December 7 in Gennett History…

1922: Timothy Nicholson at age 94 made a personal recording in Richmond, Indiana. He recorded “Statement Concerning Friend’s (Quaker’s) Richmond Declaration of Faith and the Organization of the Five Years Meeting” and “Why and How Corporal Punishment Ceased in Indiana State Prisons.” Here is side A, “Statement…” 

1923: Bailey’s Lucky Seven recorded “I’m Goin’ South” in NYC.  It appeared on Gennett 5334 and Starr-Gennett 9485.  Known performers on this side included Phil Napoleon and Earl Oliver (c), Miff Mole (tb), Frank Signorelli (p), and Jack Roth (d).  

1925: Vernon Dalhart recorded “Behind Those Gray Walls” in NYC.  It appeared on Gennett 3222, Challenge 230 & 502, Silvertone 3856, and Herwin 75516 and featured Dalhart (vox), unknown (f), and Carson Robison (g).  

December 6 in Gennett History…

Sometime in December 1919: The Gennett Orchestra recorded “Me-Ow One Step” sometime in 1919. It appeared on Gennett 4511 – one of the first Gennett Laterals released in 1920. The patent to all lateral discs and recording expired in Fred Gennett’s opinion on 12/10/1918 with the Jones / Columbia patent. 

December 6 in Gennett History, 1923: Bailey’s Lucky Seven recorded “A Smile Will Go A Long Way” in NYC.  It appeared on Gennett 5334 and Starr-Gennett 9485 and featured Phil Napoleon and Earl Oliver (tpt), Miff Mole (tb), Frank Signorelli (pn), Jack Roth (d), and others.  

1924: Theo Karle with members of the New York Philharmonic recorded “If With All Your Hearts” in NYC.  It appeared on Gennett 2800 and Ginn G26-B and featured Karle (v).  When Columbia took over for Gennett with the Ginn Music Appreciation series, it used this side on one of its reissues.  

1926: The Rev. J.M. Gates and His Congregation recorded “I Know I Got Religion” in NYC. It appeared on Black Patti 8016, Champion 15223, Gennett 6034, Herwin 92005, and Silvertone 5020. The Champion issue sold 3,168 copies in 1927 and 1928. Amen. 

1926: Johnny Marvin recorded “Jersey Walk” in NYC.  It appeared on Gennett 6011, Champion 15196 (1,592 sold), Challenge 222, Belting 1268, and Silvertone 5019 and featured Marvin (v & use).  I am not 100% sure if this is from the Gennett session, but it is the same year.  

1929: Walter Coon recorded “Father’s a Drunkard and Mother is Dead” in Richmond.  It appeared on Gennett 7097 and Conquerer 7271 and featured Coon (v, h, g). 

December 5 in Gennett History…

Just 20 days ’til Christmas and Silent Film Star Shirley Mason lets you know about “Christmas in Hollywood” from the Christmas Greeting series, Gennett 5237. It was recorded on August 11, 1923. Mason started as a child actress in the silent film era before retiring in 1929. 

1927: Bob Deikman and his Orchestra recorded “Roll Up the Carpets” in Richmond.  It appeared on Gennett 6339, Gennett Rayo 40105, Champion 15401 (2,550 sold), and Superior 301.  

1928: Alphonso Trent and His Orchestra recorded “Black And Blue Rhapsody” in Richmond. It appeared on Gennett 6710, Champion 15656, and Supertone 9487. Champion 15656 (pseudonym Deacon Foster and His Boys) sold approx 400 copies in 1929. This recording featured Chester Clark & Irving Randolph (c), Leo ‘Snub’ Moseley (tb), James Jeter, Charles Pillars, Lee Hilliard & Hayes Pillars (sax), Alphonse Trent (p), Eugene Crooke (gtr/bjo), Robert “Eppie” Jackson (bs), Leo “Stuff” Smith (vn), and A.G. Godley (d).  

December 4 in Gennett History…

1922: C. A. Nichols supervised the recording of the Gennett Physical Records (5031 & 5032) in NYC.  Here I play the B side of Gennett 5031on my portable Starr phonograph.  C. A. Nichols leads the listener on exercises 3 & 4.  A 1923 catalog lists the Physical Culture set at $2.75.  

1924: The Wolverine Orchestra recorded ‘When My Sugar Walks Down the Street’ in NYC. It appeared on Gennett 5620, Starr-Gennett 9611, and Tempo R-24. This recording featured Dave Harmon (v), Jimmy McPartland (c), George Brunies (tb), Jimmy Hartwell & George Johnson (sax), Dick Voynow (p), Min Leinbrook (bs), Bob Gillette (bjo) and Vic Moore (d). Bix Beiderbecke is not on this recording. 

1930: Roy Harvey and Jess Johnston recorded “Jefferson Street Rag” in Richmond. It appeared on Champion 16781 and 45001 and featured Harvey (g) and Johnston (f). 

December 3 in Gennett History…

1925: Charlie Kerr’s Famous Players recorded “What Did I Tell Ya?” In NYC.  It appeared on Gennett 3219, Coliseum 1882, and Guardsman 1914 and featured  Cecil Way & Clark Spicer (tpt), Lloyd Turner (tb), Jerry de Nasi and Harold Dalton (as/cl), William Stead (ts), Ed Fleischman (pn), Eddie Land (g/bjo), Stan Soboski (bs), Mel Jensen (vn), and Charlie Kerr (d). 

1928: John McGhee and Thomas Cogar recorded “My Old Cottage Home” in Richmond.  It appeared on Gennett 6703 and Supertone 9326 and featured McGhee (v &g) and Cogar (v & f). 

1955: Cow Cow Davenport passed away. He recorded “Chimes Blues” on April 1,1929 in Richmond. It appeared on Gennett 6838, Champion 15726 (Charlie Davenport), Paramount 12800 amongst many others. 

December 2 in Gennett History…

1928: Art Payne and his Orchestra recorded “Blue Night” in Richmond.  It appeared on Gennett 6694, Champion 15639 (~800 copies sold), and Supertone 9334.  

1930: Jimmy Long and Cliff Keiser recorded “That Silver Haired Daddy of Mine” in Richmond.  It appeared on Champion 16190 & 45089, and Superior 2632 and featured Long (v & g) and Keiser (v).  

1932: Jess Hillard recorded “Blue Yodel No. 10 (Ground Hog Rootin’ In My Back Yard)” in Richmond. It appeared on Champion 16525. Hillard sang and played guitar. 

December 1 in Gennett History…

1928: Green Bailey recorded “If I Die a Railroad Man” in Richmond.  It appeared on Gennett 6732, Champion 15652 (~1,500 sold), and Supertone 9320 and featured Bailey (v & g) and Doc Roberts (f). 

1930: Gene Autry recorded “A Yodeling Hobo” in NYC. Released on Champion 16166 & 45172, Decca 5527, Montgomery Ward 4932 & 8017. Autry sang and played the guitar. Champion 45172 sold 555 copies for the period ending in September 1936. 

1934: Blind Blake passed away. He recorded “Diddie Wa Diddie” on August 17, 1929, in Richmond. It appeared on Paramount 12888 and Broadway 5105 (Blind George Martin). 

November 30 in Gennett History…

1925: Original Indiana Five recorded “Pensacola” in NYC.  It appeared on Gennett 3218 and featured James Christie (tpt), Pete Pellizzi (tb), Nick Vitalo (as/cl), Harry Ford (?) (pn), and Tony Colucci (d).  

1928: Green Bailey recorded “The Santa Barbara Earthquake” in Richmond. It appeared on Gennett 6702, Champion 15652, and Supertone 9320. The recording featured Green Bailey (v), Asa Martin (g), and Fiddlin’ Doc Roberts (f). Performers royalties sent to Doc Roberts noted sales of approx. 1,500 copies of Champion 15652 in 1929. 

November 29 in Gennett History…

1920: the Putnam Theatre in Brooklyn ran a newspaper ad for Mamie Smith and Her Jazz Hounds, proclaiming her an “Attraction Extraordinary.” A few weeks earlier Okeh released Mamie Smith’s “Crazy Blues” and it sold extremely well. Thanks in part to Gennett’s victory in the early patent case (Victor Talking Machine Co. v. Starr Piano), an injunction to stop to smaller labels from using lateral cut 78s was denied. Thus Okeh could release this, the “first race record” to an eager audience who possessed the right equipment. Without the injunction, Okeh faced an uphill battle trying to release this on the unpopular vertical / ‘hill and dale’ disk. 

1929: Bert Stock and His Orchestra recorded “Turn on the Heat” in NYC.  It appeared on Gennett 7059, Champion 15886, and Supertone 9585.  The recording featured Doc Mayer (v), Joe Barone and George McKee (c), Delmar “Dick” Evans (tb), Hap Swanson and Lee Loveland (as/cl), Bert Stock and Edward Walker (p), Billy Yates (g), Hank August (bs), Billy Yates (bjo), and Doc Meyers (d/xyl). The Champion issue sold 2,746 copies in 1930. 

1935: Gennett recorded President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s speech in Atlanta, “The Meaning of Progress,” dedicating the Techwood Homes near Georgia Tech. Techwood was a New Deal slum clearance project to build twenty-three brick and concrete buildings to house 604 families and 308 Georgia Tech students. It also included forty-two concrete buildings with 677 apartments at Atlanta University.  It appeared on Gennett Historical 8 and the catalog noted “We introduce here out initial release of Historical and Educational recordings reproducing decisive moments of History, made as they occurred, or reproduced exclusively for Gennett by the author,” “1 double faced 16 inch 33 1/3 RPM   1 single faced 16 inch 33 1/3 RPM  $14.00.” 

November 28 in Gennett History…

1923: The Stellar Trio recorded “Dear Heart” in NYC.  It appeared on Gennett 5316 and Starr-Gennett 9505.  Also on this session, the Stellar Trio accompanied Vernon Dalhart on two sides “Can’t Yo’ Hear Me Calling Caroline” and “When the Swallows Homeward Fly.”  

1925: Bailey’s Lucky Seven recorded “I Love My Baby (My Baby Loves Me)” in NYC. The recording appears on Gennett 3204, Champion 15065, Beltona 979, Guardsman 1876, and Scala 763. It features Arthur Fields (v), Red Nichols (c), Phil Napoleon (c), Miff Mole (tb), Dick Johnson ? (sax/cl), Bobby Davis ? (sax/cl), Fred Morrow (ts/cl), Joe Tarto (bs), John Cali ? (bjo), Vic Berton (d). Champion 15065 sold approx. 1,900 copies in 1926 and 1927.