Revolutionizing Children's Records: horace grenell

REVIEWS & COMMENTS

"David Bonner's fascinating look at the nostalgic world of Young People's Records takes the reader far beyond memory lane and into the political and philosophical worlds of those who planned them, wrote them, and performed on them. The complicated history of a host of record labels that sprung from those children's discs, which Mr. Bonner recounts, adds to the tremendous value of his book. Anyone who grew up with these priceless records must read what's on these pages."—Peter Bay, Conductor, Austin Symphony Orchestra

"I grew up with Young People's Records. 'The Funniest Song In The World' featuring Groucho Marx and 'By Rocket To The Moon' with Raymond Scott helped mold the mind of the boy who became Dr. Demento. Here's the whole story of how those and hundreds of other YPR favorites were created by some of the most progressive thinkers and artists of their times, how they became a target for those in the McCarthy era and later those who sought to repress and confine the minds of young Americans, and how their spirit of joy in knowledge perseveres."—Dr Demento, Syndicated Radio Personality

SEE BOTTOM OF PAGE FOR MORE REVIEWS & COMMENTS

Showing posts with label horace grenell. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

JEFFERSON CHORUS on the Union label

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.

Friday, September 19, 2008

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

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.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Boulanger's class

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

A page from Horace Grenell's FBI File

(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

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

Monday, January 21, 2008

Langston Hughes

(Click on picture to enlarge.)

SOUNDS by Horace Grenell and William Schuman

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.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Young People's Records and Children's Record Guild were the first commercially significant record clubs in the world. By applying proven book club methods to the field of phonograph records, these two related companies attracted some hundred thousand subscribers at their peak and serviced perhaps a million members in their existence. Revolutionizing Children's Records: The Young People's Records and Children's Record Guild Series, 1946-1977 tells the history of YPR/CRG, explaining how these two labels intersected important developments in the histories of mass marketing, recording technology, educational philosophy, folk music, contemporary composition, and Cold War politics. David Bonner covers in detail the history of YPR/CRG, tracing its influences back to the beginnings of music education in the 19th Century and incorporating the impact of the American folk music revival on music educators.

The narrative follows the career paths of the company principals, such as its progressive founder Horace Grenell; the musicians who recorded for him, like American folk music revival pioneer Tom Glazer; and the record industry offshoots they created in the process. Bonner considers advances the club made in recording technology as the first record label devoted exclusively to "unbreakable" vinyl discs and provides a comprehensive summary of record club marketing, including the application of "music appreciation" to phonograph records. He also charts the commercial, critical, and political response to these endeavors, including an historical footnote to the "Red Scare" unavailable in existing Cold War literature. A complete and detailed discography listing every YPR and CRG recording, including all known writers and performers, concludes this excellent reference for scholars, nostalgists, and phonographic fanatics.

HOW TO GET THE BOOK

• Order from the publisher: Scarecrow Press

• You can sometimes find the book for cheaper on Amazon, Abebooks, Ebay, or elsewhere on the internet.

• It's also on the shelves of many university libraries, so if you want to borrow it instead of forking over a bunch of cash, just go to the nearest public library and ask them to do an interlibrary loan for you.

MORE REVIEWS AND COMMENTS

"...thoroughly researched examination..."

-Dirty Linen ("The foremost US-based magazine of folk and world music.")

August/September 2008

"One has only to look at the profitable marketing of such artists as Hannah Montana to realize that this history of selling records to children is timely.... This book will be a treat for anyone interested in the history of the music industry. Highly recommended."

-CHOICE: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries

July 2008

"...a wealth of back-stories and information that helps to fill a 60-year gap in the literature."

-ARSC Journal

Fall 2008

"...an understanding of the times from an unlikely, surprising, and fascinating perspective."

-Anita Brandon, Professor Emerita

Millersville University

"...fabulous book, which has already surprised me on many other topics.... I can't recommend it highly enough."

-David Lennick,

Reissue Producer

"I bought 'Revolutionizing Children's Records' as soon as it came out. As far as I'm concerned, sixty dollars was a small price to pay. I learned much from this research."

-Dave Samuelson,

Record Producer and Country Music historian

"I enjoyed [it] enormously.... The discussion about record clubs, among other topics, segues into the paper I'm giving at ARSC next month, 'The Other Record Industry,' which discusses records not in Schwann. It nailed down dates and parentages I hadn't uncovered."

-Steve Smolian,

Sound Recording Restorationist/Preservationist

"This book is superb, it is thorough, and it is scholarly. I wonder if I am the only one who would like to have a big reunion and sing and dance this stuff."

-Rich Hilbert

Professor of Sociology, Gustavus Adolphus College

"I think this is the most trivial, unimportant, and BORING project I've ever heard of!"
-Tom Glazer, at the start of our first interview

Revolutionizing Children's Records