Records/Artists You Absolutely Despise

[New Owner]

While there is a ton of good stuff on cylinders and 78s, there's a lotta chaff you gotta sort through. Bad music's been around forever, it's not just a problem with all music post 1936/49/63/79/82/89/95/2002, etc.

Personally, most songs recorded by Billy Murray are as boring as a baseball game played by cripples. They're so bland, boring, and awful. It's like if somebody put Al Jolson, T-Pain, Milli Vanilli, and any random chainsmoker, concentrated the worst elements of their voice, and put them in a vocal blender, and then recorded it on a primitive recording technology. Oh yeah, and most coon songs. They fit in the same category as Billy Murray.

[Roaring20s]

Pandora, what have you done!



It is wrong of me to encourage a rant, but
I'll toss Alma Gluck on the bonfire.



James.

[mjbramham]

I think there are some aspects of musical taste that carry and some that don't. I've certainly sent more than my share of 'comedy foxtrots' on to the next collector when they have fallen into my hands. Some types of humour just make no sense at all to modern ears and I feel judged by the performer when they put on their best show for me and I hardly break a smile!

I must confess I didn't know what a 'coon song' was until about 10 minutes ago. Collecting material largely from the 20s and early 30s I never see them. Wikipedia seems to think they were popular here in the UK for a brief period at the turn of the century but then no more. I think I'd refer back to the very first sentence of this post though. Some things just don't compute anymore. I'm happy to just leave those to history

[OrthoSean]

Personally, most songs recorded by Billy Murray are as boring as a baseball game played by cripples. They're so bland, boring, and awful. It's like if somebody put Al Jolson, T-Pain, Milli Vanilli, and any random chainsmoker, concentrated the worst elements of their voice, and put them in a vocal blender, and then recorded it on a primitive recording technology. Oh yeah, and most coon songs. They fit in the same category as Billy Murray.

Wow, those are fighting words!

Billy Murray was one of the most successful and prolific recording artists of the acoustic era and his records sold extremely well. He's also rather highly collected today because he was one that stood out (and still does). He had great diction, perfect for recording, easy to understand and great timing. I've been a fan of Murray's ever since I heard his recording of "Big Bad Bill" that was given to me at the age of 8 and 30 years later I still have and play my copy regularly. My Murray collection numbers in the several hundred now on both disc and cylinder format. I think you are the first person I've ever heard say you don't like Murray. About 8 or so years ago, I helped to put together a Murray CD for Living Era that I provided most of the transfers for from my collection, Archeophone later did a CD as well which is also excellent. There's even a Murray website and works on a new bio-discography is in the works by my friend Ryan Barna.

The website is here:

http://www.denvernightingale.com/index.html

I could say more about Coon songs, regardless of their content, these are incredibly fascinating historical documents if nothing else to many of us who collect records. I'll let others add to this if they wish, but I have to ask you just how much of any of this stuff you've listened carefully to before concluding what you have here, although again, I realize we're all entitled to our opinions and tastes....


Sean

[transformingArt]

Well, I can definitely say that I really, really hate Homer Rodeheaver - although I have a record of him singing in KOREAN!!!!

[mjbramham]

I could say more about Coon songs, regardless of their content, these are incredibly fascinating historical documents if nothing else to many of us who collect records. I'll let others add to this if they wish, but I have to ask you just how much of any of this stuff you've listened carefully to before concluding what you have here, although again, I realize we're all entitled to our opinions and tastes....


Sean

I can certainly recommend doing a bit of reading, it really is a fascinating subject, whatever your view on the political aspect. Partly because of the background of many of the performers. I was also interested to reflect on what was going on politically at the time this music was popular. There certainly was a devisive aspect to it in terms of legislation (in the US) and colonialism (in the UK), but it runs much deeper than that. I'm sure there must be academic material out there on the subject too.

[Henry]

Al Jolson, hands down. His bouncy, juiced up, frantic performance shtick is just too much for my taste. However, I realize that for others these are the very qualities that appeal. BTW, this has nothing to do with the political (in)correctness of the material; that's history, like it or not. I'll hang onto my Decca album 469 all the same, but I won't listen to it much.

[OrthoSean]

Henry, I was a bit pressed for time, but history is all I was getting at with regard to the whole "coon song" part here. Same goes for all those records that fall into the general ethnic stereotype genre, there are tons of those as well. I collect all of that stuff, it's fascinating history.

Sean

[bart1927]

As a matter of fact I quite like Billy Murray. Not all of his work of course, but songs like "Toot-toot-tootsie", "Charley My Boy", "Sonya", "Jimbo Jambo" and "Are You From Dixie" are among my favourites.

Al Jolson, on the other hand, I can't stand.

But it's all a matter of taste. I recently spoke to a collector who told me he didn't like Roger Wolfe Kahn and His Orchestra

[Wolfe]

A couple more sacred cows, one being Vernon Dalhart, who with a couple exceptions, I find boring to listen to. He sings everything the same.

Bert Williams. I like some of the Williams and Walker sides and a couple tunes that Williams recorded on his own, generally, though, a dull singer. And I never want to hear The Moon Shines On The Moonshine again, ever, ever.