Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the...

[EKE BBB]

Just received this from the RedHotJazz mailing list:

Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry, 1891-1922

[ARCH 1005]

$29.99 $26.99

Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry, 1891-1922

Fifty-four tracks by 43 artists, and 60 pages of in-depth commentary and

analysis: Lost Sounds is a monumental achievement that stretches back to

the faint beginnings of commercial recordings and travels to the brink

of the Jazz Age to trace the contributions of black artists on American

records. Sometimes noisy and raucous, sometimes quiet and austere, these

recordings demonstrate the deep involvement and lasting influence of

African Americans in the nascent recording industry.

From Book to Audio

First published by the University of Illinois Press in 1994, Tim Brooks'

mammoth Lost Sounds brought before the world the stories of pioneering

black recording artists who had been consigned to permanent obscurity.

Now Archeophone gives these artists their voice on this ambitious two-CD

set. Every major artist covered in the book (except for one whose

recordings have never been found) and several minor ones are represented

here. Never before has such an overview been attempted, and many of the

recordings found here have literally not been heard in over 100 years.

Historic Recordings

The release of Lost Sounds is nothing short of historic. You have heard

of many of these singers, musicians, and public figures, but you

probably haven't heard the sonic documents they left behind. Here for

the first time is Thomas Craig, "the colored basso," stage star Opal

Cooper, boxer Jack Johnson, and Tuskegee Institute founder Booker T.

Washington. Also featured are five operatic performers who made records

for Broome Special Phonograph Records, ca. 1919, and who led

distinguished musical careers: Harry Burleigh, Edward Boatner, Florence

Cole–Talbert, Nathaniel Dett, and Clarence Cameron White. Lost Sounds

also includes one of the ultra-rare personal records made by Roland

Hayes, "Vesti la giubba," that helped him jump-start his career.

Newly Discovered Gems

With the help of gracious collectors we have also unearthed rarities

whose importance cannot be overstated. Here for the first time is heard

an African-American vocal group from 1895: the Oriole Quartette doing

"Brother Michael, Won't You Hand Down that Rope?" Also included is one

of the earliest minstrel records in existence; from 1894, it's Spencer,

Williams & Quinn's Imperial Minstrels doing their Minstrel First Part

and featuring George W. Johnson's great "Laughing Song." Those who have

heard Cousins and DeMoss doing "Poor Mourner" for Berliner in 1898 have

a treat in store with their rousing rendition of "Who Broke the Lock"

also from 1898. These guys were making rock records before anybody knew

what that meant.

Four Distinct Genres

Four distinct musical genres emerged when the recordings were laid out:

Vocal Harmonies, Minstrel & Vaudeville Traditions, Aspirational Motives,

and Dance Rhythms. The two CDs are arranged according to these themes,

with a full trajectory of nearly 30 years' worth of material covered in

each section. Several musical superstars are represented: Bert Williams,

Wilbur Sweatman, Jim Europe's bands, and W. C. Handy. But other

lesser-known pioneers are here too. Under the "Vocal" section come the

celebrated Unique Quartette, here heard on the superior-sounding

"Mamma's Black Baby Boy" from 1893 and "Who Broke the Lock" from about

1895 (comparing the two versions of the song raises questions about

vernacular performances from the 1890s). The "Minstrel" section takes

us, meanwhile, from rough "coon" songs, introduces Williams and Walker,

and ends with "Great Camp Meetin' Day," by Noble Sissle, one-half of the

most popular black team of the 1920s. The "Aspirational" section

chronicles efforts by black artists to overcome circumstance and

establish themselves among the world's "serious" music, seen for

instance in "Swing Along," by Will Marion Cook's Afro-American Folk Song

Singers. In the "Dance" genre, we have great performances by Clef Club

members on the Europe Society Band's "Down Home Rag" and the Joan Sawyer

Orchestra's version of "Bregeiro," led by Dan Kildare. One standout is

one of Eubie Blake's first records, "Sarah from Sahara," performed by

the Blake Trio in 1917. Also featured is the rarely reissued Ford Dabney

Band, doing the infectious "Camp Meeting Blues" from 1919.

The Complete Musical Story of George W. Johnson

Of special interest on Lost Sounds is George W. Johnson, the first black

man to record. "Lost Sounds" includes all eight of his extant

recordings, from the 1891 North American cylinder of "The Whistling

Coon" and "The Laughing Song," which features unusually early ragtime

piano accompaniment, to "The Whistling Girl," "The Laughing Coon" and

the ultra-rare "Carving the Duck" from 1903 - a record that had not

surfaced until earlier this year. Lesser-known and uncommon recordings

by Johnson are his whistling solo for Berliner of "The Mocking Bird" and

his speaking cameo on Len Spencer's "Merry Mail Man," the last original

routine the elderly Johnson appeared on.

Attractive Booklet, Detailed Notes

With notes by Tim Brooks and David Giovannoni, the accompanying 60-page

booklet is nearly worth the price alone. Beautifully illustrated, and

featuring many rare photos, the booklet (it's really a book!) brings the

music and the actors alive. We've included a general introduction, four

genre introductions, selected mini-biographies, copious track notes and

lyrics on selected songs, along with a handful of other special

features. This stunning book is sure to make Lost Sounds a deeply

rewarding experience for you.

A Testament to the Power of Preservation

Lost Sounds makes a persuasive case for preserving old recordings before

it is too late. Some of these newly-rescued sounds bear the marks of

their tortured history, while others somehow made it to the present day

surprisingly pristine. Archeophone is proud to be at the vanguard of

these preservation attempts, and we encourage other collectors, as they

enjoy this sonic history that was nearly lost, to take the time to

preserve their old recordings and to share them with the world.

Archeophone stands ready to aid you in your efforts!

CD Details

* Catalogue number: ARCH 1005

* UPC: 777215109025

* Original Release Date: October 9, 2005

* Running length: 154:06 / 54 tracks (2 CD set)

* Booklet: 60-page

* Tracks recorded: 1891-1922

* Contains racially derogatory language

* In Archeophone's Genres series.

Track Listing and Sound Samples

Disc One

1. Mamma's Black Baby Boy - Unique Quartet (1893)

2. Keep Movin' - Standard Quartet (1894)

3. Who Broke the Lock - Unique Quartet (ca. 1895)

4. Brother Michael, Won't You Hand Down that Rope - Oriole Quartette

(ca. 1895-1896)

5. Poor Mourner - Cousins and DeMoss (1898)

6. Who Broke the Lock - Cousins and DeMoss (1898)

7. Down on the Old Camp Ground - Dinwiddie Colored Quartet (1902)

8. Jerusalem Mornin' - Polk Miller and His Old South Quartet (1909)

9. Little David / Shout All Over God's Heaven - Fisk University Jubilee

Quartet (1909)

10. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot - Apollo Jubilee Quartet (1912)

11. Shout All Over God's Heaven - Apollo Jubilee Quartet (1912)

12. Good News - Tuskegee Institute Singers (1914)

13. The Rain Song - Right Quintette (1915)

14. Goodnight Angeline - Four Harmony Kings (1921)

15. Experiences in the Show Business - Charley Case (1909)

16. The Whistling Coon - George W. Johnson (1891)

17. Adam and Eve and de Winter Apple (excerpt) - Louis Vasnier (ca. 1893)

18. The Laughing Song - George W. Johnson (ca. 1894-98)

19. Minstrel First Part, featuring "The Laughing Song" - Spencer,

Williams & Quinn's Imperial Minstrels (ca. 1894)

20. Listen to the Mocking Bird - George W. Johnson (1896)

21. The Laughing Coon - George W. Johnson (ca. 1898)

22. The Whistling Girl - George W. Johnson (1898)

23. My Little Zulu Babe - Williams and Walker (1901)

24. Carving the Duck - George W. Johnson (1903)

25. The Merry Mail Man - Len Spencer and George W. Johnson (1906)

26. Nobody - Bert Williams (1906)

27. My Own Story of the Big Fight (part 1) - Jack Johnson (1910)

28. Beans, Beans, Beans - Opal Cooper (1917)

29. Great Camp Meetin' Day - Noble Sissle (1920)

Disc Two

1. Atlanta Exposition Speech - Booker T. Washington (1908)

2. Old Black Joe - Thomas Craig (1898)

3. Old Dog Tray - Carroll Clark (1910)

4. I Surrender All - Daisy Tapley and Carroll Clark (1910)

5. Swing Along - Afro-American Folk Song Singers (1914)

6. The Rain Song - Afro-American Folk Song Singers (1914)

7. Exhortation - Right Quintette (1915)

8. Vesti la Giubba - Roland Hayes (1918)

9. Go Down Moses - Harry T. Burleigh (1919)

10. Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child - Edward H. S. Boatner (1919)

11. Villanelle - Florence Cole–Talbert (1919)

12. Barcarolle - R. Nathaniel Dett (1919)

13. Lament - Clarence Cameron White (1919)

14. When de Co'n Pone's Hot / Possum - Edward Sterling Wright (1913)

15. Down Home Rag - Europe's Society Orchestra (1913)

16. Bregeiro (Rio Brazilian Maxixe) - Joan Sawyer's Persian Garden

Orchestra (1914)

17. On the Shore at Le-Lei-Wei - Ciro's Club Coon Orchestra (1916)

18. Down Home Rag - Wilbur Sweatman (1916)

19. Some Jazz Blues - Memphis Pickaninny Band (1917)

20. Sarah from Sahara - Eubie Blake Trio (1917)

21. The Jazz Dance - Blake's Jazzone Orchestra (1917)

22. Ev'rybody's Crazy 'Bout the Doggone Blues - Wilbur Sweatman's

Original Jazz Band (1918)

23. Darktown Strutters' Ball - Lieut. Jim Europe's 369th U. S. Infantry

"Hell Fighters" Band (1919)

24. Camp Meeting Blues - Ford Dabney's Band (1919)

25. St. Louis Blues - W. C. Handy's Memphis Blues Band (1922)

[LAL]

Thanks for the heads up EKE. More stuff to add to the wish list.

Here's the Archeophone website.

[7/4]

Looks interesting, I'm getting more interested real old American music. So much to listen to, so little time.

[AllenLowe]

the Cousins and Demoss is the most interesting and significant of these, as it contains two African American singers accompanying themselves on banjo; Poor Mourner (which was located by the great musicologist Dick Spottswood some years ago) is of a significant, if largley misunderstood category of song; as Spottswood lables it, it is Gospel song written for the Minstrel stage, and a great performance.

Tim Brooks is extremely knowlegeable and a good guy; his book has been out a while now. One thing that has hindered it, unfortunately, is that it is WAY too long and almost un-edited, difficult to read and gramatically/stylistically a bit of a mess (as an example, the OPENING sentence of the book contains a gramatical gaffe); read it, but prepare to skim.

Edited October 11, 2005 by AllenLowe

[John L]

Fascinating. Where can this be purchased?

[AllenLowe]

I think Archaeophone has it out now - check their web site -

[DukeCity]

This looks interesting. I've often heard that the "first jazz record" was of the Original Dixieland Jass Band, in 1917. Looking at these recordings, do any of them (prticularly Disc 2, tracks 19,20,21) qualify is "jazz" recordings that might pre-date the ODJB dates?

Like many, I've always found it more than a little backward that a group of white guys (ODJB) got the credit for the first jazz record.

[AllenLowe]

yes and no, per the ODJB, which is a much maligned but excellent group - there are 1921 recordings by Mamie Smith's Jazz Hounds (with Johnny Dunn) which might qualify post-ODJB as the first black band, and there are early recordings by James Reese Eureope (1913 and 1919) and Wilbur Sweatman that we might argue about (ca. 1917+)-

Edited October 12, 2005 by AllenLowe

[JSngry]

Allen - I've not heard but a very few of Europe's Castle Orchestra recordings, just one or two online clips (one of them "The Ragtime Druumer" - or some similar title - with an amazing drum solo). How would you rate their "jazziness" in comparison the the Hellfighters ones (of which I have the Memphis Archives set)?

Europe was a fascinating man, from what I've learned about him.

[medjuck]

And what did W.C. Handy's band sound like? I once saw a cd but never bought it. (non-buyer's remorse .)

Edited October 12, 2005 by medjuck

[AllenLowe]

1) I like both of Europe's bands, but the 1913 group is really the most exciting - their drummer was Buddy Gilmore, very advanced, very propulsive - I don't know if you can get those recordings anywhere; I have them on an old Victor black&white French/ragtime LP which I was very lucky to find in NYC in the 1980s -

2) I happened to also love Sweatman's band - Archeophone has a CD of their recordings, well worth getting - very peppy, clearly a black ragtime band in its swing and feel -

Edited October 12, 2005 by AllenLowe

[JSngry]

Thanks Allen!

A few Real Audio clips of Europe's Society Orchestra can be found here: http://www.redhotjazz.com/eso.html

[Harold_Z]

And what did W.C. Handy's band sound like? I once saw a cd  but never bought it. (non-buyer's remorse .)

←

What I've heard sounds very ragtimey. Hard to describe, but it's not early jazz "yet".

Maybe an apt analogy would be Scott Joplin progressing to James P. Johnson.

[jazzbo]

I like Sweatman's recordings a LOT as well.

Jazz Oracle fairly recenlty reissued a wonderful sounding two cd set with extensive booklet:

http://www.jazzoracle.com/catalogue/BDW_8046.asp

[Fer Urbina]

Agustín

Gracias for the heads up. In my wish list with Allen Lowe's upcoming set.

F