The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I recently heard a recording of the great contralto Dame Clara Butt (1872-1936) for the first time, and instantly was mesmerized by her stunning and unusual voice. She sounds nothing like most of the other popular contraltos of the era (Schumann-Heink, Braslau, etc.) and I would LOVE to have any of the following 78s by her to play on my Victrola. However, I live in the US and any records by her are so hard to come by this side of the pond. Perhaps some of the friendly UK collectors here can assist in selling me some of these recorded gems?

I will gladly pay for any of her following records:

a. "Kashmiri Song"/"Where Corals Lie" (Columbia 7320, 1920)

b. "The Leaves & The Wind" (Columbia A2195, 1925)

c.) "Annie Laurie" (Columbia WA6551, 1927)

d.) "Barbara Allen" (Gramophone Company Ltd 4089f, 1922)

*As far as I can tell, records b-d either were single-sided releases, or were released with different couplings as records got re-pressed over the years.

Thank you!

If you can't find anything from a fellow collector, then there's a dealer in England who should be able to help - he's Mike Comber, who is an enthusiast for early British singers on record. [email protected].

This biography of Dame Clara, ISBN 978-1-906469-38-2, includes a discography of her released and unreleased recordings.
Unfortunately it does not include catalogue or matrix numbers, only titles and recording dates. The book itself is a good read.

PM sent.