Rhapsody in Blue (Jesse Crawford)

[beaumonde]

Here is something that I was recently urged to transfer, a rather uncommon black label Victor originally issued in 1930 (I don't have the recording date, as it "falls through the cracks" in the usual discographies -- Bolig is not yet up to the 22000 series), here presented on a quiet late '30s pressing...

Rhapsody in Blue (Parts 1 & 2) -- George Gershwin (arranged, transcribed, and played by Jesse Crawford) -- Victor 22343

Try it, you'll like it!

[syncopeter]

Not bad, definitely better than the version by Patricia Rossborough and H Robinson Cleaver on English Parlophone, but not really my cup of tea, I'm afraid.

[AZ*]

I thought this might be interesting, but not my cup of tea either. Sorry, Adam.

Maybe it's an acquired taste.

[beaumonde]

I actually enjoyed it quite a bit, much more in general than his other recordings. Although OrthSean has turned me onto his rendition of "Singin' in the Rain" (with Paul Small's vocal).

Probably a curiosity at best for most, I admit, but it sounds great on a good Orthophonic machine and fantastic my Radiola 47.

Has either of you heard a good theatre organist live, however? Perhaps that sound world is just not in your emotional psyche? You haven't experienced all of life's riches if you have not heard a live organ accompaniment to a good silent flick (especially a horror film). Everyone in 1930 had experienced many of these, so that's probably why he was so popular.

[barnettrp21122]

The few times I've chanced to see/hear a live theatre organist's performance have been a delightful experience. Several years ago I was at a hotel near Detroit where the American Theatre Organ Society was having it's annual convention. Several concerts in the Detroit area were scheduled, along with competitions, sales of recordings, and anything else you can imagine connected with the theatre organ.
Modern recordings on CDs can be very impressive.
It takes a special level of dedication and expense to keep these beasts playing properly with all the components of wood, cloth, rubber tubing, etc., that deteriorate naturally over time.
Here's one of my favorite recordings with Jesse Crawford and Nat Shilkret and the Victor Orchestra: George Gershwin's "Maybe"
http://www.box.net/files#/files/3/f/0/1/f_149209048

Bob

[Lenoirstreetguy]

I like the pipe organ and I like the theatre organ . That said, Jesse Crawford records are either boring beyond measure or really neat: there seems to be no in between. Like the girl with the curl,when he's good he's very very good when he's bad he's horrid. I even like some of his acoustics...which sound like a bass concertina ...but even so.Take for example Dreams Never Come True on 19572. I really like it! The flip side , Old Pal is unlistenable.
Speaking of the acoustics: were they done in the Church Studio? I've read a description in Herbert Ridout's memoirs of the acoustic pipe organ sessions by English Columbia where they built twelve foot platform in the nave above the pews so that the acoustic horns could be on the same level as the pipes. They felt it was just too much trouble to make extensive series of recordings.

Jim

[beaumonde]

Bob, for some reason that link is not working for me...

[Wolfe]

I like some of my Jesse Crawford discs, too. He brings a musicianly flair at times that elevates them out of what could sound very stodgy.

He moved into radio work in his later years, playing the organ accompaniment to radio dramas.

People must have liked him, too for the number of his records you still see around, and even that they were being repressed as late as they were, like the subject record of the thread.

[gregbogantz]

On a slightly off-topic note: The Edison DD recordings of Henrietta Kamern playing the Moller organ at the Lowe's Rio Theater (in NYC?) are some of the technically best early electric recordings of theater organ to be found. Only three DDs were cataloged of these recording sessions, #52373, 52376, and 52429, all recorded in late 1928. This was clearly a huge organ, and probably unbeknownst to them, Edison engineers managed to record bass in these sessions down to the 30Hz range. Playing these discs on modern full-range hifi equipment reveals the stunning bass performance of these recordings. Edison did find out that this bass performance caused him trouble because it incited acoustic feedback in his model C2 electronic radio/phono combination set. Several factory service notes were sent out to field technicians on how to fiddle with the C2 players to isolate the acoustic feedback to reduce customer complaints.

Interestingly, Edison engineers must have been aware of the problem of trying to record bass in their vertical DDs from earlier attempts. A letter from A.L. Walsh to T.A. Edison dated 29 June 1926 recommends the installation of what became known as the Midmer-Losh organ at the Columbia Street studios. Reproduced in Ron Dethlefson's book "Edison Disc Artists and Records" on page 11A, the letter states in part: "We can make these records so that they will not blast, when played with the Dance Reproducer, if we just eliminate the very heavy bass pipe which really does not add anything to the performance but only clutters it up." Playing those Midmer-Losh recordings today on a wide-range hifi system does reveal that they, indeed, have NO bass of any consequence.

[bart1927]

According to the Online Discographical Project this was recorded February 25, 1930.