Monarchs of Minstrelsy: Historic Recordings by the Stars of the Minstrel Stage
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CD Details
Edition: Music CDFormat: Explicit Lyrics
CD Release Date: 2006-05-30
Music Label: Archeophone Records
Soundtracks:
- The Minstrel Parade (Victor Orchestra)
- Mobile Minstrels (Victor Minstrel Company)
- Turkey Specialty (Golden and Hughes)
- Down on the Mississippi (Levee & Steamboat Scenes) (American Quartet)
- Any Rags? (Burt Shepard)
- Lily of Laguna (Eugene Stratton)
- Old Time Minstrel Scene (Tom Lewis)
- The Song Birds are Singing of You (James McCool)
- My Sweetheart's the Man in the Moon (Manuel Romain)
- Hippodrome Minstrel Medley (Manuel Romain)
- Don't Be An Old Maid Molly (Harry Ellis)
- Ring Down the Curtain, I Can't Sing To-Night (Francklyn Wallace)
- "Boxing Scene" (Neil O'Brien and James J. Corbett)
- Roll Them Roly Boly Eyes (Al Bernard)
- Ida, Sweet as Apple Cider (Eddie Leonard)
- Brass Band Ephraham Jones (Al Jolson)
- Dear Old Girl (Richard Jose)
- Silver Threads Among the Gold (Richard Jose)
- Everybody Works But Father (Lew Dockstader)
- Uncle Quit Work, Too (Lew Dockstader)
- Fiddle, Dee, Dee (Lew Dockstader and Vocal Quartette)
- Roll on Silvery Moon (Matt Keefe)
- In the Good Old Summer Time (William Redmond)
- When You and I Were Young, Maggie (Will Oakland)
- "Reminiscing about Minstrel Days" (Will Oakland)
- Evalyne (Will Oakland and Billy Murray)
- The Belle of the Barber's Ball (Ada Jones and Billy Murray)
- Oh, You Coon (Ada Jones and Billy Murray)
Music reviews of Monarchs of Minstrelsy: Historic Recordings by the Stars of the Minstrel Stage
Music Review: The basis of the Broadway musical, but an unpleasant reminder of racism in the past
Rating: 5 Stars
Students of the American musical theatre have always been told about the Minstrel shows that set the tone for not only American musical comedies but also Vaudeville and the popular song. The trouble is that authentic recordings have only rarely been available; and one had to be content with recreations by artists who had nothing on which to base the style of their presentations.
Some of that problem has vanished now that Archeophone, that amazing storehouse of antique recordings lovingly reproduced on CDs, has issued "Monarchs of Minstrelsy: Historic Recordings by the Stars of the Minstrel Stage."
The single disc is divided thus. Part One is "A Miniature Minstrel Show in Four Acts," offering 4 selections from 1905 and 1910 of music and routines heard on stage prior to those dates. Part Two deals with "Early and Obscure Minstrel Performers" who left their voices on cylinders and ancient 78-rpm discs from 1903 to 1924: Burt Shepard, Eugene Stratton, Tom Lewis (all three comedians), and James McCool (tenor).
Part Three is a collection of songs that were heard in "Lew Dockstader's Minstrel Show," while Part Four does the same for "Cohan and Harris' Minstrels."
Among the familiar songs are "Ida, sweet as apple cider," "In the good old summertime," and "In the light of the silvery moon." Many of the other songs contain a good deal of racist words, many of them used by Black singers themselves, that make the entire history of the Minstrel Show an embarrassment to us today. However, as the notes put it, "These tracks are included here for their historical significance." One must judge for oneself the pros and cons of preserving even the uncomfortable parts of our American past.
The booklet, as is always true with Archeophone, is packed with background information, details of each selection, and wonderful pictures.
Description of Monarchs of Minstrelsy: Historic Recordings by the Stars of the Minstrel Stage
Professor Allen Debus takes us on a fascinating journey into the late 19th century, when the minstrel show was in its last stages of popularity. He shows us that the final big-name minstrel shows were a different affair than their predecessors of one and two generations before. The difference? Whereas racist caricatures continued to dominate the minstrel First Part, minstrel celebrities such as Richard Jose and Manuel Romain dominated the Olio portion of the minstrel show, singing sentimental ballads and moving the minstrel show toward the personality-based aesthetic that characterized vaudeville. Fortunately for us today, a handful of minstrel veterans committed their voices to wax at the dawn of the recording industry-and one former minstrel, Billy Murray, became the biggest acoustic-era personality and the singer most called upon to sing minstrel songs when original cast members were unavailable.General CDs
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