The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I recorded Edison BA 2979 by Ada Jones and Billy Murray a couple of days ago. It is a fun song and is all the more funny if you have ever taken or taught voice lessons. And the cat and dog sounds at the end are pretty great. I only wish I could see them performing it!

[youtubehd]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0ZbPFcIMeo[/youtubehd]

I have had both the Blue Amberol and the Victor versions of this number. One of my all time favorites. The flip side of the Victor is "He's the Makin's of a Darn'd Fine Man" by Ada Jones, also a very funny record.

Thanks, I enjoyed that very much. I've always considered myself as primarily a machine collector but I have a generous record collection. I need to spend more time enjoying gems like this.

Jerry Blais

I'm glad you guys enjoyed this record. I also have the Diamond Disc version but it is in pretty bad shape. Interestingly it is not the same version as on the BA cylinder. I do not have the Victor version, but from what I can tell all 3 versions were recorded in the same year. It must have been pretty popular to get recorded so many times that close together.

I just bought a copy of the Victor record on eBay. When I get it I will record it and put it here too (if it is a good enough copy to record).

melvind wrote:I'm glad you guys enjoyed this record. I also have the Diamond Disc version but it is in pretty bad shape. Interestingly it is not the same version as on the BA cylinder. I do not have the Victor version, but from what I can tell all 3 versions were recorded in the same year. It must have been pretty popular to get recorded so many times that close together.

I just bought a copy of the Victor record on eBay. When I get it I will record it and put it here too (if it is a good enough copy to record).

Edison typically required artists to make 3 good "takes" of each number, all of which were usually released. Once they started dubbing from Diamond Discs to cylinders, typically only one of the takes would be used for the dubbing. That means your cylinder version also probably exists on Diamond Disc. According to Sutton's book, the cylinder was dubbed from take "A". That means your Diamond Disc is probably take "B" or "C". You can tell by looking at the letter in the matrix number below the label.

As for this being a popular song, remember that artists rarely had exclusive contracts at this time, so if a record was at all popular, the same artist was free to record it for multiple companies.