Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry, 1890-1919

Select CD Discography

select cd discography In the course of my research I compiled discographies of all the artists in this book, with full details on their issued and unissued recordings. Unfortunately these lengthy listings would fill another book, so for this volume a brief summary of CD reissues, some of which I am proud to have contributed to, will have to suffice. The emphasis is on reissues of recordings from the cylinder and 78-rpm era (a few artists such as Eubie Blake and Roland Hayes continued to record into the LP era). Some of these CDs are themselves now out of print, but it should be possible to obtain most of them from dealers in new or used records. It is worth the search to hear the voices and sounds of African American culture nearly one hundred years ago. It is a shame that more of this heritage is not currently available. (An asterisk indicates that the full CD title is at the end of the discography.) The Internet is an excellent source for tracking down these recordings, as well as original 78s and LPs. A list of Web sites for some of the labels is at the end; others may be found by using your favorite search engine. Note that most labels reissuing early African American recordings are specialist and/or located overseas, a consequence of both the disinterest shown by the major labels and the oppressive copyright laws in the United States. Chapters 1–3: George W. Johnson Emile Berliner’s Gramophone: The Earliest Discs, Symposium 1058 (“The Laughing Song”) Brown Wax Cylinder Phonograph Recordings: 1898, Sage (“The Laughing Song”) The 1890s, Vol. 1: Wipe Him Off the Land, Archeophone 9004 (“The Whistling Coon,” “The Laughing Song”) Chapter 4: The Unique Quartette Earliest Negro Vocal Groups, Vol. 2, Document DOCD 5288 (“Mamma’s Black Baby Boy”) *American Pop, West Hill WH-1017 (“Mama’s Black Baby Boy”) Too Late, Too Late, Vol. 8, Document DOCD 5574 (“Who Broke the Lock”) Chapter 5: Louis “Bebe” Vasnier Too Late, Too Late, Vol. 4, Document DOCD 5321 (“Brudder Rasmus”) Chapter 6: The Standard Quartette The Earliest Negro Vocal Quartets, Document DOCD 5061 (“Keep Movin’”) Earliest Negro Vocal Groups, Vol. 2, Document DOCD 5288 (“Every Day’ll Be Sunday”) Brown Wax Cylinder Phonograph Recordings: 1895–1897, Sage (“Poor Mourner”) 09.DISC.581-588_Broo 12/17/03, 1:48 PM 581 582 select cd discography Chapter 7: The Kentucky Jubilee Singers No recordings by this group are even known to exist, much less be reissued. Chapter 8: Bert Williams and George Walker Music from the New York Stage, Vols. 1–4, Pearl GEMM CDS 9050-61 (19 titles) Bert Williams: The Remaining Titles, Document DOCD 5661 (24 titles) Bert Williams: His Final Releases, 1919–1922, Archeophone 5002 (24 titles) Bert Williams: The Middle Years, 1910–1918, Archeophone 5003 (26 titles) Bert Williams: The Early Years, 1901–1909, Archeophone 5004 (31 titles) Nobody and Other Songs, Smithsonian Folkways RF602 (14 titles) *American Pop, West Hill WH-1017 (“Nobody”—1906 version) This Is Art Deco, Columbia CK-57111 (“Nobody”—1913 version) Star Spangled Rhythm, Smithsonian Collection 111 (“Nobody”—version?) 1913: Come and See the Big Parade, Archeophone 9005 (“Woodman, Spare That Tree”) Jazz/Some Beginnings, Smithsonian Folkways RF031 (“You Can’t Get Away from It”) A Tribute to Black Entertainers, Columbia/Legacy C2K 52454 (“The Moon Shines on the Moonshine”) Music of Prohibition, Sony 65326 (“The Moon Shines on the Moonshine”) Pop Music, The Early Years 1890–1950, Columbia/Epic/Legacy J2K 65788 (“The Moon Shines on the Moonshine”) (CD also included in set Sony Music 100 Years: Soundtrack for a Century, Columbia 65750) 1920: Even Water’s Getting Weaker, Archeophone 9001 (“Moon Shines on the Moonshine ”) *Rhapsodies in Black, Rhino 79874 (“Brother Low Down”) Voices of Black America, Naxos NA224812 (four monologues) Chapter 9: Cousins and DeMoss Too Late, Too Late, Vol. 2, Document DOCD 5216 (“Poor Mourner”) *American Pop, West Hill WH-1017 (“Poor Mourner”) Chapter 10: Thomas Craig No known reissues. Chapter 11: The Dinwiddie Quartet The Earliest Negro Vocal Quartets, Document DOCD 5061 (5 titles) Earliest Negro Vocal Groups, Vol. 2, Document DOCD 5288 (“My Way Is Cloudy”) Chapter 12: Carroll Clark *American Pop, West Hill WH-1017 (“De Little Old Log Cabin in De Lane”) Chapter 13: Charley Case Voices of Black America, Naxos NA224812 (three titles) *Before Radio, Archeophone 1002 (“How Mother Made the Soup”) 09.DISC.581-588_Broo 5/26/05, 12:27 PM 582 [18.118.0...