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[quote="DougMac"]The "Uncle Josh" records, especially with him laughing at his own jokes, get tedious. Despise might be too strong, I just don't care for them.

I dislike these too. We ended up with a few when we bought one of my machines and I thought it would be so cool to listen to the comedy of the day but it was just kinda painful.

Billy Williams, known as "The man in the velvet suit" and known to me as "The man with the irritating laugh".

Although he is believed to have recorded 153 different songs on cylinder and disc in many versions and for many labels, not to mention all the pirate copies, they all sound much the same to me.

I have quite a long list of these and to quote them all would alienate a large number of my friends but, like Epigramophone, Billy Williams would be towards the top of my list. Rather than "The Man in the Velvet Suit" he should be the "Man in the Wooden Overcoat". Harry Lauder, Cal Stewart and Gracie Fields wouldn't be too far behind either. However, one person's dislikes are another persons favourites so for the sake of harmony amongst the collecting fraternity, we should, perhaps, keep these lists discreet.

Regards

Tim W-W

epigramophone wrote:Billy Williams, known as "The man in the velvet suit" and known to me as "The man with the irritating laugh".

When I got one of my HMV machines, it came with a ton of Billy Williams discs and I hadn't heard many before that other than "When Father Papered The Parlour" which was issued on US Columbia here. I can see (hear) your point about the irritating laugh, but I admit, "Parlour" is a disc I really enjoy, it's very well recorded for an acoustic and great for demonstarting how good an acoustic can sound. Uncle Josh, Harry Lauder and Billy Williams would all fall into my "they're good, but in small doses" category.

Sean

I like Billy Williams in spite of his over-done laugh. Fred Godfrey composed most of his material, which accounts for so much of it sounding similar. Nevertheless, I own every Blue Amberol that he recorded! "When Father Papered The Parlour" (not on BA ) is my favorite, followed by "She Does Like A Little Bit Of Scotch". It is a cute tune:

http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/ ... l7881d.mp3

m0xiemama wrote:

DougMac wrote:The "Uncle Josh" records, especially with him laughing at his own jokes, get tedious. Despise might be too strong, I just don't care for them.

I dislike these too. We ended up with a few when we bought one of my machines and I thought it would be so cool to listen to the comedy of the day but it was just kinda painful.

Careful he grows on you. When I was a kid I thought the records were just dumb... Now I pick up every one I see. I've always said about the Stewart stuff that the material is often very clever, but his delivery is sometimes leaden and he steps on his best lines. And I will admit that some of he skits really don't soar very high: Meeting of the School House Directors on two minute wax comes to mind. If he wouldn't laugh quite so much the records would be funnier to our ears. But the material has some rather good moments and of the early recordings the Edison Amberols have the best delivery. Uncle Josh buys an Automobile is far funnier on Edison than on the Victor version. He's also better when he's playing off someone else. The Village Gossips on Victor with Byron G Harlan is an example. And Uncle Josh's Rheumatism,Revival Meeting at Punkin Center and Uncle Josh and the Honey Bees can make me laugh, which I suppose may say as much about my sense of humour as it does about Cal Stewart's recordings. " You can take the boy out of the country but....etc. etc."

JRT

VintageTechnologies wrote:I like Billy Williams in spite of his over-done laugh. Fred Godfrey composed most of his material, which accounts for so much of it sounding similar. Nevertheless, I own every Blue Amberol that he recorded! "When Father Papered The Parlour" (not on BA ) is my favorite, followed by "She Does Like A Little Bit Of Scotch". It is a cute tune:

http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/ ... l7881d.mp3

He's too much like Harry Lauder for my taste. I like Lauder, in small doses.

Anything by Bing Crosby after 1933. In my opinion his recordings get worse with each decade he recorded in - weird in a way as he was one of the most popular vocalists of the mid 20th Century.

Did I already say Al Jolson?

Wolfe wrote:Jack Smith 'The Whispering Baritone.'

I know why you whisper, or recite, the lyrics in that annoying sotto voice. Because you can't actually sing!

Actually, I think it's because his vocal chords were damaged by mustard gas in WWI. I like his method of delivering a song.