Some Tales and Yarns of the old studios

As a collector and early recording nerd, I have been told many theories and tales about these early recording stars. Some are true, and some are unconfirmed. As expected from performer types, many ideas and yarns were "spoken a little too highly"(quoting Burt Shepard!). I oftentimes question some of the things that certain artists said when they were ever asked about their days in the recording studio. Just like any stories, some sound more realistic than others. This is why the book They All Played Ragtime is now being looked back on for its legitimacy on historical content. It is a wonderful and fascinating book, which gave unique perspectives on all the early Rag-Time and on the most popular stars of the era. The truths behind some of the tales are being considered by the most esoteric of Rag-Time researchers now. The Rag-Time stories are more varied and diverse than the studio stories, and that can be expected, as the Rag-Time stories are more like stage tragedies. The studio stories are a mix of comedic tales, and legal troubles. 

Here are a few stories of both categories:

-Edward Easton, founder of Columbia, was in so deep of a depression that he stepped on some railroad tracks to attempt suicide. This was back in 1908, and luckily, a man close by caught him by the collar just in time before the train whacked him. 

-Fred Hylands' sister Etta had several children(from several marriages!), and created a vaudeville act with her kids in the 1900's and the early teen's. She played piano, while her girls sang popular songs. Etta was also an overall Vaudevillian like Fred, but she wasn't as funny, said the critics! Etta was even contracted for the White Rats actor's union in 1911(ha! Under Fred's obliging of course!). 

-Ada Jones remembered one specific thing about Len Spencer, other than having to stand on a box next to him when they made records, she remembered a scar on the side of his face. He told her that it came from a terribly foolish knife fight in his youth. You might be able to see it here:

(right under his lower lip next to the center of his chin, very hard to see, but I can notice it slightly)

-Russell Hunting's legal trouble of the mid-1890's earned him respect and honor for his bravery in going against the rules of obscenity. 

-Vess Ossman's temper was so short and fiery, that any singer or accompanist who was in the room with him when he broke a banjo string was in terrible luck, and was constantly frightened that he might get angry about any little thing. He wouldn't beat his accompanist, be he could get almost too close to doing it. He wanted things done his way---OR ELSE!

-Len Spencer and Fred Hylands got into some bets in the late 1890's. And one of those bets was to see if Len could get to that fad of the late-1890's which was the ancient Roman physique. Len was already very tall, hence being just over 200 pounds, he wanted to see if he could get enough muscle to get to Fred's over 250. Here is the evidence of this queer notion:

Publisher friends, what 'er ya goin ta do? According to his daughter Ethel, Len did indeed achieve that goal, and he got his money from Fred by the end of the summer of 1899. Nice way to waste some money Fred...

-Fred Hylands was regarded as one of the best accompanists of his time(no foolin!), was well liked by all the performer communities he got into, and hundreds were said to have attended his funeral. Similar to Frank P. Banta, but he was never mentioned in the best accompanists of the time, even though he should have been. 

-Arthur Collins:

Was in many failed troupes in the late-1880's, but after all that failure, he was set up as a minor character in Francis Wilson's shows, and later DeWolf Hopper's. While on Hopper's troupe, Collins was in his oriental burlesque Wang, and may have been in an early production of El Capitan.

-Len Spencer was connected with many composers and performers outside of the recording business, but one of the most odd ones is his possible connection with DeWolf Hopper. Len Spencer sang ALL of the vocal selections from El Capitan , even imitating Hopper very distinctly, word for word. In 1898, Hopper heard tell on this and came to Spencer once and told him what he thought of it. That they were finely made, and some other comments that have not been disclosed. Here is one of them(with Fred Hylands on piano!):

http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/8000/8009/cusb-cyl8009d.mp3

Anything from El Capitan that isn't the main march is very rare to hear ever! 

-Silas Leachman was said to have wanted his days of making records to go completely forgotten. While he worked his long term at the Chicago Police department(from c. 1910 to 1936), whenever anyone spoke to him about making records years back, he would refuse to talk about it, and would act like that never happened. They all knew it was him though.

-Fred Hylands was a very popular stage manager and musical director, so one would ponder upon all the tight-legged girls and abbreviated dressed dames around him, such as Anna Held:

and Lillian Russell even

Did he ever allow his eyes to wander around, if you know what I mean...

I don't know personally, but I really do wonder. He did do this line of work until he died, so I will forever question this fact. I'm only saying this because Fred's wife went off and married another actor man two years after Fred croaked. It is Fred Hylands I'm talking about here, and thinking of what he was like, I'm unsure if any ladies(other than his wife, who didn't really get to be very flirtatious with him) would take an interest to him.

Hmm... ... 

-Russell Hunting kept his Shakespearean ways until he died, as he was said to still have done monologues in this style into his days after being Pathe's manager, which was the mid-1920's.

There are dozens more of these stories, and I may have repeated some from other posts, even if I really tried not to. 

I hope you enjoyed this!