Nutcracker In July 30
Almost to the end now, and I've got a weird one for you today. I pulled this one from a set of five 78s, so the sound leaves a little something to be desired. But it's not something you see every day, so I want to get it out there. This is Jack Shilkret And His Concert Orchestra and the album is entitled A Tschaikowsky Concert (Concertone 5x10" 78 RPM Album No. 15, Mono). Not entirely sure what the vintage on this one is, and the recordings could be a lot older than the pressing. Sound was much rougher than what I can usually coax out of a 78, so either there's an issue here or I've lost my touch. Anyhow, try to enjoy as best you can.
Update: Since there's been some discussion, and while I have it handy, here's the cover for this one.
Thanks for the share, Ernie. It does sound like it's got some age to it. Radio-esque if that's even a term... I believe this is the first one from this series that I haven't been able to find the album cover.
ReplyDeleteThis intrigued me, so I looked to see if I could find a reference for it, but came up with nothing. It could be from any time from the early 20s (when he began recording) to the early 60s (he died in 1964).
ReplyDeleteHowever, he made some Johann Strauss records for Varsity in 1940 that later turned up on Concertone, so my guess is that this is from that same vintage, although the Nutcracker doesn't show up in the 78 listings for Varsity.
Thanks for this one Ernie. Definitely not one I had ever heard before. I was able to find an album cover on ebay here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/A-Tschaikowsky-Concert-78rpm-Set-10-inch-Concertone-Records-15-/293307794088?_trksid=p2385738.m4383.l10137.c10&nordt=true&rt=nc&orig_cvip=true.
ReplyDeleteI assume they cut the Waltz of the Flowers so it would fit on one side of a 78. Burt
Wooo, this one is a can of worms. Glad I wasn't the only one who couldn't find much trace of it on the internet.
ReplyDeleteSky Raven-That seems to be the same set, but not my cover. I have one that I think is a little later, there's a small bit of art included, nut just a central sticker. And the labels are slightly different, too, for some, but not all of the included 78s. They probably had some of them left over and didn't need to reprint them all in a newer style for this issue. But I suspect the music is the same. Two different artists is correct. I hope to share Troika with you, maybe tonight. And surprisingly, Waltz of the Flowers is crammed onto a single side, as is Troika. I had to go back and make sure I hadn't done something wrong when I noticed the length of those two tracks. I frequently rip my 78s at 33 to keep the needle from hopping out of the groove, and I thought maybe I'd forgotten to change the speed in the software, but not, they're that long!
Badgercat-The radio sound may partially be from me running it through a low pass filter to get rid of a chunk of the noise.
Buster-Keep digging, I can't be the only person in the world with a copy of these sides. :)
That set sold for $50! Maybe I need to get rid of mine!
ReplyDeleteSkyRaven, thanks for the detective work on a cover. Ernie, the sound probably does come from using a low pass filter setting. Still, I love the older finds and shares. Lots of character...
ReplyDeleteI added a quick pic of the cover to the post. Looks much later to me than the one from the eBay auction.
ReplyDelete