Rachmaninoff: Coming soon to an Edison near you

[Lenoirstreetguy]

You folks know that I'm fascinated by the saga of Rachmaninoff's rather brief association with the Thomas A. Edison Inc. The tale of how Edison made perhaps it's greatest coup in signing Rachmaninoff only to lose him to Victor a year later is a cautionary tale of how not to deal with one's artists. Be that as it may, they did realize they were on to something . I recently bought this Diamond Disc of Armand Vecsey's Orchestra playing a transcription of the Rachmaninoff Serenade in B Flat Minor. It's lovely and very charming: I'm a big fan of Vecsey. But the write up on the jacket amused me . This record was issued in August of 1919 . The first Rachmaninoff Diamond Discs would appear that fall, and the teaser in Ray Cumming's liner note ( "If you are a real Edison enthusiast,take a tip from me.... You will hear something interesting about him very soon . " ) delighted me and indicates they indeed knew what they had in Rachmaninoff. Too bad they hadn't been a bit more astute in artist management.

Jim

[edisonphonoworks]

One thing about Edison recordings, a Piano sounds like a piano, other labels sounds like a banging out of tune street piano. It is ironic that an upright sounds so good.

[Valecnik]

I keep some Edison records that I really don't need, don't like just because I've got them in their original jackets and have this commentary on the record. Pity we've gone from that to downloading an MP3 onto your IPud, nothing at all you can read, no artwork...

[Lenoirstreetguy]

I've always wondered who Ray Cummings was, as he is the only liner note writer to get a by line, and through the wonders of Wiki I have found out. He was a science fiction and technical writer! He worked for Edison from 1914 to 1919 which is when this record appeared, by the way. For years I wondered if he was a music critic of some sort because his write-ups are always knowledgeable with a sense of style.
When will Wiki do " R.T.B." Roy Burke who was the other one at Edison who got a by line?( that is to say his initials)
At any rate Cummings had a career which spanned Diamond Disc liner notes to pulp fiction. Quite surprising indeed!
Jim

[Valecnik]

Wow I read the Wikipedia article. He was quite a prolific writer. So there definitely was life after Edison.

I tend to picture these guys as frozen in time, somewhere in the 19teens to 1920s while in fact many of them lived on and were active into the 1960s and beyond.

[Lenoirstreetguy]

I know exactly what you mean: there are so many that one thinks vanished with the demise of the diamond disc when in fact they had effective careers into the sixties: like Albert Spalding who even made one long playing record that wasn't an Edison. I even met Edna White..the Edison trumpet virtuoso. She was ancient but she had a memory that was prodigious. It gave me an odd sensation to be talking about Cesare Sodero with someone who worked with him professionally.
JRT

[VintageTechnologies]

Speaking of Rachmaninoff on Edison records, I bought two related DD records that I think others in this forum might be interested to know about.

The first is "Prelude in C-Sharp Minor", played on the Midmer-Losh pipe organ by Frederick Kinsley. It is a rich powerful recording that gives me the shivers when I hear it. One of my favorites by Kinsley.

The second is "Sonja" Foxtrot (51093), played by the Broadway Dance Orchestra. Halfway through, you hear a very jazzed up version of "Prelude in C-Sharp Minor" , followed by a brief hint of "Song of India". I just love the exotic foxtrots.