, but the announcement sounds a little like an Edison(even though it sounds like it may or may not be Schweinfest himself). Anyhow, listen for those clearly audible deep octaves, and the sound of the recording room(which also sounds like Columbia):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGOM01yHcj0

Even if this was recorded on a phonograph, the octaves and recording room are clear as a bell on this amazing cylinder. That little thing at 1:12 to 1:16! Hear those two handed octaves, and how quick they go along. The tempo changes also get me leaning more towards Hylands on this. 

Now, for some Banta, I have also shared this one before, but this one is so clear, that the very deep notes of the piano can easily be heard:

https://archive.org/details/edbw-6950

It's Dan Quinn again! 

(Quinn in 1900)

With his trusty pianist at Edison Frank P. Banta! This cylinder is a classic example of Banta's piano playing, even if he's not exactly playing Rag-Time, he's just on the verge of it. Banta's still playing very well behind Quinn, and those deep octaves are clearly audible. Edison's piano was not recorded the same way as Columbia, and later Victor's. Clearly by the pictures previously in this post of Columbia's and Edison's recording studios, Columbia had a less-than-reasonable looking way of recording their piano(well, durr...they had Hylands to deal with...), and Edison had a much more manageable way of this, it was a much easier set up for the artists to talk with the pianist between takes, if something needed to be changed, or a new piece was handed to them. This was clearly different with Columbia' piano, the artists had to climb up there to Hylands, or just yell from where they were to communicate with him. With all of these problems recording the early pianos, they still managed to get a good sound out of it, whether is be Rag-Time playing, or straight Classical, those pianist are still heard to-day. 

I hope you enjoyed this!

The Mystery of Burt Green

(from the March 1899 issue of The Phonoscope)

Thinking of how busy Fred was, we know that this was not always so.

Burton Green. Who was he? It's a hard question to answer. But to what has been found, he was a business partner and good friend of Fred Hylands(i.e. the section from The Phonoscope above). But what was he otherwise? That's hard to say. He certainly was a pianist like Fred, and met Hylands and Spencer at some point before the formation of this shortly successful publishing firm(Hylands, Spencer and Yeager). One of the death notices of Ben R. Harney:

(with his famous cane in 1911)

stated that Burt(Burton) Green was one of the few great Rag-Time imitators of the late-90's, almost to the degree of Mike Bernard. And that's really saying something, only because Bernard was often considered Harney's best imitators and sidemen as a fellow "Rag Time" pianist. So from this interesting and rather important little thing, it seemed that Burt Green was a pretty prominent Rag-Time pianist of the east coast vaudeville circuits in the late 1890's. 

There! That's where the connection is made to Hylands and Spencer, it's indirect, but one more factor leads to this connection of recording artists and performers. Hylands worked as Pastor's main music man in 1896 and 1897, and made the rounds through all the great music and vaudeville houses in the late 90's, so at one of these times, he must have ran into Burt at some point. Burt at this time however was known well by the crowds that flocked at Huber's 14th street museum:

(Ad from the mid-1890's for as show introducing Ada Jones)

Burt Green was apparently very popular in parodying the great Rag-Time that was spreading around so rapidly from first watching Harney back in '96. He learned the ways of first Harney and Mike Bernard, but then----

 along came lumbering Freddy Hylands. 

He had seen them all, and created his new schtick by 1898. But after he must have heard the records that Spencer and Hylands were making at Columbia, he must have been caught by the pianist. And come to find out that it was his good friend Frederick Hylands. After a few more months of performing at various stages in Manhattan, he met up with Hylands when he was planning to start a publishing firm in 1899. This, at the time, was the most promising thing that Fred had set his hands into, other than the whole being employed by Columbia thing. It was a good group of weirdos working together to publish music, and it seemed that they all worked together very well for a little while. But due to the amount of creatives working together, they didn't have a very good capital and profit output. Even if Len Spencer and Steve Porter were funding them mostly. True creative types don't generally think about the money involved in doing business. 

But this is why they had Len Spencer. He was always "Mr. Moneybags", and he always had plenty of money on him. Spencer was wise to all of the means of the music business. Fred was not. Fred was just a very anxious performer who wanted his ideas out there, and just happened to be the youngest of the firm's staff(if Burt Green turn out to be younger, but I doubt it). Burt was the second most devoted on the firms output(under Fred of course), but he was just as busy as Fred was out performing, even if he just didn't happen to be a recording artist. 

After Hylands, Spencer, and Yeager came to a forceful close, and a depressing one for Fred, Burt Green just sort of vanishes from the spectrum. He was still a performer in the field of Rag-Time, and vaudeville in general, but his whereabouts are nearly impossible to find anywhere. They pop up far later than 1900, as referring back to the mention of his hame at the notice of Ben Harney's death in 1938.

1938! What had dear old Burt Green been doing for so long? Was be dead by that time?(thinking of the lifespans of all of those recording artists and Rag-Time "mokes"haha! ,Any of you Ragtimers get it?). Burt had probably been dead for at least a few years(or even as much as a decade!) by the time this was written. 

Now, If anyone has any information on Burton Green, PLEASE send it to me! I am beyond anxious to learn more about this mysterious early Rag-Timer!

I hope you enjoyed this!

Charley Case, the raceless king of minstrel Improv

(picture from my own collection, from a piece of sheet music the Case composed himself)

Charley Case was a fascinating character when it came to minstrel comedy. 

He was more often than not a subject of rumors and criticism when it came to what the public thought of him. He was a rare and progressive comedian in his own way, that many famous stand-up comedians took from later, and still do surprisingly, even if they don't know it. 

His sense of humor was sly and very natural, quick-paced, and somewhat distracted. He spoke very quickly, and slipped in small things here and there in a story that one was just trying to get the whole idea of, and just as the audience understood the story's setup, he would throw in a small comedic thing, and give almost no time for the audience to laugh, he would just keep on going with the story. He spoke in a very odd voice, that had a comical air in it generally, and it was sometimes hard to keep up with, and he would scramble words occasionally, which he would improvise from there, and go off his usual script. 

He spoke quite a good amount of his experiences with all of the confused crowds he encountered on his travels in the years before he died in 1916.

Here is one of the two records he did which describes his travels in the best possible way:

http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/matrix/detail/200007865/B-6908-Experiences_in_the_show_business

It's not one of his specific comedic monologues, where he created various characters and made al sorts of things go on between the family members. He always did his trademark thing while be did his monologues--

played with a piece of string. 

He would sift the little thing around his fingers as he did his quickly paced sly comedic speeches. He explained that:

"It began this way. When I first went into the business I used to wear a pair of black gloves and during my talk carelessly toyed with one of them, picking at the fingers. In the course of time, naturally, a hole appeared in one of the fingers, and as I continued to work with it it grew, and instead of getting a new glove, when it became too dilapidated  to wear any longer, I took it off my blackened hand, carrying the glove at which I still continued to pick.

Now in a few months this glove had become little more than a rag, and after a while all that was left of it was a string, and this too in time wore out. But... I noticed that the audiences were commenting on this peculiarity, so when the last thread of the glove had disappeared I got a string in its place. I also learned that I had become so accustomed to it that I couldn't get along without it, and now I might almost as well be using my hands."

(section from Tim Brooks' wonderful book Lost Sounds)

Case had learned the ways of show business in the mid-1880's, so he saw it progress into the land of vaudeville and burlesque. He cultivated all sorts of little things that he became known for, even if the audiences all over the world didn't understand his humor and little tricks. The country that especially didn't understand his humor was the English. He specifically spoke of the English as them not knowing his references and finding it hard to decide what to pay attention to when he spoke. It was hard for everyone to decide what to pay attention to when he spoke; his fingers, the string, what he was wearing, his speaking, and the sly humor.

It was hard to choose one thing that was great about him. 

But the reason Case was such an object of discussion was not only because of his odd and progressive stage schtick, but it was his questioned race. Many of the people he worked with wondered if he was of mixed race descent. He doesn't entirely look that way, but many thought this way due to his rather "black" sounding voice. These rumors also spread around because not too many of the people who went to his shows saw him when he wasn't in blackface. Even though he said himself that he hated the whole burnt cork thing anyhow. He said the it was too expensive, and it damaged the skin if worn too often(as often as he was supposed to I guess...). He didn't abandon the tradition all together though, he still continued to do the whole thing into his later years on the stage in the teen's. From the picture of him above, he's not even in a very "traditional" minstrel costume, even if he's all painted with the burnt cork. He broke all of the usual structure of the minstrel show. he was never a part of a group, and he didn't dance, but he did sing however. 

He also had a real talent for creating parodies of popular songs and writing his own that had rather raunchy or off-colour humor in them(so from this great talent, one can assume that he got the blue envelope quite often...). Some believe that he even did the parody of Neil Moret's famous "Hiawatha" done here by Collins and Harlan in 1903:

http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/4000/4179/cusb-cyl4179d.mp3

Pretty raunchy if you listen closely!

His humor was always unexpected, so that is why the managers kept him, even if he threw in a pretty wrong thing or two here and there. 

Case never spoke of his race when the reporters asked him, and from everything they asked him, he never disclosed any of the truths about his race.And these rumors only spread widely among the public years after his death. As many of the first hand accounts of him had stated that he either had a mother who was black, or a wife who was" full-blooded" black. He found that not important as long as he was still performing all over the place, and the crowds either loved him or hated him(as he was reported to not have been paid nearly as much as he should have been). He was a real creative weirdo however. He had all the traits of an extremely intelligent and creative performer. As some said that he refused to tour a few times due to nervous breakdowns. These reports began around 1907. He got straight back into performing after these times of hiatus. He had new material created for every one of his hundreds of shows, and he oftentimes just improvised  if something was going a different direction. Many of his stories were published in booklets in the early 1900's, and if any one had one of those books, tell me! They have all sorts of fun illustrations along with the comical stories following the same group of characters. 

Case died in 1916. But it will never be known exactly what happened when he died, and what exactly killed him. So the story goes that one of his friends was touring with him, and left his hotel room for a few minutes to go and get something. When the friend just got out of the room, he heard a big boom from behind, so he ran back and found Case dying on the bed, and Case apparently muttered, "Pardon me" and his friend(who was Arthur Cutler) summoned a doctor immediately but when he arrived, Case had been dead for well over a few minutes. From bizarre and abrupt happening, his wife apparently died of shock upon first hearing of his death. He left a legacy that was like no other. And many of the great improv and stand-up comedians we all love lift many of the great and innovative things that he did over a century ago. 

Black or White, Case was raceless. His humor took everything and made it better than it could have ever been. 

Even if it was just a string. 

I hope you enjoyed this!

The booming Yodeler--George P. Watson(1871-1926)

Watson in 1898

Watson in 1900

(cropped from the large picture of 42 of Edison's recording artists, as you can see, he's numbered as no.37)

George P. Watson is just seen to the few record collectors that know him as that yodeler who was so beloved on early records. He was funky character is many ways: pretty good-looking, blond, average height, slightly stringy, and had a very comical voice, one that wasn't to be expected before he spoke. He had a similar habit that the majority of the Columbia(and later Edison) staff had--

drinking. 
He was just as much fun and exciting as all of the others on the Columbia and Edison staff, but he had his kinks, just the rest of them. 
He was a rather late edition to the Columbia staff, as compared to the rest of the "regulars" on Columbia's talent staff who were hired in 1890 and 1891 , as they took him in around the same time that they hooked in Hylands as their pianist. He was a great new edition to Columbia, and made an instant hit with them, even if his booming yodeling sometimes muffled the sound quality of the brown cylinders that he recorded from 1897 to 1900. He and Hylands must have been quite a duo in the studio, as their drinking habits matched one another, and they were effected in the same sort of ways when they did drink. Watson was pulled in to the group of rambling regulars at Columbia just like Hylands or Steve Porter, as he was taken in 1897, and he was quickly invited to all of their various get-togethers and special performances. 

Watson was a greatly beloved performer at all of those exhibitions that us brown cylinder collector hear about. These exhibitions were basically performances at the recording studio by the artists, it was them showing to the massed how records were made, in a much more formal environment than regular recording. These exhibitions are explained below:

(from the September 1898 issue of The Phonoscope)

In the picture above, George Watson might be the guy with his back up against the piano. Steve Porter looks to be the guy with his hands behind his back.
Anyhow, as I have explained before, these exhibitions were very long and tiring for everyone who participated(durr...especially Hylands!). As these performances/demonstrations lasted from the end of the recording day(i.e. about 6 or 7 in the evening) to far after midnight. Just like many of the Columbia staff, Watson probably came to the management and told him he had had enough of these. This must have been around 1901, because that was about the time that they stopped doing these. Watson had another company paying him, Edison. He is in the famous picture of 42 of Edison's artists form 1900, which meant that he had been there since about late-1898. But of course, Columbia still had him. 
From what the July 1898 issue of The Phonoscope says, Watson was also doing all of his performances and shtick on the stage. This must have been where all the record companies found him. 
He continued to record for quite longer than many would think. I didn't even know he recorded for so long! He kept recording into the early 20's. He just happened to stay very popular with his fun and spontaneous Germanic humor for so many decades. 
But for as long as he lived from 1897 onward, Columbia and Edison fought over Watson. They both wanted him on their permanent staff, but he wouldn't allow one of the two companies own his talents. He was much like:

Dan W. Quinn. 
Quinn specifically stated that he didn't want to be contracted with one of the many record companies that he worked for, and after he made this statement, the record companies kept their papers away from him. Not long after this, Watson boldly followed Quinn. 

One thing to notice when hearing Watson, is that the songs that he sung were always either in flat or sharp keys, and he often mixes up lyrics(especially on Columbia's!) 
Here's one of his first records on Columbia in 1897:
(laggy and uneven piano by Fred Hylands!)
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/5000/5331/cusb-cyl5331d.mp3
For the music geeks out there, Hylands is playing in A flat. 

Here is another Watson and Hylands collaboration, this time it is on and early Columbia(issued as Climax) from 1901:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZxeWJAZju8
Hylands also lags behind Watson a little bit here and there, and plays his own thing(again...no sheet music needed). 

Anyhow, I still have more information to find about Watson, but this is all I can do now. I hope you enjoyed this! 

(sorry I haven't posted for a handful of days, I have been at the Sacramento music festival)

A painful record to listen to

 We record collectors have all heard Fred Hylands.

And as geeks, of these old wonderful records, we notice that pianist behind those booming singers. Frank P. Banta had his own light and jumpy style that had the listeners hooked on the rhythm. 

But then there was Hylands. 

Hylands was either a pleasure to listen to, or a painful mess of a drunk pianist. He either was perfectly in-line with the singer and/or performer, but when he was drunk, how that changed. He played out of sync with the singer, had lingering time, and barely hit the octaves with his left hand. What really turned him loose was the opportunity to play Rag-Time at his own will. Pair this together with his drinks, and you got a wildman of a pianist. He was already that way in general, but the Rag-Time went through him like the drinks, and made him loosened and overly-anxious to play. 

Oftentimes, just a little too anxious.

But as Columbia artists, you didn't just tell Hylands that his playing was terrible. That would anger him far too much for it to be safe. 

Anyhow, here is the record that this post is titled after:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvNiWY1Cj3c

This is one of the most fascinating records that I have heard Hylands on. Even if it's rather short, it is a real piece of history in Rag-Time. Hylands is out of sync with Dudley, and he's taking as much liberty with the melody as he possibly could, by syncopating the hell out of the tune. And from that AMAZING solo at the end behind Dudley's whistling, he's obviously dead drunk, also from that slow pattern at one point where he's lagging so much behind Dudley that it's bound to get any music geek cringing(it made me cringe!). Those pounded octaves at the end! The crystal clear intro at the beginning with loud octaves!  It is truly all wonderful, even if Hylands is wasted.

If I was the singer though, I would have turned around and asked Fred about that solo at the end, and why he lagged behind the singing. I would have tried to "straighten him out" as much as I could for the next take. 

It is a record truly to go through and analyze. If you're a musician who can play reasonably by ear, try out this record. It's really interesting and fun, but exceedingly hard to keep up with, due to Hylands' unexpected rhythm changes, and lagging behind the loud singer. For the ear playing record geeks, Hylands is playing in F minor to start, and to A flat, then at the whistling chorus, he's playing in a lumbering D flat. He also speeds up as the record comes to a hasty close, just like many of the records he was on, and just in general for the tim period. 

Just for the hell of it, here's another great Rag-Time specialty with trusty piccolo player George Schweinfest(ha! take that know-it-all collectors! Schweinfest can't be on the piano here! HA!) also from 1901, playing the dynamic cake-walk "A Rag-Time Skedaddle" on the same Climax(Columbia) label as the one above:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFRtiG6LyvY

(try your hand at this one Ear-players!) 

I hope you enjoyed this!