As promised, I drew a portrait of John Yorke Atlee, after finally finding a picture of his last evening. So without any further a-do, here's that sketch:
Yep, those whiskers were sure magnificent. He certainly had those "long, flowing whiskers" that Gaisberg described. Now come to think of it, he looked a little like Edward Issler, which is very strange, because Issler was German, and Atlee was Scotch(hence the red whiskers). Just to get the comparison more clearly, here's an image of Issler and Atlee:
Issler
and
Atlee.
Hope you can see it now somewhat. It's very strange really.
This somehow reminds me of that whole picture debate with this picture here:
Yep, that one...
Of course, the only person that anyone could easily(well, kind of...) identify was that man at the piano to the far right. I have explained why it's Fred Hylands, but some who I asked about the picture said Edward Issler and Schweinfest, which is not a completely terrible guess, but it's incorrect regardless. Issler was short, rather thin, and had distinctly shaped ears, as you can see in that small picture a little higher up on this post. Schweinfest was the more logical of the guesses I got, as he was not tall, however, he was on the heavier side, wore glasses, had a handlebar moustache, and also distinctly ears. Though Schweinfest was a more common guess among those I asked, it was also incorrect. The pianist in the picture just above has long legs, wide arms, glasses, a distinct-looking nose, a short neck, wide expressive eyes, very fair hands, and a pink and freckle-stricken face, which could only be Hylands, early on in his term at Columbia(by early, I mean c. January-July-1898).
*Before I get to something else, I must point out that some of you might notice, if you're an old photography nerd, that this picture seems not to have been retouched, as many old pictures were. That fact makes this picture very real, and if anyone ever finds the original of this picture, it probably will be a fantastic image to behold! The only reason I don't think it's retouched is because of how Hylands' face looks in the light. It looks very shiny and like it was probably very pink or red, which is hilarious!*
Now to get into the second part of this post. Amid my travels on Tim Brooks' website last evening, I stumbled upon a great article about going to visit Jim Walsh in 1970, which you can read here:
It's a fantastic look into Walsh and his inner workings!
There was a specific image in this very article that captivated me, one that might not seem to be that way at first, but being very attentive to detail, especially in images, it got me quick. Anyhow, here's that picture:
Seems like something typical at the home of Jim Walsh.
The one thing that caught my eye immediately was that torn-up poster of Len Spencer to the right. I was captivated by it, as it was like nothing I'd ever seen before. Many know of Walsh as being a first-class eccentric, with several cats wandering around his home, and his house filled to the brim with some of the most valuable items of the early recording business, and not just with the rarest of recordings, but everything else one could think of when it comes to early recordings. Of course, Walsh had many posters like the Murray and Spencer ones just above, but that Spencer one is very curious to me.
Hmm...If I were to make a guess as to what the circumstances around that Spencer poster were, I would say that it was made in the late 1890's, more specifically c.1897-99, maybe for the promotion of his minstrel troupe, or maybe just his minstrel skills on recordings, or maybe just an exhibition piece? It's something that I certainly want to know more about, if possible. First thing however, I would like to see the poster in its entirety, that way, it's likely that the purpose of it would reveal itself, also what that little blackface character that is being eclipsed by that image of the Murray poster is, and if it's supposed to be Spencer in blackface. It just might be! It would be fantastic to see a cartoon-like image of Spencer in blackface! He must have been a real riot in his minstrel attire...
What's also odd about the poster, is that it gives a very clear image of Spencer, much more so than some of the images I have seen of him for some reason. Don't know why, but it does. Take this image for example:
This one gives a good image of Spencer and his obviously self-revealing habits.
Of course, the poster would not accentuate the appearance of his scar that Ada Jones once vividly described. Also the small scars from awful acne, that you can see somewhat in the picture just above, which is uncommonly seen in pictures of him(thanks to retouching...). Other than Spencer being a very strange-looking chap, the poster makes him seem just as so, and I don't feel like I need to go on about the comparison of the poster and the image, I will allow you all to make your own comparisons.
To close off, a kind distant acquaintance posted a fantastic record by Hylands and a clarinetist this evening, that was absolutely wonderful when I first heard it. After hearing it just once through, I found it to be where Hylands sounds the most drunk of all of the Hylands records I have heard so far, and that's really saying something! He exhibits all of his attributes while drunk, from the anxious playing, to the uneasy tempo, and the distinctly playfulness with the soloist(love that attribute of his!). The playful nature of Hylands' playing can be heard on pretty much everything he was on, but there are some where this fact is especially prominent, and as could be expected, it's more so when he was drunk. Anyhow, here's the record:
How Hylands sounds loaded...
Wow, this take is really the worst of the many takes I have heard Hylands play this song. Apparently, since it was recorded so many times, it can well be assumed that it was a big hit in 1901 and 1902. This take is very hard to keep up with when playing it by ear, I tried it, and really couldn't, because Hylands' rhythm is so unsteady and rushy, much more than usual...
H ope you enjoyed this!
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