Sunday, May 1, 2011

My 78`s #6



Stroup Quartet - Columbia 15299-D
The Man Behind The Plow / Dreaming - recorded April 20, 1928
A neat record that I thought would be gospel, but it isn`t. These are just two songs that sort of show off quartet singing. This is the only record this group made. They were likely from the Atlanta, Georgia area as this was recorded in Atlanta. Atlanta was a sort of a music center in the south that Columbia had at least two sessions a year. Columbia recorded MANY old-time country and blues artists in Atlanta.





Bennett Brothers/Brown & Edwards - Lyric 4146
The Memphis Blues/Dolores - likely recorded in the mid teens
A neat record with the famously popular tune Memphis Blues backed with an accordion duet on Dolores



Price Family Sacred Singers - OKeh 40796
I Went Down Into The Garden/Ship Of Glory - recorded March 27, 1927
Another group likely from the Atlanta area, as that is where it was recorded.



W.F. Narmour & S.W. Smith - OKeh 45242
Captain George, Has Your Money Come?/The Sunny Waltz - recorded February 15, 1928
Here is some of the oddest fiddle music ever recorded in my opinion. They are great, but do some things that today is mighty uncommon. Extra notes or beats in a line of music, or dropped beats in a measure etc. I really can`t believe that no company has ever issued their complete recordings.



Billy Golden/??? - Standard Disc Record A295 (I believe this would have been made from Columbia masters)
Turkey In The Straw/Why Don`t You Write When You Don`t Need Money - likely recorded between 1905 &1910-ish
CAUTION---this is an old "coon song" record. if you are offended by such material, please do not listen to this disc.
On the first side we have the delightful Billy Golden rendering his wonderfully ridiculous Turkey In The Straw. I know I`ve posted Billy Golden Turkey In The Straws before, but he recorded it for many different companies and each version has some variations in them.
I have no idea who the artist is on the other tune. I will never understand why they issued records with no artist credit, unless it was to dodge royalties, which were not a common practice at the time anyhow. Most artist in this era were payed a per side payment instead of royalties on disc sales.



John McGhee (as Jesse Oakley) - Supertone 9674
When The Harvest Days Are Over Jessie Dear/You`re Welcome As The Flowers In May - recorded February 3, 1930
Two old love songs. John McGhee recorded many, many sides. Most were either gospel type tunes or old songs of the type on this disc.



Billy Golden & Joe Hughes/Steve Porter - Victor 16141
Shipmates/Flanagan On A Farm - likely recorded around the late teens
CAUTION---side one is an old "coon comedy" and the other side is an Irish type comedy.
Billy Golden was mentioned above. Steve Porter was a comedian that usually performed as an Irishman. Such stereotypical comedy is taboo now but was very common from the mid 1800`s up into the 1920`s.



Rev. J.M. Gates - Victor 20365
Just As Soon as My Feet Strike Zion, Lord I Won`t Be Troubled No More/Adam And Eve In The Garden - likely recorded around 1927
A great preaching record by Rev. Gates. He recorded MANY discs and must have been popular.



Hilo Hawaiian Orchestra - Victor 21465
My Hula Love/Kawaihau Waltz - likely recorded about 1928
A couple of good Hawaiian numbers. Hawaiian songs were extremely popular from about 1900 on into the 1940`s.



Biltmore Kalaluhi Hawaiian Orchestra - Columbia A-2200
Medley Of Hawaiian Melodies/Kaui Kahio Medley - likely recorded around 1924
Seems every Hawaiian artist or band recorded a side called Medley Of Hawaiian Melodies. Good music.



Emry Arthur - Decca 5085
I`m Always Thinking Of You/Look Out For The Window - recorded January 17, 1935
This is a pretty rare record. Emry Arthur is likely most well known now for being the first person to record I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow, which became famous in the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou.



The Jenkins Family - OKeh 40214
The Church In The Wildwood/If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again - recorded August 28, 1924
Blind Andrew Jenkins was the leader of this family group. He was a blind preacher that lived in Atlanta. He wrote many gospel and topical songs in the 1920`s.



Billy Golden - OKeh 4249
Turkey In The Straw/Rabbit Hash - likely recorded in the teens.
These particular sides may not have actually been recorded by OKeh. They may have leased these sides from another company.
CAUTION---these are both "coon type" sides, performed in black dialect (but not necessarily in a racist way). Billy Golden was very well known for the performance of these two sides. They range from ridiculous to downright outrageous. There is certainly no way to describe Rabbit Hash. You just have to listen.



Van Eps-Banta Dance Orchestra - Pathe 20087
Pretty Baby/Teasing The Cat - likely recorded 1915-1920-ish
Two classic style banjo numbers. Fun stuff to listen to.

Click here to download My 78`s #6

13 comments:

  1. Thanks Alan! These 78 posts are always interesting, informative and obscure:).

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  2. oh my, what great recordings, and you are so right about W.F. Narmour & S.W. Smith, shame on all the big companys !
    grtz

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  3. thanks for another eclectic selection. dittos on Narmour & Smith, though I think most of their sides are on one or another of those County "Mississippi String Bands" collections.

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  4. Thanks for the great and intriguing stuff, Allen!

    Here's a resource for tracking down history on old 78's, in case you haven't tried them out already: "Honking Duck 78s" (http://honkingduck.com/mc/discography), which has indexed the "Online Discographical Project" (http://www.78discography.com/discography.html).

    These sites list that first Billy Golden disk (Standard) as Columbia A-0295 (good guess, sir!), recorded by Golden in 1902; the flip side would be by Bob Roberts, recorded in 1906.

    Thanks again, and keep the good stuff coming!

    Kind regards,
    A. Gene Childe
    ~Mideast USA

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  5. I think almost all, if not all Standard releases were from Columbia masters.

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  6. Wonderful 78s! Thanks. It must be known that Narmour and Smith were playing very often with one of their neighbour Mississippi John Hurt. Hurt always said that he learned a lot from those people. This area was populated by so-called Scots-Irish, in fact Scots who were deported bythe Britsih in Northern Ireland to outnumber the Irish. Many of them very unsatisfied with their lives in this context migrated into the USA after the independance. Their musical traditions, already at work in British Isles, was to have a great influence into American Folk music.

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  7. Thank ya Allen, I'mma Hilo Orchestra freak, if you have want a couple burns I just made, holler.

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  8. Helo Allen,

    could you tell me about Okeh 40796 ( Ship of Glory; I went down into th garden ) : Is this the same song like: I went down into the valley to pray? Please contact me ( Frank ) under euro-fahrsicherheit@web.de Many thanks. I look for this record to buy!!!! I´m from germany

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  9. Hi Allen,

    ité Frank from Germany once more. Could u help me to get the Pramount 13009 from 1930: Delta Big Four: Moaner Let´s go down to the Valley . I would like to buy this 78rpm.

    Thanks Frank

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  10. There's 2 cds now of the compiled 'Narmour & Smith' OKeh sides, available at Amazon & elsewhere. If you wish to Google up listings of all their old sides though, be aware that Narmour is variously listed as either "W.T." or "W.F.", so you'll have to Google 'em both.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, I have already got them. But thanks for the heads-up!

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  11. Teasing The Cat by Van Eps was released on Victor in 1916. Appears to be the same personnel.
    https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/matrix/detail/700003915/B-18860-Teasing_the_cat

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