Character Studies--Victor Emerson(1866-1926)

That's Emerson in 1917.

 and that's Emerson in c.1898-99

(I figured out this picture! It's not Steve Porter, but it's Victor Emerson! see the similarities now?)

Now this man as always had mixed opinions surrounding his leadership at Columbia. Some say he was a very "formal and charming man"(said John MacDonald in 1904), but others had said that Emerson was the one who owed half their life to them. He wasn't the "CEO" of Columbia, but the fact that he was the studio manager is enough to know what his job was at Columbia. He was indeed that chap who began the Emerson record company in the mid-1910's, and watched it fall downward in the early 1920's. He was the one who witnessed much of the wild Columbia antics of the late-1890's and was the "boss-man"(pardon my crass historical reference...) of the studio "wage-slaves"(which included everyone on salary there!).

Emerson was not trained musically at all, therefore he was practically tone-deaf and had not an ear for music. That really explains pretty much everything about late-1890's Columbia. Emerson became the studio manager in 1897 at Columbia, and it took some getting used to. 1897 was a very big transition year at Columbia, and Emerson was right in the middle of it, from the studio manager, pianist, orchestra director, "contracted" staff, and even location, all of these things were changed in 1897. Emerson was a seemingly kind an quiet studio manager at first, seeing George Schweinfest, Ed Issler, Russell Hunting, Len Spencer, and all the regulars in '97 come in was not discomforting to him. But in later 1897, a new threat came to him----Fred Hylands. 

Ooh! How Hylands must have been intimidating to Emerson! It couldn't have been Emerson that hired Hylands, there's no way the he'd be in that sort of mindset to drag him by the collar into their studio. Emerson must have enjoyed Steve Porter though(who came in around the same time as Hylands), as Porter was a similar man to Emerson in many ways. Porter's tantalizing accumulated wealth also kept him of interest to Emerson, and his fellows in management at Columbia(like Edward Easton for example). Emerson was said to be a demanding man in the studio, standing oftentimes just behind the mouths of the horns off to the right corner of the room. You'd never be able to see him when coming in to the big recording room, as he'd be hidden, like a hawk, being the source of surveillance behind the back of the piano. Whenever  one of the artists walked in, they oftentimes poked their heads through the main door of the studio to see if Emerson or Easton was there, if not just yet, then they could come in safely without any comments from Emerson. Some of his comments would be similar to,"How you made so many great takes of (place song title here) last week!", or something like, "You should re-do that song", or even like, "I shouldn't like to think that your take of (place song title here) was very good, so you should do some other ones." He would give out all sorts of lousy suggestions to the staff members, as though he actually gave a rap about the music that he was managing. He really didn't care about the music, he was all about the technical and business side of the field he was in. He tried to become one of the "Columbia clan" but his far too conservative and harsh ways could not get him "initiated" into the clan. Emerson's figure was easy to identify at Columbia. Someone like Fred Hylands was probably told in secret about how to talk to and charm Emerson not long after he began working on salary. Emerson was about 5'5 or 6, with hair tinted bronze blond, thin eyebrows, bent nose, and a slightly crooked mouth, that looked very often like it was naturally a frown. The thing about him were those strictly blue eyes, which were like a hammer on an anvil when he gave a stare to one of the staff members. His eyes being the hammer, and when they bolted at the other eyes of a staff member, the hammer struck the anvil. He was a nuisance to much of the Columbia clan and their doings in the late-90's, and this can be proven by the fact that he was not invited to Porter's yacht races in the summers of 1898 and 1899, which only the clan were invited to. Many of them did buy him lavish gifts to show a feigned sense of affection and invitation into the "clan", though they were surely used as distractions from all their faults from working in Emerson's studio. He remained high in Columbia's management well after 1900, and saw all of the Climax feud of 1901-02, managing to escape the battle without any wounds. As the clan began to disband after 1902, Emerson began to make the artists work more and more, which was the opposite of what was needed to be done after the universal change to the gold moulded process. After many years at Columbia, he left them in c.1913, under unsolved and/or uncertain circumstances, but one thing is for certain, he began the Emerson label a few years after that. In 1915, he finally had the first Emerson records put out on the market, of which they were first very small 5-inch records with a fanciful label adorned with an image of a steamboat. One of which you can see here:

(from my collection)

 Emerson records started to become very popular by 1917, which is the first year that they began making 10-inch vertical cut records. Emerson was aware of the competition he was up against at this time, including his old friend Russ Hunting over at Pathe. They were actually alright records, that sounded alright on the machines that were available at the time, but they were still not the most popular records selling during The Great War. His sales dropped steadily from 1919 to 1923, which was about the time that he ended sales of "Little Wonder" records, and not long after that, the Emerson record company also fell. He only lived another three years, dying at age 60. 

I got a whole bunch of information on this post from this link here:

http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/resources/detail/130

Enjoy the knowledge treasure trove!

(no mentioning of of Fred Hylands as a Columba pianist though...)

I hope you enjoyed this! 

Character Studies-- Steve Porter(1864-1936)

"You're all invited! Whether Senorita Chiquita wins or loses!" 

that was Porter's attitude toward his yacht races of the late-1890's.

Porter was always a wealthy man, for reasons unknown. He had expensive habits, and was a friend of the frivolous and financially irresponsible Fred Hylands. This profitable and risky business didn't help that fact. Porter was a very innovative and creative man in the early recording business, as he was one of those non-Edison film-makers who tried to blend sound and film together as one. He made many new gadgets for the recording business, and much later after his recording career, he had the first commercial hearing aid patented.

Porter was the best risk-taker Columbia ever had. He would try things that literally had three quarters of possibility that they would fail, but he had the means and money to take these terrible gambles. Other than Len Spencer, Porter helped along Fred Hylands in his publishing firms, and in general as well, as Hylands was oftentimes in need of extra dough. Porter had first gotten into the recording business from knowing Russ Hunting. Like all the other friends of Liberal Hunting, Porter found Hunting's "smut" cylinders a terrible idea, and was bound to bust. After Hunting got out of prison, he and Porter reunited, and began an experimental film business. This quickly failed, and a month or so later, Hunting began the magazine The Phonoscope. This was where Porter began to actually make records. In early 1897, Porter became one of the Columbia crowd, though he was more conservative than some of his fellows. He wasn't a "Rag Time'' singer, nor was he a true Irish Tenor, he was similar in many ways to the already popular S. H. Dudley. Porter was a singer of all the sacred songs, quartette material, and popular songs. He wasn't something too special when he sang solo, but when he was in a quartette, he was a perfect blending voice. How Porter decided to work with Fred Hylands is lost, but it must be the nature of Hylands being risky with his money, and that Porter wanted to help out Fred who was always short of cash. Porter had gotten into Yacht races in 1897 and 1898, which was a big thing for the Columbia staff, as when a race came up, everyone on the talent staff would be out of work that day for the race. It was a big thing for Porter, even if his boat wasn't in the best of luck. Everyone would throw in some money for bets, some more than others, and they would either lose or win, just like the horse races the Spencer's went off and played at(also Porter not surprisingly...). His schooner was The Chiquita, and she was a pretty successful boat, winning several big tournaments in 1898 and 1899, which made Porter even richer by 1899, which is probably where Hylands took an interest to Porter. In march of 1899, Porter finally joined Hylands and Roger Harding in his "Knickerbocker Publishing" firm, which didn't last too long under that name. This later became "Hylands, Spencer and Yeager", in which Porter was still involved greatly, under the lording leadership of Fred Hylands. Porter was out of this firm a little bit before it collapsed, and before all of Fred's stock was sold in 1902, it left Fred almost broke for a little while, but Porter was going on to better things that pitying Fred Hylands' sorrow. Porter was off to Europe, where he must have run into his old friend Russ Hunting. Porter was  a recording manager for Nicole records in 1902 to 1906, which was a London based record company. In this time away from western shores, Porter went all over India, and Burma as well, running record affairs in those companies. He returned to his old friends refreshed, and ready to record quick. He began making records with Len Spencer right away, as he was still going strong in the recording business. He saw who was still recording and who wasn't, pitied those who weren't, but was right back to making records. This was the time that began making those really popular and numerous "Flannigan" records, much to the likeness of his friend Russ Hunting's "Casey" records of the 1890's. He was not working nearly as much with Spencer after he and Ada Jones began to collaborate again(notice I said again...). Porter was making popular Irish sketch records before 1910, and after he met up with Byron Harlan again, they started making records like mad. Porter was a kind and amiable man, short, dark blond, always well-dressed, this way after learning of the true sins of the music business from working with Len Spencer and Fred Hylands. He really truly enjoyed working in the studios, and always had a passion for making records, and creating new things. His patents of the late-1890's can truly show for it. He still invented, and made records into the 20's, when most of his old friends had either died, or were almost dead. It's surprising really, that the yacht racing sacred song singer of the 1890's made the first commercially sold hearing aid, in 1926. His sales were broken by the crash of 1929, and he lived terribly for the next few years after that, dying in the same year and under the same despair that Byron Harlan did.

 I hope you enjoyed this!