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An early announced Victor issued on a commemorative red vinyl pressing which, alas, is a dub rather than pressed from original metal. Even though there wasn't matrix information in the land/runout area, I was hoping for a direct pressing.

It's a rather good dubbing for it's time though. The label is incorrect in stating that this is the oldest 'master' record. According to the Victor database, this is likely one of two takes recorded in 1902.

The other side is an odd choice of Sousa's Semper Fidelis conducted by Serge Koussevitzky in 1946.
I can see the Sousa connection, but why not an actual recording by Sousa's band or something?

PLAY

I enjoyed the tune and the announced title at the beginning. I have several announced cylinder records but have encountered very few announced discs. The commemorative disc was quite interesting and thank you for sharing it.

Fun stuff and not a bad dub, indeed! This was also issued on a white label vinyl DJ pressing as the "B" side to the Ames Brothers' "The Man With The Banjo".

Sean

AH!

The Double Sextette from "Floradora"

"Tell Me, Pretty Maiden (Are There Any More at Home Like You?)"

The great Broadway sensation of 1901/02!

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I wonder why I cannot embed this YouTube image?

Wolfe wrote:
An early announced Victor issued on a commemorative red vinyl pressing which, alas, is a dub rather than pressed from original metal.

Fantastic stuff, thanks for posting this, and good sound from 1902, too! Although, I think this is a 'remastered' master copied from original with pantographic device, rather than a physical 'dubbing'. It would be better if I could hear the start of the recording little bit longer, so I could tell it whether this is a dubbing or not.

I say it's a dub, because the surface noise of the original record fades out at the end. I followed the fade on my dub/transfer.

D6CC.6167 is the matrix number of this special record. D6 would indicate this was produced in 1946. I'm confident it also sports a lead-in spiral and a lead-out spiral ending in an eccentric groove, none of which would be found on a pressing made directly from a 1901 metal part.

Per EDVR: The 21 January 1901 10" Victor record was 3046, take 1. It is from the pre-matrix era, when the catalogue number and matrix number were one and the same.

A 7" version, A-624, was also recorded 21 January 1901 (take 1), and remade as Victor 624 (take 2) on 11 April 1902. It's hard to know whether the 1901 10" recording was dubbed or the 7" given the brevity of it; I'd guess it was the 7". (I don't have a copy of any originals to compare with.)

!

Viva-Tonal wrote:D6CC.6167 is the matrix number of this special record. D6 would indicate this was produced in 1946.

That would explain the choice of flip side. Being a romp 'em stomp 'em 'hi-fi' type of recording for the time, it's kind of like, look how far we've come.

1926CredenzaOwner wrote: I don't know, VT. Since it clocks in at 2min, 10sec... I'd say that's from a 10".

That was my thinking, too.

1926CredenzaOwner wrote:I also find it funny (in a sad way) that they would celebrate one of their first recordings in 1946, and then in the early 60's would demolish and push most of their supposedly "celebrated" masters into the Delaware River.

Yes, I wish I could find the whole back story on that. I've heard a few different versions of it, but never seen an accurate account in print.

Makes me wonder about claim of 'master' on the record label. Unless this was dubbed from a metal master, even possible? Did they do that at that in those days? The claim of oldest master recording seems dubious.

Wolfe wrote:

1926CredenzaOwner wrote:I also find it funny (in a sad way) that they would celebrate one of their first recordings in 1946, and then in the early 60's would demolish and push most of their supposedly "celebrated" masters into the Delaware River.

Yes, I wish I could find the whole back story on that. I've heard a few different versions of it, but never seen an accurate account in print.

Makes me wonder about claim of 'master' on the record label. Unless this was dubbed from a metal master, even possible? Did they do that at that in those days? The claim of oldest master recording seems dubious.

It's a pre-matrix Victor; there never was a metal positive that could be played to make a dub. The wax original was electroplated to produce the stamper itself. Hence, this was dubbed from as clean a pressing as they could find (and there's a few blasts from the odd strained groove to be heard here and there).