Re: [ARSCLIST] Gennett Project update

[Paul Tyler <ptyler@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I'm glad to hear of all the hard work you've done with the Gennett cards.  In the interests of accuracy, the "previous secretary"'s proper title was Project Director.  She was the only employee of the Foundation, and did a lot of good things with very very limited resources.  Have they found a replacement for her, yet.  I haven't been in touch.

I don't know that IU-East has taken a leadership role on research or has any substantial holdings, unless it's stuff that the Foundation was able to acquire.  I did a small oral history project for them a couple of years ago.  We interviewed the four known surviving musicians who had recorded in the Gorge.  

I haven't had a chance to comb through the IHS holdings recording Gennett.  My research there was focused on the 19th century.  But now I'm involved with some 20th century projects that may require another trip or two to Indy.

Can you provide any guidance of whether it could be worth my while?  Do they have recording cards or other papers (I have copies of the recording ledgers) that cover the early country artists recorded in the late '20s and early '30s.  For instance, I'm looking for any clues as to the identity of the fiddler on the Tom Owens Barn Dance Trio sides from 1926.  Or was the Dan Workman of the Scott County Trio--presumably the violinist--the same Dan Workman who worked as a mechanic in Bloomfield, Indiana (according the 1930 census)?  

Thanks for your hard work.

Paul

Malcolm Rockwell <malcolm@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote: Thank you for your replies and comments.
The Star-Gennett Foundation has a small collection of recordings but no 
recording cards or pertinent paper (ledgers, sales stats, pressing 
orders, etc). The previous secretary, who did just about everything at 
S-G, was swamped with so many projects (and limited funds) that the 
preservation aspects were eclipsed. Hopefully the new person will be 
able to advance this aspect of the Foundation's work.
I have yet to contact IU-East, but shall do so shortly. Any suggestions 
as to a contact person gratefully accepted.
Thanks for bringing this resource to my attention.
I have been a member of the Indiana Historical Societyfor the past 5 
years and have pretty much tapped them out!
As to digitization, Charlie Dahan did just that with all the cards at 
Rutgers, of which the Institute of Jazz Studies now has a copy.
Hopefully IU will be able to do the same with the material at the IHS.
Mal Rockwell

*******

Paul Tyler wrote:
> Activities in Richmond are under the auspices of the Starr-Gennett Foundation.  They are trying to catch up on the work of preservation that wasn't carefully attended to for some period of time.  They are working with IU-East and the Indiana Historical Society.
>
>
> Rich Remsberg  wrote: I don't know if they have cards, but the Richmond Historical Society  
> was taking an active interest in Gennett around the time I moved away  
> from Indiana. They had been working with the family and may have some  
> of this sort of thing. The Historical Society  had been talking with  
> the Digital Library Project at Indiana University about digitizing  
> Gennett materials, but I don't know where that project standds, if it  
> got on its feet at all.
>
> Even more of a longshot, you may want to check with the Folklore  
> Institute and the Archives of Traditional Music, also at Indiana  
> University. Patrick, have you ever looked into what Gennett materials  
> they have in their holdings?
>
> Rich
>
>
> On Oct 14, 2007, at 4:55 PM, Malcolm Rockwell wrote:
>
>   
>> Hello folks -
>>
>> A couple of things:
>>
>> 1) I've now been through all the Gennett recording cards I've been  
>> able to locate. They physically exist at Rutgers and at the Indiana  
>> Historical Society. I now have jpg and bmp files of all the cards  
>> at Rutgers, thanks to the aid of Dan Morgenstern and the patience  
>> and camera of my co-compiler Charlie Dahan, as well as my own hand  
>> written notes of all the cards archived in Indianapolis.
>> These are the covered dates:
>>
>> NYC:  May, 1921 - June 1928
>>
>> Richmond:
>> August 1921 - January 1922
>> January 1923 - December 1923
>> January 1927 - April 1929
>>
>> If anyone knows of any more cards in public collections or private  
>> hands I would surely like to know about them. I also still seek any  
>> information on recordings made in Richmond for the US Starr label  
>> pre-1919. I have quite a bit, but there are some major gaps yet to  
>> fill.
>>
>> My favorite find? It was the discovery of microphone/musician  
>> placement diagrams on the backs of some of the cards from Richmond,  
>> 1926, when Gennett was first engineering recordings electrically. I  
>> was stunned and pleased, to say the least!
>>
>> 2) One of the cards at Rutgers is a puzzler (just one?).It's mx  
>> 8289, recorded in NYC at 9 E. 37th Street on June 15, 1920. But,  
>> you say, mx 8289 would be for a recording date on March 21, 1923 -  
>> and so it is. But it's not the same title or artist and the card  
>> gives the 1920 recording date, backed up by a copper master  
>> shipping date (to Richmond) of June 19, 1920. The title on the card  
>> is is "Underneath The Moon (Waltz)" and the artist shows only as  
>> "Orchestra." I have found no release of this title anywhere in the  
>> Gennett catalog. Can anyone explain the anomaly?
>>
>> Mal Rockwell
>>     
>
> Rich Remsberg Image Research
> 243 Union Street, #105
> North Adams, MA 01247
> 413-664-4516
> rich@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>
>