We all know Len Spencer.
As I have mentioned before, Len Spencer was quite the drunk. And it was even hinted at by his friends in The Phonoscope in 1898. It can not only be seen in his looks, and aged face at a rather young age(he's only 29 in the picture above!). The evidence for this habit of his can be heard on many of his records from the 1890's. Mostly the 1890's because stricter rules were enforced in the studios after the brown wax cylinder era ended in 1901. Len Spencer is the first one of these early recording artists who come to mind(for me anyway...) when it comes to drinking in the early studios. Edison may have not really allowed it, but some artists just did it anyway, much like they were bootlegging it(I'm pretty sure Banta must have done this sometimes...). Spencer was Columbia's pride, as he exemplified everything that Columbia was, wanted, and desired to be.
So, back to the records. I have been digging through the Spencer cylinders from the 90's and found many of them to be different from certain ones, where they seem to diminish in quality and speech as the takes went along. This was typical, but with certain"regulars" in the studios, this fact can be easier to spot.
Here is a record that everyone has heard, it's a still-popular Rag-Time number written in 1896 by Theo. Metz and recorded here by Spencer and Ossman in late-1897:
Really listen to Spencer closely, he slurs quite a lot of the lyrics...
I wish there was another take out there!
(which there probably is...)
This cylinder above has always been a favourite with Rag-Time researchers and general record collectors, as a perfect representation of what Rag-Time really sounded like, and to get a good look into the year 1897.
Now, for another one of Spencer's records. This one is not a cylinder, but it's a Berliner from 1899 with Fred Hylands pounding the crap out of their piano. Spencer sounds quite hammered on this one...
This is a very fascinating version of this, not only because it's a pretty bad take in general, but because Spencer's whistling is so terrible, and also very sharp at certain parts. Really take a listen to it.
This one is a little bit of a change, but a good comparison to the ones where he's hammered on it. This one is an early example of Hylands on piano with Spencer. This one is for sue one where he was taking the drinks one-at-a-time between every round of each take. It can clearly be heard by the fact that he doesn't bother to balance his singing very well, not taking the balancing into consideration, as he's having too much fun!
Here it is, from late 1897 once more:
Interesting accompaniment Hylands!
This next one is another one of those great collaborations between Spencer and Hylands, from c.late 1898-early of early 1899. This one is a perfect example of what Spencer sounded like when he was having way too much fun with Hylands(well, that be when he was really wasted, also Hylands!). Well, anyway here you go:
fascinating Rag-Time Hylands!!
Now, this one is a real piece of evidence alright. This one is Fred Hylands, Roger Harding, and Spencer, all working together on this fascinating cylinder from c.late-1898 or early 1899. This one is funny because if you're paying enough attention to the beginning, you can hear Hylands play an out-of-place Rag-Time thing! Here you go:
All three of them are absolutely hammered!(Especially Spencer...)
This one above is one of the best examples of Columbia's staff, and that they hadn't any rules with the artists. This is a clear representation of this fact. Spencer is so out-of-it that one cannot even understand his speech throughout most of the cylinder.
They allowed their artists to drink as much as they wanted to at the earlier days of Berliner, and at Columbia. Edison was a different story, they didn't really allow such a thing, but it's almost certain that artists took their drinks in the studios and hid them some place where Walter Miller(the manager)
couldn't find them if he just happened to walk in.
Miller looks oddly more like one of the Columbia bunch than the king of the Edison staff. Miller was kind of a moderate manager, he wasn't necessarily hated by all of Edison's staff, but there were some who didn't like him secretly(as that may have been how most of them thought of him anyway). Edison was too much of a "square" when it came to trying to keep order amongst these young and hot recording artists he could agree upon with Miller. So therefore, he didn't allow them to drink. But they did anyway. That's just how those rules go...
(that look on his face though!!!! :-D )
Since all the creative oddities were free to drink at Columbia, they could have so much fun, and still get paid at the end of the day or week. It was a much better deal than working at Edison. So clearly from the record examples above, it was a fun time at Columbia in the late-1890's, and Len Spencer certainly took advantage of the free drinking policies at the studio. And without Miller, it was much more interesting.
I hope you enjoyed this!
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