Tag Archives: Starr Piano

January 9th in Gennett History…

1929: Willie Baker recorded “Mama Don’t Rush Me Blues” in Richmond. The track appeared on Gennett 6766, Champion 15694 (Steamboat Bill and His Guitar), Supertone 9366 (Willie Jones). The Champion royalty ledger noted sales of approx. 1,100 copies in 1929 … Continue reading

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January 6th in Gennett History…

1925: Oliver Naylor’s Seven Aces recorded “Bye Bye Baby” in NYC. It appeared on Gennett 5643, Starr-Gennett 9615, and Claxtonola 40419. The track featured Edward ‘Pinky’ Gerbrecht (c), Charles Hartman (tb), Newton Richardson (sax), Bill Creger (cl), Oliver Naylor (p), … Continue reading

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January 4th in Gennett History…

1927: Johnny Sylvester and His Playmates recorded “A Blues Serenade” in NYC. It appeared on Gennett 6026, Champion 15203 (Bobby Jones and His Orchestra), Challenge 234 (Memphis Melody Players), and Silvertone 5024 (Johnson’s Plantation Serenaders). The Champion issue sold 997 … Continue reading

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June 3rd in Gennett History, 1922: Henry Gennett Passed Away

June 3rd in Gennett History, 1922: Starr Piano president and Gennett records founder, Henry Gennett passed away in Dayton, Ohio. Henry Gennett and H. Edgar French posed for this photo in 1897.

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April 15th in Gennett History, 1919: Gennett Advertised Its Defiance of Victor’s Lateral Patent in Talking Machine World

April 15th in Gennett History, 1919: Gennett announced via an ad in Talking Machine World, that it was defying Victor’s patent claim to the lateral process. Victor immediately sued and lost each case between 1919 and 1923, when the Supreme … Continue reading

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April 7th in Gennett History, 1922: Variety Reports on the Victor vs. Starr Case

April 7th in Gennett History, 1922: Variety reported that the Victor Talking Machine Co. lost their lawsuit against Starr Piano for Starr’s use of their patented lateral recording and pressing process. This ruling threw the patent into the public domain … Continue reading

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Starr Piano’s Line of Airplane Propellers

Looking for that unique item for your collection – how about a Starr Piano wooden airplane propeller circa World War 1?  Currently one came up for sale on eBay. http://ebay.to/1zHlUHv Starr Piano received a government contract to produce wooden airplane … Continue reading

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What Made Starr Player Pianos So Great?

Ever wonder what made Starr Player Pianos so great?  Well, let this golden-throated announcer explain it.  It appeared on an un-numbered Gennett 78.  The reverse was “Why The Difference Is In The Tone – Demonstration Record for Starr Phonograph.”  Ernest … Continue reading

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Happy 127th Birthday, Harry Frankel! (1/27/1888)

Happy 127th Birthday, Harry Frankel! (1/27/1888). He recorded “How Are You Going To Wet Your Whistle” in 1919 in NYC. It appeared on Gennett 4521. Frankel passed away in 1948 in his home in Richmond, Indiana – the home of … Continue reading

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Nov. 29th 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.”

Nov. 29th 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 Mamie Smith’s “Crazy Blues” was released an sold extremely … Continue reading

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