Vess L. Ossman

29 songs from 1898-1923, 28-page booklet with historical notes, artist bios, and rare graphics. Includes two extremely rare Berliner discs. Banjos by Ossman and Van Eps, raggy marches by Pryor and Sousa, vocals by Collins, American Quartet, and 'Gene Greene, and much more. These are the ragtime records people heard during the genre's formative years. Read more
List price: $16.49

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

30 tracks from 1893-1902, transferred from exceedingly scarce Berliner discs and brown wax cylinders, with top artists such as Dan W. Quinn ("The Band Played On"), George J. Gaskin ("Drill, Ye Terriers, Drill"), John Yorke AtLee ("The Mocking Bird"), George W. Johnson ("The Whistling Coon"), Arthur Collins ("I'd Leave My Happy Home for You"), and Sousa's Band, Vess Ossman, Edward M. Favor, Russell Hunting, and more. The deluxe 24-page booklet boasts extremely rare photos of several of the artists (many only now published for the first time in over 100 years), artist bios, a timeline of when the songs first hit big, and an historical essay focusing on major social problems of the decade. Companion volume to ARCH 9006. Read more
List price: $17.49

30 tracks from 1892-1900, transferred from exceedingly scarce brown wax cylinders and Berliner discs. More hits by the biggest artists of the American 1890s, such as Gilmore's Band, Cal Stewart, Dan Quinn, George Gaskin, Arthur Collins, and John Yorke AtLee. Standout tracks include the hitherto unattested cylinder of "Silver Threads Among the Gold" by J. W. Myers, the 1894 recording of "Then You'll Remember Me" by the U.S. Marine Band, an exceptional copy of "Casey at the Telephone," ca. 1896 by Russell Hunting, and the ultra-rare "Daddy Wouldn't Buy Me a Bow Wow" ca. 1892 by Silas Leachman for the North American Phonograph Company of Chicago. The deluxe 24-page booklet includes lyrics and bios and pictures of selected songwriters, a timeline of when the songs first hit big, and an historical essay focusing on major technological innovations of the decade. Companion volume to ARCH 9004.  Read more
List price: $17.49

1904: “Call It the Land of Dreams” presents 27 popular recordings from the year the St. Louis Exposition introduced the world to ice cream cones and America took lead on the Panama Canal. Highlights include “Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis,” “Under the Anheuser Bush,” and “Toyland.” Read more
List price: $17.49

1905: “Deliver Daniel From the Lion’s Den” features 27 popular recordings from 1905, the year Einstein seemingly emerged from nowhere to publish four works that made his reputation and permanently changed our understanding of light, mass, and energy. Highlights include Arthur Collins’ “Preacher and the Bear,” Bob Roberts’ “Back Back to Baltimore,” and two works that helped establish Billy Murray’s reputation as the premier interpreter of George M. Cohan on record: “Yankee Doodle Boy” and “Give My Regards to Broadway.” Read more
List price: $17.49

1906: "When Things Was Lookin' Bright" features 27 tracks from the year of the great San Francisco earthquake and the publication of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle. The CD comes with a generously illustrated 24-page full-color booklet, including notes on each of the selections and an interpretive essay on the events of the year. Read more
List price: $25.00