We're all aware of how records were made in the 1890's, and that various techniques changed as the decade went on. The notorious "round" was what ruled the 1890's recording studios however. The rounds were a terribly long and harsh way to make records, but the good thing about rounds is that no two cylinders from the round era(prior to 1897 and 1898)sound exactly the same. This is only because of the hundreds of rounds all being done one at a time and it's almost certain that no two brown wax cylinders from the same round exist. The other ones from the same round would sounds different anyway because the horns all pointed the same direction, but at a differing angle, therefore creating a very slightly varying sound.
I have a special love for alternate takes of brown wax cylinders, only because they're everywhere in brown wax cylinder collections, and they are the same song but done differently, with very slight differences between two others. Each brown wax cylinder is different in its own way. That's why they always remain interesting.
Other than the hundreds of rounds the singers did prior to 1900, some takes of the same song done in different rounds on the same day were numbered differently for some reason. When Columbia did this, it got really confusing. A good example of this is John Yorke Atlee's "Anvil Chrous" from 1898 with Fred Hylands on piano behind him. Here is the louder and clearer take:
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/9000/9836/cusb-cyl9836d.mp3
This round or "take"was numbered in Columbia's catalog as no. 12606.
Hylands is much better that usual this one, but like always with him, there are a few hiccups on the octaves toward the end, but it's still Hylands, and the little mistakes keep his playing interesting.
This next take is VERY close in sound to the last one, except for the fact that it was a different "round".
(make sure you click on the "real" symbol to get the music started up!)
http://www.tinfoil.com/cm-1108.htm
This one, as you can see on the page is numbered no.13509, but it was exactly the same as the other one, minus a few little things(ehm! Hylands' playing!). Thank goodness for Hylands' constantly varying playing, where he would never play something exactly the same twice. That always helped. I'm sure it helped the artists keep up for a while(well...until Hylands got too drunk that is...).
This next alternate take example is a fun one by the great Will F. Denny:
Denny must have had the best collection of facial expressions ever. I can always imagine his expressions when I hear his wonderfully raucous(but slightly classy) comic songs.
Anyhow, here's the first one with Hylands playing the song very straight and not going off and doing whatever he pleases:
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/14000/14244/cusb-cyl14244d.mp3
This one was numbered Columbia 6304, and it is actually identified as a Columbia record.
This next one is much more up-beat and interesting. It's more like Denny, and it's more like Hylands. The only problem is that Denny does not identify a record company in the announcement. But there's not a doubt in my mind that it's just another round of the last one. It's a Columbia no doubt. Thanks to Hylands doing what he did best at the end!
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/14000/14259/cusb-cyl14259d.mp3
I just cannot get over the Rag-Time at the end!
This take was much less to the likeness of Denny's first 1893 version of this song. In the other one, Denny tries to replicate the 1893 version he recorded for the New England phonograph company, but the one with Hylands is very different indeed.
"Thanks Freddy!"
(as I'm sure they would turn around and say occasionally)
This next one I used quite a while back on this blog, but I thought I should bring it back on the subject of alternate takes, as it fits in the category perfectly.
This one is by the only black recording star Columbia had in the 1890's(unfortunately!), George W. Johnson:
It's kind of a tragic life he lived, and so much of it happened later in his life.
Those boys at Columbia and Edison should have treated him better. I'm not the least bit surprised though, they were typical people of their day, and raised in the time just during and after the Civil war.
Anyhow, this cylinder was recorded in 1898, when demand for Johnson's records were at their highest, with fred Hylands playing Rag-Time throughout the ENTIRE cylinder!
https://ia902606.us.archive.org/24/items/nobodyKnowsTheUploadIveSeen/01TheLaughingSong.mp3
I love this take, personally, because Hylands' Ragged time really makes it perfect. You can tell that he and Hylands were having a reasonably good time by this round. Again, this cylinder is another piece of evidence for me to think that Hylands may have been a lefty. I mean, really! Listen to the scattered right hand compared to the spot on and steady left hand octaves and chords! It's really interesting. That is how you play a cakewalk!
Now this other take is also with Hylands' accompaniment, but he only makes it Ragged at the end of the cylinder. This is a take that more people have heard:
https://ia802307.us.archive.org/20/items/GeorgeWJohnson/GeorgeWJohnson-TheLaughingSongCoonSong.mp3
This take is more commonly used in things representing the 1890's, I don't know why, but it is. How Hylands is drunk! OH! Just listen to his broken and scattered playing here! This is exactly what I'm talking about.
Other than that, the differences of the two takes by Johnson is really great and can be heard even by a newer collector, it's not like some very slight ones where it's only the faint accompaniment that's different.
Alright, this last one is a great rarity by Dan W. Quinn:
We know him and we love him!
This one is not a brown wax cylinder, and it was recorded after the brown wax era ended and the easier way to make records had been invented(without the whole "round" spiel).
On this one, the takes are actually numbered!
Here is take 2:
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/4000/4719/cusb-cyl4719d.mp3
The speed is a little shaky, sorry.
Here is take 5(which is significantly different):
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/8000/8230/cusb-cyl8230d.mp3
Hylands hitting a few wrong notes...
(it's slightly painful).
What's interesting about late brown wax and black wax Columbia's is that they actually etched the take number onto the cylinder, just below the rim. I have a Quinn Columbia black wax of "Rip Van Winkle was a Lucky Man" from 1902 and when looking at it, it's a little smaller than ad standard Edison record. But if you hold it close, you can notice the take number etched onto it. The take on that one says "31726-6". The "-6" on the cylinder indicates the take, and it's really good that Columbia did this in the late-brown wax and early black wax era, because the take number oftentimes revealed who the singer was on the cylinder.
Now for the final part of this post, I would like to showcase a fun two cylinders recorded on the same very day in mid-1902. They are both by Arthur Collins:
and of course, with the Ragged accompaniment of Fred Hylands!
Here you go, with the first one, which is actually a rarity for Collins, it is actually a sentimental song, and he only recorded less than a handful of them throughout his long career, here you go:
https://ia700407.us.archive.org/17/items/ArthurCollins_part1/ArthurCollins-MoonMoonCoonSong.mp3
It's a little wavy. But still a good one!
Oh Hylands, playing all pretty, what a concept.
Here's the other one, where it's much more Ragged and hot:
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/8000/8236/cusb-cyl8236d.mp3
"Oh Freddy!"
Here's an alternate take of this!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQzljNXU5NI
Very slight differences!
It's all Hylands' creativity.
I have a special love for alternate takes of brown wax cylinders, only because they're everywhere in brown wax cylinder collections, and they are the same song but done differently, with very slight differences between two others. Each brown wax cylinder is different in its own way. That's why they always remain interesting.
Other than the hundreds of rounds the singers did prior to 1900, some takes of the same song done in different rounds on the same day were numbered differently for some reason. When Columbia did this, it got really confusing. A good example of this is John Yorke Atlee's "Anvil Chrous" from 1898 with Fred Hylands on piano behind him. Here is the louder and clearer take:
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/9000/9836/cusb-cyl9836d.mp3
This round or "take"was numbered in Columbia's catalog as no. 12606.
Hylands is much better that usual this one, but like always with him, there are a few hiccups on the octaves toward the end, but it's still Hylands, and the little mistakes keep his playing interesting.
This next take is VERY close in sound to the last one, except for the fact that it was a different "round".
(make sure you click on the "real" symbol to get the music started up!)
http://www.tinfoil.com/cm-1108.htm
This one, as you can see on the page is numbered no.13509, but it was exactly the same as the other one, minus a few little things(ehm! Hylands' playing!). Thank goodness for Hylands' constantly varying playing, where he would never play something exactly the same twice. That always helped. I'm sure it helped the artists keep up for a while(well...until Hylands got too drunk that is...).
This next alternate take example is a fun one by the great Will F. Denny:
Anyhow, here's the first one with Hylands playing the song very straight and not going off and doing whatever he pleases:
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/14000/14244/cusb-cyl14244d.mp3
This one was numbered Columbia 6304, and it is actually identified as a Columbia record.
This next one is much more up-beat and interesting. It's more like Denny, and it's more like Hylands. The only problem is that Denny does not identify a record company in the announcement. But there's not a doubt in my mind that it's just another round of the last one. It's a Columbia no doubt. Thanks to Hylands doing what he did best at the end!
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/14000/14259/cusb-cyl14259d.mp3
I just cannot get over the Rag-Time at the end!
This take was much less to the likeness of Denny's first 1893 version of this song. In the other one, Denny tries to replicate the 1893 version he recorded for the New England phonograph company, but the one with Hylands is very different indeed.
"Thanks Freddy!"
(as I'm sure they would turn around and say occasionally)
This next one I used quite a while back on this blog, but I thought I should bring it back on the subject of alternate takes, as it fits in the category perfectly.
This one is by the only black recording star Columbia had in the 1890's(unfortunately!), George W. Johnson:
Those boys at Columbia and Edison should have treated him better. I'm not the least bit surprised though, they were typical people of their day, and raised in the time just during and after the Civil war.
Anyhow, this cylinder was recorded in 1898, when demand for Johnson's records were at their highest, with fred Hylands playing Rag-Time throughout the ENTIRE cylinder!
https://ia902606.us.archive.org/24/items/nobodyKnowsTheUploadIveSeen/01TheLaughingSong.mp3
I love this take, personally, because Hylands' Ragged time really makes it perfect. You can tell that he and Hylands were having a reasonably good time by this round. Again, this cylinder is another piece of evidence for me to think that Hylands may have been a lefty. I mean, really! Listen to the scattered right hand compared to the spot on and steady left hand octaves and chords! It's really interesting. That is how you play a cakewalk!
Now this other take is also with Hylands' accompaniment, but he only makes it Ragged at the end of the cylinder. This is a take that more people have heard:
https://ia802307.us.archive.org/20/items/GeorgeWJohnson/GeorgeWJohnson-TheLaughingSongCoonSong.mp3
This take is more commonly used in things representing the 1890's, I don't know why, but it is. How Hylands is drunk! OH! Just listen to his broken and scattered playing here! This is exactly what I'm talking about.
Other than that, the differences of the two takes by Johnson is really great and can be heard even by a newer collector, it's not like some very slight ones where it's only the faint accompaniment that's different.
Alright, this last one is a great rarity by Dan W. Quinn:
This one is not a brown wax cylinder, and it was recorded after the brown wax era ended and the easier way to make records had been invented(without the whole "round" spiel).
On this one, the takes are actually numbered!
Here is take 2:
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/4000/4719/cusb-cyl4719d.mp3
The speed is a little shaky, sorry.
Here is take 5(which is significantly different):
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/8000/8230/cusb-cyl8230d.mp3
Hylands hitting a few wrong notes...
(it's slightly painful).
What's interesting about late brown wax and black wax Columbia's is that they actually etched the take number onto the cylinder, just below the rim. I have a Quinn Columbia black wax of "Rip Van Winkle was a Lucky Man" from 1902 and when looking at it, it's a little smaller than ad standard Edison record. But if you hold it close, you can notice the take number etched onto it. The take on that one says "31726-6". The "-6" on the cylinder indicates the take, and it's really good that Columbia did this in the late-brown wax and early black wax era, because the take number oftentimes revealed who the singer was on the cylinder.
Now for the final part of this post, I would like to showcase a fun two cylinders recorded on the same very day in mid-1902. They are both by Arthur Collins:
https://ia700407.us.archive.org/17/items/ArthurCollins_part1/ArthurCollins-MoonMoonCoonSong.mp3
It's a little wavy. But still a good one!
Oh Hylands, playing all pretty, what a concept.
Here's the other one, where it's much more Ragged and hot:
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/8000/8236/cusb-cyl8236d.mp3
"Oh Freddy!"
Here's an alternate take of this!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQzljNXU5NI
Very slight differences!
It's all Hylands' creativity.
I hope you enjoyed this!
No comments:
Post a Comment