Acoustical 78s for May, 2026: 1907-1922 dance sides

 

This weekend, I found myself sound-restoring seventeen acoustical 78s, and I ended up with sixteen usable tracks.  The first two unusable tracks were strictly a matter of improper "normalizing"--I ripped the Original Dixieland Jass Band's Indiana and Darktown Strutters' Ball in a single track, and this turned out badly.  Reason being, the dynamic balance differs considerably between the two numbers.  So, I had to re-rip them separately, which worked for normalizing.

And I've discovered, based on this batch, that VinylStudio's auto-normalizing feature works perfectly approx. 80 percent of the time.  Otherwise, I have to manually adjust same, which is typically a quick and easy task.  Three of today's sixteen tracks ended up either too loud or too soft, but again the fix is short and simple.  My logical conclusion: Acoustical 78s were recorded at different peak volume levels.  Thus, when balancing the dynamic ranges, some rips will balance out of kilter with the other tracks.

These are some of my favorite pre-electric 78s, and I assembled these from a larger row of maybe 30 discs pulled from overflow rows.  Kentucky Kut Ups, from 1907, is a recent addition to my collection, and against logic this ragtime march has a strong "ragtime to jazz" vibe, though I'm not sure why.  It might be due to the overlapping notes and beats necessarily created by ragtime rhythms, but there's a definite hint of call-and-response.  No doubt, jazz existed in 1907, and this Henry Frantzen march might very well have been influenced by early Dixieland (before Dixieland officially arrived in recording studios).  And we have the Original Dixieland Jass (!) Band on Columbia, with two sides recorded following the group's initial success at the Victor label, and not before, as was commonly believed at one time.  The amazing Fuzzy Wuzzy Rag by (W.C.) Handy's band is early-jazz gold, in my opinion, despite being categorized (by Gunther Schuller, I believe) as a ragtime-not-jazz side.

I think--or at least hope--that the attitude toward early jazz has evolved beyond "It's either King Oliver or it's not jazz," but I can't be sure.  And Der Rote Domino (The Red Domino, aka The Clarinet Polka) is a cool 1915 recording of this famous number, and in a style not unlike its modern presentation, albeit slower in tempo.  This side was recorded by the Columbia Orchestra and then marketed to different ethnic groups, including German-Americans (as with this issue).

Note the "fade" at the end of Barkin' Dog, as recorded by (Ross) Gorman's Syncopators.  I'm guessing that the player simply stepped back from the recording horn, unless there was some volume-dampening tech available in the studio.  Gorman, of course, originated the famous clarinet glissando at the start of Rhapsody in Blue.  This was Gorman's "iconic" contribution therefor.  "Iconic" gets on my nerves, since it's a word which can mean just about anything--or nothing.  It's even less useful than "authentic" as an adjective.  

Anyway, enjoy!

DOWNLOAD: Acoustical 78s May 2026.zip

Indiana--Original Dixieland Jass Band, 5/31/1917--Take 3

Darktown Strutters' Ball--Same, Take 3

Kentucky Kut Ups--Arthur Pryor's Band, 9/13/1907

Cold Turkey--Earl Fuller's Rector Novelty Orch., 6/1/1917

Slow and Easy--Louisiana Five Jazz Orchestra, 12/16/1919

Swanee--Columbia Dance Orch., Dir. Charles A. Prince, 1/27/1920

Dance It Again With Me--Art Hickman's Orchestra, 9/15/1919

The Red Lantern--Waldorf-Astoria Dance Orch., Dir. Joseph Knecht, 4/19/1919

Down Home Rag--Earl Fuller's Rector Novelty Orch., 3/19/1918

I Ain't Got Nobody Much--Same

I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise (Gershwin, A: Grofe)--Paul Whiteman and His Orch., 9/1/1922

Fuzzy Wuzzy Rag--(W.C.) Handy's Orchestra, 9/21/1917--Take 3

Barkin' Dog--Gorman's Novelty Syncopators, 9/2/1919

"Oh" (Oh!)--Ted Lewis Jazz Band, V: Jack Kaufman, 12/9/1919

Der Rote Domino--Polka Mazurka--Columbia Orchestra, 1/11/1915

So Long, Oo-Long (How Long You Gonna Be Gone)--Raderman's Novelty Orch, 1920

Lee

Bill St. Clair Swings Stephen Foster Favorites in a New Fresh Manner (Parade, SP 327)

Steven Foster classics in swing time: Bill St. Clair and the Eddie Maynard Orchestra beautifully manage this goal.  It helps when the songs are terrific, the vocalist is excellent, and the arrangements spot on.  This LP is a wonderful surprise--way above the norm for Parade.

However, as we congratulate Bill St. Clair and the Eddie Maynard Orch., I think it's fair to ask... do or did either of those persons exist?  Under those names, I mean?

Let's look at the evidence: This LP also showed up on Spinorama, Palace, Coronet, and Riviera.  Here, the orchestra is credited to Eddie Maynard, but elsewhere it's assigned to Fontanna, Mark Andrews, David Bruce, and... artist-unknown.  And, on Coronet, Bill becomes Dick Neilson.  The Fontanna version (on Palace), gives no vocal credit at all, though at least it's in stereo.  And had I known it was the same album, I'd have gone for it (because of the stereo), but the Parade monaural audio is nice enough--after I fixed it up, that is.

Bill, or Dick, or whomever, has a marvelous voice, and the Stephen-Foster-in-Swing-Time theme is beautifully managed, but we really have no reason to believe this singer is, in factual reality, named Bill St. Clair.  In fact, at my fake-hits YT channel, I have a Bill St. "Claire" on Big 4 Hits singing "Shake Rattle and Roll," and it doesn't sound like the same guy.  As for Eddie Maynard, he was a name-drop bandleader at SPC, Spinorama, and Parade.  A fill-in-the-credit bandleader.  

To be fair , Bill and Eddie ("Bill and Eddie"?) also put out an LP on Promenade called Let's Be Frank, on which Bill (or whoever he is) does a decent job imitating Frank Sinatra.  This might compel us to believe that Bill St. Clair was the singer's real name, but there's the problem of the many different credits for these Stephen Foster tracks.  And there's the problem that Bill seems to have done nothing outside of the rack-jobber realm.  Nobody said rack-jobber detective work was easy...

Anyway, according to the liner notes, "This is a great unique album and will provide many hours of listening enjoyment."  (If put it on repeat play, I guess...)  "Bill has a tremendously great voice," the notes continue, and Bill is a singer "from the Boston area who has his own TV and radio shows."  Except, I can find no online confirmation of same, and Google's AI can't, either.  No TV or radio shows on file for one Bill St. Clair.  Still, this is a superior budget-album experience--fine vocalist, spot-on arrangements, and great American tunes.  Hats off to Bill, Dick, Fontanna, Artist Unknown, and everyone else involved.

DOWNLOAD: Bill St. Clair Swings Stephen Foster Favorites in a New Fresh Manner.zip FLAC

Beautiful Dreamer

I Dream of Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair

Nellie Bly

Old Dog Trey

Ring Ring de Banjo

Old Folks at Home

My Old Kentucky Home

Gentle Annie

Oh Susannah

Hard Times

Come Where My Love Lies Dreaming

Camptown Races

Lee