100 Great Records Of The 1920s.

[Jonathan Bogart]

I'm doing a new thing (http://aceterrier.com/?p=313), which the old-timers around here are used to by now. (Previous similar things are here (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=190762), here (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=173789), here (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=152086), and here (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=139517).)

Talk about it here if you want, or there if that's your preference. The first ten should be up later tonight.

[Jonathan Bogart]

The first ten should be up later tonight.
Okay, tomorrow night. Damn.

[Jonathan Bogart]

Well, it's closer to the morning of the next day, but here we are (http://aceterrier.com/?p=314). And good night.

[twilight]

Bogart,you are insane,incredibly informative but insane.

Can't wait for more.

-Twi

[jesse_custer]

Sometimes I feel I'm finally exploring this large universe called music.

Then I read Jonathan Bogart and realize I've been sitting on the bench for 23 years.

[beetheb]

Then I read Jonathan Bogart and realize I've been sitting on the bench for 23 years.Yes, one thing I can say about JB is he's embracing music on a whole other level from me. Great article.

OT: Liked the cartoons as well, Jonathan. Very inspired work.

[Jessica Drew]

Best work to date, JB. About as impressive a piece of critical popular music analysis as I've read.

Whether you agree or not, I'm going to edit all your ramblings, and we're getting a book deal from these.

[Jonathan Bogart]

Thanks for the kinds words, everyone.

Because of the increased amount of thought and research I'm having to put into these writeups, there's no way I can manage daily updates this time; they'll have to be every two days. I'm still hoping to be done before school starts up again in mid-January.

[rick]

Jon, I am just amazed sometimes with your brain.

How do you manage to fit all of that information in there????

This is off to a very nice start.

[Jonathan Bogart]

Well, I am cribbing off Wikipedia and other, (paper!), repositories of information, too.

And, finally, the next ten (http://aceterrier.com/?p=339) are up.

I'm going to stop writing them in tens; from now on, whenever I finish an entry, it'll be posted. Again, comments are welcome. (Please.)

[GRANT!]

This list is the cats pajammas.

[berk]

You picked one of my least well-liked songs from Showboat. But I haven't listened to this version yet.

Great idea with the mp3s, BTW.

[Jonathan Bogart]

You picked one of my least well-liked songs from Showboat. But I haven't listened to this version yet.
I would've done "Ol' Man River," but Paul Robeson is otherwise engaged.

The best version of "Bill" I've heard (with Wodehouse's original lyrics) isn't on CD. It was sung during this (http://www.npr.org/templates/dmg/dmg.php?prgCode=FA&showDate=25-Dec-2001&segNum=1&NPRMediaPref=RM) radio program, which I recorded the songs from.

Almost forgot: updated (http://aceterrier.com)!

[berk]

I would've done "Ol' Man River," but Paul Robeson is otherwise engaged.

The best version of "Bill" I've heard (with Wodehouse's original lyrics) isn't on CD. It was sung during this (http://www.npr.org/templates/dmg/dmg.php?prgCode=FA&showDate=25-Dec-2001&segNum=1&NPRMediaPref=RM) radio program, which I recorded the songs from.

Almost forgot: upated (http://aceterrier.com)!It's a good song. But I've never found it really fit too well in Showboat, so interesting to see it was transplanted into that show.

[Jonathan Bogart]

'Nother update (http://aceterrier.com/).

[berk]

First time I've heard Pan-American Blues - I wonder if this is where whoever wrote Orange Blossom Special got his, er, inspiration from?

[Jonathan Bogart]

First time I've heard Pan-American Blues - I wonder if this is where whoever wrote Orange Blossom Special got his, er, inspiration from?
It's possible (credits for "Orange Blossom Special" are here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Blossom_Special_%28song%29)), but trains were an important component of Southern musical culture in the 1920s and 30s, and imitating the sound of one isn't a difficult idea to come up with.

[Jonathan Bogart]

Sorry for the slow-moving updates here; I'm hoping to burn through them in the coming week. But for now, here's one (http://aceterrier.com/?p=388).

[Jonathan Bogart]

And here's another (http://aceterrier.com/?p=390).

[Jonathan Bogart]

And another (http://aceterrier.com/?p=392), and another (http://aceterrier.com/?p=394), and another (http://aceterrier.com/?p=396).

[Jonathan Bogart]

Couple more (http://aceterrier.com).

[Jakubs]

Amazing site you have there my friend. I love all kinds of music, but I have absolutely knowledge of the 1920s. Thank you for an informative and entertaining experience.

[Jonathan Bogart]

I don't remember when I last said there were updates, but there's been more (http://aceterrier.com/) since then.

[Jonathan Bogart]

It's about goddamn time (http://aceterrier.com).

I'm hesitant to make any predictions as to how it'll go from here on out -- my schedule's filling up fast -- but I will try to do one every day.

[Jonathan Bogart]

This is a really good one (http://aceterrier.com/?p=430).

[Jonathan Bogart]

I suppose everyone's bored with this by now, but I'll keep doing it (http://aceterrier.com/?p=431).

[Adam C]

I suppose everyone's bored with this by now, but I'll keep doing it (http://aceterrier.com/?p=431).

Hardly, I just haven't had time to make witty comments (beyond the usual praise) and the slow pace means the thread gets moved far down from time to time.

That said your analogizing this song to hip-hop was amazing. (So who would be the Ghostface of the 20s?)

[berk]

Yeah, I'm still listening and enjoying, just haven't had anything to say, beyond a superfluous "Nice!" or "Good one!" Keep it up, Jonathan.

[Jessica Drew]

I suppose everyone's bored with this by now, but I'll keep doing it (http://aceterrier.com/?p=431).

Don't stop, man. Your shit is the shit.

[Jonathan Bogart]

(So who would be the Ghostface of the 20s?)
You'll have to wait till #7 for the answer.

[Jonathan Bogart]

I guess what I was saying is that I'm getting bored with it (especially since I've hit all my usual marks by now), but I won't stop (http://aceterrier.com/?p=432).

[Jonathan Bogart]

New update. (http://aceterrier.com/?p=495)

[Jonathan Bogart]

May be a touch of controversy this time (http://aceterrier.com/?p=498).

[Jonathan Bogart]

This (http://aceterrier.com/?p=500) still counts as Saturday's, right?

[Adam C]

May be a touch of controversy this time (http://aceterrier.com/?p=498).

On this board? Not likely.

Though I admit I had no idea that cabaret blues was to lesbian or bi women performers in 1920s music what disco was to gay musicians in the 1970s. (Or synth-pop in the 1980s.)

And Paul Robeson. I remember first hearing him on CBC Radio 2 in the morning when the music alarm on my old clock-radio went off. I think was some musical number and I was just blown away by his voice. However I missed his name (the radio host did describe him as sounding like "Darth Vader" - well if Vader wasn't a cyborg on a respirator and instead went into show business) and it was the days before internet download services and before I took much of an active interest in music. Take that with the fact that the town I was living at the time was a backwater on the margins of civilisation (e.g.; it did not have a book or comic book store) there wasn't much means or reason to follow-up. Yet years later when I heard him sing again I clearly recognised it was the same man. That booming, deep voice is utterly impossible to replicate (much like Johnny Rotten's distinctive rant oddly enough).

[Jonathan Bogart]

Though I admit I had no idea that cabaret blues was to lesbian or bi women performers in 1920s music what disco was to gay musicians in the 1970s. (Or synth-pop in the 1980s.)
Actually, now that I've thought a little more about it, a surprisingly large percentage of public women in the 1920s (and on both decades to either side) were gay or bi. I may have to revise my thesis.

And there's a new one up (http://aceterrier.com/?p=502).

[Jonathan Bogart]

And again (http://aceterrier.com/?p=504).

[Jonathan Bogart]

And again (http://aceterrier.com/?p=506).

[Jonathan Bogart]

And again (http://aceterrier.com/?p=514). (Don't think I mentioned this one (http://aceterrier.com/?p=508) either.)

There's also other stuff (http://aceterrier.com/?cat=4) going down on my blog. Hey, more free mp3s.

[Adam C]

And again (http://aceterrier.com/?p=506).

From the piece:

...and the music of southern and western America, whether white or black, which Harry Smith defined (with a certain amount of willful inaccuracy) as folk.

Heh, reminds me that I just read Elijah Wald's Escaping the Delta: the story of Robert Johnson and the Blues. It was interesting discovering that "folk" (at least American folk, or a great deal of it) might just be the construction of white, urban intellectuals misconstruing certain popular musical styles of the day according to their own prejudices. Folk is really pop. There's something comforting about that notion.

[Jonathan Bogart]

Crippling depression aside (none of your business), we're back (http://aceterrier.com/?p=520).

[Jonathan Bogart]

And two months later, we're halfway through (http://aceterrier.com/?p=533).

[Jonathan Bogart]

Over the hump now. Nothing but smooth sailing (http://aceterrier.com/?p=539) from now on.

(Yeah. Right.)

[Jonathan Bogart]

Finally (http://aceterrier.com/?p=558), again.

[mgs]

very interesting project Mr. Bogart. Very cool even though I know next to nothing of this era of music.

[Jonathan Bogart]

Thanks. This next one's (http://aceterrier.com/?p=563) a good one.

[Jonathan Bogart]

And again (http://aceterrier.com/?p=568).

[Jonathan Bogart]

I'm guessing this next one (http://aceterrier.com/?p=573) won't be very popular. But I like it.

[Jonathan Bogart]

Heigh-ho. Another day, another update (http://aceterrier.com/?p=578).

[Jonathan Bogart]

Still trucking along (http://aceterrier.com/?p=584).

[Jonathan Bogart]

Just when you thought it was safe not to look at this thread any more (http://aceterrier.com/?p=589)...

[Jonathan Bogart]

Another one that I doubt anyone else can get behind (http://aceterrier.com/?p=595).

[mattx110]

Another one that I doubt anyone else can get behind (http://aceterrier.com/?p=595).
Actually a big fan of Noel Coward. Haven't heard much of his music. I hope there are some tapes of his one man show floating around somewhere... Something about a man who writes himself into his plays as a sex-god capable of attracting man woman and child.

[hoffmandu]

When did Aerosmiths 1st one come out?

[Jessica Drew]

Another one that I doubt anyone else can get behind (http://aceterrier.com/?p=595).

I'm too big a Woody Allen fan not to get behind this charming tune, and I have a special little room in my heart for Coward, for it was in his comedy Blithe Spirit that I met my wife.

Love this record, and I'm glad that you added it to your list. It's a sweet song, and it makes me smile.

[Jonathan Bogart]

Another two-fer (http://aceterrier.com/?p=614). Good stuff.

[Jonathan Bogart]

This one (http://aceterrier.com/?p=616) was even something of a revelation to me this week.

[Jonathan Bogart]

Any thoughts? Anyone (http://aceterrier.com/?p=622)?

[Jessica Drew]

Great little melody, there--the thing gets stuck in your head after a short while. I've been listening to it again and again, and it's rather pleasant and wistful, with a bit of soul in the humming.

The clarity, though, of the recording is phenomenal.

I've loved all of these; please don't stop.

[berk]

I've fallen way behind on this, but I'm looking forward to having a good time some afternoon catching up on all this music you're making available here that I've been missing out on. Next time I have a day off I'll probably go through the whole thing.

[Jonathan Bogart]

Great little melody, there--the thing gets stuck in your head after a short while.
That's Gershwin for you; he was better than all four Beatles put together at coming up with original, surprising, elegant, and tuneful melodies.

[Jonathan Bogart]

A bit of arguing with long-dead critics in this one, but oh well (http://aceterrier.com/?p=627).

[Jonathan Bogart]

Some of you guitar players might be interested in this one (http://aceterrier.com/?p=633).

[Jonathan Bogart]

Keepin' on keepin' on (http://aceterrier.com/?p=635).

[Jonathan Bogart]

I've fallen way behind on this, but I'm looking forward to having a good time some afternoon catching up on all this music you're making available here that I've been missing out on. Next time I have a day off I'll probably go through the whole thing.
Don't put off downloading them; once I'm finished, the mp3s won't be available for much longer. (Companies do hold the rights to these recordings.) I'm looking into streaming them instead.

[Jonathan Bogart]

Sorry no updates the past few days; baseball season has begun.

Two-thirds done (http://aceterrier.com/?p=637). One-third to go.

[Jonathan Bogart]

And again, and again (http://aceterrier.com/?p=644).

[Jonathan Bogart]

And so on, and so on (http://aceterrier.com/?p=646)...

[Jonathan Bogart]

Sorry, no new song today. But I have added streaming mp3s to my 1980s (http://aceterrier.com/?page_id=208) and 1950s (http://aceterrier.com/?page_id=4) pages, for anyone who may be interested (still working on the 1970s page). Only 128kbps, and you can't download them (unless you know a trick or two). I'll be doing the same once I finish this list, and on subsequent lists. (I'm afraid there will be subsequent lists. Forewarned is forearmed. (Of course, four-armed is half a octopus, and who wants to be that? (Sorry; bit light-headed at the moment.)))

Thank you for your time.

[Jonathan Bogart]

The 1970s (http://aceterrier.com/?page_id=3) page has streaming mp3s now too, plus I changed the pictures so that they match the dimensions of the pictures on the other pages. (OCD? Moi?) I'll get back to finishing the 20s list asap.

In the meantime ... thoughts?

[Jonathan Bogart]

Back from the dead, as the Adverts song goes.

Here's one. (http://aceterrier.com/?p=753) More on their way, now that finals are (almost) over and I can devote all my time to laying around the house, I mean working on this list.

[Jessica Drew]

Speaking of streaming media and finals, my students and I (much more so the latter) are thoroughly enjoying your best-of '50s, '70s, & '80s lists whilst typing and revising (and grading) final-exam research papers (though many of the students turned their ears up at the '20s songs I played--go figure, huh).

[Jonathan Bogart]

I'm stepping up production just to get it over with, so here (http://aceterrier.com/?p=755) are ten (count 'em, ten) entries. Hoping to be done by Thursday.

[Jonathan Bogart]

And five (http://aceterrier.com/?p=770) more.

[Jonathan Bogart]

And five (http://aceterrier.com/?p=764) more.

We're in the home stretch, folks. Fasten your seatbelts, return your trays to their locked and upright positions, and order your last rounds. Final ten, coming right up.

[Jonathan Bogart]

Allright, here's seven (http://aceterrier.com/?p=583). Place your bets for the final three now. I gotta go pick up Crocker from the airport.

[Jessica Drew]

Allright, here's seven (http://aceterrier.com/?p=583). Place your bets for the final three now. I gotta go pick up Crocker from the airport.

Betty?

tententen

[Jonathan Bogart]

Betty?
Adam. He's a poster here; we had pizza and went home early like two nerds should.

One more is up (http://aceterrier.com/?p=787). I've gotta run right now; I had no idea I'd be so busy this week. Final two to come when they come.

[Jonathan Bogart]

Done (http://aceterrier.com/?p=788) and doner (http://aceterrier.com/?p=789).

Night.

[Jonathan Bogart]

And as promised, here's (http://aceterrier.com/?page_id=551) the single-page list with streamable songs.

For those unwilling to make the trek but who still have the necessary context to make any sense out of the following barrage of names and titles, the final list (which changed only once from the list I put together at the beginning; I swapped out "Dinah" for "Am I Blue?" at #31) is as follows:

100. Al Jolson, “Swanee”
99. The Elders McIntorsh & Edwards’ Sanctified Singers, “Since I Laid My Burden Down”
98. Clarence Ashley, “The Coo Coo Bird”
97. Victoria Spivey, “My Handy Man”
96. Frank Crumit, “Mountain Greenery”
95. Edith Day, “Alice Blue Gown”
94. Chubby Parker & His Old-Time Banjo, “King Kong Kitchie Kitchie-Ki-Me-O”
93. Johnny Dunn, “Johnny Dunn’s Cornet Blues”
92. Andrés Segovia, “Recuerdos De La Alhambra”
91. Ruth Etting, “Love Me Or Leave Me”
90. Gertrude Lawrence, “Do, Do, Do”
89. Noble Sissle, “Love Will Find A Way”
88. Gid Tanner’s Skillet Lickers, “Hell’s Broke Loose In Georgia”
87. Emmett Miller, “Lovesick Blues”
86. Sexteto Nacional, “Siboney”
85. Eddie Condon Quartet, “Indiana”
84. George Gershwin, “Sweet And Low Down”
83. The Carolina Tar Heels, “Peg And Awl”
82. Maurice Chevalier, “Louise”
81. Helen Morgan, “Bill”
80. Polk Miller’s Old South Quartette, “Oysters And Wine At 2 A.M.”
79. Ted Lewis & His Orchestra, “Is Everybody Happy Now?”
78. DeFord Bailey, “Pan American Blues”
77. Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra, “Copenhagen”
76. Bessie Smith, “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out”
75. Frank Stokes, “How Long”
74. Eddie Cantor, “If You Knew Susie (Like I Know Susie)”
73. James P. Johnson, “Keep Off The Grass”
72. Ory’s Sunshine Orchestra, “Society Blues”
71. Ida Cox, acc. Lovie Austin & Her Blues Serenaders, “Blues Ain’t Nothin’ Else But!”
70. Walter Pidgeon, “What’ll I Do?”
69. Bert Williams, “Brother Low Down”
68. Louis Armstrong & His Hot Five, “Heebie Jeebies”
67. Blind Lemon Jefferson, “See That My Grave Is Kept Clean”
66. Fats Waller & Morris’ Hot Babies, “Red Hot Dan”
65. Irène Bordoni, “Let’s Misbehave”
64. Jim Jackson, “Jim Jackson’s Kansas City Blues Part 1”
63. Fred Astaire & Adele Astaire, “I’d Rather Charleston”
62. Crockett Ward & His Boys, “Sugar Hill”
61. Duke Ellington & His Orchestra, “Black And Tan Fantasy”
60. Bix Beiderbecke, “In A Mist”
59. Ma Rainey’s Georgia Jazz Band, “Prove It On Me Blues”
58. Paul Robeson, “Deep River”
57. Blind Willie Johnson, “Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground”
56. Al Jolson, “April Showers”
55. Henry Thomas, “Fishing Blues”
54. Nick Lucas, “Side By Side”
53. Rosa Henderson, “Hard Hearted Hannah”
52. Fanny Brice, “My Man”
51. Wendell Hall, “It Ain’t Gonna Rain No Mo’”
50. Paul Whiteman & George Gershwin, “Rhapsody In Blue”
49. Zez Confrey & His Orchestra, “Kitten On The Keys”
48. Carl T. Sprague, “When The Work’s All Done This Fall”
47. Eubie Blake, “Sounds Of Africa”
46. Bertolt Brecht, “Die Moritat Von Mackie Messer”
45. Seger Ellis, “The Song Is Ended, But The Melody Lingers On”
44. Furry Lewis, “Kassie Jones”
43. Alberta Hunter, “Sugar”
42. Noel Coward, “A Room With A View”
41. Cow Cow Davenport, “Cow Cow Blues”
40. Bascom Lamar Lunsford, “I Wish I Was A Mole In The Ground”
39. Willard Robison, “Deep Elm”
38. Marion Harris, “The Man I Love”
37. Josephine Baker & Le Jacob’s Jazz, “Bye Bye Blackbird”
36. Lonnie Johnson & Blind Willie Dunn, “A Handful Of Riffs”
35. King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band, “Workingman’s Blues”
34. Fiddlin’ John Carson, “The Little Old Log Cabin In The Lane”
33. Rube Bloom, “Silhouette”
32. Annette Hanshaw, “Lovable And Sweet”
31. Ethel Waters, “Am I Blue?”
30. Hoagy Carmichael & The Paul Whiteman Orchestra, “Washboard Blues”
29. Vernon Dalhart, “The Prisoner’s Song”
28. Clarence Williams’ Blue Five, “Cake Walking Babies From Home”
27. Helen Kane, “I Wanna Be Loved By You”
26. Adelaide Hall with Duke Ellington’s Orchestra, “The Blues I Love To Sing”
25. Joe Venuti & Eddie Lang, “Wild Cat”
24. Charlie Poole & His North Carolina Ramblers, “He Rambled”
23. Bing Crosby with Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra, “I’m Coming, Virginia”
22. Dock Boggs, “Sugar Baby”
21. Fred Astaire & Adele Astaire, “The Babbitt And The Bromide”
20. Hoyt Ming & His Pep-Steppers, “Indian War Whoop”
19. Jelly Roll Morton’s Red Hot Peppers, “Black Bottom Stomp”
18. Art Gillham, “Hesitation Blues”
17. Gertrude Lawrence, “Poor Little Rich Girl”
16. Jimmie Rodgers, “Blue Yodel No. 1”
15. The Broadway Nitelites, “Thou Swell”
14. Uncle Dave Macon, “Old Dan Tucker”
13. Pinetop Smith, “Pine Top’s Boogie Woogie”
12. The Carter Family, “Wildwood Flower”
11. Eva Taylor with Clarence Williams’ Blue Five, “I’m A Little Blackbird (Looking For A Bluebird)”
10. Harry McClintock, “The Big Rock Candy Mountain”
9. Frankie Trumbauer & His Orchestra, “Riverboat Shuffle”
8. Gene Austin, “My Blue Heaven”
7. The Masked Marvel, “Mississippi Bo Weavil Blues”
6. Mamie Smith & Her Jazz Hounds, “Crazy Blues”
5. Mississippi John Hurt, “Avalon Blues”
4. Louis Armstrong & His Hot Five, “West End Blues”
3. Cliff Edwards, “Fascinating Rhythm”
2. Bessie Smith, “St. Louis Blues”
1. Duke Ellington & His Orchestra, “Black Beauty”

Any feedback at all would be nice, even "d00d that muzk is so boring why dont u listen 2 reel muzk lik Zepln."

And those who have been hanging back on getting the mp3s, download 'em now, because they'll only be up for a week and then you'll have to resort to Internet trickery to grab them from the streaming locations. Or you could just buy CDs, which would have far better sound quality anyway. Seriously, when I listened back to those streaming links to check that they all worked, I was horrified at how lossy some of those 128kbps mp3s were. So if you like this stuff, support the shoestring-budget labels that issue it.

[Adam C]

Any feedback at all would be nice, even "d00d that muzk is so boring why dont u listen 2 reel muzk lik Zepln."

I'll have to think about this for a bit since I like my feedback to be substantial and it's hard since I am in awe of your writing and don't know much about this era. Plus there are a lot of unread entries from my time away and unlistened music. And while I had the means to read the entries I didn't have the opportunity to download the music and Guatemala just completely turned me off spending much time on the internet. The only reason I am spending as much as I am now is that my brain is so fried from the return there's not much better I can do.

Oddly enough despite the MP3s supposedly disappearing after a week I was able to catch up because they still exist when you scroll back through the individual entries using the arrow links at the top of the entries. So you may want to correct that.

And yes, why aren't you listening to Zeppelin's penis-wagging?

[Jonathan Bogart]

Oddly enough despite the MP3s supposedly disappearing after a week I was able to catch up because they still exist when you scroll back through the individual entries using the arrow links at the top of the entries. So you may want to correct that.
I changed that because I was taking so long to get through the list, and didn't want someone who only found out about it in the last few weeks to feel like they missed out. All the mp3s will be available for another week, and then streaming only.

[John Asperger]

I'm doing a new thing (http://aceterrier.com/?p=313), which the old-timers around here are used to by now. (Previous similar things are here (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=190762), here (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=173789), here (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=152086), and here (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=139517).)

Talk about it here if you want, or there if that's your preference. The first ten should be up later tonight.











...Hey , Johnathan , looking VERY briefly thru your , looks VERY interesting site , which I don't have the time to read thru at length , and which , for the " 1972 Project " ( Was that the year of your birth ????????? ) , I can't figure out how to post a reply...Vicki Carr was/is Latino , from the San Antonio area , IIRC , as my late ( born-1924 ) father , who liked her a lot , and also grew up in the SA area , would tell me , telling me her real , Latino-sounding , name ( Which I can't quite remember but which I assume you can hunt down easily enough . ) .
As for all the cover versions on that album , a lot of the " older " pop singers mgot into doing that in the very late 60s/early 70s , especially those who recorded for Columbia Records at that time , then-Columbia head Clive davis giving his reason for that in his 70s memoir , CLIVE...........

[twilight]

Sorry Jonathan,I would've commented more but I'm just completely out of my depth.

I like to think that for a nineteen year old I've got a pretty interesting record collection but I'm not sure if I've ever heard a single one of those songs before.

The write-ups though as usual were interesting and I look forward to sitting down and reading them.

-Twi

[Jessica Drew]

Any feedback at all would be nice, even "d00d that muzk is so boring why dont u listen 2 reel muzk lik Zepln."


What...no KISS?

[Shellhead]

Jonathan, I posted a link to your countdown a couple of months ago at www.yog-sothoth.com, a website for dedicated fans of H.P. Lovecraft, the Cthulhu Mythos, and especially the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game, because a lot of them are interested in every aspect of life in the 1920s. I really enjoyed your write-ups for the entries, because they help supply the context for the music itself, as well giving insights to the culture of that era.

Sadly, I got busy on other things recently and missed out on downloading any of the songs while that was still an option. Are these songs all in the public domain now? I want to track them down, so even just having the list is great. I have gone through various phases in my years as a music listener, including really enjoying ragtime music when I was just 10. In recent years, I've been starting to explore jazz, after the Ken Burns documentary caught my attention on PBS.

[Expletive Deleted]

As far as the public domain is concerned, you have to distinguish between the compositions, lyrics, and arrangements and the actual sound recordings. The compositions, lyrics, and arrangements are the same as any other published work, so you can pretty safely assume those published prior to 1923 are in the public domain. Post-1923 compositions, lyrics, and arrangements are probably not in the public domain, although it depends on whether or not they were properly registered, whether or not they were properly renewed, and so on.

All of these sound recordings, on the other hand, are most likely not in the public domain, and probably won't be for another sixty years. Pre-1972 sound recordings (which would include all of these) are kind of an odd duck where copyright is concerned. Federal copyright law didn't deal with them until 1972, so state and common law will continue to apply until 2067 (ninety-five years later) when the federal law will take precedence and just about every recording "fixed" prior to 1972 will go into the public domain. Assuming nothing goes wrong between now and then, of course.

It's possible that some of these recordings are in the public domain, but it'd have to be checked on a case-by-case basis. And even then, I wouldn't be too hopeful.

[Jonathan Bogart]

Actually, thanks to my laziness, the mp3s are still up on my website for your downloading pleasure. Now I'm thinking I'll leave them there until a copyright holder complains, which isn't going to be very likely. But almost none of them are in the public domain, because unlike contemporary texts, the legal status of early recordings is highly complex and depends on local, state, and national laws at the time and place of recording. So buy CDs, etc., etc.

I saw that I had some traffic from yog-soggoth.com, but I had no idea that was you. Thanks!


[Edit: ED posted while I was writing the above. He nails it.]

[Shellhead]

Ah, I was on the wrong page, the one with just the text. Now I see you've got the whole list in order with the buttons for streaming playback. Nice.

[berk]

I still haven't caught up with the thread - I suppose mainly because my own musical listening has taken me in an unexpected direction the last year or so -but I just wanted to say thanks to Jonathan Bogart for doing this. I can only imagine the amount of work it must have been, researching it, then finding files of the tracks he wanted, then downloading them and all the rest of it.

I think I can honestly say I love the music from this era, l suppose the earliest recorded music that's readily available to the average person - at least in our part of the world, with personal access to the internet and so on ... I meant to say, I think I can say I love it, but at ther same time I can say I don't know much about it. So this thread has been a marvellous voyage of discovery for me - I've found about a of stuff I was completely unaware if before. I thank Jonathan for passing on his own discoveries to us and makin these recordings available to us. Thanks Jonathan Bogart.

[Jonathan Bogart]

It's been a labor of love, really. The twenties are my favorite historical period -- I'm fascinated by the literature, the art, the comics, the theater, and even the politics of the decade -- and I've been digging into the music of the era for as long as I've been interested in music beyond the radio (closing in on oh, nine years now). This was just an opportunity to share some of the stuff I've been enchanted by over the years.

And this list was way easier to compile than the lists for the 30s and 40s will be, since I've been approaching the 20s as a coherent musical unit for years. But I'm having to undertake serious research for the decades between hot jazz and rock & roll. (Research that I refuse to do for the decades closer to home, oddly enough; the 90s and 2000s list will be chock-full of far more familiar faces.)

[beetheb]

Sorry Jonathan,I would've commented more but I'm just completely out of my depth.What he said.

However, I'm duly impressed with both your knowledge of an era that most don't bother to consider anymore, and your will in getting 'em done. I have to ask though; did you learn anything during the course of this countdown? Was it a "research and report" thing, or a transcription of pre-existing knowledge?

Either way, great list JB. I'm looking forward to your 90's list, as those are waters I'm much more familiar with.

[Jonathan Bogart]

However, I'm duly impressed with both your knowledge of an era that most don't bother to consider anymore, and your will in getting 'em done. I have to ask though; did you learn anything during the course of this countdown? Was it a "research and report" thing, or a transcription of pre-existing knowledge?
I learned a lot about individual artists -- many of the halfway-interesting anecdotes were cribbed from Wikipedia -- but I don't think my overall sense of the music itself changed. The broader themes, like the mutually beneficial tension between Show Business and vernacular forms of music, or the rise of jazz and its displacement of more genteel and stately forms of pop, or the origins of all American music in the spectacular ugliness of minstrelsy, were in place from the beginning.

[Jessica Drew]

My family and I really enjoyed listening to your list last night as we folded clothes. My not-quite-two year-old girl especially enjoyed "Peg and Awl," running and dancing and singing, "Paygallll!"

[schwamp]

Anyone have any clues about an old blues track called "Big Fat Mama"? I heard it once on an old jazz program in LA, but didn't catch the artist. Thanks.

[Jonathan Bogart]

There are several blues songs recorded under the title "Big Fat Mama." Tampa Red, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Memphis Slim, Pinetop Perkins, Leadbelly, and several others recorded songs under that title, each of them putting their own names as composers.

But the one you're looking for is probably Lucky Millinder's, cut in the early 40s but written about a decade earlier, which became something of a jump blues standard, covered by Clarence Williams, Roy Milton, Oscar Peterson, and Jimmy Smith.

[schwamp]

There are several blues songs recorded under the title "Big Fat Mama." Tampa Red, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Memphis Slim, Pinetop Perkins, Leadbelly, and several others recorded songs under that title, each of them putting their own names as composers.

But the one you're looking for is probably Lucky Millinder's, cut in the early 40s but written about a decade earlier, which became something of a jump blues standard, covered by Clarence Williams, Roy Milton, Oscar Peterson, and Jimmy Smith.

Whoa! Thanks. There is something to work with. I'll look into it and let you know. You know, that's almost like a superpower, right there Mr. Bogart. Well done!

[Jonathan Bogart]

You know, that's almost like a superpower, right there Mr. Bogart. Well done!
Much as I'd love to pretend I knew that off the top of my head, it was no more impressive than going to allmusic.com and searching by song (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=17:150182).

[schwamp]

Thanks for the link. I was able to listen to some artists, but Millinder was not the one I remember.Goes something like," Need a Big Fat Mama, To rule your home sweet home, Need a Big Fat Mama, Brother you can't go wrong....". I'm gonna keep looking as I can and let you what I find.

Thx, Schwamp

[Jonathan Bogart]

A quick search on Google says (http://www.weirdwildrealm.com/f-lucky-millinder.html) that those lyrics, or their approximates, are part of a second version of Millinder's song, "Big Fat Mamas (Are Back In Style Again)," which was a 1943 hit for Bull Moose Jackson. A brief snippet of Jackon's song (which doesn't contain that verse) can be played here (http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=6753656).

[schwamp]

A quick search on Google says (http://www.weirdwildrealm.com/f-lucky-millinder.html) that those lyrics, or their approximates, are part of a second version of Millinder's song, "Big Fat Mamas (Are Back In Style Again)," which was a 1943 hit for Bull Moose Jackson. A brief snippet of Jackon's song (which doesn't contain that verse) can be played here (http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=6753656).

Eureka! Thank you, Big Bogart.

[schwamp]

By the way,

My Dad couldn't even help me find that one. He is 90, and he was in radio for 40 years out in LA. It was classical music, mind you, but he has practically a photographic memory, including music of many genres. He was born in New Orleans, and grew up listening to all sorts of Jazz and Blues. If you gave him a line, he almost always could finish the song for you, so , IMO, that was no small feat.

Thanks again, Schwamp