Edison Dance Bands #5 CD176E
I used a little science to get around the rumble issue with these vertical cut Edison Diamond Disc records. I use a very special vintage tonearm made by Pickering - the 190D. The arm has no vertical travel aside from a very light assembly holding the cartridge. Because of enertia, when the record is played at a low speed, the small assembly can move up and down with the irregularities, reducing the rumble. However, the bass frequencies were reduced due to the extremely low mass of the cartridge assembly. The solution was adding some mass to the assembly, which, because of inertia, the added mass serves to stabilize the cartridge, and extract the lower frequencies. I started this project about 30 years ago, and had recorded about 20 of my Edison Doamond Disc records and passed them on to other collectors, so for those I had to rely on my original transfers. The rest are fresh transfers from records still in my collection. The resulting warmth and depth of sound is really amazing. I only wish I'd kept the records for my original selection to do the fresh transfers for them too. They still sound pretty good regardless.
This album features two very early Leedy vibraphone Lou Chiha "Friscoe" recordings from 1924. As a collector, I have only found British electrical recordings of this instrument, by Ray Starita dating from 1930. However, it would have been the later generation of vibes - with the damper pedal . They both depended on an electric motor driving the butterfly valve, creating the tremolo. First developed in 1921, it used steel bars and had no sustain pedal. J.C. Deagan, Inc.'s Chief Tuner, Henry Schluter, introduced aluminum bars and the pedal in 1927, creating the instrument as it is structured today. Louis Armstrong used it in "Song Of The Islands" in 1929. The title that inspired this re-visit to a project that started about 20 years ago with a shorter compilation was "There's A Bend At The End Of The Swanee" By Kaplan's Melodists. I didn't have that title and sourced the track from my collegue Ben Roth - he also incuded Follow The Swallow Back Home - thanks, Ben. The rest of the selections come from my personal collection. The Dave Harman Orchestra recorded 2 sides for Columbia in 1924, 8 titles for Edison in 1924 - 1925, followed by 5 titles for Bluebird in 1934. The personnel for Prince Of Wails and Nancy is: Martin Gregor-John Robertson-t/ Dave Harman-tb-ldr-v/ Joe Vanucci-ss-as/ Paul Knoff-cl-as/ Cy Christner-cl-ts/ Charles Young-vn-dir/ George Lewis-p/ James Barry-bj/ William Wyder-bb/ Ralph Livingood-d. The California Ramblers lineup is Frank Cush-Bill moore-t/ Lloyd "Ole" Olsen-tb/ Jimmy Dorsey-Arnold Brihart-cl-as/ Freddy Cusick-cl-ts/ Adrian Rollini-bsx/ Irving Broadsky-p/ Tommy Felline-bj/ Stan King-d-kazoo ~ Mickey Clark
Edison Dance Bands #5 CD176E
YOU ERNEST STEVENS DANCE ORCHESTRA ED 51290 12/21/23 9301 COOPER
OKLAHOMA INDIAN JAZZ TOP NOTCHERS ED 51297 01/03/24 9318 MURRIN-GUARI
HULA LOU NATHAN GLANTZ ED 51297 01/17/24 9335 MILTON CHARLES-WAYNE KING
HONEY BABE TOP NOTCHERS ED 51342 04/24/24 9479 LYMAN-JOHNSON-RAY LOPEZ
CIELITO LINDO TOP NOTCHERS ED 51342 04/24/24 9480 ASH-DOLIN-MILLS
PARADISE ALLEY HARRY RADERMAN'S DANCE ORCHESTRA ARTHUR HALL ED 51351 05/08/24 9502 ARCHER-CARLETON
BRINGIN' HOME THE BACON DAVE KAPLAN'S MELODISTS VERNON DALHART ED 51351 05/28/24 9536 BANNISTER-COLWELL-VAN-SCH
ALOHA OE LOU CHIHA 'FRISCOE' ED 51401 08/01/24 9634 LILIUOKALANI
GYPSY LOVE SONG LOU CHIHA 'FRISCOE' ED 51401 08/01/24 9690 HERBERT
FOLLOW THE SWALLOW BACK HOME ATLANTIC DANCE ORCHESTRA ED 51386 08/06/24 9663 BREAU-TOBIAS
THERE'S A BEND AT THE END OF THE SWANEE KAPLAN'S MELODISTS ED 51386 08/07/24 9668 HENDERSON-ROSE-DIXON
NASHVILLE NIGHTINGALE CHARLESTON SEVEN ED 51446 11/24/24 9866 CAESAR-GERSHWIN
TOODLES CHARLESTON SEVEN ED 51446 11/24/24 9867 GREEN
PRINCE OF WAILS DAVE HARMAN AND HIS ORCHESTRA ED 51458 12/10/24 9902 ELMER SCHOEBEL
NANCY DAVE HARMAN AND HIS ORCHESTRA ED 51458 12/10/24 9903 BLACK-MORET
KEEP SMILING AT TROUBLE CALIFORNIA RAMBLERS ED 51491 01/19/25 9947 JOLSON-DE SYLVA-GENSLER 274
O MABEL CALIFORNIA RAMBLERS ED 51491 01/19/25 9948 KAHN-FIORITO 34
WALTZ IN THE MOONLIGHT AND YOU NATHAN GLANTZ ORCHESTRA HELEN CLARK-CHARLES HART ED 51495 01/21/25 9937 PARISH-SOLMAN
-DEEP IN MY HEART,DEAR POLLA'S CLOVER GARDENS ORCHESTRA ED 51495 01/21/25 9953 DONNELLY-ROMBERG
