The audio curator at Edison National Historic Site rummages through the archives of the legendary Edison Laboratory of West Orange, New Jersey. Tune in for Edison cylinder and disc record rarities, many not heard since "the old man" himself stashed them away, featuring: Tin Pan Alley pop songs, ragtime, vaudeville comedy sketches, flapper dance bands, old-time country tunes, historic classical music, laboratory experiments and other artifacts - all dating from 1888 through 1929.
<-- Previous playlist | Back to Thomas Edison's Attic playlists | Next playlist -->
Listener comments! | |
Wed. 7/11/07 5:39am
Chris Zwarg:
There's two titles missing from your playlist today - Prihoda's violin solo and "Ballin' the Jack" (before and after the Fiddlin' Powers piece). I'd appreciate your correcting this and giving the matrix numbers. Further, I find that the version of "Hands up" is slightly different from my own copy. I have noticed this with several other cylinders in earlier broadcasts as well, and wonder why you are not including the TAKE numbers for cylinders (although you kindly list it for the DDs, which has been very helpful for my own discographical work). On all 4-minute cylinders as well as on late 2-minute ones, the take is coded as a number of small dots following the word "PAT'D" on the cylinder rim, so it should be no great problem to include that info when you copy the originals to digital media. Thank you, and keep up the good work! | |
Wed. 7/11/07 10:44am
Rich Lagerman:
Hi Mike...we met a few years back at the "half-way-done,hard hat open house. You do a wonderful job with the show. Always a pleasure. Do you have mx 19073 (Sugar is Back In Town) & 19072(Deep Night), both on Ed52538 by Mike Landau ? Also anything by Louis Lillienfeld, tests or unknowns of the later 20s. Thanks very much Rich. | |
Sun. 7/15/07 11:33am
MathGeek:
That Seven Blue Babies record you played at the end of your show was sure interesting. Do you happen to know the personnel on that record? The sax soloist at 1:45 on that record is very good. | |
Mon. 7/16/07 6:51am
Chris Zwarg:
Thanks for the super-exact take descriptions added! Hope it isn't too much hassle for you to keep doing it this way - collectors and discographers will surely appreciate it. And indeed - my copy of "Hands up" is take -2 (two dots), and you have been playing -1, no more guesswork needed. | |
Sun. 7/22/07 10:24pm
rhammond:
The home recording with "Momma's Baby" sure sounds like Harry Louder to me. Was this some kind of an unmarked test recording? | |
Mon. 7/23/07 3:39pm
Steven G. Levine:
Jerry, By my reckoning, as of July 10th, you have played on this show 746 Diamond discs, 178 Amberol cylinders, and 166 Gold moulded cylinders. 190 pieces were listed as Fox trots (which should be spelled with a capital F, as the dance was named after vaudeville actor Harry Fox. (Not sure if the Turkey trot was named after Tom Turkey, though)). 189 were "orchestras" and 107 "bands." 123 mentioned "piano," 96 mentioned "vocal." 100 were from the year 1927, 92 from 1928, and 77 from 1924. I sometimes wonder why people tell me I have too much free time on my hands. Steve.. | |
Sun. 9/9/07 6:00am
Rolf den Otter:
Thanks! I just heard the podcast.... Are there more concert cylinders comng? Vasa Prihoda is always a pleasure to hear... Frisco "Jass" Band record was extremly clear on my headphones.... Rolf http://homepages.ipact.nl/~otterhouse (my classical lp->mp3 hobby page, updated every friday) http://www.youtube.com/otterhouse (my classical music youtube channel) | |
Wed. 5/28/08 5:12pm
Colin Age 11 From Austin, TX:
I love UtM by The Frisco Jass Band | |
Thu. 9/18/08 12:19pm
Jim Phillips:
Hello Jerry, I just wanted to email and tell you how much I have enjoyed your Edison show on WFAU and the internet. I first found you when I was researching a distant relative, Phillips Lord, and his 1930s radio show. The only preserved example of his early work I knew of was the 1931 RKO film WAY BACK HOME, starring Phillips and Effie Lord, Frankie Darrow, and a very young Bette Davis. Parts of the film are very similar to the radio transcription you presented, but there is a lot more Maine humor, especially the scenes with the IRS auditor and those with the village idiot, Seefus, who is really no dummy. The film was reissued on video several years ago but is now out of print. I have also been a collector of Edison Diamond Discs since the 1960s when a friend invited me to visit an old farmhouse that had been owned by his great Uncle, Thaddeus Roberts of Norway, Maine. Thad had been an Edison dealer in the 1920s and his home was the repository of hundreds of unsold discs. I was told to take anything I wanted, so I picked up forty or so examples of jazz on Edison (my primary interest at that time). Uncle Thad was a strange character. He graduated first in his class at Bowdoin College in Brunswick Maine but never really amounted to much, other than to sell Edison Diamond Discs and machines. He would apparently visit his customers monthly and leave a dozen or so Diamond Discs on approval. When he returned, the discs could be bought or returned for others. The Discs with red stars on the label were non-returnable, probably closeouts. In later years, Thad decided that he would remain in bed, and had a housekeeper who kept him fed and reasonably clean. His goal was to read the Encyclopedia Britannica from cover to cover. Unfortunately he died in the Ts. My daughter was married a couple of years ago and she and her husband live in Cranbury NJ. On one of my future visits, I would like to visit the Edison laboratory and view the exhibits. I understand the site is now closed for renovations. I hope it reopens soon. Once again, thanks for your very interesting presentations (I especially enjoyed Irving Peskin), and hope they will remain available on the internet. Jim Phillips, Bangor ME | |
RSS feeds for Thomas Edison's Attic:
Playlists feed |
MP3 archives feed