Character studies--Len Spencer(1867-1914)

"Who Got up this party!" said the life the party Len Spencer in 1898. 

That was who he was, "the life of the party", and I'm not just saying this because he said this in his own sketch from 1906 "Peaches and Cream". Spencer actually said " But I'm the party!" in that sketch, you can hear a 1910 version here. How he wasn't lying, that's who he really was back in the late-1890's. He was born into wealth, and just got even more from working as one of the most popular singers of the 1890's. He was one of the singers who took advantage of every new gadget and idea that was coming on the spot, which at the time was what to did if you were well-to-do like he and his brother Harry. He was just a curious young engineering type who experimented with all sorts of devices in the late-1880's, until the boys at the newly-formed Columbia phonograph company found him coming to them very frequently, and taking parts from them(or stealing to be more accurate...). They took an interest to him, and hired him to work for them as a repairman, and also an engineer, not yet making records himself. It wasn't until 1889 that they decided he could make his own records, but he had to do all the work, and get paid very little for it. It was a terrible process, and since had had worked at this for a few months, he experimented with the process, and tried to get a better idea of how the system worked, and improve upon it greatly. He eventually got it to work better, and the recording studio workers officially found him to be a keeper in their studio. By 1891, he was doing engineering work, and sound effects as well. He announced for the U.S. Marine band, the Sousa Band, and even those few records from 1892 that P. S. Gilmore is likely on leading his own band! You can hear one of these rare cylinders here, called "The Grover Cleveland March", from 1892. That was indeed Spencer, when he worked at the U. S. Phonograph company until 1897 when it collapsed and became part of Columbia. He was literally the "King of the Coon songs" in the 1890's recording business, as not any other singer in that time recorded as many as he did, in such a short amount of time. 

Len was a real character, among the most weird and eccentric of the early phonograph artists. One look into his eyes was rather frightening, as his eyes were almost a blue green, and his jet black hair made his skin look white as snow. Both his eyes were never identical, as is so with every human, but with Len this was especially evident. The difference in Len's eyes stuck out as though they were different colours, but weren't . He sometimes would have to lean over when walking in a room with a short door, as his height was very much more than the average worker at Columbia back in 1899. His hair always looked different every few weeks or so, with different sections of hair going a different direction, or just a slight variation on the previous styling. He must have straightened his hair to some extent, as sometimes when he came in, his hair was a mess of curls, seemingly disorganized and wild. He would come in very early every morning, with a case full of music, and a bottle of alcohol or a bottle of near-toxic drugs. The drug would usually be cocaine, unless something new came his way from some of his friends outside the studio. He loved working as much as he did somehow, even if it nearly killed him by each Saturday evening after a full week of rounds,  adding exhibitions, and adding all the things he would have done in the few hours he had after being at the studio during the day. He was some drinker, and from his prematurely aged eyes, and scratched face, he was clearly one who would get into fights. He wasn't one anyone would want to tangle with however, being at his height, and especially with his intimidating physique! He certainly could be compared with those sculptures of the ancient Romans depicting Hercules, and that was his intent. He was said to have been an inch or two taller than Fred Hylands, and weighed more than he did, with that superior figure of his. It certainly was something fit well with how he sounded on the records, and how his harsh deep voice hit the walls with fierce penetrating power when he sang. He didn't need to sing loudly when he made all those records, as he was far from the whimpering Irish tenor George Gaskin(who had to shout when he made records). It was hard to know what his personal life was like, he was easily one who had lavish parties with all his recording friends and and made his "rounds" going to many brothels around. He was one who told the naughty tales to his close friends, and the mutters around afterward were never written down, but spoken of for a while. It is truly amazing to fathom the amount of work he endured, and that he decided to do more than needed. When he found Fred Hylands, he immediately fell in love with that man. Not at all by his looks, but his piano playing, and his sense of humor. Len and Fred had a similar sense of humor, with Len being a little more rude than Fred, but an overall identical mindset in that area. They shared the alcohol habit, the want for trying anything new, love for Rag-Time, and similar vocal ranges. They were also both great mimics, more so Len though, but Fred was pretty good at this. It would seem that genuinely enjoying Spencer's voice is an acquired taste, as his was so rough and jarring. He would sing at a normal volume, as it was not needed that he sing loudly, with his many queer expressions paint is face. Faces of comical smiles, moving around his thick eyebrows, flicking his black hair around, and letting his eyes skip around, while sometimes looking back at Freddy Hylands with a contented smile. Freddy always smiled back, showing off his broken up and begrimed teeth, along with a narcissistic jolt swaying his glossy red locks. Len was a kind and interesting character to speak with when he was sober, and a real riot outside the studio and with his recording friends. 


He and Hylands were perfect together on the records, more so than the management could have ever thought, as they were two seemingly completely different people who just happened to both like Rag-Time. Here are some of the records that I was referring to in the section above:
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/search.php?queryType=@attr+1=1020&num=1&start=1&query=cylinder15435

http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/search.php?queryType=@attr+1=1020&num=1&start=1&query=cylinder10662

https://ia800300.us.archive.org/9/items/LenSpencer/LenSpencer-YouDontStoptheWorldFromGoingRoundCoonSong.mp3(this tune was written by Fred Hylands!)

I hope you enjoyed this!