Miller, Easton, and Emerson, the record managers of the 1890's

Walter H. Miller

Victor Emerson

Edward Easton

These three odd men ran two of the biggest record companies of the 1890's, Edison and Columbia. The first chap ran Edison, and the lower two ran Columbia. All three of them had different views on the ways their companies should have operated, from the most conservative to the liberal, their views really shaped all the records that we record nerds hear to-day.

Starting with Walter Miller. Miller was a man who was very much like old man Edison himself, and that must have been why he was selected as the manager of the recording department. It is not exactly known when Miller came into management, but he was there from the very beginning, as early as 1888, as an engineer and session supervisor. Not long after that, Miller was promoted to manager of the recording department, where he would remain until the end of Edison's triumph in the 1920's. Miller was a reasonably conservative manager, and wanted everything to be written down and orderly, so any piece of information could be found at ease. From the very complete surviving records of all their studio activity, it would seem that Miller had his wish granted inevitably. Miller didn't allow for any drugs or alcohol in his studio. If anything was found, he would probably send the person out who had the stuff, and maybe if he was hot, would throw the bottle or stomp out the evidence. Miller and Edison were close in ties, and they oftentimes saw each other to have a laugh or share a good meal. Edison himself even made some records with less-than-appropriate scenarios here and there, such as this one in the first sound file on the page. Edison begins with "Say, Wal'er Miller..."(yes, he barely pronounced the "t" in Walter). This would indicate a substantial friendship between Miller and Edison, so Miller probably intended to go with the shared beliefs and ideals that he and Edison both had, which were, coincidentally, conservative in many ways. They were efficient though, and you can't go wrong with the very complete ledgers. 

Now onto Edward Easton. He was of quite contrast to Walter Miller and Edison, as Easton was the judgemental and forward-thinking one of the recording managers. Easton was always a hard-worker, and very straightforward man, who saw his employees at Columbia as employees, not servants(as that's how Victor Emerson saw it..). He probably examined each new person up for hire on their staff, once they got the "go" from Emerson, they had to get through Easton next. That must have really been where the trouble was. If they could get through Easton, they were certainly going to become a "Regular" there. He must have examined the "specimens"(people up for hire that is) precisely, and probably dug through many of their paper trails for anything disloyal, and for general knowledge of what they did before they decided to work there. He believed in a very open way of recording, with little rules and regulations in the actual studio, and more of those rules in the selling and distributing of the records.  As long as work was getting done every day and evening, the company would go on, as the people he examined were all selected tediously by Easton. He didn't manage the day-to-day workings of the studios, but he came in occasionally to watch over the workings and check in with Emerson. Easton ran the entire thing and got the most profits from all of Columbia's investments and stockholders. This is why Easton was the one who hosted those big parties at the most expensive hotels in New York in 1898 and 1899. Easton remained a shrewd worker and powerful president of Columbia to the year that he died, even after being saved from a terrible attempted suicide in 1908.

Now onto Easton's lower-on-the-totem-pole manager "Vic" Emerson. Every one's favourite manager(sarcastically...). Emerson was a little more bitter and demanding of the staff than Easton, who was not nearly as present in the actual studio activity. Emerson had quite an agenda, always. He demanded the unfathomable amount of takes the artists had to endure every day of each song, and he was the one who worked the house musicians until they wanted to hang themselves. Emerson was an accommodating manager though, as he was the one who allowed all the drugs and drinking in the studio, which is a big plus on the artists' part. Emerson was the one who made all the studio decisions and managed personnel on the recording staff. They all hated Emerson. And from some of the stories I have heard passed down for generations, it' clear that whenever Emerson told an artist what to do, the artist HAD to do what he said, or ELSE. I don't really know what it was he could have done, but I'm assuming the consequences were not to be taken easily. He must have loved his house musicians, and just wanted to hear them thousands of times every time he heard them play a good song. As according to what Dan Quinn said quoting Emerson:

"I wish it were possible for you to sing that song a thousand times."

Yep, that one quote along pretty much sums up all of what Emerson valued in his staff members. He treated them like indentured servants to his own demands, not as the renowned performers they all were. His demands were always unreasonable, and it greatly angered the staff members. He just enjoyed the music, not feeling any sort of empathy for the artists who "served" him every day of the week. Emerson did prove Columbia to be a wild company of lovable eccentrics that the exhibition crowds adored, which meant for more profits for himself and Emerson. Just like the over worked artists, Emerson was one who loved life just as much as one like Len Spencer or Fred Hylands, as this is why Columbia was such a wild place to work in the late-1890's. If only Edison could run his company that way...

I hope you enjoyed this!