Phonograph Monthly Review, Vol. 1, No. 12 (1927-09)

The Phonograph Monthly Review 497 Dawn is Stealing (2575, Elizabeth Lennox—with Lieurance’s By The Waters of Minnetonka). VICTOR *35749 and *19556—Skilton: Suite Primeval- Gambling Song, Deer Dance, Sioux Flute Serenade, and War Dance (Victor Concert Orchestra). (These records were made sometime later than the Columbia set of Skilton’s Suite, just before the acoustical process was abandoned, and conse- quently possess a slight edge of superiority from a mechan- ical standpoint. The performances of both orchestras are praiseworthy.) *20043 Chant of the Eagle Dance and Chant of the Snake Dance (Hopi Indian Chanters), electric. 17611—Medicine Song, White Dog Song, and Grass Dance (Glacier Park Indians). 18444—Penobscot Tribal Songs (Princess Watahwaso), his- torical list. 18431—Lieurance: Sioux Serenade and By the Waters of Minnetonka (Princess Watahwaso). The latter is also on 564 (Culp), 527 (Alda), 1015 (Chemet, violinist), etc. 17635—Gambler’s Song (Glacier Park Indians) and Navajo Indian Songs (Geoffrey O’Hara). 659—Cadman: From the Land of the Sky-Blue Water (Gluck); also 851, etc. *45495—Cadman: Spring Song of the Robin Woman from “Shanewis” and Her Shadow—Ojibway Canoe Song (Elsie Baker), electric. 18418—Lieurance: A-oo-ah, Her Blanket, and By The Weep- ing Waters (Watahwaso). (For convenience, composed songs making use of Indian material are listed here instead of later. The authentic songs by native Indians are of course the most valuable, especially those by the Hopi Chanters—a very significant record. Many investigators of Indian life have made private recordings of their songs, some of which are perhaps available to students in the Smithsonian or other Institutes. The authentic ma- terial available in regular catalogues may seem small, but, naturally, the demand for such recordings is small. The way of progress would seem to lie in the direction of electrical re-recording of the Skilton suite and other works making use of Indian themes, which in their original form are so primi- tive as to have—for the most part—very little appeal. Be- sides the records listed of the Lieurance and Cadman songs, there are of course many others.) COWBOY SONGS VICTOR *20122—Cowboy’s Dream, and O Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie (Carl T. Sprague), electric—from the John A. Lomax collection. 20067—Cowboy Love Song, and Following the Cow Trail (Sprague), electric. 45387—Rounded Up in Glory, and Roundup Lullaby (Royal Dadmun), historical list. 19059—Cowboy Song: Whoopee Ti Yi Yo, and Levee Song —I’ve Been Working on de Railroad (Glenn and the Shan- non Quartet) Withdrawn (The Levee song belongs to a class of semi-folk songs not dealt with in the main article; with it might be classed some college songs, and others—many of them widely known by tradition, but seldom printed, usually because of the racy nature of the words. Spaeth touches on this remarkable literature, but I do not know of any extended study—a fertile subject for someone!) COLUMBIA A-3085—The Dying Cowboy and Jesse James (Bentley Ball), Educational list. BRUNSWICK 156—The Roving Cowboy, and The Little Mohee—Indian Song (Buel Kazee), electric. MINSTREL TUNES, COUNTRY DANCES, MOUNTAINEER BALLADS, ETC. (Refer to the Columbia and Victor Educational catalogues for complete lists of country dance records, as played for dancing. For mountaineer ballads and dances see particularly the Southern series issued by the Columbia and Okeh com- panies; most of these works, however, are properly to be grouped in the popular and semi-folk music class, they are mentioned here for convenience.) VICTOR 20447—Money Musk 1 and 2, and Virginia Reels (Victor Orchestra), electric. 30592—Soldiers’ Joy, Hornpipes, Old Zip Coon (Victor Or- chestra), electric. 20638-*9—Quadrille Figures (Chillicothe, Virginny Shore, O Susannah, Arkansas Traveler, Captain Jinks, and Rosin the Bow) and Sicilian Circle (Uncle Steve, Mrs. Monroe’s Jig, and We’re on the Road to Boston), (Victor Orchestra), elec- tric. (See reviews of Educational lists in April and Septem- ber 1927 issues of this magazine.) COLUMBIA A-3076-7-8-9—Arkansas Traveler, White Cock- ade, Hull’s Victory, Pop Goes the Weasel, Jolly is the Miller, etc. (Prince’s Band), Educational list. A-2018, 2140, 2575, etc.—Mississippi Sawyer, Arkansas Trav- eler, Devil’s Dream, Old Zip Coon (Don Richardson, fiddler). (See also records by Henry Ford’s Old Fashioned Dance Orchestra in the Columbia, Victor, Okeh and Edison cata- logues.) Ballads: Columbia A-3083—Bangum and the Boar, and The Gallows Tree (Bentley Ball). See also ballads by Vernon Dalhart, Riley Puckett, Gid Tanner, A1 Craver, Carson Rob- ison, Ernest Thompson, Kelly Harrell, Ernest V. Stoneman, etc., in the Columbia, Brunswick, Edison, Okeh, and Victor catalogues. For Mountaineer dances see also under the above, most of whom lead dance orchestras (Gid Tanner Skillet Lickers, Dalhart’s Texas Panhandlers, etc.). Also Charlie Poole’s No. Carolina Ramblers and the Blue Ridge High- ballers for Columbia; Buckle Busters for Brunswick, and others. COLUMBIA *2002-M—Guion: Turkey in the Straw (Grain- ger, pianist). *2000-M—Spoon River (Grainger). Mentioned in the ar- ticle. Sea Shanties (see article; also refer to “The Gramophone,” Vol. IV, page 436, for an article on English shanty records). COLUMBIA 7104-M—Grainger: Scotch Strathspey and Reel (Grainger Singers and Players); contains the shanty, “What’ll We Do with a Drunken Sailor?” Miscellaneous: See medleys of folk songs and national airs in all catalogues. Also refer to Olin Downes’ book, The Lure of Music, and Agnes M. Fryberger’s Listening Lessons in Music, both of which deal with many records of folk music. NEGRO FOLK MUSIC BRUNSWICK—See catalogue for records of spirituals by the Dixie Jubilee Singers, various College Glee Clubs, and others. COLUMBIA—See catalogue for many spirituals by the Fisk University Jubilee Singers and Male Quartet. VICTOR—See catalogue for spirituals by Paul Robison and Lawrence Brown (particularly Bye and Bye—19743, Hear de Lam’s A-cryin’—20604, Were You There?—19742; all elec- tric). Also choral and Quartet records by the Utica Institute Jubilee Singers and the Tuskegee Institute Quartet. *20135—Spirituals and The Boll Weevil (Carl Sandburg), ele'ctric. (A most unusual record by the noted poet, valuable both on account of his name and for the songs themselves.) 6594—Two Spirituals (Flonzaley Quartet), electric. Records of the popular pieces like Deep River, Swing Low Sweet Chariot, will be found in all catalogues and are too numerous to list here. For “blues,” both vocal and instrumental, see the “race record” lists of the Columbia, Okeh, Vocalion, and Victor Companies. Some of the best blues singers are: Lena Wil- son, Clara and Bessie Smith, Ethel Waters, George Williams, Rosa Henderson, Lonnie Johnson, Victoria Spivey, Sippie Wallace. See also Okeh records by Sissle and Blake. Jimmie Johnson is perhaps the most remarkable blues pianist; note especially Columbia* *A-3950 (Worried and Lonesome Blues, and Weeping Blues). Frank Waller is recording blues for the movie organ for Victor. POPULAR MUSIC For a list of Stephen Foster’s works, see the January 1927 issue of this magazine. Sousa’s Marches are found in the catalogues of all the recording companies; Victor issues the recordings of his own band. See also various patriotic and national songs, medleys, fantasies, College songs, and the like. The best of the light popular music is contained in the records of operettas by Herbert, de Koven, Romberg, Friml, etc. See medleys issued by Light Opera Companies for Bruns- wick, Columbia, Edison, Victor. It is manifestly impossible to list any specific records, as —at the most—only a few could be given, and would be hardly even representative. The instrumental records of the various companies’ Salon or Light Orchestras and bands; the vocal records of popular singers, most of whom record for all the companies; transcriptions of popular songs by lead- ing instrumentalists (Kreisler, et al.) ; and—best of all—the current supplements of the recording companies and the re-