1897: Happy 127th Birthday, Sidney Bechet! (5/14/1897) Bechet recorded with Alberta Hunter and Louis Armstrong as the Red Onion Jazz Babies for Gennett.
1928: Fiddlin’ Doc Roberts recorded “Smoky Row” in Richmond. The recording appeared on Gennett 6588 and Champion 15564. It featured Doc Roberts (f) and Asa Martin (g). The Champion issue sold approx. 5,400 copies between 1928 and 1931.
1928: Vernon Dalhart recorded “Wreck of the Old Southern ’97” in NYC. It appeared on Gennett 6654, Champion 15121, Silvertone 8141, and Supertone 9241 and featured Dalhart (v & h), Carson Robison (g) and possibly Adelyne Hood (f).
1930: Cliff Perrine and His Orchestra recorded “Mysterious Mose” in Richmond. The recording appeared on Gennett 7214 and Champion 15999. Cliff Perrine was the vocalist and the Champion issue sold approx. 1,200 copies between 1930 and 1932.
1925: Nathan Glantz and His Orchestra recorded “One Smile” in NYC. It appeared on Gennett 3087.
1928: Monroe Silver records “Cohen Phones about His New Auto” in NYC. It appeared on Gennett 6544, Champion 15506 (1,583 sold), Silvertone 8304, Supertone 9125, and Angelus 3144 and featured Silver (v).
1925: violinist Scipione Guidi recorded three sides in NYC. “Liebesleid (Love’s Sorrow)” and “Rondino” appeared on Gennett 10098 with “Solvejg’s Song” released on Gennett 3105.
1928: Lei’s Royal Hawaiians recorded “Medley of Hawaiian Melodies” in Richmond. It appeared on Gennett 6478, Silvertone 8123, and Supertone 9097 & 9327 and featured Francis Lei (g), Chester Smith (g), and ? Coleman (uke).
1930: Bert Stock and his Orchestra recorded four sides in Richmond. Here, his granddaughter returns several of these recordings to Richmond as a donation to the Starr – Gennett Foundation.
1885: Happy 139th Birthday, King Oliver! (5/11/1885). The bandleader and influential figure in American popular music made his first recording in Gennett’s Richmond studios with his Creole Jazz Band in April 1923. In addition to being a ground-breaking cornetist, he possessed quite the eye /ear for talent…
1923: Bailey’s Lucky Seven recorded “March of the Mannikins” in Richmond. It appeared on Gennett 5153, Starr-Gennett 9382, and Apex 428.
1926: Porter Grainger’s Three Jazz Songsters recorded “Where Did Yo Get That Hat?” in NYC. It appeared on Gennett 3323 and Buddy 8051 and featured Perry Bradford (v), Gus Horsley (v), Bert Howell (v), and Porter Grainger (p).
1923: Bailey’s Lucky Seven recorded “Yes, We Have No Bananas” in NYC. It appeared on Gennett 5154 and Starr-Gennett 9395 and featured Irving Kaufman (v).
1924: Daddy Stovepipe recorded “Sundown Blues” in Richmond. Daddy Stovepipe’s real name was Johnny Watson and this recording appeared on Gennett 5459, Silvertone 4042, and Claxtonola 40335.
1927: Irving Kaufman recorded “Just Like a Butterfly (That’s Caught in the Rain) in NYC. It appeared on Gennett 6153, Champion 15287, Bell 529, Silvertone 5156, Challenge 715, and Vocalion XA-18020 and featured Kaufman (v) with Nathan Glantz’s Orchestra.
1928: Ted Chestnut recorded “The Rowan County Feud” in Richmond. It appeared on Gennett 6513 and Champion 15524 (~4,500 sold) and featured Chestnut (v), Asa Martin (g), and Fiddlin Doc Roberts (f).
1933: The Sound Effects team recorded “Team and Wagon on Gravel Road (Three Cuts) (First Train Whistle in Background)” in Richmond. It appeared on Gennett Sound Effects 1099B.
1928: Oscar L. Coffey recorded “Six Feet of Earth Makes Us All One Size” in Richmond. The recording appeared on Champion 15523, Gennett 6496, and Supertone 9325. The Champion issue sold over 3,000 copies between 1928 and 1930.
1905: Happy 119th Birthday Red Nichols! (5/8/1905). Here is Red’s appearance on fellow Gennett Walk of Fame inductee Lawrence Welk’s show from 1956.
1910: Happy 114th Birthday, Mary Lou Williams! (5/8/1910). Williams recorded “Now Cut Loose” with Duke Jackson’s Serenaders on 3/7/1927 in Chicago. It appeared on Gennett 6147, Black Patti 8009, and Champion 40109. The track featured Mary Lou Williams (v), Henry McCord (c), Bradley Bullett (tb), John Williams (sax), Mary Lee Burley (p), Joe Williams (bj), & Robert Price (d).
1923: Irving and Jack Kaufman recorded “Barney Google” in NYC. It appeared on Gennett 5152 and Starr-Gennett 9394 and featured the Kaufman Brothers (v).
1924: The Honorable James M. Curley recorded “Address of Welcome to Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, (Boston, July 17, 1924)” in NYC. It appeared on a specially designed Gennett 5472 which featured Curley’s autograph etched into the run-out. Curley served four terms as the Mayor of Boston, one term as the Governor of Massachusetts, and two terms as a Congressman before serving a few months in jail for bribery and mail fraud, a sentence commuted by President Truman.
1896: Happy 128th Birthday, Vic Berton! (5/7/1896). Drummer Vic Berton recorded many sides on Gennett including with Bailey’s Lucky Seven and Johnny Clesi’s Areoleans. Here Berton (d), Red Nichols (c), Miff Mole (tb), and several other unknown musicians record “Ain’t I Got Rosie?” as Johnny Clesi’s Areoleans on Ch. 15174 (as The Twin City Bell Hops), Gennett 3380, Gennett 6061, and Herschel Gold Seal 2010.
1926: Chic Winter and his Hotel Gramatan Orchestra recorded “Will You Be True?” In NYC. It appeared on Gennett 3314 and featured Al Ross (v).
1927: Da Costa Woltz’s Southern Broadcasters recorded “Evening Star Waltz” in Richmond. It appeared on Gennett 6240. The track featured Frank Jenkins (bj), Da Costa Woltz (bj), and Ben Jarrell (f).
1927: Holland Puckett recorded “The Dying Cowboy” in NYC. It appeared on Gennett 6271, Champion 15428 (~11,000 copies sold), Herwin 75557, Silvertone 5065, 8152, & 25065, and Supertone 9253. The track featured Puckett (v & g).
1927: David Miller recorded “That Bad Man Stackolee” in Richmond. It appeared on Gennett 6188, Champion 15334 (~2,200 copies sold), Challenge 327, and Herwin 75561 and featured Miller (v & g).
1928: Allison’s Sacred Harp Singers recorded “Not Made With Hands” in Richmond. It appeared on Gennett 6691. While the recording card stated, “Put names on label: J .T. + S . T. Allison, J. T. Bradshaw, J. T. Vaughan, J. A. Prayton,” none appeared.
1903: Happy 121st Birthday Cliff Carlisle! (5/6/1903). Carlisle recorded over two dozen sides as both a featured performer and sideman for Gennett and Champion, including “Chicken Roost Blues” with Wilbur Ball from 12/9/1931. It appeared on Champion 16364, Champion 45132, Superior 2777, Montgomery Ward 8036, and Decca X-1238. Champion 16364 sold only 250 copies in 1932.
1924: The Wolverine Orchestra recorded “Riverboat Shuffle” in Richmond. It was released on Gennett 5454. The track featured Bix Beiderbecke (c); Jimmy Hartwell (cl); George Johnson (ts); Dick Voynow (p); Bob Gillette (bj/g); Min Leibrook (tu); Vic Moore (d). The band also recorded “Copenhagen,” “Oh Baby,” and “Susie.”
1926: Vernon Dalhart recorded “The Great Titanic” in NYC. It appeared on Gennett 3311, Champion 15121, Buddy 8037, Challenge 155 & 317, Herwin 75518, and Silvertone 3828 and featured Dalhart (v & h), Carson Robison (g), and Murray Kellner (f).
1927: Frank Jenkins recorded “Home Sweet Home” in Richmond. It appeared on Gennett 6165, Silvertone 5080 & 8181, and Supertone 9167 and featured Jenkins (bj).
1927: Ben Jarrell accompanied by Da Costa Woltz’s Southern Broadcasters recorded “I Know My Name Is There” in Richmond. It appeared on Gennett 6164, Champion 15333 (~1,200 sold), Challenge 340, Herwin 75559, Silvertone 5075 & 8187, and Supertone 9263 and featured Jarrell (v & f), Frank Jenkins (v & bj), Da Costa Woltz (v & bj).
1927: 12-year old Price Goodson recorded “Be Kind to a Man When He Is Down” in Richmond. It appeared on Gennett 6154, Champion 15297 (~12,000 sold), and Herwin 75553 and featured Goodson (v, u, & h).
1935: The Sound Effects team recorded “Manufacturing Noises (2 cuts) (1) Air Compressor; (2) Misc. Machine Room Sounds” in Richmond. It appeared on Gennett Sound Effect 1169A. It was probably recorded in 1931, but dubbed for use on GSE 1169 on this date.
1937: The Sound Effects team recorded “Big Ben (2 cuts) (1st cut Chimes & Strikes twelve) (2nd cut Strikes twelve)” in London, England. It appeared on Gennett Sound Effects 1313-B.
1901: Happy 123rd Birthday, Blind Willie McTell! (5/5/1901). The guitarist recorded with Curley Weaver for Champion with many of the records also ending up on Decca in April 1935 in Chicago. Here Weaver and McTell recorded their “Two Faced Woman.”
1927: Da Costa Woltz’s Southern Broadcasters recorded “Richmond Cotillion” in Richmond. It appeared on Gennett 6220, Challenge 407, Silvertone 5183, and Herwin 75554 and featured Ben Jarrell (v /f), Frank Jenkins (bj), and Da Costa Woltz (bj).
1927: Ben Jarrell recorded “Are You Washed in the Blood of the Lamb” in Richmond. It appeared on Gennett 6164, Champion 15318 (~1,800 sold), Challenge 340, and Herwin 75553 and featured Ben Jarrell (v & f), Frank Jenkins (v & bj), and Da Costa Woltz (v & bj).
1927: 12-year old Price Goodson recorded “Lonesome Road Blues” in Richmond. It appeared on Gennett 6154 and featured Goodson (v & h), Ben Jarrell (v), Frank Jenkins (bj), and Da Costa Woltz (bj).
1928: Allison’s Sacred Harp Singers recorded “The Golden Harp” in Richmond. It appeared on Gennett 6499. While the recording card stated, “Put names on label: J .T. + S . T. Allison, J. T. Bradshaw, J. T. Vaughan, J. A. Prayton,” none appeared.
1931: Red Perkins and his Dixie Ramblers recorded “Hard Times Stomp” in Richmond. It appeared on Champion 16288 (242 sold) & 40044 and Superior 2693 and featured Frank S. “Red” Perkins (v), Joe Drake (as), Andre Oglesby (tb), Jesse Simmons (ts), Howard Fields (p), Charles Watkins (g), James Brown (sg), Eugene Freely (bs), Charles Watkins (bj), and Harry Rooks (d).
1937: The Sound Effects team recorded “Traffic Noise (with occasional auto horns) Recorded Trafalgar Square, London, England” in London. It appeared on Gennett Sound Effects 1313-A.
1977: Prolific Gennett recording artist and organizer, Sam Lanin died. Lanin’s Famous Players recorded ‘”Wabash Blues” in NYC on 11/24/1921. It appeared on Gennett 4796, Connorized 3019, Edison Bell Winner 3643, Rich-Tone 7013, and Starr-Gennett 9180.
Gennett Records Discography 