Irving Kaufman

Irving Kaufman, Anthology: The Last Recording Pioneer represents Irving's incredible 60-year span of activity, beginning from his first acoustic recordings in 1914 to the final cuts made in his home in August 1974. The booklet includes several rare photographs, some contributed by Irving's family, and features detailed liner notes by Kaufman expert Ryan Barna, examining both the professional and personal life of this legendary performer. Read more
List price: $16.99

Featuring 56 tracks, Archeophone's The Great War: An American Musical Fantasy traces the history of American involvement in World War I by reviewing the kind of records that were released. What unfolds is a drama in which the U.S. transforms through a series of stages: from curious bystander and political neutral to naive dove, then from idealistic booster to jingoistic hawk, and finally from jubilant victors to street-wise questioners asking "What was it all for?" With a 76-page full-color booklet featuring historical graphics, original research on the recording industry and a personal reflection on the war, The Great War is an essential release for those who love the music of World War I. Read more
List price: $29.99

1914: "Her Memory Haunts You" features 25 selections from the year that the hopes and dreams of the progressive coalition that had put their faith in the presidency of Woodrow Wilson saw their agenda put on hold while economic issues--and then the beginning of World War I--took center stage. The soundtrack to the year brings us a good mix of future classics and songs of the moment, odes to country life, and more than a handful of songs longing for home and hearth, both pathetic and humorous. As with Archeophone's other Phonographic Yearbooks, 1914 includes a full-color 24-page booklet.  Read more
List price: $17.49

25 songs from 1915, the year submarine warfare and the sinking of the Lusitania hit the news. Popular songs included the American Quartet's "On the 5:15" and Billy Murray's "The Little Ford Rambled Right Along," Al Jolson's "Sister Susie's Sewing Shirts for Soldiers," and one of the most famous war protest songs of all, "I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier." 1915: "They'd Sooner Sleep on Thistles" includes a 24 page full color booklet featuring an essay on the Lusitania and the push to war, discographical information on the records, notes on the songs, and rare images and photographs. Read more
List price: $17.49

Under the pseudonym “Carl Fenton,” Gus Haenschen led some of the tightest orchestra recordings of the 1920s—but he also oversaw the musical direction at the Brunswick label, where he signed Isham Jones, Al Jolson, Nick Lucas, Abe Lyman, the Happiness Boys, and even Charlie Chaplin. Haenschen probably would not have gotten that job had it not been for his reputation as a musically innovative student of Scott Joplin—and especially for his recording of six personal sides in 1916 that are the stuff of legend. All but a couple were thought lost to history, but now, together with researcher Colin Hancock, Archeophone is proud to present all six of Haenschen’s explosive 1916 recordings, along with 19 other tracks that show his influence on the music industry. Move over ODJB. These six sides change the game, and they and their creator, Gus Haenschen, are the missing link between ragtime and jazz. Read more
List price: $16.99