[Dixielandjazz] Recording Low Tones - NPR series

[Nancy Giffin]

>     From: Stephen Barbone <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
>     Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Recording Low Tones

>     "... I was in a discussion with a recording maven the other day
>     and he said that had Bing Crosby been born a generation earlier, they
>     never would have been able to record him properly and perhaps he would
>     never have been "relatively" famous...

Hi, Steve and list mates,

Last fall, I recommended an NPR series by Rick Karr entitled "TechnoPop: The
Secret History of Technology and Pop Music."

Part 2 of the series covers this topic for anyone interested:

>    Part Two: Going Electric (excerpt)
By the mid 1920s, the technology of making records hadn't changed much since
Thomas Edison invented the phonograph in 1877. In order to literally "cut
wax" in those studios, singers needed leather lungs and a lot of stamina,
and musicians had to play really loud. When electricity came to the studio
in 1926, it ushered in a new era of "hi-fi." Al Jolson and other belters
with megaphones were out, Bing Crosby and other crooners with microphones
were in -- and listeners were blown away by the new sounds...
>    Listen to Rick Karr's report on Morning Edition, Sept. 20, 2002.

 
http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2002/technopop/index.html#stori
es

>  If you click  on "Listen to Rick Karr's..." then you are linked to the
archived, 9-minute NPR broadcast of Part Two.

>  If you click on the title, "Part Two: Going Electric," you are linked to
photos and sound clips elaborating on them.

At this link, photo 6 of 7 has an interview clip with Gary Giddins, author
of Bing's bio ("A Pocketful of Dreams..."); he mentions that Bing grew up
listening to his father's music on one of the original Edison phonographs.
Bing loved jazz (esp. Armstrong and Jolson), but also loved Irish tenors,
dance bands, country music, Hawaiian music, and more. Giddins also claims
that, back then, everyone listened to everything they could get their hands
on. There was no musical prejudice as it exists today, where people are
quick to judge good vs. bad, and have an attitude...

The site has a lot of interesting info and photographs.