Even with all the progress we've made on finding the definitive lifespan of Edward Issler, his life still remains an illusive mystery.
(a sketch I did of young Issler, let's say c.1878.)
The thing about Issler is that we had nothing to start with. No scholars had done any work to dig up anything on him other than his recordings. Of course his recordings are where we start with him, but that's not where any word of him ends. Clearly we're missing out on a very interesting and troubled man. After doing some deep digging on Ancestry for him, I dug up information that leads me to revise what I had previously written regarding him. It seems that I had the approximate year of his death quite off. He did indeed die much later than his fellow studio pianists(Banta and Hylands), but not as late as I had previously assumed. Now much of the sources I flipped through on ancestry presented conflicting information, which frustrated me, but definitely changed what I had previously recorded on Issler. Most sources on there stated that Issler was gone by 1930 at the latest. Some of the sources stated 1925, and 1922, but of course I am not sure which to trust more. So with this in mind, I would place the date of his death to be c.1925.
Sigh...
This isn't where I wanted to be with Issler. Since I have such a high amount of respect for Issler, I really want to be almost certain of his lifespan, and to know at least the basics of his lifestory. We can be sure he was born in 1855 now, as that's what every single source lists, and would indicate. But other than that things are mysterious, while also tantalizing all the same. The earliest he can be seen is in the 1860 census(whew that's early!), and even though he's young, there's some curious information to be pulled from it.
The main thing here is that his father had a curious occupation. His father, Jacob, sold beer. Well there ya go. Of course that leads me down all sorts of paths in theoretical reasoning. With the beer history in mind, I would assume that Edward took up drinking at some point; I mean, being a music teacher is never easy...Issler was a music teacher by the 1870's and 1880's, probably having to do a lot of yelling at students and throwing of a baton or pocketwatch. Considering how gifted Issler was, one could wonder where he would have gotten that talent, growing up with a father who constantly reeked of beer and other alcohols. But of course since his father was likely associated with Bavarian beer halls connected with his occupation, young Ed likely heard the traditional sounds of German brass bands at those beer halls, and from who knows where else.
With all this in mind, we can apply this to his time recording. He recorded for only 10 years, but he made so many records that his mark is significant.
When digging through all the sources regarding him on ancestry, it can seem somewhat evident that he lived a hard life. Of course he couldn't escape the tragedy of the studio pianist curse, this being all the tragedy that comes with being on so many records but being heard a century later despite the suffering. Around the middle of the 1900's, Ed's first wife Hannah died, and that must have broken him, though he did remarry in 1905 or so. In the 1910 census Issler is living with his daughter Helen and his new, much younger, wife Jennie. Helen lived with Ed and Jennie until she was beyond middle age, and remained single that entire time as well, which is always a curious thing to note, particularly with women. Issler was working throughout the 1900s, 1910's, and into the early 20's. But of course when getting that far, that's where we get to the conflicting information...
After Issler died in the 20's, it seems that the depression didn't fare well for Jennie and Helen, as by 1940 they weren't living too well and as the record seems in the 1940 census, they appeared to be rather desperate. Both women were unable to work, as they were beyond middle age, and probably living off of what old Ed left them.
That story is rather sad, the fact that Issler was so brilliant and we can all hear him on so many iconic early records, but he likely didn't live too well.
Well, now that we know all that, we can at least paint a similar picture to the tragedy of Fred Hylands. Though with Issler, we see a much more responsible and well-respected musician, as opposed to the young and wild Hylands. Being a strong musician's advocate couldn't have been easy, particularly since issler was running the musician's union in an area where a whole lot of busy musicians were living in the 1900's(Newark, NJ.). I get the vibes that Issler was a neglected soul, in keeping with the unfortunate tradition that studio pianists followed(and only the pianists, not the other musicians). We ought to keep this tragedy in mind when listening to Issler's records, as with Frank P. Banta, it brings a sense of a deeper connection to the accompaniment and his entire body of work in the studio.
Here are a few to get started with:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-wI7RWfcb8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K76m_AoEu9o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vm_Qsn852PA
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/search.php?queryType=@attr+1=1020&num=1&start=1&query=cylinder17058
All-right, it seems I've figured out the mystery of James Hager!
There's those two lovely Hager's!
It appears I've gotten everything straightened out with old James Alexander Hager. In 1900, James(at 18 years old) was not listed as working quite yet, though it's very likely that brother Fred was getting him up to speed for playing in his orchestra at that point in time. In 1902 he got married to a 19 year old girl named Isabella Veronica, just as soon as they got married it seems, they had a child who died very young, though after then they had a son named Melvin(named after Fred and James' father), and two daughters, Veronica and Evelyn. From what I could find, James was working pretty much up to the 1940's, which is great to see. He was working as a theater musician until the 1940 census came around and he was working as a musician's agent. It's also curious to note that his son Melvin was working different jobs each decade the census came around. He remained single into the 1940's(he was born in 1906), and worked in different stores as a clerk/salesman. And while digging around for definitive information on him, I found that his death date was March 5, 1947.
Yes!
It's so nice to have exact dates...After dealing with all that Issler stuff...
Okay, so here's James Hager's dates:
(February 3, 1882-March 5, 1947)
He didn't live nearly as long as his brother Fred, but that's all-right, because he's on countless records we all listen to on Zon-O-Phone and similar labels. Just like brother Fred, we can hear him just as often. Also while digging I found his World War II draft card(yes he was young enough to be drafted twice!). Of course out of the same curiosity of his WWI draft card I just had to see the physical description just to be assured I have been picturing him correctly.
Yep, that's pretty much the same as his WWI card.
Now that all the Hager stuff has been solved and worked out, I can finally use all this to find some of their family out there, and do some more writing on them. Awhile back I did a post on siblings and families in the early recording business, but never would I have guessed that the Hager brothers would be a perfect example of this sort of thing. Very soon I must get to work on a post detailing the interwoven careers of Fred and James Hager, and detail the interesting musical life of Justin Ring.
I want to do a post solely on Hager and Justin Ring, but I don't have enough to write about for Ring just yet. Before I write about Ring, I need to find a way to know if he was a studio pianist or not. Once that is known, that would clear up a lot of confusion many of us collectors have been having with those early piano accompaniment Zon-O-Phone's. We know Hager(Fred) was a Zon-O-Phone pianist, and I'm pretty sure he was that really weird and funky one that always played very precise syncopation and constantly flicked his wrist playing all those rollicking octaves.
A great example of this style can be heard on this link here:
https://soundcloud.com/jack-stanley-881056448/ragtime-skedaddle-frank-mazzlotta-1902?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=facebook
I hope that link works! It's an outstanding Zono!
Anyhow, that's all I got for now. After I do a little more digging on Justin Ring I'll do a detailed post on Hager and Ring, since they worked together for almost 50 years in music and the amount of parallels between them is rather shocking.
With all this in mind, we can apply this to his time recording. He recorded for only 10 years, but he made so many records that his mark is significant.
When digging through all the sources regarding him on ancestry, it can seem somewhat evident that he lived a hard life. Of course he couldn't escape the tragedy of the studio pianist curse, this being all the tragedy that comes with being on so many records but being heard a century later despite the suffering. Around the middle of the 1900's, Ed's first wife Hannah died, and that must have broken him, though he did remarry in 1905 or so. In the 1910 census Issler is living with his daughter Helen and his new, much younger, wife Jennie. Helen lived with Ed and Jennie until she was beyond middle age, and remained single that entire time as well, which is always a curious thing to note, particularly with women. Issler was working throughout the 1900s, 1910's, and into the early 20's. But of course when getting that far, that's where we get to the conflicting information...
After Issler died in the 20's, it seems that the depression didn't fare well for Jennie and Helen, as by 1940 they weren't living too well and as the record seems in the 1940 census, they appeared to be rather desperate. Both women were unable to work, as they were beyond middle age, and probably living off of what old Ed left them.
That story is rather sad, the fact that Issler was so brilliant and we can all hear him on so many iconic early records, but he likely didn't live too well.
Well, now that we know all that, we can at least paint a similar picture to the tragedy of Fred Hylands. Though with Issler, we see a much more responsible and well-respected musician, as opposed to the young and wild Hylands. Being a strong musician's advocate couldn't have been easy, particularly since issler was running the musician's union in an area where a whole lot of busy musicians were living in the 1900's(Newark, NJ.). I get the vibes that Issler was a neglected soul, in keeping with the unfortunate tradition that studio pianists followed(and only the pianists, not the other musicians). We ought to keep this tragedy in mind when listening to Issler's records, as with Frank P. Banta, it brings a sense of a deeper connection to the accompaniment and his entire body of work in the studio.
Here are a few to get started with:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-wI7RWfcb8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K76m_AoEu9o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vm_Qsn852PA
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/search.php?queryType=@attr+1=1020&num=1&start=1&query=cylinder17058
All-right, it seems I've figured out the mystery of James Hager!
It appears I've gotten everything straightened out with old James Alexander Hager. In 1900, James(at 18 years old) was not listed as working quite yet, though it's very likely that brother Fred was getting him up to speed for playing in his orchestra at that point in time. In 1902 he got married to a 19 year old girl named Isabella Veronica, just as soon as they got married it seems, they had a child who died very young, though after then they had a son named Melvin(named after Fred and James' father), and two daughters, Veronica and Evelyn. From what I could find, James was working pretty much up to the 1940's, which is great to see. He was working as a theater musician until the 1940 census came around and he was working as a musician's agent. It's also curious to note that his son Melvin was working different jobs each decade the census came around. He remained single into the 1940's(he was born in 1906), and worked in different stores as a clerk/salesman. And while digging around for definitive information on him, I found that his death date was March 5, 1947.
Yes!
It's so nice to have exact dates...After dealing with all that Issler stuff...
Okay, so here's James Hager's dates:
(February 3, 1882-March 5, 1947)
He didn't live nearly as long as his brother Fred, but that's all-right, because he's on countless records we all listen to on Zon-O-Phone and similar labels. Just like brother Fred, we can hear him just as often. Also while digging I found his World War II draft card(yes he was young enough to be drafted twice!). Of course out of the same curiosity of his WWI draft card I just had to see the physical description just to be assured I have been picturing him correctly.
Now that all the Hager stuff has been solved and worked out, I can finally use all this to find some of their family out there, and do some more writing on them. Awhile back I did a post on siblings and families in the early recording business, but never would I have guessed that the Hager brothers would be a perfect example of this sort of thing. Very soon I must get to work on a post detailing the interwoven careers of Fred and James Hager, and detail the interesting musical life of Justin Ring.
I want to do a post solely on Hager and Justin Ring, but I don't have enough to write about for Ring just yet. Before I write about Ring, I need to find a way to know if he was a studio pianist or not. Once that is known, that would clear up a lot of confusion many of us collectors have been having with those early piano accompaniment Zon-O-Phone's. We know Hager(Fred) was a Zon-O-Phone pianist, and I'm pretty sure he was that really weird and funky one that always played very precise syncopation and constantly flicked his wrist playing all those rollicking octaves.
A great example of this style can be heard on this link here:
https://soundcloud.com/jack-stanley-881056448/ragtime-skedaddle-frank-mazzlotta-1902?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=facebook
I hope that link works! It's an outstanding Zono!
Anyhow, that's all I got for now. After I do a little more digging on Justin Ring I'll do a detailed post on Hager and Ring, since they worked together for almost 50 years in music and the amount of parallels between them is rather shocking.
Hope you enjoyed this!
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