Transciption Mystery Disc #138

This is a 5.5 inch paper core disc similar to a Voice-O-Graph. If you can't make out the scribble it says "Original SR Blues."  That is the kind of thing one might call... promising. The other side is unlabeled, no artist, no date. But the blank brand is a new to me. The address, 717 South Fremont Street in Alhambra, California is now an IHOP. No help there. Nor can I find any listings for the Slick Tone Recording MFG Co.  This one is a genuine mystery.

Original SR Blues



It's recorded at 78 rpm with an outer edge start, the wear is normal, minus a brutal crack that makes tracking a mofo. I made several attempts on each side and edited out the pops with extreme prejudice.The first 10 seconds have several bad skips. The recording is a duet with clarinet and piano both clearly professionals laying down some SF Dixie land. SR could be an abbreviation for Senior in the elderly sense of the word, or the last year of school sense of the word. It could be a man's initials, or maybe an ode to Strontium, [SR] atomic element #38. I lean toward it being the composers initials, probably the pianist. There is a long standing blues idiom of eponymous songs such as the "Old Original Kokomo Blues" By Kokomo Arnold. But this one remains unknown. My only date guess is that Schlitz Beer's tagline in 1943 was also "Smooth as a Waltz"  So I guess is early 1940s. Reader ideas are welcome.