The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Yesterday at this flea market in my town a dealer had an Amberola 30.He also had a box of Blue Amberols at $1 each.I bought 20 of them,and the dealer let me have 5 free.The best ones were "Yah-De-Dah"by Frisco Jass Band,Be-Hap-Pe"by Louisiana Five,and "Crazy Blues"by Noble Sissle.Also,"Moonlight Bay"by Premier Quartet.That bargain made my day!! edisonplayer

Wow, I wish we had flea markets like that in my area. Here I can be lucky to find a few overprices vinyl 78s, if anything at all. Congratulations to a nice find.

Andreas

edisonplayer wrote: "Crazy Blues"by Noble Sissle.

A rarely found Edison Blue Amberol and always in demand by collectors who know what it is. This selection occasionally surfaces on etched label Edison Diamond Disc and paper label Edison DD (#50754) but rarely on cylinder. This early 1921 recording demonstrates the fine (and underrated) tenor voice of Noble Sissle (1889-1975). I have two BA cylinder copies of this myself in the collection and have always appreciated Sissle's talent.

As a side note, the lyrics in this selection contain an unusual, inexplicable and disturbing reference toward law enforcement which I could never understand! It doesn't fit the remainder of the lyrics. Listen to it sometime on YouTube and hear for yourself. I feature the selection on my own Youtube channel. It's near the conclusion of the recording.

Doug

Noble Sissle also waxed some great songs on Pathé. I wish I could find a copy of Crazy Blues on Edison.

FellowCollector wrote:As a side note, the lyrics in this selection contain an unusual, inexplicable and disturbing reference toward law enforcement which I could never understand! It doesn't fit the remainder of the lyrics. Listen to it sometime on YouTube and hear for yourself. I feature the selection on my own Youtube channel. It's near the conclusion of the recording.

Here is the Edison cylinder playing (taken from my YouTube channel): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-bv_lT2OQY for those who care to listen.

Doug

FellowCollector wrote:

edisonplayer wrote: "Crazy Blues"by Noble Sissle.

As a side note, the lyrics in this selection contain an unusual, inexplicable and disturbing reference toward law enforcement which I could never understand! It doesn't fit the remainder of the lyrics. Listen to it sometime on YouTube and hear for yourself. I feature the selection on my own Youtube channel. It's near the conclusion of the recording.

Doug

Doug,

Having lost his love, he thinks he wants to die, thus the references to putting his head on the railroad track, shooting a cop, and needing help from an undertaker. Shooting the cop is just a means to an end.

Fabulous record nonetheless. I will definitely add this one to my want list. Thanks for sharing!

Kevin

Here's a good one for you guys. I have a buddy in CA who owns a pawn shop. He buys Estates and things like that. If you remember the US Opera and the Victor one with the flowered horn and all those pink lamberts, they all came from him. He called me one day and asked me if cylinder # 5718 was worth anything. He had just got it in a bunch of cylinders for $5.00 each. I had already advised him about the 5000 series cylinders and he said he remembered that I had said something about them. He had already sold it before I could get to it but at least he got 800.00 for it.

I was telling a friend of mine about the lyrics in "Crazy Blues"about taking hop (drugs) and shooting a cop.Today that's commonplace,but in 1921 it was unheard of to talk about that in a song.Old man Edison probably wouldn't have approved the record.The song was edgy for that time,if you think about it!edisonplayer

Today we call it suicide by cop.

edisonplayer wrote:Yesterday at this flea market in my town a dealer had an Amberola 30.He also had a box of Blue Amberols at $1 each.I bought 20 of them,and the dealer let me have 5 free.The best ones were "Yah-De-Dah"by Frisco Jass Band,Be-Hap-Pe"by Louisiana Five,and "Crazy Blues"by Noble Sissle.Also,"Moonlight Bay"by Premier Quartet.That bargain made my day!! edisonplayer

I'm late to the party. You did great! Jazz and Blues, what more can you ask for? I treasure my copy of Crazy Blues.
Here's an interesting read on the that songs place in recorded music history and wide spanned social context.
https://books.google.com/books?id=P-w3z ... &q&f=false

James.

PS: The following song has a similar feel of Crazy Blues. Even though it is a weaker Vaudeville song.
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/searc ... rtOrder=ia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/[n****r]_Blues
Crazy Blues creates a human subject that could, under extreme duress, reach outside his boundaries.
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/searc ... rtOrder=ia