1927 "VARSITY DRAG" Played On Edison Diamond Disc Phonograph Early Model A-250 (Disc
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- Опубликовано: 14 окт 2024
- Here is a hard to find 1927 electrically recorded jazz Edison Diamond Disc record from my collection, "The Varsity Drag", by Ernie Golden and His Hotel McAlpin Orchestra on Diamond Disc #52109. I played this on my early model Edison Diamond Disc Phonograph model A-250 with louvered sides. I also included a few of my Edison Diamond Disc Edisonic reproducers just for fun. As always, thanks for stopping in for a visit and I hope you enjoy the video!
It could be a good thing to tell people who have never experienced an old player, Edison or Victor, that with the lid shut there is a lot less record noise.
The movie, “Good News”, was where this song came from, also, the movie was provided by “Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer”.
Skip to about 7:42 to bypass the detailed background on the phonograph and get right to the song.
I love 20's jazz, it has such a intense feeling of optimism. Varsity Drag, Charleston, and Rhapsody In Blue are certainly the greatest and most prolific pieces to come out of this time.
I'm always amazed at the variety of instruments featured on most Diamond Disc recordings, and how well each are presented. Edison sound engineers did a fabulous job of mixing the sound on these records - unmatched my any other record company of that time period. Loved this selection. I just obtained a 1922 C-19 Diamond Disc phonograph from Decatur, IL with a full compliment of records. Most of the selections are the later paper labels and are dance records. I find these to be the best of the Diamond Discs. It's hard not to like this era of music. Thank you, "MusicBoxBoy" for taking the time to share your information, the history, and your rare recordings with us.
“Mixing” hadn’t been invented yet. The whole band played at the same time in front of one recording horn, and to make instruments louder or softer, the instrument was moved further towards or away from the recording horn, and it had to be done before they started playing, or they would have choreographed soloists or small groups to move closer to the horn at different points in the piece and then back away. Either the engineers knew exactly what instruments to put closer to and farther away from the horn before they started recording, or the band had to do dozens of takes to see which spatial configuration sounded the best, both equally impressive.
I heard many obscure oddities on Edison discs but Varsity Drag is the best song of them all.
How rare to see an Edison Disc with ACTUAL jazz on it, though he was a little too late....
Edison only recorded 'cheap' artists ! I do not think you will find a 'star' artist on Edison recordings ! Edison was about the recording not the artist !
Edison had nothing to do with jazz. That changed with he turned control over to his 2 sons in the mid 20s. Way too little too late. Before then Edison had to approve that every record fit his musical tastes before being pressed. It was never about what the public demanded. It was always about what Edison wanted.
@@Bruce15485 Edison discovered Rachmaninov
This is so cool!
Vinyl Eyezz it's marvellous I collect 78
Wonderful, nice to go back in time for a while. Thankyou for sharing
The amazing thing in that Diamond Disc Phonograph, it doesn't need electricity, or, batterys, or, amplifiers, or, speakers, the sound is very acceptable and very clear, you can use it without power, and you can smell the past comes out from the body wood and the body wood color.
Thanks for your gracious comments. Good to hear that you enjoyed it.
Now that is a tune I had forgotten its name but not the tune. Great recording `thanks for sharing it with us all
Great work...!!! Thanks
What a beautiful machine! Fascinating presentation. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Wonderful! Alas, I may have injured myself by going down on my toes and up on my heels, but that wouldn't be the first time. Ridiculously, it makes me sad that I was around when the contents of the McAlpin were being sold off, prior to its demolition.
The building still stands in NYC, it wasn't demolished.
I had no idea there was any "hot" jazz on the thick Edison records. I was only familiar with this cut on Victor by George Olsen. I wonder if it was also on cylinder? I heard they were still being produced in the late '20's. That would super-rare for sure!
Thomas Edison's musical tastes were more traditional, but had people working for him who *knew* what phonograph listeners wanted to hear. And there was the fact that Edison was virtually deaf towards the end of his life.
@@fromthesidelines It's interesting that Henry Ford had the same mindset. These guys grew-up in the 19th century world where you stuck with the "tried and true". They were lost in the 20th centuries quickly progressing world. It's too bad that Edison did not make a slew of hot jazz dics and cylinders. I know there's only a very precious few.
Nice to hear the Edison version! My only Edisonic is a gunmetal finish, but it has the early squared-side weight. It's been rebuilt and plays loud and clear!
for my money, the Edison units always sounded better than the Victrola
They also had a better frequency response..
You talkin bout those current record players?
The Edison sound reproducers tracked laterally (side by side) unlike the Victrola sound boxes which tracked vertically (hill & dale or up & down).
@@michaelmckenna6464 You have it backwards.
@@ZX-zw3ge nobody talks about those.
What a great record player
Great find and music.
I have got two copies of the varsity drag in my collection.
How good of condition are they in?
Hey that is amazing sounds as good as my Pasadena roof orchestra c.d
That sounded great!!! Thanks for posting.
Love this song, first heard it on a LINK 2E coin operated piano. And loved it the first time I heard it. Funny some of my recordings made with my Edison factory acoustic studio head sound this good. I have heard the test recordings when they were setting up Edison's 79 5th ave studio for electrical recording, and trying different amplifiers, and changing out grid capacitors and equalization across the outputs.
Great video
Thanks for the nice comment. Always a pleasure to see a comment from you.
7:54 to bypass background info
....from a tongue-tied narrator. Why are Americans so bad at this? Aside from the narration, it’s a really interesting video.
Zachary Bowen thx for that
@@narabdela I rather enjoyed the narration. But, the option is skip is always welcomed.
@@narabdela Because we excel at being the only country that matters. I'll take that over fine narration any day.
@@SeeburgMusic 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
another great Frank Skinner arrangement
Are you able to email me a recording of this? Like straight from the speakers directly into a recording program?
another great machine, and great DD wonderful love the reproducers you must have a wonderful house full of great machines and records, I would be in Heaven
Hey! If your edison diomond record player has that stylus on the back left, if you open up that front grill on your player, there is a little holder for it on the front left, which sometimes might be covered up by that gramaphone in the player. Although thats just in my player which is from 1914 thiough. Not sure about yourts.
Great version. Thanks!
You are very welcome. Good to hear from you again. I enjoyed sharing this.
❤️❤️❤️❤️ more more!
Great quality. Brilliant. . I wonder about the family that owned this record... were the girls charleston-ing to it in their front room?
bootsamou I think they would be doing the drag itself. Same high energy as the Charleston.
If only o could like the video twice I would !
Very good sound from a 78 thank you
I have some of these Edison records and they are labelled 80 RPM.
Great track :) Do you know what the first Electrically-recorded Edison Diamond Discs were, along with how Edison electrically-recorded these diamond discs?
First Edison Electric is number 52089.
A really great arrangement on that recording, though I personally love the vocal refrain in this song.
Hey, i wanted to ask, when you were rebuilding your reproducer, did it use a diomond stylus, or a steel one, for each one what type was it? I have another reproducer on my player that has a dull stylus. It would be very helpful.
Is this a 10" or a 12" disk? For me it looks like 10" in comparison with that big turntable. But I thought 4 minutes of music used to be stored on 12" records, especially in the 1920's, long before the so-called Rheinic procedure came up, or what is this called in English? Or was that the beginning of micro-grove record production in the 1920's?
Greetings from Germany!
+Dirk1961 They're 10 inch discs
+Dirk1961
Edison records can hold a 4 minutes music on a 10 inch disc because it was cut vertically which allows the grooves to be closer to each other.
The Edison Diamond Disc is cut at 150 TPI, they can actually hold 5 minutes at 80 rpm.
Are the pickups counterbalanced? "Styluses"? No needles? Vertical cut but are there also laterals? Presumably verticals don't need such wide grooves? Very interesting.Thanks.
Unlike regular 78 players (like the Victrola), Edison machines used a diamond stylus instead of disposable steel needles.
Yes. Regular 78s are lateral. Edison company even made some laterals in their last months.
Correct. Edison actually experimented with Long Play discs that could hold 40 min or more per side. Thinner groove than a modern LP
I LOVE This!!! GREAT Record indeed!
cool man
One of my faves
I have a few diamond disk records, but I don't have a player, but my old school califone record player seems to do an alright job.
EBay has got some edison diamond disc records listed for sale on its site
Catchy tune.
I have been collecting victrola for some time and just acquired A Edison C19 with out the replicated head, but found one online. If I need to replace the needle what type of needles do I need.
I have one and thought I should get a better needle ?
very enjoyable.....thanks so much for sharing. i'd like to send you info about our machine sometime in the future.....maybe you'll be interested, and know some info about its history. Its been in hubby's family now for 3 generations......deb
I keep hearing the words to the song The French Mistake from Blazing Saddles when they play the verse.
Throw out your hands!!
Stick out your tush!!
Hands on your hips
Give them a push!!
You'll be surprised
You're doing the French Mistake!!
That looks pretty new.
Recorded on September 26, 1927.
Did Starr Records employ this same recording method for their releases?
Do you fix victrolas? I️ have an Edison and it doesn’t play anymore
What do you use when rebuilding a reproducer for a needle?
There are people on the Internet who will put a new stylus in your reproducer for a fee, usually anywhere from 130 to 150 dollars, however I have found it possible to buy old reproducers on Ebay that still have good needles on them for much less money and then change out the needle (stylus) myself, taking the Ebay part and putting it in my reproducer. It is a relatively simple job and as long as the reproducer is apart I also replace the diaphragm, if needed, and gaskets (always). When you look at an old reproducer on Ebay look for a sharp point, if there is a sharp pyramid-shaped point on the diamond, it is still good. These things literally last more than 100 years if they are not abused. The diamond stylus put Edison far ahead of the competition at the time producing not only a better sound, but also doing away with the need to change the needle every play or two.
"Ta chido"
Nice sounding machine, but a rather tongue-tied narrative. I can see why Edison reproducers are rather scarce, as some people seem to hoard them for "the collection". How many operable diamond disc machines have been scrapped just for the reproducer?
Hello , has no interest in selling this product, or know of one for sale?
from what year is that disc?
albertdiner 1927
1927. It came out of the smash-hit collegiate musical "Good News".
who was the artist
Does anyone know someone who can replace the diamond tip?
loren4504 You can buy the whole reproducer on eBay for around $100 or $200
Wyatt Markus can. He's commissioned the making of new diamonds for these reproducers.
I have this on l
Lp
Careful with those Diamond Discs™. They have smaller grooves. A normal osmium needle will quickly destroy an Edison Diamond disc. the size is about 1.0 - 1.5 mil A standard 78 RPM disc is 2.7 mil.
Look for cactus stylus. They sound far better and are wear the records less. Really, I am not joking.
But Diamond Discs have such small grooves, I am not sure you can find the right size cactus stylus.
Edison killed himself his super system but ironically it was retrieved when stereo vinyl was invented after WWII.
Great record but played far too fast.
Richard Abraham speed sounds right to me