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A Zampogna is an Italian bagpipe, and a Ciaramella is a small woodwind that plays the higher melody line over the Zampogna’s drone. This combination is often used for traditional Christmas music, as in this circa 1920 recording of a “Novena Di Natale” by uncredited performers. MP3 Download Internet Archive Link HELP TO KEEP...
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A compilation of Jelly Roll Morton’s classic Chicago “Red Hot Peppers” sessions, recorded in 1926-27. Jelly Roll Morton – ragtime and early jazz pianist, bandleader and composer from New Orleans, Louisiana – started out his musical career playing brothels as a teenager, then toured the American South as part of a minstrel show, before...
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A series of recordings made by James Mooney in 1894 of different Native American Ghost Dance songs. According to the Library Of Congress notes that accompany the recordings, the performances are probably by Mooney himself and not by Native Americans. Mooney was an ethnographer and self-taught expert on American tribes through his own studies...
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Adele Keshelak sings three pairs of traditional Rusyn folk songs from Slovakia, recorded in New York on January 30th 1930: Track 1 – “Rusadelina Fialocka” (“Forget me Not”) and “D’Irava Mi Stricha Na Stajni” (“My Pet Horse Was Stolen”); Track 2 – “Na Dolini, V Hustom L’ Is’ I Na Dubi” (“In The Valley,...
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A recording from 1905 of one of the 19th century’s most famous opera singers Adelina Patti singing “The Last Rose of Summer“, a song based on the poem by Irish poet Thomas Moore. Although the sound quality isn’t great and her voice is past its prime (she was 62 yrs old), through the dust...
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Richard Isaac Banks (1878–1915), who changed his name to Billy Williams after leaving his birthplace of Australia, was one of the most recorded popular entertainers of his time. Born in Melbourne, Williams tried a number of jobs before embarking on an entertainment career which led him to come to England in 1899. He became...
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Frank C. Stanley performing Auld Lang Syne, the poem written by the Scotsman Robert Burns which is traditionally sung to celebrate the start of the New Year at the stroke of midnight. The song’s Scots title may be translated into English literally as “old long since”, or more idiomatically, “long long ago”, “days gone...
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“Omar Rabbi Elozor” (In English: “Said Rabbi Eliezar”), performed by Cantor Meyer Kanewsky and his choir in 1919 for Edison Records. The lyrics are based on the last passage of Tractate Berakhot, from the Talmud, with a few repeats. The first line roughly translates as: “Said Rabbi Elazar, quoting Rabbi Chaninah, Scholars increase the...
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William Penn Adair “Will” Rogers (1879–1935) was an American cowboy, vaudeville performer, humorist, social commentator and motion picture actor. He was one of the world’s best-known celebrities of the interwar period and by the mid-30s was internationally known as a leading political wit and top-paid Hollywood movie star. At the peak of his success,...
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Margaret Woodrow Wilson, the daughter of President at the time Thomas Woodrow Wilson, singing the U.S. national anthem “Star Spangled Banner” in 1915. After her mother’s death in 1914 Margaret served as the First Lady of the United States until her father’s second marriage in 1915. She would go on to make several recordings...
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The 23rd Psalm recited by Rev. William H. Morgan D.D. and followed by a rendition by the Calvary Choir of the hymn “He Leadeth Me”, originally written by Joseph Gilmore who had this to say about its creation: As a young man who recently had been graduated from Brown University and Newton Theological Institution,...
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The traditional Chinese song “White Hibiscus at Night” sung by Peony Su, a star of the Cantonese Opera during the 1920s and 30s. Learn more here. MP3 Download Internet Archive Link HELP TO KEEP US AFLOAT The Public Domain Review is a not-for-profit project and we rely on support from our readers to stay...
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A recording from the Library of Congress Berliner collection – the performer N.R. Wood imitates various animal sounds heard during the early morning, including sheep, cattle, cock, hens, guinea hen, turkey, hawk, crow, and other birds. Recorded in Washington, D.C. by Berliner Gramophone, 5th August 1897. MP3 Download Internet Archive Link HELP TO KEEP...
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Albert Schweitzer was a German (writing in French also) theologian, organist, philosopher, physician, and medical missionary. As well as his important theological work (he depicted Jesus as literally believing the end of the world was coming in his own lifetime), he developed various theories on music, in particular the work of J.S. Bach. He...
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Ernest Shackleton on his British Antarctic Expedition 1907–09, otherwise known as the Nimrod Expedition, the first of three expeditions to the Antarctic led by the Anglo-Irish explorer. Its main target, among a range of geographical and scientific objectives, was to be first to the South Pole. This was not attained, but the expedition’s southern...
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“The Yama Yama Man” was written by Karl Hoschna (music) and Collin Davis (lyrics) for the Broadway show The Three Twins (1908). Bessie McCoy’s signature performance of the song, in a satin Pierrot clown costume with floppy gloves and a cone hat, was key in establishing the song’s popularity. The July 25, 1908, edition...
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The piano roll was the first medium which could be produced and copied industrially and made it possible to provide the customer with actual music quickly and easily. It consisted of a roll of paper with perforations punched in it, the position and length of which determined the note played on the ‘autopiano’ (also...
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Instrumental Hawaiian guitar version by the Louise and Ferera Hawaiian troupe of Alberto Pestalozza’s oft recorded classic “Ciribiribin” originally composed in 1898. Frank Ferera is considered to be the first great star of Hawaiian music. Ferera first visited the mainland United States as part of the Keoki E Awai troupe, and gained fame with...
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FROM THE “AEOLUS” EPISODE OF ULYSSES (1924) MP3 Download / Internet Archive Link Joyce made this recording in Paris at the HMV studios at the insistence of Sylvia Beach (the woman behind Shakespeare and Company, the publisher’s of Ulysses), although HMV would only loan out their equipment at a cost and would have as...
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Scott Joplin (1867? – 1917), “The King of Ragtime”, wrote 44 original ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas. One of his first pieces, the Maple Leaf Rag, became ragtime’s first and most influential hit, and has been recognized as the archetypal rag. He was born into a musical African American family of...
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During the Pansy Craze of 1930-1933 (mainly in Manhattan), gay clubs and performers, known as “pansy performers”, experienced a huge surge in underground popularity. In 1932, Rae Bourbon was working full-time as a female impersonator at such clubs as Jimmy’s Back Yard in Hollywood and Tait’s in San Francisco. At the latter, in May...
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Thought to be the oldest surviving recording of Thomas Edison’s voice, made in October 1888 he describes an imagined trip “around the world on the phonograph,” by Cunard steamer from New York City to Liverpool, through Europe and Asia, noting specific ships, railroads, cities, and points of interest en route. In the following decades...
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Ma Rainey (1886–1939) was one of the earliest known American professional blues singers and one of the first generation of such singers to record. She was billed as The Mother of the Blues. She began performing at the age of 12 or 14, and recorded under the name Ma Rainey after she and Will...
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“King of the Banjo” Eddie Peabody with a rearrangement for the banjo of Franz von Suppé’s “Poet and Peasant Overture” originally dating from 1846. MP3 Download Internet Archive Link HELP TO KEEP US AFLOAT The Public Domain Review is a not-for-profit project and we rely on support from our readers to stay afloat. If...
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The voice of great English poet, Robert Browning (1812 – 1889) recorded while at a dinner party given by Browning’s friend the artist Rudolf Lehmann, on April 7th, 1889. The sales manager of Edison Talking machine, Colonel Gouraud, had brought with him a phonograph to show the guests and to record their voices. Browning,...
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American singer Lucy Isabelle Marsh (1878 – 1956) made her career as a professional recording artist for the Victor Talking Machine Company. She was an anonymous mainstay of the regular recording program of the company from 1909 into the late 1920s, while at the same time, she quickly won popular and critical recognition under...
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Recording made by Thomas A. Edison on August 12, 1927, at the Golden Jubilee of the Phonograph ceremony. In this recording Edison demonstrates how in 1877 he made the first record on his tinfoil phonograph. The original 1877 recording was not saved and no longer exists. MP3 Download Internet Archive Link HELP TO KEEP...
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1908 song from the Whitney Brothers Quartet, putting to music “The Drum”, a poem by Eugene Field about children playing a game of “Cowboys and Indians”. I’m a beautiful red, red drum, And I train with the soldier boys; As up the street we come, Wonderful is our noise! There’s Tom, and Jim, and...
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Santa Claus Proves There is a Santa Claus (with song “Christmas Comes But Once a Year”) by Ernest Hare (1925). Hare’s recording career began when he became Al Jolson’s understudy in the Broadway musical Sinbad during 1919-20. He went onto record with the Cleartone Four, the Crescent Trio, the Harmonizers Quartet, and the Premier...
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The recording was made on 30th July 1890 to raise money for the impoverished veterans of the Charge of the Light Brigade. The full transcript of the recording says: ‘When I am no longer even a memory, just a name, I hope my voice may perpetuate the great work of my life. God bless...
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From NASA: Apollo 11 Onboard Audio Highlights – These are not necessarily major milestones of the mission but are some of the more interesting and clearly recorded conversations the crew members had among themselves as the mission progressed. Highlight clip 1(mission time: 1:24-1:29, tape 11-03302) As the crew members complete their first orbit of...
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A rousing march composed by the Vandersloot Publishing Company in honour of General “Black Jack” Pershing who led American troops in World War One. MP3 Download Internet Archive Link HELP TO KEEP US AFLOAT The Public Domain Review is a not-for-profit project and we rely on support from our readers to stay afloat. If...
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Until the discovery of an 1860 recording of “Au clair de la lune” in 2009, this haunting excerpt from Handel’s oratorio recorded in 1888 was the oldest known recorded human voice in existence. A note on the cylinder reads: “A chorus of 4000 voices recorded with phonograph over 100 yards away”. It was recorded...
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1. Indian Love Call 3:19 2. Japanese Sandman 3:16 3. Makin Whoopee 3:07 4. Nice People (incomplete) 1:30 5. South Of The Border 2:55 6. Stardust 3:26 7. Tea for Two 2:56 8. Thanks For The Memory 3:08 Charlie and his Orchestra (also referred to as the “Templin band” and “Bruno and His Swinging...
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Marc Antony’s famous speech from William Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Julius Caesar, performed by Harry E. Humphrey in 1914 MP3 Download Internet Archive Link HELP TO KEEP US AFLOAT The Public Domain Review is a not-for-profit project and we rely on support from our readers to stay afloat. If you like what we do then...
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Tropical track from the Hawaiian Quintent. More songs of theirs can be streamed from the Library of Congress National Jukebox site MP3 Download Internet Archive Link HELP TO KEEP US AFLOAT The Public Domain Review is a not-for-profit project and we rely on support from our readers to stay afloat. If you like what...
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Two songs from Rudoph Valentino: “El Relicario” and “Kashmiri Song”. Rudolph Valentino (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926) was an Italian actor, and early pop icon. A sex symbol of the 1920s, Valentino was known as the “Latin Lover”. He starred in several well known silent films including The Four Horsemen of the...
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This is the original recording of Gershwin’s masterpiece, acoustic as opposed to the later more famous and more well known electrically recorded version. In 2 parts. MP3 Download Part 1 / Part 2 Internet Archive Link Part 1 / Part 2 HELP TO KEEP US AFLOAT The Public Domain Review is a not-for-profit project...
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Fats Waller and His Orchestra live at The Yacht Club in New York: “You Can’t Be Mine and Somebody Else’s Too”, “Monday Morning”, “What Do You Know About Love?”, and “I Had To Do It”. Also included is a live recording “Hold My Hand”. MP3 Download Internet Archive Link HELP TO KEEP US AFLOAT...
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Tokyo Rose was a generic name given by Allied forces in the South Pacific during World War II to any of approximately a dozen English-speaking female broadcasters of Japanese propaganda. The intent of these broadcasts was to disrupt the morale of Allied forces listening to the broadcast. American servicemen in the Pacific often listened...
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Zélie de Lussan (21 December 1861 – 18 December 1949) was an American opera singer of French descent. This is her singing the oft recorded classic La Paloma, originally composed around 1863 by Spanish composer Sebastián Iradier. MP3 Download Internet Archive Link HELP TO KEEP US AFLOAT The Public Domain Review is a not-for-profit...
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Welles’ first almanac/variety radio show, as sponsored by Illinois-based cosmetic maker Lady Esther, and featuring members of his Mercury Theatre. The show sought to provide something new to radio listeners. Unfortunately, the program format proved unpopular with the target audience of Lady Esther (ie middle class women), and the show eventually settled into a...
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Enrico Caruso made approximately 290 commercially released recordings from 1902 to 1920. This was one of his last. Explore more here. MP3 Download Internet Archive Link HELP TO KEEP US AFLOAT The Public Domain Review is a not-for-profit project and we rely on support from our readers to stay afloat. If you like what...
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Houdini made the only known recordings of his voice on Edison wax cylinders on October 29, 1914, in Flatbush, New York. On them, Houdini practices several different introductory speeches for his famous Chinese Water Torture Cell. In the trick, Houdini’s feet would be locked in stocks, and he would be lowered upside down into...
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Chopin’s “Funeral March” is the third movement of his Piano Sonata No. 2. It was used at the state funerals of John F. Kennedy and those of Soviet leaders, including Leonid Brezhnev. It was played at the graveside during Chopin’s own burial at Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris in 1849 with Napoléon Henri Reber’s...
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Test pressing of Joe Rosey’s “Beela Boola”, by the Electric City 4 on Edison matrix 7596-B, recorded October 20/9, 1920 MP3 Download Internet Archive Link HELP TO KEEP US AFLOAT The Public Domain Review is a not-for-profit project and we rely on support from our readers to stay afloat. If you like what we...
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“The Daddy of the Accordion”, Pietro Deiro, plays Julius Lenzberg’s Hungarian Rag MP3 Download Internet Archive Link HELP TO KEEP US AFLOAT The Public Domain Review is a not-for-profit project and we rely on support from our readers to stay afloat. If you like what we do then please do consider making a donation....
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Tenor Billy Jones (1889-1940) and bass/baritone Ernie Hare (1881-1939) sang as The Happiness Boys in a radio program of the same name which ran in the early 1920s. Dave Kaplan was usually the team’s pianist on records. Fannie Heinline, regarded as the best American female banjoist at the turn of the century, made guest...
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A song by Al Dollar & His Ten Cent Band featuring the famous vaudeville performer Billy Murray praising Popeye, who two years later was to evolve from a cartoon strip to animated cartoon. MP3 Download Internet Archive Link HELP TO KEEP US AFLOAT The Public Domain Review is a not-for-profit project and we rely...
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