The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

The Shannon Quartet. Recorded in 1926.

This has been a favorite of mine for awhile. I recently found copy to replace the one I had, which was badly warped and gave the piano annoying 'warp wow'. Only to find that this copy has some breakup on the vocals. Oh, well, maybe I'll run across another one.



PLAY

The Shannon Quartet had previously recorded "Sidewalks of New York" in April 1924 on Victor 19336. The rendition posted above, recorded just two years later in June 1926, makes this one of a number of songs that Victor rerecorded in the early days of the Orthophonic era. "Sidewalks of New York" certainly had longevity, as recordings of the song date back to the 90s.

It is relevant to note that "Maggie Murphy's Home" appeared on the flip side of both the acoustic and the electric renditions.



Rocky

'Sidewalks' did have some popularity back in the day, and no wonder, it's a swell song. I wasn't aware that The Shannon Quartet had recorded an earlier version, must be on the lookout for that.