[78-L] First country recording?

[Gregg Kimball]

I haven't heard those sides and I don't know anything about Barton.  What 
was his background?  What tunes did he perform?

There is no right answer to this, but I would look at several factors:

Was the artist primarily a trained, professional performer who picked up a 
few popular tunes like "Arkansas Traveller" but didn't have a wide 
traditional repertoire?

Certainly performing on the stage or studio should not exclude someone.  For 
instance, Mellie Dunham performed in stage settings AFTER he became famous 
via Henry Ford.  But before that he had primarily performed in local 
settings as a country dance fiddler. Did Joseph Samuels ever perform in such 
settings?  I doubt it.

The Dunham example brings up another interesting question.  Do you have to 
be Southern to play "country" music?  Plenty of people would debate that 
one.  Charles Ross Taggart probably fits the above definition of a country 
fiddler but he's from Vermont.  By the way, he also created a Chautauqua 
show called, if I recall correctly, "The Old Country Fiddler."

Tony's discography is fabulous, but he had to make some tough calls that 
many would debate.  I think he includes some of Samuel's recordings but not 
others.  He excluded Henry Ford's Old Time Dance Orchestra, which suprised 
me.

Gregg



----- Original Message ----- 
From: <L78rpm at aol.com>
To: <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
Sent: Sunday, January 29, 2012 10:40 PM
Subject: Re: [78-L] First country recording?


> What do you make of Ward Barton's sides for Victor discs, the first in
> 1909, and issued as 16303?
> Does anyone who finds his way onto the vaudeville stage (perhaps) and into
> a recording studio a "studio or stage" musician?
>
> pc
>
>
> In a message dated 1/29/2012 8:14:31 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
> gdkimball at cox.net writes:
>
>
> This  really boils down to whether you consider Richardson a "country"
> performer.  In Tony Russell's Country discography, he lumps  Richardson
> with
> Charles D'Almaine and others as "studio or stage  musicians" who happened
> to
> record vernacular material.
>
> Part of the  argument is also about where he was from. I've seen it 
> mention
> that he was  from North Carolina, as if this alone establishes his bona
> fides.   Most of the things he recorded were were well known popular 
> tunes,
> such as  "Devil's Dream," or began life as stage songs such as "Durang's
> Hornpipe,"  etc.  I'd give it to Eck.
>
> Gregg Kimball
>
>
> ----- Original  Message ----- 
> From: "David Lennick" <dlennick at sympatico.ca>
> To:  "78L" <78-L at 78online.com>
> Sent: Sunday, January 29, 2012 7:17  PM
> Subject: [78-L] First country recording?
>
>
>> I've just  transferred two fiddle solos by Don Richardson, recorded in
> May
>>  1916
>> for Columbia. It's been suggested somewhere that this is the  first
> country
>> music recording session. Anyone concur?
>>
>>  dl
>>
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