Vintage Novachord sides, feat. Collins H. Driggs

These sides are from 1940 or 1941--not sure which. Most, if not all, were arranged by Ferde Grofe.

Here's the essay I wrote when I first featured (four of) these sides in 2005:

The Hammond Novachord was not a big success. It wasn't even a small success, even if the thing weighed 1/4 of a ton. But, according to many sources, it was the first synthesizer ever made, and it helped inspire Robert Moog to create the sounds he created. The Novachord was introduced at the 1939 World's Fair by Collins H. Driggs, American composer Ferde Grofe (Grand Canyon Suite, Metropolis, Death Valley Suite, the pop song Daybreak), and two other "Novachord Orchestra" members. Speaking of American composers, Elliot Carter stopped by the Ford Building while the NO was demonstrating Hammond's new synthesizer, and he was delighted:

"At the Ford building, I found... Ferde Grofe and three others at three Hammond Novachords and a Hammond organ, playing plushy arrangements of Old Folks at Home, and so on, with arpeggios, and sea-sick swellings and diminishings. They show just what the Novachord can do, how inhuman its breathless flutes and gutless violins can be."

Carter was down on "electrified music" in general, so it was inevitable he'd love and cherish the Novachord, which sounded like a video-game soundtrack stuck in "Pause." But I love the sound, even if, in addition to what I just described, it evoked a giant, mutant bee dying inside of a paper cone. It reminds me of the "piano" patch on my Korg Poly-800, for what that's worth (about $200 on eBay, I found out).

Six sides by Collins H. Driggs (who was not, as I misreported at one point, Buddy Cole).

Click here to hear: Vintage Novachord Sounds

PLAYLIST

SONG OF THE ISLANDS
PARADE OF THE WOODEN SOLDIERS
LONDONDERRY AIR
IN A CHINESE TEMPLE GARDEN
ESTUDIANTINA
WHEN DAY IS DONE


Lee

Do the Rumba!--Afredo Brito and His Siboney Orch. (1931)

People keep asking me when I plan to feature any sides by Alfredo Brito and His Siboney Orchestra, and I say "Any time now." This (now) is any time.

I'd love to include a label image, but my Kodak camera suddenly refuses to open its files for my computer. This, after I set up an alternative to the dreaded Kodak software.

Then again, I've yet to test it on Bev's computer. Should it work with hers, then I'll know it's not the camera that's having a bad day but my HP. Actually, my HP's been having a bad month.

While I'm figuring out all of that, here are two rumba (I never know whether or not to capitalize the word) 78 sides from 1931. Very nice performances, especially nice fidelity, and decent condition of media. I love typing "condition of media." Looking at both sides (at the needle marks in the low-frequency spots, especially), I anticipated some sudden, distorted bursts o' bass, but it was not to be. Dynamic balance is superb. I do not complain.

Here's the zip file: Do the Rumba!

RUMBALIST

SIBONEY (Dolly Morse-Ernesto Lecuona)--Alredo Brito and His Siboney Orch., 1931.
MARIA, MY OWN (L.W.Gilbert-Ernesto Lecuona)--Alfredo Brito, etc., 1931.

From Victor 22685.

Lee

Monday evening gospel--The Ganus Brothers Quartet

Tonight, I re-ripped these splendid 1929 gospel sides (see playlist below). And I did a bang-up job (so to speak) of erasing most of the symptoms of a serious warp that affects the first 50 seconds of each side. I equalized out the thump-thump of the bump, and I repaired a noisy jump on Have a Sunny Smile. In place of repeat-repeat-repeat/skip, you'll hear merely a slight dip in sound. Missing sound, we could call it.

And, no, not a single UFO zipped by during the track-editing. The lost sound is due totally to someone (in which decade, who can say?) gouging the disc during play. Undue pressure on a gramophone sound box created a tiny canal that even my Stanton 78 stylus can't plow through.

This may explain why the dealer only charged a buck for the record. However, following fifty minutes of sonic surgery, both sides sound great. Eight grams of tracking force, pop editing, decrackling and declicking, and we've given this damaged disc a well-deserved second chance at audio glory. (Second chance at audio glory?) Something like that.

Hurry up and download these before this essay becomes even more stilted. Oh, and I should mention that I heard from Bobby Ganus, whose father was a member of this quartet! Cool. Hope he enjoys, and I wish I had more from these talented singers, whose style is very much like the Chuck Wagon Gang's:

The Ganus Brothers Quartet-1929

Have a Sunny Smile
Rejoice in God

(Columbia 15390)


Lee

Sunday morning gospel: The Kegley Sisters--Jesus Gave His Life for Me

Great stuff for our Sunday morning, courtesy of Rose Records and The Kegley Sisters. This was the group's second LP, the notes tell us. The cover photo was taken in the Miamisburg (Ohio) Free Will Baptist Church. On the back, we are asked to write to Reverend Carl T. Hall in Kettering, Ohio for appointments or records.

That's about the extent of what we learn from the text, save for the musician line-up: Debbie Deborde--Piano; Wayne Smith--Bass Guitar; and Earl Tipton--Electric Guitar. And the three Kegley Sisters. The song credits list a Hester Kegley Hall and a Mary Kegley Bieker (one track apiece), whom we can (possibly) assume are 2/3 of the pictured trio.

The guy in the middle, I'll venture to guess, is Reverend Hall.

Now you know all that I know. Really fine music for our morning. And, as you can see, I've found photo-editing software to replace the PC-unfriendly Kodak update. At first, I tried to use the Hewlett-Packard programs bundled into my PC, but they either froze or shut down. Terrific, said I. So I went on-line, found a free, one-part version of the same multi-part program, downloaded it, and all is fine. All I'm missing is a brightness, exposure, etc. menu.

But there is a one-touch fix-it button. And I've always wanted to type "one-touch fix-it button."

With a one-touch fix-it button, nothing is impossible.

To the music. Click here to reach zip folder: The Kegley Sisters--Jesus Gave His Life for Me.

PLAYLIST

JESUS GAVE HIS LIFE FOR ME
I SHALL BE AT REST WITH JESUS
I VIEWED HEAVEN
AFTER ALL
REMIND ME
JUST ONE TOUCH
I SAW THE FACE OF JESUS
THE HOLY HILLS
WHAT HEAVEN MEANS TO ME
COME SPRING
BROKEN PIECES
MY NEW BIRTH

(Rose Records LPR-601)


Lee