Bert Williams

The first volume of The Complete Bert Williams, featuringthe legendary comedian's rarest records. 31 tracks from 1901-1909, including several with George Walker: 15 tracks from their 1901 sessions and a further 16 tracks from sessions in 1906 and following. Five selections are featured in both their 7- and 10-inch disc versions, and the collection includes all four of Williams' 2-minute cylinders, one 3-minute cylinder, and one rejected take from 1906. The 32-page full-color deluxe booklet features illustrations as rare as the records, with notes co-authored by renowned scholar Allen G. Debus and also reprints in its entirety George Walker's 1906 reminiscences about the beginnings of Williams and Walker in "The Real 'Coon' on the American Stage." Read more
List price: $17.49

The second volume of The Complete Bert Williams. 26 songs from 1910-1918, recorded in New York, including two monologuesthat were held for release until after Bert's death: "How? Fried" and "You Can't Do Nothing Till Martin Gets Here." 24-page booklet with rare graphics, and notes co-written by Allen G. Debus. Also features the entire article "The Comic Side of Trouble," by Bert Williams, published in 1918 by the American Magazine. Read more
List price: $16.49

The third volume of The Complete Bert Williams. 24 songs from 1919-1922, recorded in New York and Chicago, including both "Elder Eatmore" sermons. Booklet now (2005) expanded to 20 pages, with notes on Williams' final years, sheet music illustrations, and other rare graphics. Sound of some noisier tracks now improved. 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

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

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

25 hits from 1907, the year that American banks suffered one of the worst panics in U.S. history, ushering in a two-year depression.  Features sentimental favorites by Byron G. Harlan ("School Days") and Frank Stanley ("Auld Lang Syne"), comic hits by Collins and Harlan, Bob Roberts, and Helen Trix ("The Bird on Nellie's Hat"), and the first stateside hit for Harry Lauder ("I Love a Lassie"). Other top artists include Billy Murray ("San Antonio" and "Harrigan"), Bert Williams, Ada Jones, Stanley and Burr ("Red Wing"), Enrico Caruso ("Vesti La Giubba" from Pagliacci), and the U.S. Marine Band doing a rousing version of Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag." Deluxe, full-color 24-page booklet features detailed notes on the songs, an historical essay, and rare graphics. Read more
List price: $17.49

24 hits from 1913, the year that Henry Ford rolled out his first fully operational assembly line. Big songs by Alan Turner, Ada Jones ("Row! Row! Row!"), Al Jolson's first sides for Columbia ("Pullman Porters Parade" and "You Made Me Love You"), the Peerless Quartet, Campbell and Burr doing "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine", Charles Harrison with "Peg O' My Heart," and spirited numbers by Prince's Band ("Too Much Mustard") and the American Quartet, plus many more. Deluxe, full-color 24-page booklet features detailed notes on the songs, an historical essay, and rare graphics. Read more
List price: $17.49

25 selections from 1919, the year the White Sox threw the World Series and the nation experienced one of the largest labor strikes in history. Highlights include Marion Harris' "After You've Gone," John Steel's "A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody," Billy Murray's "The Alcoholic Blues" and hits by some of the leading dance orchestras of the day. The set includes a 24-page full-color booklet with an interpretive historical essay on key events of the year and notes on all of the selections. Read more
List price: $17.49

24 hits from 1920, the year that national Prohibition and women's suffrage took effect. Top artists include Al Jolson, Billy Murray, Paul Whiteman's Orchestra, Van and Schenck, John Steel, Selvin's Novelty Orchestra, Nora Bayes, and Art Hickman's Orchestra. 24-page color booklet features detailed notes on the songs, an historical essay, and rare graphics. Read more
List price: $17.49