During my digging through copyright records from 1896 to 1911, I have come across some curious dates, and one of these dates is November 21, 1900, which was a date that Fred Hylands sent in a large pile of previously unpublished music. This little thing was a little surprising, as from looking at the rest of the Hylands, Spencer, and Yeager publications and history, it would seem that Fred published things one-by-one and maybe, if he was up to it, two or three, but certainly not more than three in a row. The strange thing about this single page in the copyright records was that five pieces were listed, which was certainly different from everything else under Hylands, Spencer and Yeager.
The odd thing about the date that was listed, is that in October 1900, the dissolving of the firm was indicated here by Hylands himself:
Yes, he wrote this.
It's odd, just as I'm writing this, I skimmed through the few Music Trade Review issues that mentioned Hylands, and it seemed that he did indeed dissolve the firm, and probably wrote the letter, snippeted above, out of a fit of anger with Len Spencer. Yes, he does mention Harry Yeager, but it was more of Spencer's fault, as he was out making records all day(so was Fred...) so he couldn't often find time to come in and play around with some new music to only later shove it into his desk. So for some reason, after the obviously announced ending of the firm, he was still accepting manuscripts from some of his friends. This is one possibility as to why Fred still kept music with him from his beloved firm. I have explained that he refused to give away his "You Don't Stop the World from Going Round", as it was still his first love
in song(heh, and it was his own composition!). It is still a little peculiar that all of these tunes were submitted by Hylands after this angry letter he sent in October of 1900. I'm still trying to figure out this strange man...
I read through some of the other Music Trade Review sections mentioning Hylands, and it seems that they all still clung to the kind and amiable comments about Hylands, though one of these sections stated ,"He's a good fellow", hmm. That could mean a variety of things. Of course, that's not negative, but it's a little different from most of the other comments I've read about Hylands. Still no mentioning of drinking, drugs, and moody behaviour, which must have been one of the many reasons that he wasn't spoken of by Jim Walsh. Oh! If only Walsh saved the wonderful yet probably awful riot of words they all spoke of Hylands. What could they have said? What would Dan Quinn utter about that piano freak? Or even Billy Murray for that matter. Even Len Spencer's second wife certainly would have been able to recall any sort of strange doings with her Len during his time in that firm, as 1899 was perfectly on target during their marriage from 1895 to 1914.
I bet she remembered something about Hylands. I had never really thought of her interviews with Walsh until this evening, not really realising that she was married to Len at the height of his recording days, and during the whole of the time he worked with Fred Hylands and Harry Yeager. I'd be curious to know if she mentioned Fred at all. Its very likely that she did, as there's no doubt that Hylands would have been invited to the Spencer estate at some point between 1898 and 1902. How he must have been a real change from the respectable and very "gilded age" disposition the Spencer's possessed. Oh the images it conjures...
Anyhow, I spoke with Charlie Judkins this evening, about much of what I just mentioned above, also some more general style distinctions between Hylands and Frank P. Banta, which are certainly very different, but have similar roots. It is still undetermined whether Banta was well-trained or was completely self-taught, as the billowing sources of Rag-Time histories own conflicting ideologies of Banta's background. Back in the time when Banta still lived, most everyone said he was self-taught, and was a fantastic piano tuner, which has some credibility, as it was from the very time that Banta lived, and was passed down through generations of collectors. Though, I have come to believe that Hylands more well represents the style of Rag-Time playing from someone who was trained very little, and when they were, rejected many old customs. Yes, Banta probably had a similar background, but the small thing about Banta's playing that indicates training is how he played thirty-second note runs, and also his slightly harsh and "jagged" style of syncopation. What is meant by that is that he didn't always play Rag-Time with a smooth flow, not like Hylands' playing.
You can hear some of that in these two Banta records here:
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/search.php?queryType=@attr+1=1020&num=1&start=1&query=cylinder5275
It had a certain broken flow to it that Hylands' style didn't have. That has to be from their musical upbringings. It certainly does help that Hylands came from Indiana...
A recording that I listened to and played along with this evening is one that I have heard many times, but really got to take a close listen to the piano playing on it. It's a messy cylinder, but luckily the piano is very loud, so it's not too hard to decipher. It's another one of those masterful Spencer and Hylands collaborations, and it's not exactly Rag-Time, but since it involves Hylands, Ragged time in some way can easily be expected. So he does just that, by playing a fun solo at the end.
Here's that cylinder:
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/search.php?queryType=@attr+1=1020&num=1&start=1&query=cylinder6709
The lyrics of this song are also hilarious!
That strange very old-sounding solo at the end is much like an old fiddle tune. Of course, since I learned Hylands was a violinist, finding string-like playing ideas are not that hard to distinguish now, and this little solo is a good indicator of a violin-influenced style morphed with Rag-Time. It's very hot as well as being what I just said, and it proves that Hylands and Spencer worked so well together.
I didn't want to change the subject to quick, but my dear friend Ryan sent me a recording just a few minutes ago that has some peculiar piano accompaniment. It's a record by:
Edward M. Favor(that's him in 1875!)
Now if you know anything about Favor, it's certain that the fact that his records made after the big tour of his with "1492" for E. Rice, really made it into most record books. Favor was one of the most popular stage stars to be recorded in the earlier 1890's, beginning in 1893 with his famous "Commodore Song", than with a handful more of records introduced with "...sung by Mr. Edward M. Favor of Rice's 1492 Company." This recording is one of those:
The date is 1893, and that is correct, as all the information given in the announcement indicates the date better than anything else. The pianist should be Ed. Issler, though Ryan had told me that it sounds a little more like a very young Frank Banta. That wouldn't logically work, though it must be noted that Banta was fist most certainly dragged into a recording studio by Vess Ossman in 1893 when he made his first handful of rounds for North American. That may or may not have been the first time Banta ever was on recordings, though he might have been considered beforehand, as he was by 1892 being called a "professor", which could indicate some perking ears to the record companies. That same connotation is what captivated Master Edward Easton and Victor Emerson when beginning to consider Hylands. It's possible that Banta made records as early as 1892, as some places with information on him indicate that he was in the business for over ten years by 1903... Hmm...
I still firmly stand on the pianist being Issler on the Favor cylinder above.
Just for fun, here's a great recording by Favor with the Columbia orchestra in 1903:
This is a really fun record, and Hylands is ridiculously loud!
"In fact, he's like an Injun on cocaine"
What a great line...
Hope you enjoyed this!
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