Our Charles A. Asbury EP, 4 Banjo Songs, 1891-1897, is now on sale and shipping immediately. 4 Banjo Songs, 1891-1897 presents four of the rarest wax cylinders in a beautiful vinyl package. It is a seven-inch 45-rpm disc in a gatefold sleeve, with lyrics and a 16-page booklet of biographical and musical notes by Grammy-nominated authors Richard Martin and Ted Olson.
With the recent acquisition of Helvetia 1002, our upcoming set, Alpine Dreaming, will now have every known release put out by the small Helvetia label in the early 1920s. Thanks to Eric Gallinger for contributing that record to the effort. Eric found the disc at an estate sale in Oregon and, inspired by his wife’s … Continue reading Helvetia Records: Unrealized Ambitious Dreams→ posted: June 20, 2018
Last week we wondered whether record titles, such as those listed in a ca. 1891 catalog of the New Jersey Phonograph Company, might not all have been actually recorded. Then we traced the offerings of Charles Asbury in New Jersey/U.S. Phono. Co. and Columbia catalogs from 1892 through 1897 to see which of his records … Continue reading Mystery Banjo Players Identified?→ posted: May 9, 2018
We said on Monday that maybe by comparing the early catalogs of cylinder companies we can figure out which titles were recorded for certain because they continued getting listed month after month and year after year. A title that appears in a catalog once and then disappears—perhaps that title never actually got made because no … Continue reading Charles Asbury’s Top “Hits”...→ posted: May 4, 2018
