''The holy city', sung by J W Myers, Columbia record!'

[Viva-Tonal]

So is announced this very early 10" Columbia disc. It is one of my Columbia discs that sport a Zonophone notch on the back side. Apparently this was one of the biggest sellers of the earliest records.

Stamped in the dead wax area, and visibly handwritten in the wax near the spindle hole, is '149-3'. I don't know whether this meant at the time the third attempt at a 149 without regard to size, or if this was the third 10" take. (Standard practice at the time was the simultaneous availability of a selection on both 7" and 10" records, with the same catalogue number; there are also 7" copies of this record in existence, with the same labels as this record.)

From what I can gather, this was recorded in late 1901. The pressing, based on this label style, dates between mid-1903 and 1904.

Transferred at 72.73 rpm.



Click on the label!

[EdisonSquirrel]

J. W. Myers' Columbia records are always a pleasure to hear! And so too are the Columbia announcements.

"The Holy City" was widely recorded in the '90s. Billy Murray fans know that Murray recorded this song in San Francisco in 1897 for the Bacigalupi Brothers. I would guess that a copy of this cylinder would bring in as much money as a 5700 Blue Amberol. As far as I know, a copy has never been found.



Rocky

[Viva-Tonal]

Thanks! Glad you liked this!

Is there is any information on the use of announcements on early discs? I realise the practice began with wax cylinders, as they otherwise had no real method of identifying the selections on the cylinders themselves.

I wonder if any Berliner discs had announcements? I have heard some early Victors with them, and I wonder if, say, the first Climax (pre-Columbia) discs were announced ('Climax record'?) or the 'Improved' (pre-Victor Eldridge Johnson products) were announced as 'Improved Record' or something else?

[EdisonSquirrel]

I love spoken announcements. However, my knowledge of them is rather sketchy. Victor dropped the announcements in 1903; you might note that Victor announcements did not include the company name. Edison cylinders were announced until early 1909. The first 50 wax Amberols in 1908 had announcements. I don't know when Columbia dropped the announcements--this is something I've often wondered--but they were in existence longer than Victor's.

It is interesting to note that recording artists often announced their own records until about 1904. To my knowledge, Cal Stewart was the only recording artist to continue to announce his records throughout the era of spoken announcements.

I have found that Edison records had one very popular announcement style from about 1902 or 1903 until maybe May 1906, i.e., the dramatic EdisAHN record, as opposed to the unobtrusive pronunciation of "Edison" that became the norm in the announcements several months later.

The Tinfoil.com site provides additional details on Columbia and Edison announcements.

http://www.tinfoil.com/trc-do.htm



Rocky

[EdisonSquirrel]

I distinctly remember Jim Walsh stating in Hobbies Magazine that the 2-minute cylinder of "Rainbow" by Ada Jones and Billy Murray is famous for being included in the last monthly release of Edison cylinders to have announcements. Jim Walsh gave February 1909 as the month of release. I just looked it up and the actual release date is January 1909.



Rocky

[Wolfe]

There's a pioneer recording artist for you, Myers' career on records stretches back to the early 1890's.

The announcer on this record sounds like the same guy that announces many of the famous Columbia 1903 Grand Opera records.

IIRC, it does sound to me like it's playing a shade too slow, the piano sounds kind of flat.

Interesting performance that I've never heard. My favorite is still Harry MacDonough on a 2 part/side Victor disc from early on.

[Viva-Tonal]

I just had a quick listen to the record, tuning it by ear, with a 'fresh ear', as it were, and sure enough, I had it a little faster....72.73 rpm this time. I'll re-do this one, and post a notice here when it's replaced.

Cheers!

Edit: And so it is.