Polk Miller and His Old South Quartet

27 songs from 1897-1925, 28-page booklet with historical notes, artist bios, and unusual graphics chronicling the rise of "hot" playing in American music over four decades. Rare tracks by banjo virtuosos Cullen and Collins, vocalist Silas Leachman, Jim Europe's Orchestra, and his proteges in the Versatile Four. The ultra-rare "Sunset Medley" by Haenschen and Schiffer is here released for the first time, along with Edison cylinders by Sophie Tucker and Polk Miller. Companion to the book by David Wondrich, published by Chicago Review Press on the A Cappella imprint. Read more
List price: $16.49

Fifty-four tracks by 43 artists, and 60 pages of in-depth commentary and analysis: Lost Sounds is a monumental achievement that stretches back to the faint beginnings of commercial recordings and travels to the brink of the Jazz Age to trace the contributions of black artists on American records. Sometimes noisy and raucous, sometimes quiet and austere, these recordings demonstrate the deep involvement and lasting influence of African Americans in the nascent recording industry. Read more
List price: $29.99