Music for Lent--Your blogger at Casio WK-3800!

Me, on the Casio WK-3800, playing "live" (i.e., without MIDI).  The medley was multi-tracked with Sonar X2 Essential, and ditto for the start of O Sacred Head, but the rest are straight from the keyboard to the PC.  If that doesn't spell "authentic," what does?

 A variety of tones, and the dazzling digits of your favorite central Ohio music blogger.  The Box.com links for each track appear just after the titles.  No zip file this time around.

O Sacred Head, Now Wounded (Hans Leo Hassler; Harmonized by J.S. Bach) Click here

Go to Dark Gethsemane (Richard Redhead, 1853)  Click here

Palm Sunday Medley: All Glory, Laud, and Honor (Teschner, 1613)/To Mock Your Reign, O Dearest Lord (English melody, Arr. Ralph Vaughan Williams, 1906)/Ride On, Ride On in Majesty! (Anon., Arr. Monk, 1847)/When, His Salvation Bringing (Tours, 1872)/Ride On! Ride On in Majesty! (Dykes, 1862)  Click here


Lee

The Antique Pops Hour, No. 1 (1901?-1927)

And this is the Antique Pops Hour, No. 1.  There's not quite an hour's worth of music here--closer to 28 minutes, actually.  But you can put each track on repeat play and get something in the area of an hour, so I stand by my description.

With that vital issue out of the way, here are ten tracks from my collection of old (as opposed to new) 78s, all ripped and restored by me and my MAGIX software.  Seems like I mention that every time I post 78s, and, sure enough, it's been true each time.  These selections date from 1901? to 1927, and of course 1901? was the year that preceded 1902? and followed 1900?  I'm going by two things on my 1901 guess: the matrix number and the spoken introduction.  If I'm matching the former against the right series, then it's 1901.  If not, then it's a ? year.

Most of these numbers are pieces which have enjoyed pops/mood/light concert/encore number/parlor/"Music to Relax By" status for quite some time.  On the other hand, Anona, while a very fun piece, doesn't appear to have lasted past its day (which, you'll recall, was 1901?).  And I don't reckon the equally fun Omena Intermezzo (no dash), has been heard in on the radio, in an elevator, or as a title in a "pops" program for many a moon.  Maybe this is because when we think "pops," we don't think banjo pieces.  Too bad, given that the banjo was a staple of the musical stage way back when.  The dying phase of that reality was captured on early sound recordings....

Click here to hear: Antique Pops Hour, No. 1

PLAYLIST

Waltzes from the Operetta, The Waltz Dream (Oscar Straus)--Prince's Orch., 1907
Dans Les Larmes (Berger)--Columbia Orchestra, 1905
Anona (Intermezzo; Two-Step) (Vivian Grey)--Columbia Band, 1903
Jolly Fellows Waltz (Robert Vollstedt)--Columbia Band, with Bell Effects, 1901?
Omena Intermezzo (Hartz)--Fred Van Eps, Banjo, 1912
William Tell Fantasie (Rossini)--William H. Reitz, Xylophone w. Orch., 1912
Love's Dream After the Ball--Intermezzo (Alphons Czibulka)--Eagle Trio, 1926
The Herd Girl's Dream--Idyl (August Labitzky) Eagle Trio, 1926
Soldier's Joy (Soldier's Joy, Young America Hornpipe)--Victor Orchestra, 1927
Lady of the Lake (Durang's Hornpipe, Old Zip Coon)--Victor Orch., 1927

Lee

Smith's Sacred Singers, Part 2 (1926-1929)

More classic country gospel from the early days of electrical recording.  Eight tracks this time (last time, I posted twelve)--as before, ripped and restored by me from my out-of-control collection.  Digging through my old songbooks and Google-searching, I was able to find composer and year info for five of them, partial info for another, and no data at all for City of Gold and Jesus Died for Me.  I must have encountered six or seven hymns entitled City of Gold, but not the one sung by Smith and Co.

Here's the song info:

Climbing Up the Golden Stairs (w: George W. Sebren; m: George W. and Arthur B. Sebren, 1905)
City of Gold
Jesus Died for Me
Are You Washed in the Blood of the Lamb (w/m: Elisha A. Hoffman, 1878)
Hold to God's Unchanging Hand (w: Jennie Wilson; m:Franklin L. Eiland, 1906)
Waiting on the Golden Shore (w: William M. Ramsey; m:?; 1916?)
Life's Railway to Heaven (w: Eliza R. Snow & M. E. Abbey; m: Charles D. Tillman, 1890)
Jesus Prayed (w: E.M. Barlett; m: J.M. Henson, 1923)

Climbing Up the Golden Stairs has no "Up" in the original title, and Jesus Prayed is actually He Prayed.  The Columbia label's song research department must have been a real pro operation....

Last time, I described an "answer" chorus, but then realized that was my own personal term for gospel quartet antiphony.  So I changed "answer" to "echo," a term actually used back in the day.  Most of these tracks have antiphonal choruses, with the one in Jesus Died for Me especially cool (though it's kind of a rehash of the 1857 Church in the Wildwood refrain). The chorus of Waiting on the Golden Shore, meanwhile, is more complex, with its responsive singing happening in spurts, a la He Will Set Your Fields on Fire, and I'll wager I'm the first person ever to type "response singing happening in spurts."  The most complex answer/echo/response/antiphonal gospel chorus I've ever heard happens on/in His Charming Love, a gospel number scheduled for a future tune, so stay posted. Er, I mean, scheduled for a future post, so stay tuned.

When my brother and I were kids, we thought "stay tuned" was a single word.  And we heard it as "stachuned."  We thought TV announcers were asking us to "stachuned" for The Man from U.N.C.L.E. or Green Acres.  (We got the meaning, however.)  Oh, and we also thought "under arrest" was a single word.  As in, people getting "under-arrested."  Kids.  When our grandma said a cop had "pinched" her, we looked for the bruise.  But back to the post....

I have a theory--merely a guess--that gospel-style antiphony is a remnant of the "fuging" sections  found in late 18th-century hymns and anthems, since they do sort of function the same way.  This is pure supposition on my part--hence, the preponderance of qualifiers ("merely a guess," "sort of").  Bold claims have a way of going "poof" upon closer examination, unless they're being made by Donald Trump, in which case their momentum grows the more they are refuted.

To the music: Smith's Sacred Singers, Part 2

TRACKLIST

Climbing Up the Golden Stairs--Columbia 15195-D (1927)
City of Gold--Columbia 15195-D (1927)
Jesus Died for Me--Columbia 15430-D (1929)
Are You Washed in the Blood of the Lamb--Columbia 15430-D (1929)
Hold to God's Unchanging Hand--Columbia 15308-D (1928)
Waiting on the Golden Shore--Columbia 15308-D (1928)
Life's Railway to Heaven--Columbia 15159-D (1927)
Jesus Prayed--Columbia 15159-D (1926)


Lee

Happy Presidents Day, 2016!

To celebrate Presidents Day (or is it Presidents' Day?), here are five 78s from my collection that do the job.  All ripped and edited by me using MAGIX Audio Cleaner MX.

George M. Cohan's Father of the Land We Love was written in 1932 (the sheet music states, "To Commemorate the Two Hundredth Anniversary of the Birth of George Washington"--see comments); Lee Sanford's Lincoln Centennial March in 1909; and William H. Woodin's Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, the same year Woodin served as Roosevelt's Secretary of the Treasury!  How about that?

To the zip file: Presidents Day 2016

PLAYLIST

Lincoln Centennial March (Sanford)--United States Marine Band, Dir. Wm. H. Santelmann, 1909.
Father of the Land We Love (Cohan)--Robert Hood Bowers & His Orch., 1932.
Medley of Washingtonian Songs--Robert Hood Bowers & His Orch., 1932.
National Melodies--Brunswick Military Band, 1933.
Franklin D. Roosevelt--March (Woodin)--Brunswick Military Band, 1933.


Lee

Smith's Sacred Singers, 1926-1930--Classic country gospel!

Terrific gospel sides by the terrific Smith's Sacred Singers, a quartet from North Carolina Georgia which was led by one J. Frank Smith.  Many familiar tunes here, and I've done my best to trace them to the actual authors and years--not an easy task, since most are associated with later, big-name recording artists.  For example, Pictures from Life's Other Side tends to be associated with Hank Williams, who, under the pseudonymn Luke the Drifter, narrated the song for MGM.  I've been tracking down Picture's history for quite a while, and all I know for sure is that it's pre-1900 and that no two published melodies are identical.  That, plus the title shows up in different forms (A Picture from..., for ex.).  Here's Wikipedia's take, which seems right: Pictures from Life's Other Side.  Below are scans from a turn of the century songster of the same name (!) which features the words only, credited to Charles E. Baer and copyrighted 1896 (which may simply be that particular publisher's year).  These are (mostly) the same words we hear on the Smith recording:

             

Pictures' lyrics are in the same socially progressive vein as those of Only a Tramp (a.k.a. Tramp on the Street) and Father's a Drunkard and Mother Is Dead, two other late nineteenth-century pop numbers that became gospel standards.

He Will Set Your Fields on Fire (w: L.L. Brackett; m: C.M. Ballew) is associated with Bill Monroe and Carl Story, but, obviously, the song predates their recordings.  I know nothing about its year of origin, save that it was no later than 1927 (the date of this 78)!  Fabulous song.

Meet Me There (w: Fanny J. Crosby; m: William Kirkpatrick, 1885).  Camp-meeting-style "answer" "echo" chorus and Crosby lyrics!  What more could anyone want?

Where We'll Never Grow Old (a.k.a. Never Grow Old) (w/m: Jas. C. Moore).  For background, here's a typically outstanding entry from the Internet's best website, Cyber Hymnal: Never Grow Old.  I had no idea the song was a lift!

When Jesus Comes (w/m: James W. Gaines, 1923)

Shouting on the Hills (a.k.a There'll Be Shouting) (w/m: E.M. Bartlett, 1925)

I Will Sing of My Redeemer (w: Philip P. Bliss, 1876; m: James McGranahan, 1877)

I Want to Go to Heaven (w/m:?).  I can find nothing on this!

We Shall Rise (a.k.a. Hallelujah, We Shall Rise) (w/m: John E. Thomas, 1904)

Working for the Crown (w: Mrs. H.A. Mabry; m: H.A.R. Horton, 1899)

Lord I'm Coming Home (w/m: William J. Kirkpatrick, 1892)

The Church in the Wildwood (a.k.a. Little Brown Church in the Vale) (w/m: William S. Pitts, 1857).  One of the most famous sacred choruses ever.

All 78s are from my collection, and ripped and restored with MAGIX Audio Cleaning Lab MX.  The sound quality ranges from so-so to very good.  Some of these needed a lot of work.  To the songs:


Click here to hear: Smith's Sacred Singers, 1926-1930

PLAYLIST

He Will Set Your Fields on Fire--Columbia 15144-D (1927)
Meet Me There--Columbia 15401 (1929)
Pictures from Life's Other Side--Columbia 15090-D (1926)
Where We'll Never Grow Old--Same
When Jesus Comes--Columbia 15371-D (1928)
Shouting on the Hills--Columbia 15110-D (1926)
I Will Sing of My Redeemer--Columbia 15144-D (1927)
I Want to Go to Heaven--Columbia 15230-D (1927)
We Shall Rise--Same
Working for the Crown--Columbia 15401-D (1929)
Lord I'm Coming Home--Columbia 15371-D (1928)
The Church in the Wildwood--Columbia 15551-D (1930)


Lee