Top of page

Category: Jukebox

A view looking past a digital display screen towards the doors of an indoor theater, with

Vocal Recordings the Hard Way

Posted by: Bryan Cornell

Today’s post is by David Sager, Research Assistant in the Recorded Sound Research Center This blog relies on recordings from the Library of Congress’s National Jukebox, a resource with over 10,000 early recordings which is well worth exploring.  You can also hear thousands more rare recordings, including radio broadcasts from the 1930s, 40s, and 50s …

A view looking past a digital display screen towards the doors of an indoor theater, with

The First Jazz Recording: One Hundred Years Later

Posted by: Bryan Cornell

Today's post is by David Sager, Reference Assistant in the Recorded Sound Section, Library of Congress. A momentous happening occurred on February 26, 1917 at the Victor Talking Machine Company, although no one quite suspected so at the time. Among the artists to be recorded that day—consisting of operatic baritone Reinald Werrenrath and tenor Lambert …

A view looking past a digital display screen towards the doors of an indoor theater, with

The Old 97

Posted by: Bryan Cornell

Folklorist Norm Cohen has astutely observed that “[f]olklore thrives where danger threatens” (The Long Steel Rail, cited below, p. 169). The annals of commercially recorded traditional and popular song provide abundant support for this conclusion. In fact, by the early twentieth century — especially the decades of the teens and twenties — nearly every imaginable disaster or mishap was memorialized in song.  Natural disasters are …

A view looking past a digital display screen towards the doors of an indoor theater, with

The Elusive Buddy Bolden

Posted by: Bryan Cornell

 The following post is by David Sager,  Processing Technician in the Recorded Sound Section, Library of Congress. This post is in commemoration of the 84th anniversary of Buddy Bolden’s death and the never-ending discussion of his legendary lost cylinder recording. Charles “Buddy” Bolden, 1877-1931, often referred to as the “first man of jazz,” holds an …

A view looking past a digital display screen towards the doors of an indoor theater, with

A Look Inside the National Jukebox

Posted by: Bryan Cornell

What follows is a guest post by Carla Arton and Harrison Behl, processing technicians in the Recorded Sound Section, Library of Congress   In May 2013, the staff-led Packard Campus Institute (PCI) hosted a presentation on the National Jukebox by Gene DeAnna, Head of the Recorded Sound Section at the Library of Congress. In his presentation, Gene showcases …

A view looking past a digital display screen towards the doors of an indoor theater, with

World War I

Posted by: Bryan Cornell

 The following is a guest post by Matt Barton, Recorded Sound Curator, National Audio-Visual Conservation Center This Monday marked the hundredth anniversary of the beginning of World War I.  Songs relating to World War I are very well documented in the Library’s National Jukebox, which provides over 10,000 78-rpm discs recorded in the 1920s and before. For …

A view looking past a digital display screen towards the doors of an indoor theater, with

Of Cantonese Opera and Guatemalan Marimba

Posted by: Bryan Cornell

This week we will explore the wealth of ethnic recordings that are available in the Library’s National Jukebox and other online collections.  The Jukebox includes some 10,000 recordings of 78-rpm discs made before 1926. To browse these recordings, visit the site’s browse all recordings page and click the headings “language” and “target audience.” Pictured at the right are Alfredo and Flora de Gobbi, a husband …

A view looking past a digital display screen towards the doors of an indoor theater, with

Happy Fourth!

Posted by: Bryan Cornell

This post was co-written by Karen Fishman and Mike Mashon.   Here are some selections from the film and audio collection to help you celebrate The Fourth of July. The audio comes from the Library’s National Jukebox which includes over 10,000 streaming recordings dating from 1900 to 1925, a time when patriotic music was extremely …