Edison Electric Diamond Disc dance band favorites

[Rastus10]

Hello all,

They comprise (at least) several hundred songs from 1927-29:

What are some of your favorites?

As someone who, until recently, was rather unaware of them except through the Diamond Cut and Jazz Oracle CD's, is there something that sets them apart from the host of other bands that recorded on all those other 1920's labels?

I will say that I aspire to collect more of them, but I doubt that scarcity/cost will allow it to occur to any appreciable extent approaching completion (understatement).

Thanks in advance--

[drh]

I'm a classical/opera guy, not much of a dance band listener these days, but I do enjoy one that came to me with my Edisonic: 52231-R, "When You're with Somebody Else" by The Florida Four, whoever they were. It's a catchy tune, the vocalist in the refrain is OK and sounds very characteristically "1920s," and it has some good solo riffs, including a nice one for piano, in good electric recorded sound. Happily (for you), it also seems to be one of the more common Edison electric popular numbers; without even looking, I've seen a number of copies come through eBay along the line.

Another that I like is "Me and the Man in the Moon" by Al Friedman and his Or., vocal cho. by Tommy Weir, Edison 52484-R. That one is, I think, rather harder to find, more in demand, and hence usually more expensive. (I bought a copy with the idea my daughter might skate to it. She decided not to, but by then I had the record.) I actually made the acquaintance of that tune 'way back when I was a beginning collector and tended to take any 78 that came along. A *lot* of those were '20s and '30s dance band numbers, and among them was this one on a Romeo dime-store record; I forget who was credited. I liked it then, and I still do--again, very '20s, and something of an earworm.

[FredSugarHall_fan]

Hello there,

I am a collector of dance band 78s (American and British) from the 1920s and 1930s, and my favorites that appear on Edison are the Arthur Fields Assassinators (a Fred Hall group, Fred Hall being my favorite American bandleader) and Earl Oliver's Jazz Babies (a Harry Reser group). They're definitely not easy to find, granted I've barely been collecting 78s for more than a year now. These are my favorites mainly because their styles were a little bit more on the novelty side of things (I especially love the unusual combinations of instruments like the harmonica and fiddle that Fred Hall used on his recordings - he is also an amazing scat singer!).

I mainly enjoy Fred's recordings on OKeh as the Sugar Babies. I am trying to assemble a complete collection of his OKeh Electric recordings (not the acoustic red OKeh ones) within my lifetime, and I have 4 out of the approximately 20 he made. I own a few of his records on different labels, too.

One more thing I want to add is that even though these early jazz/dance band records can be a bit more expensive and sometimes hard to find, don't be discouraged. I'm an extremely young collector and I've already found many of the records that I thought I'd never find in my lifetime. You will definitely find records you REALLY want and think you could've never found, but it might take some time.

I'm glad you enjoy early jazz/dance band music too. In my opinion, it's the best stuff musically from this era, and it brings me such joy listening to it. Good luck collecting!

[Marc Hildebrant]

I have a number of Edison Diamond Disc Electric recordings that I have restored.

One favorite is "I Want to Be Bad".

A mp3 of the song is attached.

Play it back on a good system.

Marc

I Want To Be Bad.mp3

(7.57 MiB) Downloaded 164 times

[Rastus10]

Thanks for the suggestions, thus far. Greatly appreciated.

I don't have anything by the Florida Four or that Assassinators group (what a swell name for a band), and hope to remedy that, soon.

Two of my favorites are Joe Herlihy's "Bye-Bye, Pretty Baby;" and Ernie Golden's "S'Wonderful." Most of Winegar's Pennsylvania Boys' recordings are superb.

The Diamond Disc "boat" is one that I wish I'd caught many years ago; before the price of a copy of, let's say some "late" song such as "Tip Toe Through the Tulips," began to exceed $200. I find the Golden Gate/Californa Ramblers electrically recorded sides, in the main, to be far less interesting than their acoustic sides. Flat and dull vocals by Ed Kirkeby don't help one bit. He's certainly an "acquired taste" whatever his abilities as manager and assembler of talent to record.

If I'm not mistaken the generous running time of the acoustic discs became lesson common during the electrical era. (?)

[Marc Hildebrant]

With regard to the running time of the Electric Diamond Discs,

Many of the same songs recorded on the Later Diamond Discs were also recorded on the Edison Laterals. The Laterals did not have the same music time as did the Diamond Discs; hence the song was recorded to fit on both formats.

Marc

[Marc Hildebrant]

The Later Diamond Disc recordings were also on the Edison Lateral Records. Since the Lateral run-time was less than the Diamond Disc, the time of the song was made to fit on both.

Marc