Music, cats (but no musical cats)

Sometime today I'll be starting an extra blog for all of my political rants. I hadn't meant for such posts to take over from the music, but neither did I anticipate there'd be so much to blog about in that regard. Things have gotten so bad so fast in my country, a lot of folks are in shock. I've written about the hundreds of thousands of votes stolen in my state of Ohio, and now such efforts are popping up all over the country. The Republicans have a two-part plan in regard to voting: 1) Keep voters away from the polls, and 2) If that doesn't work, play games at the polls. Those games include forcing people to stand in long lines, forcing eligible voters to use provisional ballots, and the like. The New York Times and the Cleveland Plain Dealer have come right out and condemned the practice. In time, our big-town newspaper might grow some backbone and take a stand. Wouldn't surprise me.

In short, the level of corruption is unprecedented, and it represents the death of democracy. Literally. Not that the American public can be bothered to show any concern. Oh, well--our rights are being taken away. Gee, I wonder what's on American Idol?

Anyway, no more political rants here. They'll happen at my new, as yet unnamed, blog. And my apologies for getting so far off the musical track.

Try to understand--those of us who care about our country are still trying to get the number of the truck that mowed us down. We're hoping this has all been some sort of elaborate and cruel practical joke. Something designed to test our citizens' devotion to democracy. We've flunked, big-time.


Lee

Extraordinarily Bright Leaders--Episode One

Announcer: Hello, and welcome to Extraordinarily Bright Leaders. Today's episode: "Dick Cheney--On the Ball, As Ever." (Theme music, fade)

(From teleconference transcript released by the White House):

QUESTION: Yes. Mr. Vice President, thank you for joining us today. With Lieberman in Connecticut losing, Joe Schwarz in Michigan, Cynthia McKinney in Georgia, is there an anti-incumbent wave this year? If so, which party does it benefit?

CHENEY: Well, I guess, I’d be hard put to think of what the wave is, or what parallel you can find between Joe Lieberman, Joe Schwarz and Cynthia McKinney.

QUESTION: Well, they’re all incumbents and they all lost.


Announcer: Be sure to join us for the next installment of Extraordinarily Bright Leaders. (Theme music, fade)



Lee

Middle-East tribute by Art Hickman and Prince's Dance Orchestra

On the Streets of Cairo, Mohammed, and Afghanistan--timely titles from 1919 and 1920. Plus a catchy almost-Twenties tune called My Baby's Arms. Let's travel back to the days when recording artists performed in front of huge horns. When a really bad mistake meant doing the take over again. When using the same needle for two or three playbacks meant major groove damage.

Getting nostalgic? (No??)

On the Streets of Cairo (Hulten, I think it says), Art Hickman's Orchestra, 1919. From Columbia 78.

Mohammed (Earl), Prince's Dance Orchestra, 1920. From Columbia 78.

Afghanistan (Donnelly), Prince's Dance Orchestra, 1920. From Columbia 78.

My Baby's Arms, Art Hickman's Orchestra (McCarthy-Tierney), 1919. From Columbia 78.

On the Streets... is one of my favorite dance band sides ever, and I'm getting pretty fond of Afghanistan. And I notice I have a number of Prince's Orchestra/Dance Orchestra sides in storage--an underrated recording outfit, if you ask me.

And you've gotta love the slide whistle on the last track--and before Paul Whiteman rode to fame on the same gimmick in 1920!


Lee

"Two Rubes and the Tramp Fiddler" (1905)

Its sound quality is nothing to write home about (I'm guessing multiple gramophone plays and/or a worn needle), but this 1905 Victor 10" 78 is quite an historical document. First, however, here's the common mis-take on country history, courtesy of allmusic.com (though it could be from anyplace). As ever, Eck Robertson is credited with making the first country records, beginning in 1922:

"Eck Robertson can only be called the source of a hidden history of country music. Probably the first fiddler to record on record (and also probably the first country record commercially available), Robertson seems to be the pinnacle and the origin of the Fiddle Contest tradition, and at the very least, his records and contest appearances in Texas were an inspiration for a generation of fiddlers."

I don't know what "the source of a hidden history of country music" means, but, like most 78 collectors, I do know that country fiddle recordings predate Robertson's. By a number of years, in fact. Just a few weeks ago, I featured 1916 country fiddle recordings by Don Richardson, for instance. Folks have known about Don for decades. And about Charles D'Almaine's amazing fiddle work on Len Spencer's 1902 Arkansas Traveler. Traveler, a huge hit in its day, isn't part of any hidden history. Google it and see.

So, when I say "folks," obviously I'm not talking about the majority of music journalists. Because most music journalists could care less about what's known or not known--they just copy off of each other. I hate to be so mean about it, but that's my conclusion after all these years. Please note I'm not insulting all music journalists--just most. I know an R&B writer, for instance, who is scholarly as can be. I wish he were the norm.

Yes, sir--making friends is my goal here at MY(P)WHAE.

Anyway, here's Two Rubes and the Tramp Fiddler by Frank Stanley and Byron Harlan and an excellent but uncredited fiddler. This "rube specialty" is a typical "specialty"--i.e., awful. My favorites: "Back pension," "...to save my life." I can't make out the closing line. If anyone can, please share your transcription.

The abrupt ending is in the record--I didn't fade early:

Two Rubes and the Tramp Fiddler, Stanley and Harlan, 1905. From Victor 78.

With my EQ, I focused on reducing distortion and making the words audible. Accomplishing those goals took longer than you might think....

Lee

U.S. on red--er, orange--alert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Orange you glad it's not red alert?)

Count Dracula--I mean, Michael Chertoff--is concerned!! Which means that people must be panicking in the streets. I have no way of telling, because I'm out in the country.

In the country, people panic in the roads, vice streets.

God, this is exciting.

Any time now, our "news" media will be featuring polls showing increased support for Bush (from 30 percent to 35 percent, or something) on account of this latest bit.

If I sound the least bit skeptical or sarcastic, I don't know why.

Meanwhile, FMU has a photo gallery of deformed, etc. animals ("More Mutants"). I guess some people get off on such things. Maybe it's a statement about their morality. The state thereof.

Lee

Naughty behavior--its causes and implications in the age of multi-tasking

My sister scanned some more Baby Lee shots and sent them to me. Boy, was I was adorable. Check this out if you don't believe me:













Oops. Wrong baby.

Yup, poor ol' Joe isn't too happy about losing. In fact, he's so unhappy about it, he can't admit to himself or anyone else that he, in fact, didn't win. No--in Joe's mind, he came out ahead somehow. His defeat--I mean, victory--is a sure sign that people love him. And a sure sign that his party needs his help. So, he plans to work against his party. In order to help it. Where's the Twilight Zone theme when you need a sound byte?

Arianna Huffington writes about "Joe Lieberman's selfish, self-serving, spoiled-rotten attempt to undercut Ned Lamont's historic victory -- and, ultimately, Democrats' chances of retaking control of Congress in November." I can't improve on that, so I won't try.

Poor Joe. Somebody call the looney hatch.

In cat news, tuxedo lady Rosie is being naughty. As in, record-settingly bad. Rosemary won't tolerate Daddy (me) showing affection to other cats. Of the female variety, that is. Such as our glamour-girl Manx, Reddy. Who is red. Tonight, Rosie corned Redd, hissed and spit, and then chased the poor girl up the stairs. Seconds later, down runs our semi-feral bobtail, Kitty, Rosie in angry pursuit. Two innocent girl cats, both suffering the wrath of Rosie. So senseless.

An hour or so later, Rosie captured a Luna moth and brought it in the house. To kill it. Look for Rosie's mug shot on the cover of Naughty Cats Monthly (the Central Ohio edition).

Rosie, Rosie, Rosie.

Rosie, Rosie, Rosie. Bad.

I just realized that Joe Lieberman talks like Dick Cavett, only more slowly. I share this only because I've been trying forever to "place" his voice. Now I have. Hooray for me.

Wow--I just read that Cavett suffers from bipolar disorder. And he's talked about it publicly, apparently in an effort to help educate people about depression. That's fabulous. Count me a Dick Cavett fan.

More 78s coming up, including some 1905 country.


Lee

"Hello? Oh, you don't say!"

"...You don't say! You don't say!"

(Who was it?)

"He didn't say!"

Your blogger, age four or so. Look at all that hair. Did I know I had the receiver upside down?:























Lee

"Tea for Two," "More Candy," plus two more.

More 78s--yee-ha! These were relatively easy to restore, since only the last title (More Candy) had a significant number of pops to splice out. Not that it was a piece of candy--er, cup of tea. The second and third sides contain some seriously worn spots, and I didn't think I'd be able to quiet them down very much. To my surprise, I was able to kill most of the noise without any cost to the sound quality. Far out.

This first song is considered a piece of fluff by many, and a masterpiece by some. I fit into the "some" category. In fact, I think it's the best popular song ever composed. So there. And this may be the best 1920s dance performance of them all--what a combination. You know me--I'm not loose with my praise, so there you have it. I mean, here you have it. The Benson Orchestra of Chicago, 1924, under the direction of Don Bestor, performing Irving Caesar and Vincent Youman's timeless Tea for Two:

Tea for Two (Caesar-Youmans)--The Benson Orch. of Chicago, directed by Don Bestor, 1924. From Victor label.

And here are two first-rate 1922 sides by Clyde Doerr and His Orchestra. Doerr was a member of Art Hickman's orchestra, from which he split in 1921. These both sound an awful lot like Hickman's band--or, even more than that, a cross between Hickman and Paul Whiteman. (My cat, Rosie, says she could care less. Thanks, Rosie.)

Ferde Grofe and Peter De Rose, again, with a wonderful "Oriental" number, Suez. The best of its type, Leethinks. And dig the slide whistle:

Suez (Grofe-De Rose)--Clyde Doerr and His Orchestra, 1922. From Victor label.

Here's the fabulous flip:

I Wish I Knew (You Really Loved Me)--Clyde Doerr and His Orchestra, 1922. From Victor label. (Wow! Four tries to get the thing linked at Box.net!)

This next side is making its second appearance--I think I really nailed the EQ this time. The challenges consisted of: lots of percussion (which didn't record well before the days of mikes), lots of surface noise, and not much instrumental balance. It honestly sounds as if the musicians were scattered about the studio. Weird, because we picture the reverse, don't we? I.e., players jammed in front of the recording horn. Maybe Earl Fuller's musicians were hornphobic.

Anyway, before I got myself a 31-band equalizer, I was powerless to do much about the muddy lower freq.'s on Columbia acoustical sides, but now I can save the good stuff and get rid of the sonic garbage. Trial and error followed by trail and error. Followed by a period of letting my ears rest so that they can listen back to the file critically. There's literally such a thing as ear fatigue, you know....

I consider this jazz, by the way. Feel free to disagree, but remember that early jazz was much heavier on ad-libbing than the sort of formal improvising we've been trained to associate with "true" jazz:

More Candy (Kaufman)--Earl Fuller's Rector Novelty Orchestra, 1917. From Columbia 78.

Listening back to the earlier (April) file, I can hear that I achieved a warmer, fuller sound, though the difference isn't as dramatic as I expected it to be.

All that work, just for a subtle difference. I must be nuts.

Of course, I'm perfectly sane. (Hee, hee!) I am, I tell you. (Ho, ho!!)


Lee

My account has been limited!!!

So says the e-mail from "America's Credit Unions." Luckily, I've programmed my computer for such messages--the moment a phishing scam appears, my Dell automatically plays the Andy Griffith Show theme. (Phishing--get it? Ha, ha!) That way, I know something's wrong.

And there's the fact that I don't have any account with "America's Credit Unions," whoever the heck they are.

O.K.--it seems there is such an outfit, but of course this isn't them. The scam is hosted in China, according to Websense.com.

At least I haven't received any eBay and/or PayPal scams for a few weeks. Those were ceasing to be any fun. Of course, they'll start right up again, now that I've noticed they're gone. It always works that way.

I wonder how Madonna's crucifixion went? Will she be buried in a cave? So long, Madonna. Bye-bye.

Oh, wait. Apparently, it wasn't for real. From Reuters: "Madonna staged a mock-crucifixion in the Italian capital on Sunday, ignoring a storm of protest and accusations of blasphemy from the Roman Catholic Church." You know, it's the Roman Catholic Church that ought to be doing the ignoring. Stop paying attention to a certain puerile diva, and maybe the nitwit will stop being outrageous and shocking. And grow up. It's never too late.

Wow--"blasphemy." Hey, I hate her music as much as anyone else, but that's taking it a little too far....

"Look at me! I'm Madonna! I'm outrageous! Look at me!!"

No, thanks. I try not to.


Lee

1911 Barbershop; 1923 jazz; Joseph Samuel's "Wigwam," and more!

"Apparently, Ohio's Senate race is one of a half-dozen that will determine control of the Senate--one of America's most closely watched, according to the national news media. But so far Ohioans don't seem to doing much watching."

Read the rest of this embarrassing piece (embarrassing to Ohio, anyway) at The New York Times. "Ohio's Morning After," it's called.

From voter lethargy in New Florida to 1911 Barbershop excitement. This disc is in WLTM condition (Way Less Than Mint), but I got everything EQ'd so that the lyrics are easy to make out, at least. At the same time, I tried to give a sense of "space" to the performance--the goal was to avoid the flat, compressed sound we associate with acoustical (pre-microphone) recordings. Maybe I succeeded, maybe I didn't. You decide, dear listener:

Sally--Brunswick Quartette (1911), from Columbia 78. (I wonder if the Columbia Quartette ever recorded for Brunswick?)

This next one is really heavy on the seventh chords--dominant and diminished sevenths, especially, occurring in parallel motion. (Well, similar, at least.) As a result, it sounds even more "Barbershop" to modern ears. (If you don't have modern ears, you won't hear what I mean):

Down By the Old Mill Stream--Brunswick Quartette, with Orchestra, 1911. From Columbia 78.

What do you do with a cool 78 that's seen much better days? You go to town EQ'ing every bit of usable sound out of it and splice the pops away one by one. While going quietly, incurably mad (Buwa-ha-haaaaa!!). This first side was penned by Ferde (Grand Canyon Suite) Grofe and Peter (Deep Purple) De Rose:

Queen of Egypt (Grofe-De Rose)--Lyman's California Ambassador Hotel Orch., 1923. From Brunswick 78 in not-so-royal shape.

And here's the jazzy flip. Jazzy, heck--it is jazz. Don't tell me Abe Lyman didn't play jazz, because, otherwise, what the heck is this?

Bugle Call Rag--Lyman's California Ambassador Hotel Orch., 1923. From same Brunswick 78.

Joseph Samuel's Wigwam strikes my ears as pretty advanced for 1920 (there might even be some 6/9 chords in there). I'd call it jazz, especially when the alto sax (?) shows up. Or is that a clarinet? Nah, alto sax. That's my guess. I can't believe I got a decent file out of this one, since 2/3 of the grooves are no more:

Wigwam (Joe Samuels)--Green Brothers' Novelty Band, 1920. From Okeh 78.

Finally, a 78 in outstanding condition. And I had hoped for a ragtime piece from this one--it's a "two-step," after all. Problem is, that can mean 4/4 (O.K., cut-time, which technically means 2/2, but which I insist is really 2/4). OR it can mean 6/8, as in this case. Like Sousa's Liberty Bell march, which this very closely resembles. Only this is a ditty called Life Preserver. Pretty good acoustics for 1911:

Life Preserver (Two-Step) (D'Albret)--Victor Concert Orchestra, 1911. From 12" Victor 78.


(Listening back to Sally): "Her eyes are bright as glue"??? No, wait--"Her eyes are brightest blue." The second one makes more sense.

That's probably it--"brightest blue."


Lee