This is a Wilcox Gay Recordio. It's undated, unlabeled and like many others it's origin is somewhat in doubt. It has a metal-core, spins at 78 rpm with an outer-edge start and is 8-Inches in diameter. The recording showcases a solo pianist who breaks meter to bang out a few chords seemingly annoyed by what might have been a sound check.
Ode to an Annoyed Pianist
Despite being undamaged by age, the disc is in rough shape. When it was originally cut, the lathe was bumped and it cut snake-like arcs across many of the grooves. This makes it particularly difficult to get contiguous segments transferred to digital. I managed only about a one-minute segment I consider listenable which is posted above.
This is an 8-Inch, paper-core, Wilcox-Gay Recordio. It's unlabeled and in rough shape. The acetate lacquer coating is spider-cracked throughout, and it's somewhat warped. Where metal-core discs can sometimes be carefully unbent, paper just cracks and de-laminates more with the application of force. Thankfully the recording levels were set pretty high on this recording and it can be heard well above the noise.
"You Come On Out"
As with most discs, condition improves as you approach the center. But with the outer-edge start being the standard (as it is here) much of the recording is in poor shape. I've edited out the worst of it from the start of the recording to spare your ears. Notably at the very end you can hear an emcee speak to the crowd. It appears to be a recording of a live broadcast but he only gets in three words before the recording ends "You come on out..."
This is a paper-core, 8-Inch Wilcox-Gay Recordio. It is not labeled or dated except for the single pencil marking on the sleeve "655 Warren." I would guess that number and name were part of a filing system. The recording itself is pretty peculiar.
655 Warren
It's a recording of two comedians. One man sounds a lot like the Ed Norton Character from the Honeymooners. The other man has a very deep voice which was difficult for the hardware of the time of record. I've compensated with EQ and compression to make him more clear. There is an audience you can hear laugh and titter through out.
This is a 6.5-Inch, metal-core, Wilcox-Gay Recordio. It's the flip side of that Xmas disc I ripped last week. This side was recorded earlier and is labeled with the date 12-25-49. I ripped them out of sequence, purists will just have to get over it. The disc is also labeled "WHITE CHRIST" and the song isn't White Christmas.
Santa Claus Is Coming to Town
As Christmas songs go it's an oldie. The tune was written by John F. Coots and Haven Gillespie in 1934. It's first broadcast was on Eddie Cantor's radio show in November 1934, making it a solid 80 years old now. This recording isn't as clear as the A-side, it had small chip destroying the first couple rotations, and the levels aren't quite as good. Notably the engineer also fumbles the mic early in the tune making that tell-take wiggling cable sound.
This is an Xmas edition of the Transcription Mystery Disc series. This is a 6.5-Inch, metal-core, Wilcox-Gay Recordio. It's dated clearly to 1-10-49. The attribution is just listed as "All The Gang." The other side is the same group (more or less) recording White Christmas on 12-25-1949. I thought this take came out better.
Incidentally, for trivia fans, 1/10/49 was the day of the first Beatles release "Introducing the Beatles," in the United States. It's also the day the 45 RPM 7-Inch record was debuted in the UK. Those three events of course have nothing to do with one another, or Christmas.
Jingle Bells - All the Gang 01-10-1949
**audio expired***
The recording is good, very low noise, very good dynamic range.. it's clear for it's entirety. The recording is of a large group singing together but not a choir, this is a group of amateurs, a whole family or a whole bar full of them. But one thing I must add... not all of these people are sober. the recording is clear enough that you can hear specific voices giggling, singing flat, out of key, wrong verse.. too off to be just horsing around. Somebody had a little egg nog.
This is an 8-Inch, paper-core, Wilcox-Gay Recordio.It's in rough shape. It is shot through with cracks and the acetate coating puckers around all of them. It clearly has been wet. Some damn fools think that wetting a disc can improve playback. It does not. It mutes the finer vibrations of the stylus which you can emulate with a low pass filter. This has the advantage of not destroying the record. Those white spots on the disc are delamination... Anyway, one part of one side of the disc was recoverable.
Always Be Polite
The recording is clearly of radio broadcast. "Always be polite, in fact I can just hear him now, son I want you to always remember to tip your hat to a lady..." It's a segment from a speech about sportsmanship.It could be from a religious program, a children's program.. or since this was probably the late 1940s— virtually any serial involving families. Programming of the golden era really broke ground in production, and new genres but the morality of network shows at the time was just excruciatingly wholesome. If anyone recognizes the narrator... that might narrow it down.
This is a 6.5-Inch paper-core Wilcox-Gay Recordio brand acetate. It is in decent shape and relatively flat but has some marring from having been stored in a stack. It bears some light pencil markings "Dolores + eb + Les for Bev" The other side reads "For Bev - By Dolores." INcreasingly I have issues with paper core acetates. If you store them flat the surface mars from downward pressure. If you store them vertically they warp. There is no right answer. In this case the surface noise varies. I've adjusted the noise filter as much as I could but it's far from perfect.
Shortnin' Bread
This recording is of two children's songs, the first is "Shortnin' Bread" and the second is unintelligible. The tune Shortnin' Bread dates back to at least 1900, and probably longer. It was documented across the south by 1925 attributing to that fact. This version was probably recorded in the late 1940s based on the make of the disc.
This is a paper-core Wilcox-Gay Recordio. As instantaneous home recording discs go... these are about as common as they come. This is a two-sided dist but only one side was used. At first it appeared to be unlabeled, but are some faint pencil markings. It appears to read "Silver Linings."
The disc is broken into two tracks, the second has a little less bed noise but overall it sounds quite good. The recording is a woman singing accapella. But she sings with such glissando I can't understand the words at all. The song is probably some standard I'm not familiar with. Date remains unknown. Any guesses?
This week I ripped the other side of the one from last week since it was so damn interesting. The B-side is unexpected to say the least. It's an old gospel song "What A Friend We Have In Mother." What's odd is that it's the same tune (more or less) as "What A Friend We Have In Jesus," which is the version we're all more familiar with. the lyrics are very different obviously but the melody is unmistakable.
But "What A Friend We Have In Mother." has been covered by many artists: Wilf Carter, the Louvin Brothers, The Peerless Quartet, the Virginia Mountain Boys. The covers of a the Jesus-version are to numerous to mention. The lyrics to the song were written by Joseph M. Scriven as a poem in 1855. the music was written more than a decade later by Charles Crozat Converse.
What a Friend We Have In Mother
The Mother version dates to at last 1924. Interestingly it's credited on the Victor website to Charles E. Rote. [Source] Now while the Mihalia Jackson version is a totally different song than the Louvin brothers take... it's quite clear that Mr. Rote ripped off Converse and Scriven. While that might have flown in 1924... I know some record labels that would have eaten him alive today. Trying a new audio player today.. not working so well.
This is a red Wilcox Gay Recordio. It's 8-inches in diameter, spins at 78 rpm and has a metal core. There is some damage to the outermost grooves but the audio cleans up in about 30 seconds. The disc is unlabeled and comes from that mystery stack I connect to WIP-AM in the mid 1940s.
The opening song starts with the lyrics "When I was union, handsome and only 17." The rest of the song continues as you might expect. This could either be a long lost Union organizer song or a long lost Civil war Union army song. The basic gist is that union guys get all the babes. (I've heard the same thing.)
When I was Union
It's followed by a recording of a crooned version of "Let The Rest Of The World Go By." The singer appears to be Gene Autry, and the narrator is "Gary". The song isn't a part of a program, it's a part of an advertisement for Doublemint Gum. The program is probably Gene Autry's Melody Ranch which was sponsored by Wrigley's.
This is a 6.5 Inch, paper-core Wilcox-Gay Recordio. It spins at 78 rpm and has an outer edge start. One side is labeled "Frankie + Johnny." That side is an recording of a woman singing that very song accapella. It appears completely pedestrian The song dates to at least 1905 [More here] Btu the other side is more unusual.
A Birthday at School
Admittedly the audio isnt' great. I used a noise gate and come filtering to help but it's rough going. It's a recording of a whole class of children greeting a child on their birthday. The sing, and they say their names into the microphone.When the kids get too close to the mic it's actually easier to understand them.. but you can make out the woman's questions... Interestingly.. that sounds like her singing "Frankie and Johnny." School teacher by day, singing songs of lust, betrayal and murder by night...
This is a 6.5-Inch Wilcox-Gay Recordio. It has a metal core and the recording speed is unknown... but it's not 78 rpm. The first side seems to be about 55 rpm the other maybe 60. It's in nice shape even still has a bit of a sheen. The sides are labeled. This one reads "Paul Skippy Piano Boogie Boogie Five (illegible) 12-15-46" The reverse side reads "Florence + Jerry, Piano by Flo Story by Jerry 1948 Five Min More, Feb 5th __ Speed" I was interested.
Skip and Florence
The first side is a cover of Five Minutes More which might have been by Skitch Henderson. The pianist "Skip" is competent. He's probably playing a bit faster than I set the speed but I think I'm within 5%. Around the one minute mark Florence sing three words. Then Mr. Regan plays a short boogie-woogie. The break into a bit of ad lib chatter at the end. On the other side Florence claims to be at a coal mind interviewing "Mortimer" a dumb coal-miner. It's all just an impression of an early radio program. On the bright side around the 4:00 minute mark they break into a dirty joke. It's followed by a medley of piano tunes and a little laughter.
The engineer clearly was experimenting with different playback speeds trying to get more playtime out of 6.5 inch discs. In this case the audio didn't lose much... at least compared to discs of similar make. This recording has survived 68 years to be heard by us today.
This a paper-core Wilcox-Gay Recordio. Those dark marks are actually purplish and undoubtedly oxidation..possibly from iodine. The first side I ripped had only 6 seconds of perceivable audio "Frankie got something... something." The original recorded audio levels were just too low. Bed noise was pretty reasonable but there was no recovering it. The second side was a bit better. It was even labeled "AGAIN with record Helen." The engineers grammar was somewhat lacking but it's what we have to work with.
Helen "Again"
The lyrics are a bit familiar but also pretty trite. It turns out to be a cover of the Doris Day song "Again." That single hit in 1949. The production here is pretty good so I assumed it was a dub but it's a live recording. It's no surprise that there are more versions out there. It's been done by Vic Damone, Tommy Dorsey, Gordon Jenkins, Tom Jones, Art Mooney, and even Mel Torme.
This is a metal-core 6.5-Inch Wilcox Gay Recordio. It spins at 78 rpm and for once it is at least partially labeled. The markings read "Tom + Norm + Ma" and below that more impenetrable cursive "When young ____has turned to ____" Two key nouns have been lost to the vagaries of cursive. (When will this scourge be stamped out?)
Tom + Norm + Ma
Anyway, the recording is of two men singing harmony... they seem a bit tipsy. They are accompanied by a man who laughs loudly and shouts gibberish randomly. I suspect it is he that is accompanying them on piano. Around 1:27 he really gets loud snarling like Animal from the Muppet. It's not the strangest thing I've found on an acetate... but it's up there.
This is a paper-core Wilcox-Gay Recordion acetate recording. It is labeled in pencil on the back side "Dolores Mary ? ? nac lekelede" That last word is in the illegible ancient code known as cursive. the first track is a total loss. But the second shorter track is very clear.
Far Away Places
The three men singing in decent harmony over an organ. It seems implausibel that any of them are Dolores or Mary... perhaps she is manning the organ? The fellows sing just the first verse or so of the old Bing Crosby number "Far Away Places"
Far away places with strange sounding names Far away over the sea Those far away places with strange sounding names Are calling, calling me
Bing Crosby did it, so did Dinah Shore, Sam Cooke, Margaret Whiting, Dean Martin, and Perry Como among others. Most of them covered the tune before 1950. It was written in 1948. But this is clearly a cover of the Bing version which was released in that year. For that reason I'm confident this recording was made between 1948 and 1950.
This is a red Wilcox-Gay Recordio. It has a metal core and is 8-inches in diameter. The disc is wholly unlabeled: no date, no name nada. I have ripped several others from this batch and have been operating under the presumption that they probably originated at WFIL-AM. This one like the others sound like a live radio recording but lack the flat EQ of a dub. They could be amateur, in-studio recordings
Keep Them Cold Icy Fingers Off Of Me
This disc has two tracks. The first is a recognizable song "Keep Your Cold Icy Fingers Off Of Me"which was also recorded by the Carter Family, Fairley Holden, Pee Wee King and even The Stanley Brothers. It dates back to at least 1947. There is some conjecture the song may be related to Blue suede Shoes because of a both the chords and lyrical connections... and the fact that it was known to be in Elvis's repertoire as early as 1952. This version is by none of those artists but certainly dates to 1947 or later because of the releases dates.
This is a metal-core, bright red Wilcox-Gay transcription disc. It spins at 78 rpm and is in pretty nice shape. It is a live radio recording and that makes this acetate also a transcription disc. Phonozoic calls this a "Wilcox-Gay Recordio Type 4A, red lacquer. It's wholly unlabeled of course. I believe it is another recording from that batch that may have originated with WFIL-AM.
Teardrops in my Heart
The recording is of a man singing accompanied by country slide guitar. His singing sounds rushed, uncertain slightly flat at times like he knows there's a station break coming up. At the end of the recording the announcer comes on.The song is "Teardrops in my Heart" which was performed by all everyone in country music: hank Snow, Marty Robbins, Jim Reeves, Freddy Fender.. even Ray Charles covered it. I think it was originally done by the Sons of the Pioneers... in 1948.
Thankfully the other side of the disc wasn't missing such large chunks.This is a 6.5-inch paper-core wilcox-gay recordio. It's wholly unlabeled but don't let that stop conjecture. The recording was noisy but I was able to filter out the worst of it
Giggling Hymns
The recording is of at least 3 women singing a hymn in good harmony. The vocal part is soft, but the giggling is not. I don't recognize the tune, but I and Phonozoic both date these type of Recordio blanks to after 1947.
This is a 6.5 inch Wilcox Gay recordio. It spins at 78 rpm and has an outer edge start. It's labele din pencil "Old Buttermilk Sky" and with the date 12/6/46. The recording is 67 years old. I recognize the song title as "Ole Buttermilk Sky." It was a Hoagy Carmichael tune a pretty hokey one. It was covered a myriad of times: Bob Wills, Willie Nelson, Crystal Gayle, Bill Black's Combo.. etc etc. Ole Buttermilk Sky
This version is a piano instrumental. The playing is totally competent and the recording quality is excellent. I edited out a few pops and nary a nanosecond of the original audio needed altered beyond that. I have a date and a song tile, but we don't know the pianist, just a little mystery left here.
This is a Wilcox-Gay 8-inch paper-core transcription disc. It's fire-engine red which makes it hard to miss, but it also makes it hard to miss the odd dark stains under the acetate coating that I take to be some kind of oxidation. There is no audio problems to correlate to the odds spots that appear on each side. I equate it to foxing, a common occurrence with age in all paper-products coming from iron impurities in the paper. High humidity is assumed to be a factor, which in acetates can also explain spider cracking as that could be caused by any expansion of the paper core. Bummer.
One side is a woman singing at low volume with heavy vibrato. It's entirely unremarkable since I can identify neither song nor singer. She has no accompaniment so I assume it's a home recording demo. But the other side gets weird. Most of the audio is poor, high noise, low volume levels. I hear whistles, numerous voices and strange voice then a man with a British accent breaks in... "I'm talking form KJK, Canada Broadcasting Company..." more voices break in. Laughter, noise, more laughter. Then the voice returns. "Can you hear me, Can you hear me. They say there's a troopship just leaving Bombay, bound for old Blighty's shore, heavily laden with time expired men, bound for the land they adore. There's many an servicemen just finishing his time, there's many a twerp signing on, you can get no promotion this side of the ocean, so by god my lads, bless 'em all..." Then more noise and more strange commentary...
Bless 'em All - George Formby
The line about Bombay is a mangled quote from a song recorded by George Formby Jr. called "Bless 'em All." It came out in 1940. But more importantly Formby was a comic who served in the Royal Naval Airforce. The song was a popular protest song by British airmen in the 1920s. Many of his songs were considered too bawdy for broadcasting by the BBC. The disc is clearly post 1940 because it has a paper core, but I'd guess it was in the hands of British servicemen, not Americans.
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