madmurray
Member
I Am A Lizard King
Posts: 16,845
|
Post by madmurray on Jan 10, 2021 22:34:14 GMT 1
CHAPTER 1 - PRE 50's
Billie Holiday - Strange Fruit 1939
WRITER: Abel Meeropel (Creditedas Lewis Allan)
PRODUCER: Uncredited
LABEL: Commodore
ALBUM: N/A
"Strange Fruit began life not as a song but as a photo. When High School Teacher Abel Meeropel saw an image of two black men hanging from a tree, ringed by a crowd of white onlookers he was moved to pen a poem protesting against the lynching of African- Americans by white vigilantes"
|
|
madmurray
Member
I Am A Lizard King
Posts: 16,845
|
Post by madmurray on Jan 10, 2021 22:45:51 GMT 1
CHAPTER 1 - PRE 50's
Judy Garland - Over The Rainbow - 1939
WRITER: Harold Arlen, E.Y "Yip" Harburg PRODUCER: Uncredited
LABEL: MGM ALBUM: N/A
"Its hard to imagine the movie without it now, but Over The Rainbow almost got dropped from the Wizard of Oz"
|
|
madmurray
Member
I Am A Lizard King
Posts: 16,845
|
Post by madmurray on Jan 10, 2021 23:01:43 GMT 1
CHAPTER 1 - PRE 50's
Lead Belly - The Gallis Pole - 1939
WRITER: Huddie Ledbetter, Alan Lomax PRODUCER: John Lomax, Alan Lomax LABEL: Library of Congress ALBUM: N/A
"Lead Billy builds up a busy rhythm on his guitar, over which he tells the tale of a condemned man desperately asking his loved ones if they have bought Gold, Silver and other bribes to keep him from hanging".
|
|
vastar iner
Member
I am the poster on your wall
Posts: 17,427
ONLINE
|
Post by vastar iner on Jan 11, 2021 1:06:49 GMT 1
I'm going to throw this in from 1892...
...because the Manhansett Quartette are the first group with their own name.
Also note they do the thing at the start that was almost compulsory on early recordings; they announce what the recording is.
Recording in 1892 was a chore. This recording would have been made directly onto cylinders, perhaps two dozen at a time, those cylinders would be taken off, and they'd do it again. Hence the early big sellers were either spoken word things (mainly comedy) or big band sounds. Because either was easier to capture on the equipment of the day. You'd not be able to hear the singing if you had instruments on this one or vice versa. It took a while to get a master that was substantial enough to make pressings; and even then the early ones would wear out after a thousand or so.
|
|
|
Post by raliverpool on Jan 12, 2021 21:31:03 GMT 1
Well done on doing this MadMurray.... I suspect this will a bit of a challenge to listen to (as most of the recordings are rather primitive) until you get to the one two of "Shake Rattle & Roll" followed by "Rock Around The Clock", and then the thread may start to pick up momentum.
If you are interested there is a Spotify playlist with 980 of the 1001 tracks available.
|
|
vastar iner
Member
I am the poster on your wall
Posts: 17,427
ONLINE
|
Post by vastar iner on Jan 12, 2021 23:10:56 GMT 1
Nobody thought it worthwhile to record Scott Joplin. This is astounding. He changed music forever with his development of ragtime. Yet nobody put him down on shellac.
He did however record pianola rolls. Which meant he sat down at a piano, which had a sort of bogroll dispenser thingy attached to it, and which pulled paper through as he played. The piano was linked to the paper in such a way that his notes, duration, and pedals would be marked up on the paper. The recording company could translate this into a perforated roll for playback through pianolas and sell those instead.
You can see the attraction; this is a genuine Joplin roll, and its quality is way ahead of what recording machines could achieve, plus it was easier to reproduce. But of course your pianola was limited to one instrument. The Crash killed off the market - and nearly killed off the record market as well.
But in 1907 the Maple Leaf Rag was the thing to have.
|
|
Good Old Days
Member
Sielos grožio niekas nepavogs, kol širdy jaunystė gros.
Posts: 2,948
|
Post by Good Old Days on Jan 13, 2021 9:32:24 GMT 1
Will we see any songs, which I like ? Honestly I'm not sure. In "my world of the music" Ruth Etting was the first popular singer.
|
|
vastar iner
Member
I am the poster on your wall
Posts: 17,427
ONLINE
|
Post by vastar iner on Jan 13, 2021 16:01:16 GMT 1
Who was the most popular female singer ever before World War 2?
She was from Lancashire. But she wasn't Gracie Fields.
She had a monstrous number of big-sellers, either as a soloist or with the Irish Nightingale (from Philly) Billy Murray - the most popular male singer of the period.
I can't say I'm enamoured of her music, or even her voice (its stridency I suppose was a boon in the early era, cutting through the technological limitations), but it's a fascinating slice of social history.
|
|
madmurray
Member
I Am A Lizard King
Posts: 16,845
|
Post by madmurray on Jan 14, 2021 17:34:11 GMT 1
Well done on doing this MadMurray.... I suspect this will a bit of a challenge to listen to (as most of the recordings are rather primitive) until you get to the one two of "Shake Rattle & Roll" followed by "Rock Around The Clock", and then the thread may start to pick up momentum. If you are interested there is a Spotify playlist with 980 of the 1001 tracks available. Thank you. Currently using Youtube so I can share link here as I listen to them a couple of times but will be good to revisit when Ive listened to the 1001....well some of them..lol
|
|
madmurray
Member
I Am A Lizard King
Posts: 16,845
|
Post by madmurray on Jan 14, 2021 17:35:17 GMT 1
Will we see any songs, which I like ? Honestly I'm not sure. In "my world of the music" Ruth Etting was the first popular singer. I was starting to think the same. Once I finish this chapter, I think I will jump to 80s for sanity..lol
|
|
madmurray
Member
I Am A Lizard King
Posts: 16,845
|
Post by madmurray on Jan 14, 2021 17:41:27 GMT 1
CHAPTER 1 - PRE 50's
Solomon Linda and The Evening Birds - Mbube - 1939
WRITER: Solomon Linda
PRODUCER: Griffiths Motsiela
LABEL: Singer
ALBUM: Mbube (1939)
"Early version of a song that you would remember from The Lion Sleeps Tonight"
|
|
madmurray
Member
I Am A Lizard King
Posts: 16,845
|
Post by madmurray on Jan 14, 2021 17:46:46 GMT 1
CHAPTER 1 - PRE 50's
The Ink Spots - Java Jive - 1940
WRITER: Milton Drake , Ben Oakland PRODUCER: Uncredited
LABEL: Decca ALBUM: N/A
"Java Jive is a caffeine fad song form the band that influenced the Platters".
|
|
madmurray
Member
I Am A Lizard King
Posts: 16,845
|
Post by madmurray on Jan 14, 2021 18:20:34 GMT 1
CHAPTER 1 - PRE 50's
Billie Holiday - Gloomy Sunday - 1941
WRITER: Rezso Seress, Laszlo Javar, Sam Lewis PRODUCER: Uncredited
LABEL: Okeh ALBUM: N/A
"The line "Would they be angry If I thought about Joining you" implying suicide caused many radio stations to ban it, including the BBC"
|
|
madmurray
Member
I Am A Lizard King
Posts: 16,845
|
Post by madmurray on Jan 14, 2021 18:27:06 GMT 1
CHAPTER 1 - PRE 50's
Joseito Fernandez - Guantanamera - 1941
WRITER: Joseito Fernandez PRODUCER: Uncredited
LABEL: RCA Victor ALBUM: N/A
|
|
madmurray
Member
I Am A Lizard King
Posts: 16,845
|
Post by madmurray on Jan 14, 2021 18:33:42 GMT 1
CHAPTER 1 - PRE 50's
Billie Holliday - God Bless The Child - 1941
WRITER: Billie Holliday PRODUCER: Uncredited
LABEL: Okeh ALBUM: N/A
"Renowned as an interpreter of other peoples songs, Billie rarely wrote her songs but God Bless The Child was a rare exception".
|
|
madmurray
Member
I Am A Lizard King
Posts: 16,845
|
Post by madmurray on Jan 14, 2021 18:39:19 GMT 1
CHAPTER 1 - PRE 50's
Lena Horne - Stormy Weather - 1943
WRITER: Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler PRODUCER: Uncredited
LABEL: Unknown ALBUM: N/A
"Stormy Weather is a song of disappointment and regret, the singer pining for her absent man".
|
|
madmurray
Member
I Am A Lizard King
Posts: 16,845
|
Post by madmurray on Jan 14, 2021 18:46:53 GMT 1
CHAPTER 1 - PRE 50's
Lord Invader - Rum and Coca Cola - 1943
WRITER: Rupert W. Grant, Lionel Belasco PRODUCER: Uncredited
LABEL: Decca ALBUM: N/A
"During World War 2 , around 20,ooo GIs were stationed in Trinidad, Lord Invader unhappy with this, created the song to expose the informal prostitution that took place"
|
|
madmurray
Member
I Am A Lizard King
Posts: 16,845
|
Post by madmurray on Jan 14, 2021 18:51:44 GMT 1
CHAPTER 1 - PRE 50's
Woody Guthrie - This Land Is Your Land - 1944
WRITER: Woody Guthrie
PRODUCER: Moe Asch LABEL: Folkways ALBUM: N/A
"This Land Is Your Land has since become regarded as an alternative to the Star Spangled Banner"
|
|
vastar iner
Member
I am the poster on your wall
Posts: 17,427
ONLINE
|
Post by vastar iner on Jan 14, 2021 20:18:21 GMT 1
It's something of a woke list - given that it misses out the biggest singing star of the pre-war period...
...there are obvious reasons why one would eschew Al Jolson's usual act these days, but there's no denying that he was hugely important in his era.
|
|
|
Post by raliverpool on Jan 14, 2021 20:37:26 GMT 1
Well done on doing this MadMurray.... I suspect this will a bit of a challenge to listen to (as most of the recordings are rather primitive) until you get to the one two of "Shake Rattle & Roll" followed by "Rock Around The Clock", and then the thread may start to pick up momentum. If you are interested there is a Spotify playlist with 980 of the 1001 tracks available. Thank you. Currently using Youtube so I can share link here as I listen to them a couple of times but will be good to revisit when Ive listened to the 1001....well some of them..lol Here it is....
|
|