Thrift store shellac scores: "Ghost Riders in the Sky," "Cheroubtoul Rah."

 

"Thrift store shellac scores"--say that ten times.  ("That, that, that, that...")  Yes, we find some of the least usual shellac in thrift stores.  Alongside the common-as-dust platters (Frankie Laine on Columbia, etc.).

I'll start with two "Arabic" 12-inch 78s which, after any number of listens, I find quite interesting.  However, no need to apologize if your response is closer to "Was the needle stuck in the groove?" or "Yikes!" or "Huh??"  It's the kind of ethnic music which radically departs from the ways of Western music--Western form, anyway.  And both sides are pre-electric (1909 for the first; the second, unknown).

Both artists--Abdel Hai Effendi Hilmy and Salim Douman--were popular Arab-American singers, with Abdel passing away in 1912--Douman, in 1955.  Now we know.

The Douman side, Lahar Anhy, is the livelier of the two, though it has the same stuck-on-the-tonic drone feel.  The side also sports a wide crack, the sound of which I painstakingly edited out of the file (my wrists have yet to un-numb).  The crack rendered the B side impossible to save, given the chipped-away areas, but A was (more or less) rescuable.  Abdel's 1909 effort--Cheroubtoul Rah, Pts. 1 and II--is slower but with relatively better fidelity, since I was able to use my 3.0 mil 78 stylus.  In the case of Douman, I opted for my 1.2 mil stylus, which 1) made for less than perfect groove compliance, but 2) less noise from the crack.  

And, honestly, I'm expecting most listeners to give each file, at most, a 30-second chance before moving on.

The Mac Gregor label square-dance sides by Rusty's Rides make for a night-and-day contrast with the Arabic tracks.  They're a fun reward for anyone with the stuff to endure twelve minutes of the Opera Disc Company and Macsoud sides.

And, according to a 78 expert who clearly knows his stuff (at the 78 rpm records & cylinders fan group Facebook page), the Discogs data on the Opera Disc Company is false--it was not a "bootleg" label.  To quote the expert, "The discs were pressed in Germany by Deutsche Gramophone which did not have a license to sell most of these outside Germany."  Now we know, Part 2.

My label shots are digital pics, since my new Epson scanner has a depth of focus of approximately half a hair-width.  My chief problem with my old Epson was far too much detail.  With my new one: Out of focus scans for anything not flush with the glass. 

DOWNLOAD: Arabic, Mac Gregor 78s

Lahar Anhy (Bagdady)--Salim Doumani (Macksoud 115)

Cheroubtoul Rah, Pts. I and II--Abdel Hai Effendi Hilmy (Opera Disc Company 200041; 1909)

Ghost Riders in the Sky--Rusty's Riders (Mac Gregor 681)

Smoke Smoke Smoke (Talkin; up the Square)--Same

                                                                                                                  

Lee