78s for late Octorber--Maple Leaf Rag, Rainy Day Blues, Egyptian Dancer, more!

Who is notorious for being glorious?  Lila, of course.  Lila was one of my favorite dance band records from my young days, which is the only reason I know the answer.

Some new 78s--new to my collection, that is.  All were ripped and edited by me using my VinylStudio and MAGIX Audio Cleaning Lab MX programs.

My copy of the marvelous Victor Arden-Phil Ohman two-piano version of Maple Leaf Rag has some needle damage, so I was expecting some distortion--and, sure enough, it has some.  But I saved the day, and the disc, by using the left channel only and putting on some filtering.  The results are pretty good.

Some highly un-PC stuff here, from a day when un-PC was the norm--Chong (He Come From Hong Kong); Where Do You Work-a, John?; and Pekin Peeks.  I actually don't know what "Pekin Peeks" means, but I suspect a slur.  I see online that it was copyrighted in 1916 by Herman Avery Wade.  Now we know.  As for the Oriental Woodwind Orchestra, I'm guessing it's an American outfit recording for an ethnic audience, since they're on the green Columbia label, and because few things sound more totally made up than "Oriental Woodwind Orchestra."  But who knows?

Meanwhile, Joseph C. Smith's Rainy Day Blues is top-of-the-line early dance music, and, though the label mentions no vocalist, someone is singing on it.  No help from Brian Rust's American Dance Band Discography, and I can't i.d. the voice, so maybe we'll never know.  I wonder if it could be Smith himself?  Whoever it was, I hope he didn't quit his day job.

The Virginians, who accompany Jane Green on the two Mamma songs, were a subgroup of the Paul Whiteman Orchestra, led by clarinetist Ross Gorman, famous for his Rhapsody in Blue opening glissando.

The magnificent Prince's Band version of Chinatown, My Chinatown is from a badly worn disc, and I have yet to find another, better copy, but the arrangement and performance are so superb, I just had to share it, anyway.  I cheated a bit during the editing, replacing the hopelessly noisy opening with a portion from later in the disc (where the intro is repeated note for note).  I can hear the edits, but that's because I know where they are.  Note the use of Alabama Jubilee as a refrain, and forty years before the famous Ferko String Band version.  To the 78s....



DOWNLOAD: 78s for October




Maple Leaf Rag--Tap Dance--Victor Arden-Phil Ohman, Two pianos, 1930
Egyptian Dancer--Oriental Woodwind Orchestra, pre-1925
Pekin Peeks--Oriental Woodwind Orchestra, pre-1925
Chong--Medley Fox Trot--Joseph C. Smith's Orch., 1919
Sometimes--Medley Fox Trot--Same
Mamma Loves Papa, Papa Loves Mamma--Jane Green, Comedienne w. The Virginians, 1923
Mamma Goes Where Papa Goes or Papa Doesn't Go Out To-night--Same.
The Vamp (One-step)--Waldorf-Astoria Singing Orch., Dir. Joseph Knecht, 1919
In the Evening (Donaldson)--Jean Goldkette and His Orch., 1924
Where the Lazy Daisies Grow--Same
I Love the College Girls--Waring's Pennsylvanians, w. vocal chorus, 1926
Where Do You Work-a, John?--Same
I Wonder Where We've Met Before--Goodrich Silvertown Cord O., Dir. Joseph M. Knecht, v: Joseph M. White, 1925
Lila--Waring's Pennsylvanians, v: Tom Waring and chorus, 1928
Hello Montreal!--Same, but v: Fred Waring
Chinatown, My Chinatown--Prince's Band, 1915
Out of the East--Joseph C. Smith's Orch., 1919
Rainy Day Blues--Same, w. unknown vocalist


Lee