In the early days of their UK business (i.e. before 1900), Gaisberg and the Gramophone company made good headway in persuading music hall stars and comedians to record with the new Gramophone technology. They found it much more difficult to persuade the great Opera singers of the day to condescend to do so. To tryContinue reading ““That faint perfume of the salons” The Gramophone Company moves into Opera. 1902.”
Category Archives: recording legends
Emile Berliner cuts the first discs: Tvinkle, tvinkle, little star, how I vunder vot you are
Emile Berliner may have been the most talented of all the great inventors playing with the new audio technology during the second half of the 19th century. He was born in Germany 160 years ago today, May 20th 1851, and moved to the states when he was 19. Berliner is probably most famous in theContinue reading “Emile Berliner cuts the first discs: Tvinkle, tvinkle, little star, how I vunder vot you are”
Peachy. Dame Nellie Melba was born 150 years ago today.
Today marks the 150th birthday of Helen Porter Mitchell. She was born in Melbourne, Australia, on May 19th 1861 and was destined to become the leading opera singer in the world during the “Golden Age of Opera”. She also became a household name – Dame Nellie Melba. There were a number of special qualities thatContinue reading “Peachy. Dame Nellie Melba was born 150 years ago today.”
Happy Birthday Brian Eno. Born on this day in 1948.
Lest we forget, the mavericks that forged the history of recorded sound did not die out in the first half of the twentieth century…..one or two are still playing around. None more famously and successfully so than Brian Eno, to whom we raise a celebratory glass on his birthday today. Eno has twiddled his fairContinue reading “Happy Birthday Brian Eno. Born on this day in 1948.”
These are the pictures that show the birth of the UK recording industry.
In 1898, the recording industry was a handful of years old and based almost entirely in America when one of the big Stateside players, The United States Gramophone Company, owned by Emile Berliner, decided to move into Europe to challenge the thee year old French Pathe Company who was the biggest European recording company atContinue reading “These are the pictures that show the birth of the UK recording industry.”
Photographs from long ago: #1 Paderewski.
We have been given access to a number of vintage photo’s from the EMI Archive Trust which we’ll run as a series. This is Ignacy Jan Paderewski. Quite a picture, quite a man…. Paderewski had a run of the mill career…..Born into a poor Polish family, he became a world famous pianist, married a Baroness,Continue reading “Photographs from long ago: #1 Paderewski.”
Maybe its Maybellene! May 1st 1955: Chuck Berry signs to Chess Records.
They didn’t hang around in the 1950’s record business. 18 year old Chuck Berry was introduced to Leonard Chess (of Chess Records fame) by Muddy Waters 61 years ago today. Chess listened to Berry’s blues/r’n’b act but was not overly impressed as r’n’b sales were dropping and Chess had his eyes and ears out forContinue reading “Maybe its Maybellene! May 1st 1955: Chuck Berry signs to Chess Records.”
George Martin documentary review
Thanks to the wonders of the BBC Iplayer I finally watched the Arena documentary Produced By George Martin last night. It was even better than I’d hoped for. If you are in the UK you can still just about catch it here and I’d advise you to ignore the Bank Holiday sunshine for an hour andContinue reading “George Martin documentary review”
Gaisberg pursues an opportunity to record the Czar. More extracts from his field recordings of 1900.
(Fred is in St Petersburg recording local artists……) On April 9th 1900, Fred Gaisberg returned to his hotel after watching the performance of Demon and flirting with Rodina to find a message asking him to “prepare to give a recording exhibition before the Czar’s secretary that evening”. This was news he had been hoping for. AfterContinue reading “Gaisberg pursues an opportunity to record the Czar. More extracts from his field recordings of 1900.”
April 8th 1900: What Fred did next
If you can remember from our last visit to his diaries of exactly 110 years ago, roving proto-field recordist Fred Gaisberg and sidekick William Sinkler Darby were in pre-revolutionary Russia in 1900 buying bear skin coats to ward off the harsh St Petersburg weather. (If you can’t remember you can read about it here.) On April 3rd 1900 FredContinue reading “April 8th 1900: What Fred did next”
Sound Of The Hound 