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}

Sin...Ain't it a Shame.

If I might address my adoration of Gospel 78's for a moment...

The wonderful thing about gospel music is that the purveyors were more often than not just as guilty as the sermonized when it came to worldly matters. It is that same lapse in reason that allows me to present to you, w/ no small amount of irony, Rev. A. Johnson's 1952 oratory on divine disapproval - God Don't Like It.

Note: Don't worry, you don't have to believe in the God of Abraham to enjoy , you just have to believe that ole' A. J. believes - Faith by proxy

Surely Great Aunt Mahala would have balked at the notion "quit that drinkin' moonshine", but such is the duality of sin and sacrament that the classification of Guitar Evangelist became the general term for Bluesmen trying to balance their "Wine. Women & Laughter w/ some sobering "Sermons & Soda Water the day after".


Having dropped the proverbial "Bottleneck Bomb" on several non-secular (there's that word again) tunes from his own 'Angel' record label, native Floridian Anderson Johnson took a back seat to Mr. Henry stone w/ regard to a kinder gentler Gospel endeavor:

"Henry Stone began playing the trumpet in his teens, inspired by jazz great Louis Armstrong. Later at a military camp in New Jersey, he played in bands. After being discharged in 1946, he began selling records out of the back of his car in Los Angeles. Later he became a 78 rpm record salesman for the Bihari Brothers' Modern Records, traveling across the U.S. selling to jukebox owners. In 1952, he established his own recording studio, Crystal Recording Company, and started a blues label, Rockin', and a gospel music label, Glory, in Florida. A big hit on Glory was Rev. A. Johnson's God Don't Like It"

I would love to be able to tell you more about ole' A.J., but the past is just not that kind to a man of the seer-sucker cloth. Seeing as how 78's can be a fool's errand these days, check out the complete Anderson Johnson on the '1950's Gospel Classics' comp from Document Records.

Now that I have the 'spirit', maybe I can finally get around to finishing Mrs. JJB's Gospel Comp.

God Don't Like It - Reverend A. Johnson

If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again - Rev. A. Johnson

Fresh from a shelac shack in NYC...

I Want Two Wings - Rev. Utah Smith

And just who on God's green marble could possibly be outlandish enough to inspire Rev. Charlie "Wrapped Up and Tangled Up in Jesus" Jackson? Read on gentle reader, read on...

"Rev. Utah Smith (1906 - 1965) first was a "traveling evangelist" out of the Churches Of God In Christ before he settled in New Orleans. There he founded the Two Wings Temple and the song "Two Wings" became his "theme song". Smith oftentimes used two wings while singing this song. Even before he came to New Orleans he played an electric guitar. He toured the South and was famous for this particular song. Smith recorded "Two Wings" first in 1944, but the 1953 recording is the more famous one. Sister Rosetta Tharpe stated Smith being one of the great "old" guitar players in gospel music. Smith's "Two Wings" might be a good example of simple southern community singing."

The flip ain't nothin' to sneeze at neither...

God's Mighty Hand - Rev. Utah Smith