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Posted by: Bryan Cornell
The revolutionary spoken-word record label, Cademon, co-founded by the late Marianne Mantell, is recalled by the Library's own Bryan Cornell.
Posted in: Recorded Sound
Posted by: Bryan Cornell
With the end of Women’s History Month approaching, the Library’s Recorded Sound Section would be remiss if we failed to mention the remarkable accomplishments of Barbara (Cohen) Holdridge and Marianne (Roney) Mantell, founders of Caedmon Records. These two Hunter College graduates with degrees in Greek wanted careers in publishing, but weren’t particularly excited about …
Posted in: Recorded Sound, Spoken Word, Uncategorized, Women in the record industry
Posted by: Bryan Cornell
Released on July 11, 1969, 5 days before NASA’s Apollo 11 mission successfully landed the first man on the moon, David Bowie’s song “Space Oddity” became the first major hit of his career, climbing to number 5 on the UK singles chart. While the song cannot be solely credited with elevating Bowie to the pinnacle …
Posted in: David Bowie, Recorded Sound
Posted by: Bryan Cornell
Award-winning broadcaster Jim Metzner—founder, producer, field recordist and host of “Pulse of the Planet”, one of radio’s longest running science programs, will be making a special appearance at the Library of Congress on Wednesday, October 10, at 7:00 pm, celebrating 30 years of “Pulse of the Planet,” as well as his many other radio creations. …
Posted in: Radio, Recorded Sound, Uncategorized
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 …
Posted in: Early Recording Industry, Jukebox, Recorded Sound, Uncategorized
Posted by: Bryan Cornell
Today’s guest post was written by David Sager, Reference Assistant in the Recorded Sound Section, Library of Congress. In recognition of the harvest moon today, this blog entry is dedicated to one of the most popular and enduring songs of the early 20th century and a lamented lost recording of that era. Back during the …
Posted in: Early Recording Industry, Jukebox, Musical Theater, Recorded Sound, Vaudeville
Posted by: Bryan Cornell
Today’s entry is a guest post by Jan McKee, Reference Librarian, Recorded Sound Research Center. I have always wondered about the Edison tone tests. Is it really possible that an audience could not tell the difference between an Edison Diamond Disc being played on a phonograph and the live performer singing while standing next to …
Posted in: Advertising, Early Recording Industry, Recorded Sound, Uncategorized
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 …
Posted in: Early Recording Industry, Jukebox, Recorded Sound, Uncategorized
Posted by: Bryan Cornell
Al Kooper, may not be as well-known as shock-rocker, Alice Cooper, but he has had a significant impact in the recording industry both behind the scenes and at center stage for several decades. This week we wanted to share an interview with Al Kooper from the Joe Smith Collection in the Recorded Sound Section at the Library of Congress. The Joe Smith collection …
Posted in: Recorded Sound, Uncategorized