The following is a guest post by Rachel Parker, of the Packard Campus. Thursday, June 16 (7:30 p.m.) Silent Movie Double Feature Whispering Shadows (Peerless Feature, 1921) After attending a séance, a young couple deals with the question of whether the dead have the power to warn their loved ones of impending danger. This unusual …
The following is a guest post by Jenny Paxson, an Administrative Assistant at the Packard Campus. Thursday, December 17 (7:30 p.m.) We’re No Angels (Paramount, 1955) Humphrey Bogart, Aldo Ray and Peter Ustinov play three escaped inmates from Devil’s Island who concoct a plan to steal from a shopkeeper on Christmas. Their plans change when …
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 …
This blog post was co-written with Jan McKee, Reference Librarian, Recorded Sound Section, Library of Congress. In addition to providing access to the Library’s recorded sound collection, the Recorded Sound Research Center also maintains a collection of reference books. These books include discographies, bio-discographies, directories, histories, and technical works about sound recording and radio broadcasting. …
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 …
This blog post was co-written with Matt Barton, Curator, Recorded Sound Section, Library of Congress Each year, the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress chooses 25 recordings showcasing the range and diversity of American recorded sound heritage in order to increase preservation awareness. The diversity of nominations received highlights the richness of the …
This blog post was co-written with Jan McKee, Reference Librarian, Recorded Sound Section, Library of Congress It wouldn’t be St. Patrick’s Day without some sentimental Irish ballads to listen to with our green beer, and the name that is most synonymous with Irish ballads is John McCormack. John McCormack (1884-1945) was an Irish born American …