Revolutionizing Children's Records

This, the first record issued by the Children's Record Guild, is performed by the quartet of Pete Seeger, Lee Hays, Fred Hellerman, and Ronnie Gilbert before they were known as The Weavers.

FOLK SONGS FOR SINGING AND DANCING

2010-03-11T22:38:00.000-08:00

A double disc reissue compilation of nonsense and humorous songs that Tom Glazer had previously recorded for YPR.

SEA SONGS

2010-03-11T22:37:00.000-08:00

Just Pete and his banjo, singing some sea songs.

RISSELDY ROSSELDY

2010-03-11T22:34:00.000-08:00

A group of nonsense songs by Betty Sanders. Her version of "Risseldy Rosseldy" is my favorite.

LET'S ALL JOIN IN

2010-03-11T22:32:00.000-08:00

Some sing-along songs sung by Pete Seeger (back when he still went by Peter), tied together by Oscar Brand's script.

JAZZ BAND

2010-03-11T22:25:00.000-08:00

From 1948, this might have been the first time that jazz was ever presented in the context of music appreciation -- certainly the first time on a children's record. And with the heavyweight lineup of Canada Lee, Kenneth Spencer, and Teddy Wilson's quintet, it has never been surpassed.

A-HUNTING WE WILL GO

2010-03-11T22:22:00.000-08:00

Wonderful collection of English hunting songs sung by Tom Glazer, with small chorus. Great version of "The Keeper," with small orchestral backing. This is the record that turned me on to YPR.

THE FUNNIEST SONG IN THE WORLD

2010-03-11T22:20:00.000-08:00

Groucho's first children's record, from 1949.

GOING WEST

2010-03-11T22:17:00.001-08:00

No story, just Tom Glazer singing some less-than-obvious American folk songs. The first record ever issued by YPR in its elementary age bracket.

THE LITTLE COWBOY

2010-03-11T22:12:00.000-08:00

As with the Chisholm Trail record (see next entry), this one benefits from the downhome narration of Will Geer. The two stars of this story, Hank and Tex, are portrayed by Ernie Lieberman and Fred Hellerman, two years prior to the formation of the Weavers. They both do some really fine singing here.

CHISHOLM TRAIL

2010-03-11T22:09:00.000-08:00

A script by the novelist Jay Williams, narration by Will Geer, and singing by Tom Glazer make this one of the best of the many cowboy-themed children's records.

Charity Bailey MORE PLAYTIME SONGS

2010-03-11T21:59:00.001-08:00

Unlike her records for Folkways, or her first two records for YPR, More Playtime Songs -- and its companion Singing in the Kitchen -- present Charity not as a classroom teacher, but rather as more of a pop singer, accompanied by the small orchestral arrangements of Henry Brant.

Oscar Brand's AMERICAN ALMANAC

2010-03-11T21:56:00.000-08:00

One of a 12-part series of "American Almanac" records written by Oscar Brand. He narrated all of them, and performed on most of them.

JEFFERSON CHORUS on the Union label

2010-03-09T20:41:00.000-08:00

This 2-disc set of YPR's Horace Grenell conducting the Jefferson Chorus was one of only a few titles issued on Moe Asch's Union Records label. Extremely rare, this specimen was originally in Ron Cohen's collection (thanks for the cockeyed scan, Ron!), and is now in the archive at Chapel Hill, I believe.

LITTLE FUGITIVE on FOLKWAYS

2010-03-09T20:03:00.001-08:00

The Folkways "soundtrack"* to the groundbreaking Little Fugitive movie. Top: Credit detail from liner notes. Bottom: LP cover art.

Ray Ashley is one of the many pseudonyms of Raymond Abrashkin, who wrote lyrics and scripts for many Young People's Records.

Lester Troob, then the recently-departed president of YPR, not only supervised the sound and music of the film, but also supervised the editing of the film itself, with Ruth Orkin doing the actual "fingerwork."

*The music on this LP is not actually the soundtrack from the movie, but rather a new recording of Eddie Manson performing some of the music. (Manson also recorded for YPR.)

Judith Sidorsky prizewinner (1926)

2010-03-08T01:02:00.000-08:00

Click to enlarge.

Judith Sidorsky concert item (1944)

2010-03-08T01:00:00.000-08:00

CLICK TO ENLARGE

YPR 1950 Central Park Concert

2010-03-08T00:51:00.001-08:00

Click to Enlarge.

"Awesome file of 1.2 million children"

2009-05-02T18:06:00.001-07:00

click to enlarge

Here's some recently-discovered evidence regarding CRG's membership size. The figure of 1.2 million members is said to represent the total number who had joined since the club's inception (actually 1950—not 1951). If accurate, that's a minimum of 14,400,000 records sold, because each member was obligated to buy 12 records per year. But many members renewed their memberships one or more times, so the number of records sold is likely significantly higher than 14 million. (Again assuming the data given in this article is accurate.)

It is not clear if the 1.2 million figure refers only to primary CRG club (run by Stevenson's Greystone Corporation), or if it also includes the CRG franchise operated by Book of the Month Club.

In the book, I estimated annual record sales of "well over 2 million" by BOTH sources. But if the 1.2 million cited here refers only to Greystone's CRG, then the annual sales would actually be about double my original estimate.

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As for the 600,000 figure given for Music Treasures of the World, that is consistent with the 599,411 figure given by Milo Sutliff when he testified at a Congressional hearing earlier that year (1956).

The Ballad of Irving Katz

2009-04-30T18:37:00.000-07:00

Irv Katz, circa 1972

Irving Katz was a well-traveled record label salesman back in the day. He started with Apollo Records after WWII, then left to become sales manager of the Children's Record Guild in 1950. In 1954, he worked briefly for Eli Oberstein and then the Urania label, before moving to Dallas in 1955 to head Century Distributors. While in Dallas, Katz knew Jack Ruby, according to the FBI memo below, which was published in the Warren Report. In 1960, Katz left Texas for California, where he became a pioneer in the blank 8-track, audiocassette, and videocassette business.

(CLICK TO ENLARGE)

Unchosen Cover Art

2009-04-30T17:28:00.000-07:00

This is the design that I wanted for the cover of the book, but the publisher chose the other one instead. Which do YOU prefer?

"Funniest Song in the World"

2009-04-30T17:12:00.000-07:00

The announcement in Billboard of YPR's Groucho Marx disc. I knew this was issued in 1949, but didn't know exactly when until I recently found this article. Horace Grenell's name is misspelled here, as usual. "Peter Gordon" is the collective pseudonym of Horace and his wife Judith Sidorsky, in this instance.

Jewish Spectator

2009-02-13T21:39:00.000-08:00

The Jewish Spectator, a newspaper founded and edited by a progressive woman named Trude Weiss-Rosmarin, commented in 1947 that "The success of such a venture as the Young People's Record Club leads one to believe that there is a very large field for Jewish children's discs." What did she mean by "Jewish children's discs"? The content of YPR discs is not Jewish. The owner, managers, and many of the performers were, but there was nothing unusual about that. I wonder if the Spectator comment was just an isolated view, or if it generalized.

Remembering the (original) Educational Record Center

2009-02-06T22:06:00.000-08:00

Here's Bryan Bishop's remembrance of shopping for YPR/CRG records at the Educational Record Center (ERC) in the early 1970s.

"...my YPR/CRG records all came from a shop, the Educational Record Center, on Sycamore Street in Decatur, Ga. This was run by a dear old lady, Mrs. Hicks (don't remember her first name, if indeed I ever knew it). This was a retail store, though specialized one, and I think she did supply many of the local schools. As I remember she also carried all the Bowmar Orchestral Library LPs, and the Living Language series, and she also had Audio Book talking books on 16-rpm records that were small with large holes like 45s. (My grandmother bought the New Testament on 26 of these records.) The YPR/CRGs were in a special area at the back of the shop, not on display but stored vertically in wooden shelves. Mrs. Hicks gave me a list of the available records, and I would pick from it. All I had to go on were the titles of the records! The list, I remember, was a single 8x11 sheet of paper, double-sided; I think CRGs were on one side, and YPRs on the other. I think they were further divided by age group. The two-record sets were grouped together, and so were the "Children's Concert Series" (I had all 8 of those, by the way - and I remember only the "Nutcracker" excerpts had YPR labels, the rest were CRG.) I'm pretty sure that the list by then was far from being the complete catalogue. I had all the available two-record sets, namely: Aladdin, Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, the Mother Goose set, The Emperor's New Clothes and Robin Hood. The first four of these were in the original, gatefold sleeves, whereas most of the records I had came in the generic CRG sleeve with the drummer. (The only other ones I had with original sleeves were the Haydn Toy Symphony, the 2 records of Mozart dances, and the Magic Clock. It was a rare treat to get an original sleeve!)

The Educational Record Center opened, I think, about 1971...and remained open through the 1970s. I was born in May 1963 and I was 8 or 9 years old when I was collecting YPR/CRGs. I first knew Mrs. Hicks when she worked the children's record department at a big Atlanta record store in the late 60s; she knew of my preference for 78s and always had a stock of 7-inch Cricket 78s on hand there. I assume she left there to go into business for herself and that's when the Educational Record Center opened. She called us soon after opening the store because she thought, with my interest in 78s, that I would like the YPR/CRGs. She was right!"

[The ERC was sold in the late 1970s, and eventually moved to North Carolina, where it remains today.-DB]

Margaret Sanger

2008-12-15T15:22:00.001-08:00

I recently learned that Margaret Sanger, the famous advocate of birth control and founder of what became the Planned Parenthood organization, subscribed her grandchildren to the Young People's Record Club. Two letters from Sanger to the Club are contained in Sanger's archived papers.

Canada Lee's other YPR connection

2008-12-13T22:20:00.000-08:00

In addition to narrating "Jazz Band" for Young People's Records, Canada Lee also sublet office space from YPR at 40 W. 46th St., where the company was headquartered from 1946 to 1949.

Canada is most often remembered as a casualty of blacklisting during the Red Scare. His being blacklisted had nothing to do with his connection to Young People's Records, but there was a Young People's Records connection to his being blacklisted.

During the sensational 1950 espionage trial of Judith Coplon and Valentin Gubitchev, some secret FBI documents were made public, and one of them accused various celebrities of being Communists or "fellow travelers." Canada was one of those so accused.

The attorney who defended Gubitchev during that trial was the owner of Young People's Records, Abraham Pomerantz.

Not that there's any significance to that...

Memo

2008-12-09T22:15:00.000-08:00

Just an artifact from the archive...

Pfeffer / Anderson

2008-12-08T17:16:00.001-08:00

David Pfeffer and David Anderson were child actors in the 1950s, and performed on many CRG titles. If anyone has contact info for either of them, please email me at haymarketaffairs@sbcglobal.net

TG on CD

2008-11-21T00:05:00.000-08:00

Smithsonian-Folkways has just reissued some of Tom Glazer's classic in-concert children's recordings. Stefan Shepherd has summed it up nicely in a brief review on his popular Zooglobble blog. I like his comment that this CD constitutes a "master class on how to play to kids." As an historical document, it does indeed present abundant evidence of Tom's ability to "tune in" to children and "get them on his side," as one reviewer put it almost fifty years ago. It has all worn very well because the songs are timeless, as is their performance. And some of TG's best singing is here; especially check out his soaring vocals on "Now Now Now." That song, which he and Lou Singer adapted from "Hava Nagila," was originally recorded in 1951 by June Valli and issued as a pop single by RCA Victor; I wish Tom had recorded the single himself!

And now for some discography trivia, which doesn't appear in the CD booklet.... All but three of these tracks were first issued on two LPs: TOM GLAZER'S CONCERT FOR AND WITH CHILDREN (Washington Records) appeared in 1960, and TOM GLAZER'S SECOND CONCERT FOR AND WITH CHILDREN (Wonderland Records) came out in 1962. The Washington disc, and probably the Wonderland disc, consists of solo recordings made in Washington DC in 1959, at one or more concerts sponsored by local record shop owner and concert impresario Robert Bialek, who was also the proprietor of the Washington label. The Washington LP was reissued on Wonderland Records in 1962, and both records reappeared in 1973 on the CMS label as ACTIVITY AND GAME SONGS, volumes one and two. The additional three tracks on the Smithsonian-Folkways CD come from the third volume of ACTIVITY AND GAME SONGS, released in 1977; on these songs, Tom is accompanied by a small band, and it sounds to me like they were recorded in the 1970s, perhaps in proximity to the release date.

As for the cover art on the CD, I do like it, with a reservation or two. The caricature of Tom, which is based on a photo that appeared on a few of his late 1960s LPs, is funny, wonderfully rendered, and probably more appealing to kids than the relatively dry cover art that Folkways is known for. However, I fear that the "wacky" caricature perpetuates the image of Tom as just some guy who wrote silly songs like "On Top of Spaghetti." Compare that to his contemporary, Pete Seeger. Nobody thinks of Pete as a wacky guy, and there are no wacky caricatures on Pete's many children's records. If I had to describe Tom in one word, it would be "literary." He was also serious and funny, witty and corny, scholarly and folky, loving and nasty, proper and bawdy, liberal and reactionary. And maybe a little bit wacky on the side.

Milo Sutliff testimony on Record Clubs (1956)

2008-09-19T22:44:00.000-07:00

In early 1956, Milo Sutliff testified before Congress regarding the record club business. He said: "Last year I took a census which was not very difficult because I called the Book of the Month Club and found out how many records they ship and I called Music Masterworks and found out how many they shipped and of course I knew how many [of Music Treasures of the World] we shipped, and between us we shipped 3,300,000 classical symphony records through the mail." In contrast, he continued, "We shipped, maybe, 30,000 pop records." As of that moment, Sutliff reported that MTW had 599,411 members, adding that "some of them have canceled—lots of them—actually, 185,000 have canceled, and never bought a record. They said, 'Send me this for 10 cents, and they never bought a record.'"

Grenell's FBI File: Advertising Men's Post 209

2008-09-19T22:22:00.000-07:00

To my surprise, there are a few interesting nuggets in Horace Grenell's FBI file (which I didn't receive until after RCR was published). In one document, for example, an FBI agent claims that YPR/CRG co-owner Milo Sutliff was an American Legionnaire. Sure enough, the New York Times archive confirms that Sutliff was at one time (1931) the Commander of the Advertising Men's Post 209 of the American Legion. Which adds a touch of irony to the Legion's attacks on YPR.

"R3" REVIEW PT.1: The Two Howard Hansons

2008-08-15T16:32:00.000-07:00

In Rhythm Riots and Revolution ("R3" for short), David A. Noebel relied heavily on Howard Hanson's musical expertise, cited him with awe on 11 pages, and even deemed him "prophetic" (p.86). Hanson, the noted American composer, conductor, and YPR editorial board member, had written a couple of snobby essays in the 1940s for the American Journal of Psychiatry, in which he condemned the "concentrated doses of rhythm" present in "Hot Jazz" and "violent Boogie-Woogie." However, while declaring Hanson to be a prophet, Noebel simultaneously accused him, in a footnote, of being a Communist (p.37).

How can this paradox be explained? Since the arch anti-Communist Noebel would never knowingly praise a Communist, he must have either not read his own footnote, or else believed that there were two different Howard Hansons.

This is particularly amusing, considering Noebel's advice that "A reading of the footnotes...is strongly recommended, not only for verification purposes, but also for vital additional information" (p.11).

Loewenthal/Lowell: From Beethoven to Happity-Yappity Appetite

2008-08-09T22:50:00.000-07:00

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

When researching RCR, I noticed that Eugene Lowell was identified as "Eugene Loewenthal" on his original YPR contract. (Actually, it might have been simply "Loewen" -- my notes are sketchy and my memory foggy.) I never followed up on this until recently. His wife had told me that he recorded with Stokowski in the 1930s, but I never knew which recording until I realized that there is a Eugene Loewenthal credited on Victor album M-236, a 1934 recording of Beethoven's 9th. According to the album insert, the chorus members were students at the Curtis School, which indeed Eugene was.

As far as I know, the only other commercial recordings on which Eugene appeared as Loewenthal (or Lowenthal) were the controversial trio of titles put out in 1946/47 by the Winant kidisk label. He portrays "Happity Yappity Appetite" on IT'S FUN TO EAT; "Brighty-White the Wall" on IT'S FUN TO BE NEAT; and "Happy Toy Chest" on PICK 'EM UP AND PUT 'EM AWAY AT TOY-TIME. These discs were universally panned by reviewers. Educator Beatrice Landeck called the first one "a superficial and high-handed treatment of a very delicate problem." Hecky Krasno and Philip Eisenberg observed that the "tunes are catchy, but if you have a feeding problem in the family we advise seeing your local psychologist"; they had similar comments about the other titles. Helmut Ripperger, proprietor of the Book and Record Shop in Manhattan, remembered: "When the [first] album arrived and we saw that the main character was Goodee assisted by Doc Clock, Happity-Yappity Appetite and Sip-Sup Supper we began to have slight misgivings which were ably and repeatedly confirmed by the unwary who wished to listen to it in the shop." The producers did, however, manage to get the progressive educator Angelo Patri to endorse it. (His endorsement does not appear on the successors.)

Music Treasures circa 1964

2008-08-09T21:13:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in RCR, Music Treasures of the World records were, at some point, sold by the Grolier Society. (My only evidence at the time: some MTW jackets refer to MTW as being "a division of the Grolier Society.") After RCR was published, I found a non-dated MTW direct-mail circular originating from Americana Interstate, Inc. -- Grolier's mail-order arm. I had assumed that Grolier's MTW franchise dated from the late 1950s. However, I recently discovered an Americana Interstate ad for the MTW club in the November 1964 issue of High Fidelity. (Headline: "THE BIGGEST HI-FI RECORD BARGAIN EVER!") By then, the records were being offered in "Electronic Stereo," in addition to the original mono. I've seen only one MTW "stereo" disc. It has a red label, as opposed to the standard blue.

UPDATE: I just found a couple of MTW discs in Americana Interstate shipping boxes, postmarked 1962. So the "no later than" beginning date of Grolier's MTW should be revised from 1964 to 1962. As if it matters...

MTW and the FTC

2008-08-09T15:06:00.000-07:00

The Federal Trade Commission objected to Music Treasures advertisements, and in 1956 decreed a "Consent order requiring New York City operators of a record-of-the-month club under the trade name of 'Music Treasures of the World,' to cease representing falsely that those who became 'associate members' by purchasing a record for 10-cents might cancel their membership at any time, and to cease shipping records and attempting to collect payment after the required notification had been given." Many years later, John Stevenson explained: "They wanted an immediate explanation with the headline that there was a commitment if there was a commitment. Of course, you could cancel, but they don't like the inertia factor at all. So we tightened the offers."

Broadcasting Yearbook 1938

2008-05-25T15:42:00.001-07:00

Listing for Universal Recording in the 1938 issue of The Broadcasting Yearbook, indicating Lester Troob as Manager (column 5).

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE

Henry Brant 1913-2008

2008-04-29T15:59:00.000-07:00

Henry Brant, composer of PENNY WHISTLE, KITCHEN MUSIC, and THE LONESOME HOUSE, died this past Saturday, 26 April 2008. He was 94. I believe that KITCHEN MUSIC, which was commissioned by Young People's Records in 1946, was only the second recording ever made of Brant's music -- the first being EIGHT SONGS FOR SOPRANO, THREE VIOLAS, AND PIANO which was issued by the New Music Quarterly Recordings label in about 1937. YPR's Horace Grenell later recorded several of Brant's pieces for the American Recording Society and Desto labels. I should also mention the wonderful orchestral arrangements he did for the Charity Bailey records SINGING IN THE KITCHEN and MORE PLAYTIME SONGS ("LOOK AT MICHIE BANJO"), both issued by Young People's Records, the latter also by Children's Record Guild. And if you haven't heard THE LONESOME HOUSE, it might be the most musically unusual children's record ever made, so look for it on Ebay. Here's the Washington Post obit.

Lester Troob 1912-2008

2008-04-04T23:12:00.000-07:00

Lester Troob, one of the main movers of Young People's Records, died on 22 March 2008. He was 95. His career in the record biz goes back to the mid-1930s, when he was among the first to work with lacquer ("acetate") disc recordings. During World War II, he was a recording supervisor in the news division of the Office of War Information. He was with Young People's Records from the beginning, as production manager and, later, President. After YPR, he developed the recording division of the Book-of-the-Month-Club, which he ran from 1954 to 1979. In 1953, he was the film editor and music supervisor of the classic movie Little Fugitive, which was nominated for an Academy Award, and won the Silver Lion award at the Venice Film Festival. Lester is a major character in my book, and I remember him with great fondness.

Ofslager book

2008-02-21T15:11:00.000-08:00

In 1957, Norman Ofslager took 20 Music Treasures of the World booklets and hand-bound them beautifully into a hardcover book. He also created an ingenious table of contents in his own meticulous handlettering, which he printed and bound into the book (see picture above). I know all this because on the inside back cover it is written: "Handbound by Norman Ofslager 1957." Thank you, Norman, whoever you are!

Tom Glazer poetry book

2008-02-19T16:02:00.000-08:00

This is fun, especially if you like lines like:

"So you're off to Macchu Picchu
So far away I can't ricchu"

Actually, I'm partially responsible for one of the doggerels here -- an untitled verse that Tom inscribed on a baseball that I arranged for him to autograph for the Dylan aficionado Mitch Blank. It begins:

"Here's a ball for a nice guy, Mitch
Who for balls has a very deep itch"

American Young People's Theatre

2008-02-14T21:44:00.000-08:00

YPR's theatre company. (Click to enlarge.)

Music Treasures mailer

2008-02-12T14:26:00.001-08:00

A 4-page direct mail circular for Music Treasures of the World.

CRG Western Union

2008-02-11T14:54:00.001-08:00

(Click on picture to enlarge.)

While touring South America in 1950, Walter Hendl became desperate for money, so Horace Grenell, courtesy of the Children's Record Guild, sent him a check via the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Legend has it that Hendl, a notorious ladies man, once had an affair with Eva Peron, the famous wife of the famous Argentine dictator. I wonder if that had anything to do with this. I hope so!

We Shall Overcome original

2008-02-11T14:49:00.000-08:00

Recorded by Horace Grenell and Ray Hagerty. Cover design by Ajay.

We Shall Overcome reissue

2008-02-11T14:48:00.000-08:00

Folkways/Broadside reissue of the original. (See above.)

Festival Record Club

2008-02-11T14:47:00.001-08:00

This is what Music Treasures of the World looked like in South Africa.

Tall Fireman Paul

2008-02-11T14:45:00.000-08:00

This, like ON THE RANCH (see previous entry), is quite rare. Brad Levy from San Francisco says: "I (or my parents) had that record when I was two years old back in 1961. I must have played it forty times a day for a couple of years. I LOVED that record! I still remember the story and the tune. My wife and I recently had a baby daughter, and it was then that I remembered about this record...."

On The Ranch

2008-02-11T14:43:00.000-08:00

Folk scholar D.K. Wilgus called this record an "atrocity," but I think it's pretty good. (How can any record be an "atrocity"?) I think this might've been Cisco Houston's final recording.

Charity Bailey rhythm kit

2008-02-11T14:42:00.000-08:00

Charity Bailey's "Rhythm Kit" was packaged in a container very similar to a board game box. This is a picture of the lid.

ARS Colonial

2008-02-11T14:39:00.000-08:00

1952 American Recording Society reissue of the New Records original.

Colonial reissue

2008-02-11T14:37:00.000-08:00

1965 Folkways reissue of 1952 American Recording Society title (see previous entry). Folkways also reissued another ARS title that same year: EARLY AMERICAN PSALMODY / MISSION MUSIC IN CALIFORNIA (itself a reissue from the obscure New Records label). For Horace Grenell's reluctance to release these tapes to Moe Asch, consult RCR...

Chesterfield Music Shops

2008-02-07T16:10:00.001-08:00

Some day I might get around to posting a history of Chesterfield.

Your Hit Parade

2008-02-07T16:07:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Irene Malvin and Ray Charles for identifying many of the names.

Bernard Ades

2008-02-04T23:03:00.000-08:00

YPR's lawyer-accountant Bernard Ades (pronounced A-diss) is the central character in Joseph E. Moore's book MURDER ON MARYLAND'S EASTERN SHORE. (Clipping purloined from Moore's website, OrphanJones.com.)

Philharmonic Family Library ad

2008-02-04T23:00:00.000-08:00

Someday I might get around to posting a history of supermarket records.

Rocket away!

2008-02-01T20:16:00.000-08:00

Here's the recording, on Raymond Scott's self-owned label, of the composition of which parts were used for YPR/CRG's Rocket to the Moon.

AMICA Bulletin

2008-01-30T22:58:00.000-08:00

Pictured is the August/September 2007 issue of the Bulletin of the Automatic Musical Instrument Collectors' Association. On the cover is Judith Sidorsky in 1926. She was 14 years old at the time, when she recorded a piano roll (possibly two) for the Welte-Mignon company. Piano roll collectors were unaware of the roll's existence until 2007, when a dealer in Michigan unearthed one of them. When I found out about it, I contacted Judith's son Rob with the news. Turned out that he had in his possession the roll that Judith had been given back in 1926; it had been in the family -- unheard -- for all those years. So he sent the roll to me, and I took it over to a gentleman here in Austin named Ken Caswell, a leading piano roll expert who has a couple of the world's finest "reproducing pianos" for playing such rolls. It was quite a treat getting to hear the roll, 82 years after it was originally made, on Ken's LOUD, vintage Feurich piano.

Molarsky Quintet

2008-01-30T22:57:00.000-08:00

The insert for the album that Delmar Molarsky recorded for the Timely label in 1940.

Living Language

2008-01-30T21:48:00.000-08:00

A circular that was included in Living Language boxes.

Boulanger's class

2008-01-30T21:43:00.001-08:00

Nadia Boulanger at piano. Horace Grenell 6th from right.

A page from Horace Grenell's FBI File

2008-01-30T16:15:00.001-08:00

(Click on picture to enlarge.)

I didn't receive Horace Grenell's 350-page FBI file until after my book was published. Unlike most FBI files, this one actually contains some interesting stuff. One thing that makes it different is that it is actually two separate files. There's the original file which was initiated in 1951, and then another file initiated in 1965 as part of a security clearance when Grenell was hired to do a recording job for the White House. So in addition to a new investigation, the 1965 file includes an historical review of the 1951 file.

To be continued...

Ned Rorem at Desto session

2008-01-30T16:11:00.000-08:00

Ned Rorem, Jim Holmes, Helen Vanni, Horace Grenell, Phyllis Curtin at a recording session of Gloria, September 27, 1972. (Photo by Eugene Cook)

ARS Catalog

2008-01-21T18:10:00.001-08:00

The artwork is by Russell Patterson. It is the same image that was used on the plastic Music Treasures of the World jackets.

Langston Hughes

2008-01-21T14:59:00.000-08:00

(Click on picture to enlarge.)

SOUNDS by Horace Grenell and William Schuman

2008-01-21T14:58:00.000-08:00

Rough sketch of the cover of a manuscript, apparently intended to accompany an album for the then-new Musicraft label. More (but not much more) about this in RCR.

World Record Club

2008-01-19T18:46:00.000-08:00

Here's one of several CRG titles licensed by the World Record Club of Australia. There was also a club in Australia called the Children's Record Guild, but it didn't have anything to do with the American CRG.

Another Little Bitty Baby

2008-01-19T18:44:00.001-08:00

Tom Glazer (credited here by the pseudonym "Hopkins") made the first recording (for YPR) of the African-American spiritual "Go, I Will Send Thee," which he re-titled "Little Bitty Baby." The song was subsequently recorded many times, by many singers. This Columbia recording indicates YPR as the song's publisher.

Abe Pomerantz is Watching You

2008-01-19T18:42:00.000-08:00

A feature article in Fortune magazine (late 1960s) about YPR's original owner.

Sidorsky Welte-Mignon

2008-01-19T18:40:00.001-08:00

Ajay

2008-01-18T00:07:00.001-08:00

This Ajay postcard is addressed on the reverse to Judith Sidorsky.

Doubleday Stevenson

2008-01-18T00:01:00.001-08:00

Train to the Zoo

2008-01-17T23:59:00.000-08:00

I think I already posted this, didn't I?

Wrigley's Chewing Gum

2008-01-14T18:42:00.000-08:00

A YPR promo tie-in with Wrigley's Gum, circa 1947. (Click to enlarge.)

Girl playing "Toy Symphony"

2008-01-14T18:39:00.001-08:00

BOMC CRG Coupon

2008-01-14T17:34:00.000-08:00

Score for Emperor's New Clothes

2008-01-14T17:33:00.001-08:00

(Click on picture to enlarge.)

Commissioned by YPR, premiered by the New York Philharmonic in 1949.

Abe Pomerantz

2008-01-06T19:47:00.000-08:00

This dates from about 1968. Photo by Duane Michaels.

Universal Recording lacquer disc

2008-01-06T19:44:00.000-08:00

YPR Brochure

2008-01-06T19:41:00.000-08:00

Rob Grenell as the "Phonograph Boy"

George Rasely

2008-01-05T23:27:00.000-08:00

Star of Robin Hood, Emperor's New Clothes, etc.