Product Description

If you believe Robert Johnson was the first to play rock ’n’ roll, listen up. Records made by African-American artists in the 1890s anticipated by decades the essentials of jazz, rhythm and blues, rock ’n’ roll—and yes, even Robert Johnson. Unlike the pioneer blues and jazzmen of the 1920s—whose contributions to American music are duly documented and appreciated today—the achievements of their forgotten predecessors are all but erased from history: the sound too limited, the grooves too noisy, the words too painful. Tim Brooks brought the Lost Sounds of these pioneer black performers to our notice with the publication of his groundbreaking book. Archeophone brings these Lost Sounds to life with the release of this CD. And none too soon, as the precious few sounds that have survived a century of neglect are fading fast. Those experienced with pioneer recordings are in for some surprises, as most are reissued here for the first time. And those who are not . . . you’ve not heard anything like them before. Many are not easy to listen to. But they are worth the effort, as they let us hear—as close to first hand as possible—the forgotten black artists who contributed so significantly to American music and culture. Your view of history is about to be rocked.

Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Mamma's Black Baby Boy (Unique Quartette, 1893)
2. Keep Movin' (Standard Quartette, 1894)
3. Who Broke the Lock (Unique Quartette, c.1895)
4. Brother Michael, Won't You Hand Down that Rope (Oriole Quartette, c.1895)
5. Poor Mourner (Cousins and DeMoss, 1898)
6. Who Broke the Lock (Cousins and DeMoss, 1898)
7. Down on the Old Camp Ground (Dinwiddie Colored Quartet, 1902)
8. Jerusalem Mornin' (Polk Miller and His Old South Quartet, 1909)
9. Little David / Shout All Over God's Heaven (Fisk University Jubilee Quartet, 1909)
10. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot (Apollo Jubilee Quartet, 1912)
11. Shout All Over God's Heaven (Apollo Jubilee Quartet, 1912)
12. Good News (Tuskegee Institute Singers, 1914)
13. The Rain Song (Right Quintette, 1915)
14. Goodnight Angeline (Four Harmony Kings, 1921)
15. Experiences in the Show Business (Charley Case, 1909)
16. The Whistling Coon (George W. Johnson, 1891)
17. Adam and Eve and de Winter Apple (excerpt) (Louis Vasnier, c.1893)
18. The Laughing Song (George W. Johnson, c.1894�98)
19. Minstrel First Part, featuring �The Laughing Song� (Spencer, Williams & Quinn's Imperial Minstrels, c.1894)
20. Listen to the Mocking Bird (George W. Johnson, 1896)
21. The Laughing Coon (George W. Johnson, c.1898)
22. The Whistling Girl (George W. Johnson, c.1899)
23. My Little Zulu Babe (Williams and Walker, 1901)
24. Carving the Duck (George W. Johnson, 1903)
25. The Merry Mail Man (Len Spencer and George W. Johnson, 1906)
26. Nobody (Bert Williams, 1906)
27. My Own Story of the Big Fight (part 1) (Jack Johnson, 1910)
28. Beans, Beans, Beans (Opal Cooper, 1917)
29. Great Camp Meetin' Day (Noble Sissle, 1920)

Disc 2:

1. Atlanta Exposition Speech (Booker T. Washington, 1908)
2. Old Black Joe (Thomas Craig, 1898)
3. Old Dog Tray (Carroll Clark, 1910)
4. I Surrender All (Daisy Tapley and Carroll Clark, 1910)
5. Swing Along (Afro-American Folk Song Singers, 1914)
6. The Rain Song (Afro-American Folk Song Singers, 1914)
7. Exhortation (Right Quintette, 1915)
8. Vesti la Giubba (Roland Hayes, 1918)
9. Go Down Moses (Harry T. Burleigh, 1919)
10. Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child (Edward H. S. Boatner, 1919)
11. Villanelle (Florence Cole�Talbert, 1919)
12. Barcarolle (R. Nathaniel Dett, 1919)
13. Lament (Clarence Cameron White, 1919)
14. When de Co'n Pone's Hot / Possum (Edward Sterling Wright, 1913)
15. Down Home Rag (Europe's Society Orchestra, 1913)
16. Bregeiro (Rio Brazilian Maxixe) (Joan Sawyer's Persian Garden Orchestra, 1914)
17. On the Shore at Le-Lei-Wei (Ciro's Club Coon Orchestra, 1916)
18. Down Home Rag (Wilbur C. Sweatman, 1916)
19. Some Jazz Blues (Memphis Pickaninny Band, 1917)
20. Sarah from Sahara (Eubie Blake Trio, 1917)
21. The Jazz Dance (Blake's Jazzone Orchestra, 1917)
22. Ev'rybody's Crazy 'Bout the Doggone Blues (Wilbur C. Sweatman's Original Jazz Band, 1918)
23. Darktown Strutters' Ball (Lieut. Jim Europe's 369th U. S. Infantry �Hell Fighters� Band, 1919)
24. Camp Meeting Blues (Ford Dabney's Band, 1919)
25. St. Louis Blues (W. C. Handy's Memphis Blues Band, 1922)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #127198 in Music
• Released on: 2005-10-11
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: Explicit Lyrics
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Review
"a must for anyone [with] an interest in the social structure of America.... It's educational, enlightening and thought provoking." --Steve Ramm, In the Groove, November 2005

About the Artist
Fifty-four tracks by 43 artists, and 60 pages of in-depth commentary and analysis: Lost Sounds is a monumental achievement that stretches back to the faint beginnings of commercial recordings and travels to the brink of the Jazz Age to trace the contributions of black artists on American records. Sometimes noisy and raucous, sometimes quiet and austere, these recordings demonstrate the deep involvement and lasting influence of African Americans in the nascent recording industry. The release of Lost Sounds is nothing short of historic. You have heard of many of these singers, musicians, and public figures, but you probably haven't heard the sonic documents they left behind. Here for the first time is Thomas Craig, "the colored basso," stage star Opal Cooper, boxer Jack Johnson, and Tuskegee Institute founder Booker T. Washington. Also featured are five operatic performers who made records for Broome Special Phonograph Records, ca. 1919, and who led distinguished musical careers: Harry Burleigh, Edward Boatner, Florence Cole–Talbert, Nathaniel Dett, and Clarence Cameron White. Lost Sounds also includes one of the ultra-rare personal records made by Roland Hayes, "Vesti la giubba," that helped him jump-start his career. With the help of gracious collectors we have also unearthed rarities whose importance cannot be overstated. Here for the first time is heard an African-American vocal group from 1895: the Oriole Quartette doing "Brother Michael, Won't You Hand Down that Rope?" Also included is one of the earliest minstrel records in existence; from 1894, it's Spencer, Williams & Quinn's Imperial Minstrels doing their Minstrel First Part and featuring George W. Johnson's great "Laughing Song." Those who have heard Cousins and DeMoss doing "Poor Mourner" for Berliner in 1898 have a treat in store with their rousing rendition of "Who Broke the Lock" also from 1898. These guys were making rock records before anybody knew what that meant. Four distinct musical genres emerged when the recordings were laid out: Vocal Harmonies, Minstrel & Vaudeville Traditions, Aspirational Motives, and Dance Rhythms. The two CDs are arranged according to these themes, with a full trajectory of nearly 30 years' worth of material covered in each section. Of special interest on Lost Sounds is George W. Johnson, the first black man to record. "Lost Sounds" includes all eight of his extant recordings, from the 1891 North American cylinder of "The Whistling Coon" and "The Laughing Song," which features unusually early ragtime piano accompaniment, to "The Whistling Girl," "The Laughing Coon" and the ultra-rare "Carving the Duck" from 1903—a record that had not surfaced until earlier this year. Lesser-known and uncommon recordings by Johnson are his whistling solo for Berliner of "The Mocking Bird" and his speaking cameo on Len Spencer's "Merry Mail Man," the last original routine the elderly Johnson appeared on. With notes by Tim Brooks and David Giovannoni, the accompanying 60-page booklet is nearly worth the price alone. Beautifully illustrated, and featuring many rare photos, the booklet (it's really a book!) brings the music and the actors alive. We've included a general introduction, four genre introductions, selected mini-biographies, copious track notes and lyrics on selected songs, along with a handful of other special features. This stunning book is sure to make Lost Sounds a deeply rewarding experience for you.

Customer Reviews

Priceless documents in context
I read Tim Brooks' book Lost Sounds soon after it came out. Both early recordings and pre-jazz African-American music have been interests of mine for a while now, and Brooks' book is an invaluable work on both. This companion double CD set, used either as aural illustration for the book or by itself, is equally invaluable.

As Brooks readily admits, many of these sounds were forgotten and nearly extinguished because of their discomforting nature. Many of the black performers before 1922 engaged in one sort of "tomming" or another. The recording industry was a whites-only business, and only those artists who appealed to whites in some way got recorded at this time. Thus these recordings can't be taken as representative of the music African-Americans made for their own enjoyment.

The variety of styles and approaches in the black music recorded in the 90's, aughts, and teens reflects the variety of ideas and approaches to black self-representation in these times. From dignified gospel styles to minstrel songs, from sentimental ballads to the startling proto-jazz of Jim Europe, Ford Dabney and Wilbur Sweatman, every expression of black artists was necessarily related to political or social ideals and realities. The CDs not only present this wide variety of material, but the 58-page notes help draw out the social significance of each type of recording.

Rather than proceeding chronologically, the contents are divided roughly into four sections, Vocal Harmonies, Minstrel and Vaudelville Traditions, Aspirational Motives, and Dance Rhythms. Except for the last section which focuses on later instrumentals, there is a good deal of overlap between the sections, but this only helps illustrate the overlaps in the traditions.

The sound quality, while never hi-fi, is amazing considering the sources. Some of the best people in the early-sound restoration field contributed their efforts and it shows. I know from experience just how difficult it is to get all the sound out of an early recording. All involved deserve a big hand.

My one complaint with the package is the inclusion at the beginning of the Minstrel notes of a noxious quote from Stanley Crouch dismissing all rap music as new minstrelsy aimed at white audiences. Brooks is aware that the politics of self-representation among early 20th Century African-Americans were extremely complex. How he could fail to see that they still are complex, and how he could miss the blinding upper-class bias of Crouch, is beyond me. It's possible the quote was supposed to be a demonstration of the continuing complexity of these politics, but it appears to be just an endorsement of Crouch's ignorance.

equal parts fascination and revulsion
There's not too much I can say that hasn't already been mentioned in the previous review, but I felt a need to add to (or help start) the chorus of praise for this collection.
As a fan of country blues and songster material (often predating country blues) this collection has been a real eye-opener. While I've heard some minstrel material from Jim Jackson, Pink Anderson, and some early blues players, this collection shows just how much more disturbing the minstrel tradition could be.
I suppose this album is best described as bittersweet; it contains some breathtaking music in a variety of genres, (the earliest examples I've ever heard of blues, jazz, gospel, minstrelsy, and the astounding vocal groups). However, it is in some of the self-effacing subject matter where the abhorant racism of the times left its audible mark the most (sometimes making songs difficult to listen to). That said, I truly believe that this is material to be embraced and understood; so as to both appreciate the artistry of it, and to ensure that such horrendous persecution does not occur again; if approached in this light, "Lost Sounds" is a true landmark for which listeners owe Archeophone records their sincerest thanks (and/or dollars). I honestly believe that any person with interests in black music created in the U.S. over the past century, or modern history for that matter, should not be without this collection.
It never ceases to astound me how something so beautiful can be quite so disturbing at the same time, but I'm so thankful I have had the chance to be disturbed at all.

Interesting
This is not my favorite of my many compilations of early American recordings but it does have some very interesting stuff on it. A better comp in my opinion is Roots N' Blues,The Retrospective(1925-1950). Now thats a great overview of early americana. But still, Lost Sounds has its merits. The songs that have very rough reproduction actually give the CD a haunting quality. If you want to go way back to the dawn of the recording industry like I did then you will not be disappointed but if you want something a little more listenable, then go w/ the Roots CD. Hope that was helpful to somebody...