Sunday morning gospel--Last of the sacred shellac (for now)!

I'm very happy with this batch o' sacred shellac, even though four or five files from the batch had to be scrapped (as unsavable). Such an experience might have driven a lesser sound restorationist utterly mad, but I... I....

Buwa-ha-haaaa!!!

Sorry. I have no idea what just happened. Actually, I'm just now noticing that the same thing happened last time, though for different reasons. That is, I had to scrap some tracks, but it was because the headshell contacts weren't fully meeting. This time, it was all about record condition.

Just some fascinating behind-the-blog stuff there.

Anyway, we've got fifteen outstanding gospel selections to enjoy this morning, the earliest hailing from 1908, and the most recent a product of 1955. Two years before I was born. I guess that qualifies as recent.

The list includes no fewer than five tunes written by the great Charles H. Gabriel, including the fairly repetitious but very catchy I Need Jesus, a huge hit in its day--as was its flip side, the Homer-Rodeheaver-penned Good-night and Good-morning. The 1925 sound on these two is pretty impressive (engineering-wise), if your ears can ignore the post-1925 wear and tear. How I got a file out of the disc in question, I'll never know. Gazing at the record under my desk lamp, I found myself wondering what happened to the grooves. Specifically, how had my Stanton 78 stylus managed to find sound information in those well-worn ruts, much less extract it and transmit it to my preamp? I have to wonder if my cartridge had somehow captured the ghosts of previous playings.

Two of the Gabriels are replays of--and improvements on--recently-presented tracks: Homer's 1922 Raindbow recording of Brighten the Corner and William McEwan's 1912 or 1913 version of Will the Circle Be Unbroken, taken from a better (and earlier) pressing than the one I posted last week.

Some superb 19th-century gospel tunes--Life's Railway to Heaven, When the Mists Have Rolled Away, In the Sweet Bye and Bye, and Beautiful Valley of Eden--side by side with some relatively modern gems--Shake the Hand of a Stranger, Army of the Lord, and Oh, Gentle Shepherd. "Modern" meaning merely half a century old.

I'm guessing the deep, deep bass voice on the first of the "modern" titles is that of Thurl Ravenscroft--I can't be sure, but my ears say it's him. However, I'm certain that the wonderful background voices on Oh, Gentle Shepherd are those of the Anita Kerr Singers. The Internet gives me two copyright dates for this Cindy Walker song--1954 and 1957. The latter year isn't likely, since our recording dates from the former. Country singer George Morgan has an exceedingly smooth and pleasant voice.

The best of the bunch may be Metropolitan Opera soprano Marion Talley's 1928 version of The Old Rugged Cross. The thing's been playing in my head since I ripped it. It works amazingly well as a concert number. I reckon it's one of those tunes that would not only survive, but thrive in, any treatment.

To the gospel. (Click here for folder: Last of the Sacred Shellac--for a While.)

PLAYLIST:

SHAKE THE HAND OF A STRANGER (Hamblen)--Prairie Choir, with the Darol Rice Orch., 1955. ARMY OF THE LORD (Hamblen)--Prairie Choir, with the Darol Rice Orch., 1955.
BEAUTIFUL VALLEY OF EDEN (Cushing-Sherwin)--Mr. and Mrs. William Wheeler, 1910.
SINCE JESUS CAME INTO MY HEART (McDaniel-Gabriel)--Homer Rodeheaver, 1915.
OH, GENTLE SHEPHERD (Cindy Walker)--George Morgan, Anita Kerr Singers, 1954.
THE OLD RUGGED CROSS (Bennard)--Marion Talley, soprano, 1928.
BRIGHTEN THE CORNER WHERE YOU ARE (Ogden-Gabriel)--Homer Rodeheaver, 1922.
LIFE'S RAILWAY TO HEAVEN (Snow-Tillman)--Charles Harrison-Clifford Cairns, 1922.
WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN (Habershon-Gabriel)--William McEwan, 1912 or 1913.
MEMORIES OF MOTHER (Harkness)--William McEwan, 1912 or 1913.
IN THE SWEET BYE AND BYE (Bennett-Webster)--Hayden Quartette, 1908.
THERE'S A RAINBOW ON THE CLOUD (Hewitt-Gabriel)--Homer Rodeheaver, 1923.
I NEED JESUS (Webster-Gabriel)--Homer Rodeheaver, 1925.
GOOD-NIGHT AND GOOD-MORNING (DeArmond-Rodeheaver)--Homer Rodeheaver, 1925.
WHEN THE MISTS HAVE ROLLED AWAY (Herbert-Sankey)--Trinity Choir, 1912.



Lee

A hundred 78 titles

So, imagine my shock when I realized tonight that, in the last almost-month, I've ripped nearly a hundred 78 titles. Holy shellac.

Which is why, after I finish ripping and fixing the gospel selections for Sunday, I'll be going back to vinyl. Which means changing the stylus, readjusting the VTF, switching the preamp setting, and saying Hello to Hughesnet.

Oops. That last part sneaked in from my subconscious. That ad is still playing, and it's been--what? Two years? How cruel is that?

Just kidding. It's a fine ad. It just needs to be retired.

Anyway, my dedication to shellac is one for the books. Specifically, Obsessives and Their Obsessions, Vol. 4.

Sunday, I plan to do an essay about the really cool God-bashing movement of the past couple of years. I've been taking abuse at Huffington Post and at Amazon.com for taking the "theistic" position, whatever the heck that is. So claim those whose notion of religion is richard dawkins vs. Pat Robertson.

So, stay tuned. Meanwhile, what the heck am I doing up?

I'm going to dream about 78s spinning. And spinning. And spinning....



Lee

78 City, U.S.A.!--The Humphrey Bogart Rhumba; Hooray, Hooray, I'm Goin' Away; more!

Be careful what you joke about, I always say. No sooner do I post about Rudy capturing the long-handled duster ("Look What the Cat Dragged In"), the cats up and decide to drag in something considerably less amusing. When I encountered it on the back porch, it was several seconds before I knew what I was looking at. It was dead, for sure--but what was it?

The raccoon head gave the species away. Otherwise, I could have been looking at a half-eaten chicken. Yup, a semi-consumed raccoon. Something the coyotes left behind? More likely, feels Bev, road kill dragged in by our little darlings. Isn't that special?

I'll spare you the pictures I took (to document the event for Bev without having to save the carcass. Yuck). I'm hoping its demise was quick.

On that cheery note, let's move to the latest folder o' shellac--seventeen titles, this time. Three or four of these selections survived the years in very good shape--the rest, not as much so. But every file is more than listenable, thanks to my fanatical devotion to the cause of audio rescue.

Let's see.... Hambone is a cheesy Tops label cover of the Frankie Laine/Jo Stafford version of the tune, with bits copied from Red Saunders' original. The portion near the end that sounds like a needle jump? A needle jump.

The two Whiteman sides are pre-Bix Beiderbecke. So, who's the soloist on Side by Side? Red Nichols, that's who. Bing Crosby and Al Rinker duet on the first track, and Bing is back as a member of the Rhythm Boys for the second. (I've always wanted to type, "Bing is back as a member of the Rhythm Boys for the second." )

Hooray, Hooray, I'm Goin' Away (which Jerry Samuels must have heard as a kid) is from my moderately worn 78 copy, so expect some hiss and crackle mixed in with the gunshots, sirens, and manic laughter. (Well, I exaggerate a little.)

North Carolinian fiddler Don Richardson--who was featured in our last post--is back with Old Zip Coon. Incredible fiddle playing, fine sound quality for the day (it's there, underneath the hiss), and excellent piano accompaniment by... someone. Not sure who. I don't think he's mentioned on the label.

This link will take you to a Box.net folder. Do not be alarmed--though I've switched to 4Shared.com as my paid service, I still have a free account at Box. Link: 78 City, U.S.A.!

(Or should it be 78s City, U.S.A.?)

PLAYLIST:

I'm Getting Sentimental Over You--Spike Jones and His City Slickers, 1947.

Pretty Lips (Donaldson-Straight)--Paul Whiteman Orch., feat. Bing Crosby and Al Rinker, 1927.

Side by Side--Paul Whiteman Orch., feat. the Rhythm Boys, 1927.

By the Light of the Stars--Jim Miller and Charlie Farrell--guitar and mandola, 1925.

The King Isn't King Anymore (Leslie-Monaco)--Same, 1925.

Liebestraum (Liszt, Arr: Russ Carlson)--Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians, 1936.

Sweethearts on Parade--Guy Lombardo and His R.C., feat. Carmen Lombardo, 1936.

I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls--Elizabeth Wheeler, 1909.

Hooray, Hooray, I'm Goin' Away (Skylar)--Beatric Kay with Mitch Aryres Orch., 1947.

I'm Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover--Jean Goldkette Orch., feat. Billy Murray, 1927.

Yankee Rose (Holden-Frankl)--Jean Goldkette and His Orch., 1927.

Down in Old Havana Town (Arr: Grofe)--Paul Whiteman Orch., feat. Austin Young, 1928.

Hambone (Saunders)--Bud Roman and Mimi Martel, w. Hal Lomen Orch.

The Blacksmith Blues--Nancy Brookes, w. Hal Lomen Orch.

The Humphrey Bogart Rhumba--Freddy Martin and His Orch., feat. The Martin Men, 1949.

There's a Boatman on the Volga (Arr: Grofe)--Paul Whiteman Orch., feat. Gladys Rice, 1926.

Old Zip Coon--Don Richardson, violin, 1916.




Lee

Some 1916 country fiddling for our Monday!

From time to time, I like to feature the extraordinary recordings of North Carolinian fiddler Don Richardson. The ones I own, anyway. 1916 country fiddle not being something we hear everyday.

To date, I've restored three of his titles with my new 78 set-up (which became new when I added my Rek-o-Kut "archival" preamp earlier this year)--and here they are. If you haven't heard these before, you're bound to be amazed.

The man could play the fiddle....

Click here to reach folder, where you can d/l the tracks one by one or as a zip: 1916 country fiddle!

PLAYLIST

Arkansas Traveler, 1916.
Mississippi Sawyer, 1916.
Durang's Hornpipe, 1916.



Lee

The Gomez report, and, Look what the cat dragged in

Above: Gomez, just before his trip to the vet.

You'll recall that Gomez recently limped into our house with an injured paw (our guess: a raccoon trap). Dr. Mike, our vet, had us soak his paw in a Clorox/water mix and feed him antibiotics. The idea being that, once the gunk was cleaned off of Gomez' paw, Mike would know how much or how little to amputate.

The good news is that it turned out to be little--very little. Gomie's claws are intact, and the missing layers of skin are likely to scar over. Even fresh from the operation, his paw looks almost normal, and Gomie isn't even limping at this point.

Oh, and we had Mike do another important operation. Now, if only we can catch Tommy. Tommy is always around--except when we've made a vet appointment. Then, somehow, he knows to be gone. A very common cat (and dog) phenomenon. Tommy remains our only unfixed feline at the moment. (And he insists he doesn't need "fixing.")

In other news, look what Rudy dragged in:





A dusting brush, you say? Rudy might disagree--he recently came trotting into the house with the object balanced in his mouth like freshly captured prey. I'd used the brush to clean a thousand or so cobwebs from the basement ceiling, and we'd left the brush outside to see if the rain might restore it. That's where Rudy found (and "killed") it.

Bev was the one who witnessed Rudy's triumphal trot through the door--I wish I'd been there.

Cats, cats. We love 'em.



Lee

Sunday afternoon gospel--more sacred shellac!

Things are a bit behind schedule at MY(P)WHAE, mainly due to the high ragweed count and my extreme reaction to same. My allergies have slowed me down to sometime last week. I'm fully aware that this is today, September 16, 2007, but awareness doesn't always make it so.

Our sudden switch to fall weather isn't helping, either. Lows were in the 40s last night. Yikes!

All of which has nothing to do with the selections we're about to hear, all of which were ripped from 78s in my modest but (nevertheless) overflowing collection. I'm continuing to discover that sacred 78s are the toughest of all to restore. Why? Not sure, but I think it's mainly the soft dynamics of such sides, which are at odds with the noisy pressings they were joined to. Finding a balance between the music frequencies and the hiss, thump, bump, and pop of the pressings can be quite a task.

And I have NO idea what happened to that last sentence. Let's just pretend it never happened.

At any rate, had most of these been pressed onto quiet surfaces, we'd be marveling at the sheer quality of the sound, especially that of the electric-era Brunswicks.

These twelve tracks were a week-long project--a project made longer when I had to scrap four or five files due to head-shell/cartridge issues. The sudden dB drop should have alerted me to the problem, but it didn't. My reaction was a mere, "Gee, these seem unusually quiet." Duhhh.

Why do I take such pains, you ask? For one reason, and one reason only--I'm nuts. That, and I love these old gospel sides. That helps.

The 1914 gospel classic I'm Going Through, Jesus is much better known as a black gospel number, though it didn't originate as same. There's a great photo of the authors at the awesome Cyberhymnal site. Herbert Buffum wrote several other famous things, including The Old-fashioned Meeting and I'm Going Higher Some Day. As I think about it, I believe I'm Going Through may have been written earlier than 1914, like around 1907. It's possible that 1914 is the year of the revision, if in fact there was one. I'll have to check that out.

And we have two versions of The Old Rugged Cross, which, to me, has always been THE gospel song, possibly because it's the first one I ever heard. And because it keeps turning up and turning up. The more often, the better, I say.

To the shellac:

Click here to reach folder: Sunday Afternoon Gospel.


PLAYLIST:

I'm Going Through, Jesus (Buffum)--William McEwan, 1926.
The Old Rugged Cross (Bennard)--William McEwan, 1926.
If Your Heart Keeps Right (DeArmond-Ackley)--Homer Rodeheaver, 1916.
Brighten the Corner Where You Are (Ogdon-Gabriel)--Homer Rodeheaver, 1916.
Bridge the Road to Heaven with a Smile--Homer Rodeheaver, 1923.
Sweeter as the Years Go By (Morris)--Criterion Quartet, 1926.
Some Blessed Day (Ray-Nevin)--Criterion Quartet, 1926.
The Hymns of the Old Church Choir (Lamb-Solman)--Columbia Quartette, 1907.
Home of the Soul (Phillips)--Columbia Mixed Quartette, 1916.
Beautiful Isle of Somewhere (Ferris)--Columbia Stellar Quartette, 1916.
The Old Rugged Cross (Bennard)--Seth Parker Trio, 1934.
Saved By Grace (Crosby-Stebbins)--Seth Parker Trio, 1934.


Lee