Shelac from the House of Shlock!

I know, I know; they are fragile as all get out, and unless you are extremely blessed to find some new old store stock (i.e. stepped in shit), they sound like said previously mention shit run over twice. But if music is 'soul', then the humble 78 can only be described as the bones of music. Hell, there is even an organic component to the 78 in the guise of the humble shellac beetle, thus making 78s the fossilized remains of the Pleistocene era of music. Funny that even in those primordial times, there was still a novelty to be had from being scared.



First up on BFTRB's month long Halloween spectacular is an early celluloid curiosity in the guise of a dramatic reading of 1908's Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. Widely believed to be one of the first horror movies ever produced (the first being 1896's Le Manoir Du Diable, directed by French film visionary Georges Melies), director Otis Turner's faithful interpretation of Richard Mansfield's popular stage play (Itself based on the Robert Louis Stevenson novella) is an early experiment in Victorian theatricality and abnormal psych, or at least it might be. Trouble is nobody has ever actually seen it. And unless somebody unearths a vinegar-choked copy out of a box of garage sale porn loops, then you'll just have to make do with this ambitious, if not absurdly melodramatic recording of Jekyll's transformation scene and Edward Hyde’s impending death.

This recording pretty much matches word for word the Mansfield play, and as the source material for Otis's screen adaptation, should give a pretty good indication of how the transformation scene and climax would have played out in the 1908 feature.

There allegedly exists an Edison Cylinder of such a scene recorded by one Len Spencer. Although yet to be authenticated, if the existence of this material were to prove true, then this would make the Jekyll/Hyde 78 (itself, uncredited) a later, though still extremely early re-press promoting the new medium of recorded sound (if you have ever owned cylinders, then you know how much of a pain in the dick they can be). Either way, it is a fascinating look at the fading influence of Victorian culture with regard to the emerging horror market.

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Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (Transformation Scene & Dramatic Talking)

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Note: Dig this surviving clip of the 1912 adaptation of Jekyll / Hyde. Play the two together a have yourself a ‘Dark Side of Oz’ experience.

Next up in the unbreakable / breakable category we have the original version {citation needed} of a perennial BFTRB favorite, David Gardner’s the Mad Witch, or, in this incarnation, the Old Mad Witch.

Lord knows how sportscaster Mel Allen got his name (and voice) all over this weird disc, but I did not even know it existed until a tip from ole’ Devil Dick; in itself a funny story which I’m sure he would love to elaborate on as it paints me in a shitty light (Sorry DD, but time waits for no man). Like Hernando Hideaway (Oley!), ‘witch’ enjoys some heavy castanets and alto sax and though it has a decidedly more mambo / samba flavor to this 1947 cut, it’s cool to hear an earlier take on a Halloween Favorite.

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Old Mad Witch - Mel Allen

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Stay tuned the rest o’ the month for some ridiculously juvenile Halloween garbage both here and over at the Devil’s Music, including a forthcoming joint Halloween throw down. It’ll be a hoot! {Citation needed}

The Art of Julio Ruelas

Julio Ruelas (1870-1907)

The Blind (Willie) Leading the Blind: VRD 08/12/08

As a child I distinctly remember going to a local garage sale with my mother who, having acquired an obsession with antiques, managed to buy an original Edison Phonograph and a bushel full of wax cylinders under the auspice that she was getting a bargain (@ $20, who's to say she wasn't?). The deal done,that phonograph sat for a number of years before an elderly clockmaker of some repute managed to restore it’s delicate system of gears and springs to some semblance of order. Some might find the expense hardly worth the effort, but where those same people see junk, my mother saw potential; a potential I have seen realized, having had the pleasure of watching this ancient machine spin to life for the first time in ages, and having actually heard it’s tiny bandwidth issue out of the requisite trumpet. Perhaps it is this self-same concept of ambiguous ‘potential’ that makes the search for records worth all the while.

Living, as I do, in the town of Edison New Jersey (Menlo Park is less than 100 yards away), the exploits of one Thomas Alva Edison are close to my heart, as it is in the hearts of any NJ resident with a mind of history. He is our Orvil Wright (if forced to choose between the two brothers) or, if the Ruskies weren't so possessive, then our own Nicoli Tesla. Perhaps he is both those things, that and a dash of Dr. Theremin, a man whose impressive work owes a certain debt, as do those previously mentioned, to the Wizard of Menlo Park.

It is in the spirit of that aforementioned antiquated device, and it’s creator, that I have chosen to dip uncharacteristically deep into the digs to spin something that, while not as old as Mr. Edison's miracle cylinder, is none-the-less, a shinning example of the kind of 'Potential' once regularly lost to the world, now captured for the sake of history and posterity.

"Blind Willie Johnson was born in 1897 near Brenham, Texas (before the discovery of his death certificate, Temple, Texas had been suggested as his birthplace). When he was five, he told his father he wanted to be a preacher, and then made himself a cigar box guitar. His mother died when he was young and his father remarried soon after her death.

It is thought that Johnson was married twice, first to a woman with the same first name, Willie B Harris, and later to a young singer named Angeline, who was the sister of blues guitarist L.C. Robinson. No marriage certificates have yet been discovered. As Angeline Johnson often sang and performed with him, the first person to attempt to research his biography, Samuel Charters, made the mistake of assuming it was Angeline who had sung on several of Johnson's records. However, later research showed that it was Johnson's first wife.

Johnson was not born blind, and, although it is not known how he lost his sight, Angeline Johnson provided the following account to Samuel Charters. She said when Willie was seven his father beat his stepmother after catching her going out with another man. The stepmother then picked up a handful of lye and threw it, not at Willie's father, but into the face of young Willie.

His father would often leave him on street corners to sing for money, where his powerful voice left an indelible impression on passers-by. Legend has it that he was arrested for nearly starting a riot at a New Orleans courthouse with a powerful rendition of "If I Had My Way I'd Tear the Building Down", a song about Samson and Delilah. According to Samuel Charters, however, he was simply arrested while singing for tips in front of a Custom House, by a police officer who misconstrued the title lyric and mistook it for incitement.

Johnson remained poor until the end of his life, preaching and singing in the streets of Beaumont, Texas to anyone who would listen. A city directory shows that in 1944, a Rev W J Johnson, undoubtedly Blind Willie, operated the House of Prayer at 1440 Forrest Street, Beaumont, Texas. This is the same address listed on Blind Willie's death certificate. In 1945, his home burned to the ground. With nowhere else to go, Johnson lived in the burned ruins of his home, sleeping on a wet bed. He lived like this until he contracted pneumonia two weeks later, and died. (The death certificate reports the cause of death as malarial fever, with syphilis as a contributing factor.)In a later interview his wife said she tried to take him to a hospital but they refused to admit him because he was black, while other sources report that, according to Johnson's wife, his refusal was due to his blindness. Although there is some dispute as to where his grave is, members of the Beaumont community have committed to finding the site and preserving it."

Lord, I Just Can't Keep From Crying - Blind Willie Johnson

Keep Your Lamplight Trimmed and Burning - Blind Willie Johnson

In the end it is all about preservation. If you consider momentarily how much music has been lost over the centuries through no fault but the inadequacies of the day's technology, then Thomas Edison's contribution seems all the more poinient. I hope you dig today's sentimental, if not 'long winded' post. Below you will find a link to a number of excellent bloggers celebrating 'Vinyl Record Day 08'. Give em' a whirl.

Pepperbox - Nothin' to Sneeze at

No vinyl today as I've Just finished work on this little relic - Manhattan Pepperbox revolver in .31 caliber circa 1850. Based off of the Ethan Allen patent, this pistol has definitely seen some use over the 150 plus years its been bangin' around the country (at that age, who hasn't?), including some prodigious cap n' ball firing at what I can only assume to be a cheating grifter.

Ahhh, if only objects could talk...

Saturday Night Special

New to the fold, this stealth-trigger, factory engraved Hopkins & Allan is pretty smart lookin'. Chambered in .38 rimfire, I don't think I would have risked firing this little pepper brandy new, much less 100+ years after the fact (though the people's republic of New Jersey does not recognize it as an antique), less it blow my hand clean off. Durability aside, it need only be true for one shot (the one that counts). Lets say "Strictly heirloom".