Some disturbing news from Techdirt: "Why World War I Recordings Won't Enter The Public Domain Until 2049." Seems sound-recordings were left out of the 1909 Copyright Act, purposely: First, Congress wondered about the constitutional validity of such protection. The Constitution allows Congress to protect "writings," and Congress was uncertain as to whether a sound recording could [...]

Numero Group along with WFMU Radio have made available for free download a collection of 60 songs recorded from 1908 through 1980 that tells the story of the history of recorded music in Chicago. Numero archivist/producer Michael Slaboch gives a little background on the tracks and how the project came together, as well as a complete track listing below. The history of recorded music in Chicago during the 20th century was broad and deep, traversing sonic areas both [...]

Edison Male Quartet - A Flower From Home Sweet Home (1907) Edison Male Quartet - My Old Kentucky Home (1902) Byron Harlan - Hello Central Give Me Heaven (1904) Billy Murray - Casey Jones (1909) It is admitted that the first documented country recording was Eck Robertson's Victor session in june 1922. But what was there before ? In the first years of the phonograph industry, before [...]
The Day of the Women's Death Battalion: 1917Al and Monroe Jockers, The Dixie Volunteers.Erik Satie, Parade: Petite Fille Americaine.Eubie Blake, Charleston Rag.Harry Kandel's Orchestra, Freylekhs Fun Der Khupe.Earl Fuller's Famous Jazz Band, A Coon Band Contest.Frisco Jass Band, Johnson's Jass Blues.Handy's Orchestra of Memphis, Fuzzy Wuzzy Rag.The Original Dixieland Jazz Band, Ostrich Walk.The

You know the one - "Two little boys had two little toys, each had a wooden horse..." . Most people of a certain age in the UK, will know it as a 1969/1970 Rolf Harris hit, successfully covered in 1980 by Splodgenessabounds. What I didn't know, was that Kenny Rogers & The First Edition did a version on their '71 album - Transition, or that the song was written, twice... over one hundred years ago. This tune first surfaced in 1903, and was a popular recording by Billy Murray. Edward Madden wrote the lyrics, [...]

#8 in an occasional series - more story songs on How Marvellous... You know the one - "Two little boys had two little toys, each had a wooden horse..." . Most people of a certain age in the UK, will know it as a 1969/1970 Rolf Harris hit, successfully covered in 1980 by Splodgenessabounds. What I didn't know, was that Kenny Rogers & The First Edition did a version on their '71 album - Transition, or that the song was written, twice... [...]
The Life of Violets, 1906-1907 Shinn, Stage Scene 1906 Danny Hoffman, outfielder, Philadelphia Athletics Billy Murray, You're a Grand Old Rag. Pryor's Band, A Coon Band Contest. First of all, I don't think Basini matters one bit. Whether we report him now, or beat him, or torture him half to death just for the pleasure of it. Because I can't imagine such a person having any significance in

Ada Jones & Billy Murray : Shine On, Harvest Moon [ public domain ] There's been a Harvest Moon song posted already, but Shine On, Harvest Moon is worthy of an entry of its own. It was composed in the early 1900s by the husband and wife team of Jack Norworth and Nora Bayes. Billy Murray and Ada Jones , the Acoustic Era's John Legend & Lauryn Hill, scored a #1 hit with it in June of 1909. Leon Redbone [...]
6 Easy Pieces: Stuttering Songs Lloyd Stalcup, Stuttering Song. Edward Meeker, Stuttering Dick (and His Stuttering Sweetheart). Billy Murray, K-K-K-Katy. LMP (La Musique Populaire), K-K-K-Katy. Arthur Fields, Oh Helen! The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, The Stuttering Lovers. Billy Jones and Ernest Hare, You Tell Her, I Stutter. Frank Guarente's Georgians, You Tell Her, I Stutter. The Cotton
3rd Anniversary: A Century in Jumps (Slight Return) 1907 May Irwin, When You Ain't Got No Money, You Needn't Come Around. Herbert Clarke, Bride of the Waves. Scott Joplin, Rose Leaf Rag. Cantor Gershon Sirota, Veshamru. Yvette Guilbert, Je Suis Pocharde. Billy Murray, Budweiser's A Friend of Mine. Elsie--you will never grow old, will you? You will always be just my little girl, won't you?

And when I say armpit, I mean it in the best possible sense . New Jersey's other nickname, "The Garden State" is apparently derived from an 1876 quote in which Abraham Browning attempted to stir the pride of his fellow Jersey-ites by comparing the state to a giant barrel open at both ends, with Philadelphia picking at one end, and New York rifling through the other. Great. A giant barrel. For most of this and the previous century, the word "barrel" has more of a connotation of toxic waste than of fresh produce. So maybe being [...]
100 Years (in Ten Jumps) 1916: Billy Murray, Where Did Robinson Crusoe Go With Friday on Saturday Night? Walter Van Brunt, I Left Her On the Beach in Honolulu. Quinteto Borinquen, Sara. Joseph Lamb, Patricia Rag. Manuel de Falla, Nights in the Gardens of Spain: Distant Dance. Punctual to time 7:28 a.m. two minutes before the line advanced Captain Neville, 8th E. Surreys, kicks off the