Anyone remember John Charles Thomas?

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52089
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Re: Anyone remember John Charles Thomas?

Post by 52089 »

drh wrote:
marcapra wrote:
Thomas was the voice on early Explanatory Edison records.
Wow! I never would have thought that Thomas had anything to do with Edison DD's. Can you tell me what DD you found the Thomas spoken word explanation? Do you just think it was Thomas's voice or is it documented? ...
At least these two:

82076, Bellini: La Sonnambula, Act III -- Ah! non credea mirarti, sung by Anna Case

82098, Massenet: Le Cid, Act III -- Pleurez! Pleurez, Mes Yeux! sung by Julia Heinrich
According to the Excel file on truesoundtransfers.de, he also appears on 80180, 82099, and 82541.

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Wolfe
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Re: Anyone remember John Charles Thomas?

Post by Wolfe »

epigramophone wrote:
Wolfe wrote:I don't remember him, he died in 1960, but I do have a number of his red seal discs. The records are very common.
I wish his records were common in the UK, but not many seem to have been issued by HMV. The few that appear on UK eBay are mostly Victors or Australian HMV's.

At least Nimbus Records issued two CD compilations on their Prima Voce serles, which I highly recommend.
Like I wish I could find more Peter Dawson records in the U.S.A. The very occasional HMV has turned up for me in the wild.

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drh
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Re: Anyone remember John Charles Thomas?

Post by drh »

marcapra wrote:Thanks drh! Did you get this info from an Edison discography, and if so, which one? Marc.
You're most welcome, although by now others have gone beyond what I knew. I got the information by owning those two diamond discs and hearing his voice, although I think I confirmed it somewhere once upon a time. Incidentally, while his style is very different from that of Harry Humphries, the spoken material itself is no more lively. (That said, occasionally interesting tidbits about the artists, who often are not well documented otherwise, will emerge from these things.)

Without having documented participation by J.C. Thomas, I also have two mentioned in another posting:

82099 Gilbert: Bonnie Sweet Bessie, sung by Anna Case

and

82541, Verdi: Il Trovatore, Act IV -- Ai Nostri Monti, sung by Julia Heinrich and Aldo Ciccolini

I haven't listened to either one in ages; I'll need to drag them out and give 'em a whirl.

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marcapra
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Re: Anyone remember John Charles Thomas?

Post by marcapra »

I checked through all of my reference books to try to find J. C. Thomas listed as the voice on the Explanatory Talks, but to no avail. My Raymond Wile, Ron Dethlefson book Edison disc artists and records, c. 1985, has a list of Explanatory Talks, but only the ones with Harry Humphrey. The January 1923 Edison Record Catalog has a list of Explanatory Talks serial numbers, buy only mentions the titles and artists. The date of J. C. Thomas making of his Talks for the two records you mentioned above was 1916. Odd that he never sang for Edison.

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Re: Anyone remember John Charles Thomas?

Post by larryh »

From what I recall of the information on him he was most likely a very young man and hadn't yet become the singer he was later. I will dig around on the net when I get a chance and see if I can find it. Trouble with those google listings is that many of them you can't copy.

Larry

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Re: Anyone remember John Charles Thomas?

Post by marcapra »

you are right that he would have been young in 1916, just 25 in fact. Thomas's dates are 1891-1960. Later, he did lots of work in radio.
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Wolfe
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Re: Anyone remember John Charles Thomas?

Post by Wolfe »

^ He was recording for Aeolion-Vocalion early on.

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Re: Anyone remember John Charles Thomas?

Post by larryh »

I found the information I had read some time back. I think it starts and the bottom of the opening page and then onto the next. It says he was paid 15.00 for adding commentary on the backs of some classical records. Hope this link will open:

https://books.google.com/books?id=Pi4Hy ... on&f=false

Larry

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Re: Anyone remember John Charles Thomas?

Post by marcapra »

Larry, thanks for that link to Thomas' biography. I never knew there was that much detailed info and pictures of him! Truly a forgotten Broadway star of the teens and 20s.

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Governor Flyball
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Re: Anyone remember John Charles Thomas?

Post by Governor Flyball »

I have listened to the explanatory talks on the Anna Case La Sonnambula discs I have. The presumed John Charles Thomas recording would be from about 1913-14 when he was 23 years old. Possible. But the gentleman talking has a prominent lisp which I do not hear on Thomas's later recordings. Has anyone else listened to the Explanatory Talk voice?

As an aside, both ET recordings are interesting to compare because they use precisely the same script!

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