July 5 in Gennett History…

1928: Herbert Sweet recorded “Prisoner’s Lament” in Richmond. It appeared on Champion 15565, Gennett 6567, Supertone 9185, and Supertone 9305. The recording featured Herbert Sweet (v & f) and Ernest Stoneman (g). The Champion issue sold approx. 1,700 copies between 1928 and 1929. 

1928: The Virginia Mountain Boomers recorded “Sugar Hill” in Richmond.  The recording appeared on Gennett 6687 and featured Ernest Stoneman (v & gtr), Herbert Sweet (v & f) and Earl Sweet ( v & bjo). 

1928: Willie Stoneman recorded “Katy Lee” in Richmond.  It appeared on Gennett  6565 and Champion 15565 (~1,700 copies sold) and featured Stoneman (v) and Ernest Stoneman (g). 

1935: Clyde McCoy and his Orchestra recorded “Maple Leaf Rag” in Chicago.  It appeared on Decca 681 and Rex 9902.  Several recordings from this session ended up on the Champion label, now run by Decca, but this one didn’t. 

July 4 in Gennett History…

Happy Independence Day from Gennett Records!  Our Military Band plays “Stars and Stripes Forever” to honor and celebrate the day, which it recorded in 1919. 

Happy July 4th from Gennett Records! The Mound City Blue Blowers recorded “A Little Bit of Independence” on 12/12/1935 in NYC. It appeared on Champion 40073. 

July 3 in Gennett History…

1923: William Jennings Bryan recorded “The 23rd Psalm” in Richmond. It appeared on Gennett 5226 and Apex 387 and featured the Hotel Gibson String Quartet.  

1923: Edna Hicks recorded “Bleeding Heart Blues” in NYC.  It appeared on Gennett 5195 and Starr-Gennett 9423 and featured Hicks (v) and Porter Grainger (pn). 

July 2 in Gennett History…

1923: William Jennings Bryan recorded three sides in Richmond.  “The Great Commoner” recreated his famous “Cross of Gold” speech from the 1896 Democratic Presidential Convention in Chicago and “Immortality.”  Fred Gennett remarked that this was the recording he was most proud of during his time as the head of the recording division.  Two years after this recording, Bryan “defended God” and anti-evolutionism in the famous “Scopes Monkey Trial” in Dayton, TN.  Though he “won” the case, he was ridiculed in the press.  A week after the trial, three-time Presidential candidate, former Secretary of State, Congressman, defender of the common man and Gennett recording artist, William Jennings Bryan passed away.  

1923: Helen McDonald recorded “You Got Everything a Sweet Mama Need (But Me)” in NYC.  The recording appeared on Gennett 5193 and featured McDonald (vox) and Lemuel Fowler (pn).  

1935: Banjo Ikey Robinson and his Windy City Five recorded “‘A’ Minor Stomp in Chicago.  It appeared on Champion 50073. 

July 1 in Gennett History…

1899: Happy 123rd Birthday, Thomas A. “Georgia Tom” Dorsey (7/1/1899)!  He recorded “Terrible Operation Blues” with Jane Lucas on 11/19/1930 in Richmond. It appeared on Champion 16171 and 50015, Decca 7259, Superior 2630, and Gennett (Joe Davis) 5005. The Champion 50015 issue sold 1940 copies for period ending 9/30/36. 

June 30 in Gennett History…

1933: Gennett Sound Effects recorded “Building Construction (Riveting, etc)” courtesy of the James Stewart Construction Company in NYC. It appeared on Gennett Sound Effects 1118. 

June 29 in Gennett History…

1921: George P. Watson recorded “Hi-Li-Hi-Lo” in NYC. It appeared on Gennett 4760 and Starr-Gennett 9155. 

1922: Lanin’s Famous Players recorded “Jolly Peter” in NYC.  It appeared on Gennett 4919 & 4920 and Starr-Gennett 9275.

 

1923: Homer Rodeheaver recorded “How Tedious and Tasteless” in NYC.  It appeared on Gennett 5215 and Rainbow 1011 and featured Rodeheaver (v).

1928: Paul Miles and the Red Fox Chasers recorded “May I Sleep in Your Barn Tonight, Mister?” in Richmond. It appeared on Gennett 6547 and Supertone 9182 and featured Bob Cranford (v & h), A.P. Thompson (v & g), Paul Miles (bjo), and Guy Brooks (f). 

1928: Charles Harrison recorded “Just Break the News to Mother” in NYC.  It appeared on Gennett 6600, Champion 33060 & 40050, Silvertone 8241, Supertone 9146, and Angelus 3092 and featured Harrison (v).

June 28 in Gennett History…

1927: Southern Jubilee Singers recorded “Listen To The Lambs” in St. Paul, MN. It appeared on Black Patti 8036 and Paramount 12711. 

1928: A.P. Thompson, Bob Cranford, & Paul Miles recorded “The Blind Man and His Child” in Richmond. It appeared on Gennett 6602, Champion 15609 (~5,000 copies sold), and Supertone 9181 and featured Thompson (v & g), Cranford (v & h),  Miles (v & bjo), and Guy Brooks (f). 

1930: The Showboat Boys recorded “Old Time Melodies, part 1” in Richmond.  It appeared on Gennett 7270 and Champion 16077 (~600 copies sold).  Champion sent royalty payments to Earl Schisler. 

1965: Trumpeter and Gennett Walk of Fame inductee, Red Nichols, passed away. He recorded dozens of sides for Gennett including “Dinah” as a member of Bailey’s Lucky Seven. It appeared on Aco G-15994, Beltona 992 (American Dance Orchestra), Champion 15066 (The Seven Champions), Chantal 934 (L’Orchestre De Danse Chantal), Coliseum 1894 (Maryland Dance Band), Gennett 3243, and Guardsman 1907 (SF Dance Orchestra). 

June 27 in Gennett History…

1927: Clara Smith recorded “Wandering Boy Blues” in St. Paul.  It appeared on Black Patti 8034 and featured Smith (v), Harold Lewis (t), and Buster Lindsay. 

1929: The Hokum Boys recorded “Hokum Blues” in Richmond. It appeared on Paramount 12811 and featured Dan Roberts (g & v) and Alex Hill (p & v). 

June 26 in Gennett History…

1925: Lieut. Matt’s 106th Infantry Band recorded “Massachusetts’ Pride” in NYC.  It appeared on Gennett 5738.

1928: Charlie Barnes recorded “Get Out And Get under the Moon” in Richmond. It appeared on Gennett 6524, Champion 15537 (2,610 copies sold), and Supertone 9067 and featured Barnes (v) and Harry Bason (pn).

 

1928: The Gennett Instrumental Trio recorded “The Herd Girl’s Dream” in NYC.  It appeared on Silvertone 8269 and Supertone 9108.

1929: Floyd Mills and his Marylanders recorded “Chicago Rhythm” in Richmond.  It appeared on Gennett 6909, Champion 15759 (~700 sold) &16423, Superior 2829, and Supertone 9447.