Frederick William Gaisberg 1873 – 1951 “Fred was clearly one of those Children with a natural talent for the keyboard, and his mother made the most of this opportunity from the moment she began to teach him when he was four.” -Extract from ‘A Voice in Time’ – Jerrold Northrop Moore Name: Continue reading “Recording Pioneers- Part 6”
Tag Archives: thomas edison
Recording Pioneers- Part 2
Alfred Clark 1873 – 1950 “The fine thread running through the very fabric of HMV history” -Fred Gaisberg Name: Alfred Clark Born: 19 December 1873 Resident: Born in New York, moved to France 1899 aged 26 then resident of the UK, 1909 -1950 Occupation: Gramophone Company Managing Director, Chairman and EMI PresidentContinue reading “Recording Pioneers- Part 2”
“Magic”Johnson’s Aladdin caves: where to find out more about the great music inventor
By Carey Fleiner For a man who is not well-remembered outside of specialist circles, Eldridge Johnson has left behind a lot of physical material and resources. For example, if you’d like to read Johnson’s personal papers, you can visit the American Heritage Center in Laramie, Wyoming, USA; Johnson’s son donated 48 boxes of personal andContinue reading ““Magic”Johnson’s Aladdin caves: where to find out more about the great music inventor”
The record business? Its always been about the technology.
Edison, Berliner, Johnson invented the record business. They brought into being the modern music industry. Capturing sounds from the air so that they could be played back in any place and at any time. Imagine the revolution in thinking that brought about. And what do the three fathers of the music business have in common?Continue reading “The record business? Its always been about the technology.”
The History of the Major Record Companies in the UK #3 Pathe Freres
This is the third extract from a wonderful book called “The Talking Machine Industry” written by Ogilvie Mitchell in 1924 covering the Pathe Freres Company. Charles Pathe Emile Pathe Charles and Emile Pathe originally ran a bistro in Paris. They moved into music retailing, first selling Edison products before beginning to record and sell theirContinue reading “The History of the Major Record Companies in the UK #3 Pathe Freres”
Victor Ludorum. The Forgotten Man of Music History: Eldridge R.Johnson
By Carey Fleiner Quick – show of hands – tell me everything you know about Eldridge R. Johnson….well, if you’re poking around this website, you probably have heard of him, but many people have not. If you’re one of the ‘nots’ — perhaps you’ve heard of his company The Victor Talking Machine Company which heContinue reading “Victor Ludorum. The Forgotten Man of Music History: Eldridge R.Johnson”
Memoirs of a Musical Dog – Edison to The Beatles
As part of their Omnibus series, The BBC made a documentary about the history of recording in the late 1980’s which was called Memoirs of a Musical Dog. It aired on Friday May 27, 1988. It’s very good and thanks to the power of youtube, you can see it here: Part One Early years ofContinue reading “Memoirs of a Musical Dog – Edison to The Beatles”
It was 123 years ago today. The first ever UK recordings.
I think we have to mark this particular anniversary. We found this video on youtube described by the following text: “On Friday 29th June 1888, from 2pm, a performance of Handel’s oratorio Israel in Egypt was captured on a number of wax cylinder recordings. This performance was part of the trienniel Handel Festivals mounted inContinue reading “It was 123 years ago today. The first ever UK recordings.”
Rivalry and co-operation
We’ve seen that Alfred Clark left Berliner’s employ in favour of Edison and moved to Paris to set up a rival to the Gramophone Company in Europe. This put the two old friends, Alfred Clark and Fred Gaisberg, in direct competition for new recordings in 1899. Clark, pictured above, proved to be a canny businessman.Continue reading “Rivalry and co-operation”
The first music industry format war hots up: cylinders v discs
(This blog entry is a bit of a catch up in the story of the Gramophone Company…..) In 1899, Alfred Clark left Emile Berliner’s employment and went back to working for Thomas Edison’s rival business which sold cylinders rather than discs. Clark, you may remember had set up the world’s first record (disc) shop inContinue reading “The first music industry format war hots up: cylinders v discs”
Sound Of The Hound 