Popular American Recording Pioneers: 1895-1925

...this book is definitely for the obsessive. These are pioneers who, for the most part, predate the concepts of stardom. Early recording companies, like early movie studios, were not interested in sharing any revenue with any "stars" that required promotion -- yes, Sarah Bernhardt made a movie or two, and Caruso sold a lot of records, but they were exceptions -- people who had reputations built outside the new mediums. For this reason, you'll find a lack of big-name stars. What you will find is a wealth of information on the practically unknown legions of men and women who were among the first to actually record the sounds and songs from the last two centuries. I found it fascinating, and of value in the obsessive cataloging that often goes hand-in-hand with the hobby of record collecting. It also helped to make a great many names a lot more human to me, and I'm thankful to the author for that. Not for the average reader, but if you have an interest in the acoustic recordings of popular music from the earliest days... well, you'll be as happy as Jones & Hare.

This is a well written biographical dictionary of the key popular (vs. classical) performers featured on early recordings. For example, you can look up "Edison Quartette" and find out that it was also known as the Hayden Quartet and exchanged performers with the American Quartet. Then you can look up the individual singers. I just consulted it this morning to find out about an early recording of John Philip Sousa's band. While it is not a discography, it has information about selected early records, along with a song index. If you want to get a peek at the style, check out Tim Gracyk's site online. I don't see how any collector of early popular records could live without this book.

Anyone who collects old 78s knows how frustratingly difficult it can sometimes be to learn about the musicians responsible for making the recordings. This book spotlights dozens of acoustic-era (1890s-1920s) recording stars, in most cases providing the most complete and detailed biographies I've found anywhere. The introduction is particularly helpful, providing an overview of the recording industry in its early years, examining how recording limitations dictated what and who was recorded, offering glimpses into the studios where these records were made, and a valuable note about estimations of record sales. This introduction nicely balances the individual accounts that come after and helps us see how these musicians fit in the "overall picture." If you've got moldy stacks of old 78s by Arthur Fields, Irving Kaufman, Ada Jones, The Sannon Quartet, Joseph C. Smith, or others like that, you might just find yourself cleaning them off and playing them again after reading this book. I find these old acoustics are much easier to enjoy once I know something about the people who made them. This isn't a sit-down-and-read-like-a-novel book, it's more like an encyclopedia, with 1-10 page articles about individual musicians and groups. At times, the articles feel a bit "choppy," but on the whole they are quite readable and there's plenty of information. Unfortunately, the binding of this paperback version is rather poor (the sheets are just glued directly to the flimsy spine, not sewn together), maybe the hardcover version is better bound? So far, my paperback is still intact, but for how much longer, I can only guess. This is a book I pull off the shelf often to answer many of the questions that come up when I listen to my 78s. Gracyk and Hoffman will give you a whole new appreciation for these old records! Highly recommended!

POPULAR AMERICAN RECORDING PIONEERS: 1895-1925, by Tim Gracyk, has detailed biographies of singers/musicians on old records! 444 pages. This is the ONLY book ever published to give biographies of early recording pioneers. Learn facts about the singers who made records of "popular" music before 1925! The book's opening essay gives a summary of the history of the early recording industry, the "acoustic" era. Rare sources were used--trade journals like TALKING MACHINE WORLD, memos from the Edison, Victor, Zon-O-Phone, U-S Everlasting, and Columbia record companies, etc. Following the long intro are detailed encyclopedic articles (organized alphabetically): 100 artists with separate entries in the book include the American Quartet, Billy Murray, Ada Jones, Cal Stewart (Uncle Josh), Nat Wills, Steve Porter, the Original Dixieland Jazz Band (other "jass" bands of 1917 covered, too), Paul Whiteman, George J. Gaskin, Carl Fenton, Sam Ash, Aileen Stanley, Henry Burr, the Peerless Quartet, Arthur Collins, Byron G. Harlan, the duo Collins and Harlan (separate entry--new info!), S. H. Dudley, Al Bernard, Edward M. Favor, Rudy Wiedoeft, Sousa, Walter B. Rogers, Vess L. Ossman, Sam Lanin, Bert Williams, Frisco Jazz Band, Olive Kline, J. W. Myers, Ben Selvin, the Green Brothers, Haydn Quartet (the quartet that sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" for Victor), Marion Harris, Arthur Fields, Irving Kaufman, Will F. Denny, Frank C. Stanley, Nat Shilkret, Frank Ferera (did his wife and fellow recording artist Helen Louise die of foul play? she vanished during a ship voyage in 1919!), James Reese Europe (Jim Europe), Victor Military Band, Victor Light Opera Company, Werrenrath, Shannon Four (Revelers), Richard Jose...many more! Rare info here from descendants of the artists, from old letters sent to historian Jim Walsh (some never published by Walsh), from rare primary sources like birth & death certificates, from archives! This is the ONLY book that covers artists who, from the 1890s to the mid-1920s, made records of music that was "popular" in nature, as opposed to records of operatic arias, symphonic works, or concert pieces. A pre-electric method for recording was used, with musicians performing into a horn, not a microphone. This encyclopedia covers American artists who recorded Tin Pan Alley numbers, Broadway show tunes, ragtime, "coon" songs, novelty numbers, quartet arrangements, parlor ballads, early jazz (sometimes called "jass"), blues, dance music, hymns, and early country. This book makes a distinction between stage personalities who happened to make some recordings--when they found time in their busy schedules--and artists who made their living largely by recording regularly, perhaps finding a little time on the side for theatrical performances, vaudeville, or concert recitals. Few stars of the stage made records regularly, exceptions being Bert Williams, Nora Bayes, and Al Jolson--even their output is minuscule compared with that of Henry Burr, Harry M