Russell Hunting

27 tracks from 1897-1923, 20-page booklet with historical notes, artist bios, and rare graphics. Includes monologues, dialogues, sketches, "descriptives," and much more from the days before radio. Standout stars are Ada Jones, Len Spencer, Steve Porter, Haydn Quartet, Weber and Fields, Golden and Hughes, Cal Stewart, and Will Rogers. Read more
List price: $16.49

Pioneer recording artist Russell Hunting went to jail for what's on this CD. 19 cylinder selections (43 tracks) from c.1892-1900 of the rarest of the rare: explicit indecent spoken-word recordings that brought down the wrath of anti-vice crusader Anthony Comstock. Actionable Offenses is a critical edition that places these recordings in their original social and historical context. Featuring an oversized 60-page booklet with complete transcripts of the recordings, annotations on slang and out-of-date references, and a groundbreaking historical essay by Patrick Feaster and David Giovannoni detailing the rise of indecent recordings and arrest of Hunting. Also includes recordings by Cal Stewart, James White, and an unknown gentleman of the 1890s indulging his taste for home recordings.  Read more
List price: $18.99

30 tracks from 1893-1902, transferred from exceedingly scarce Berliner discs and brown wax cylinders, with top artists such as Dan W. Quinn ("The Band Played On"), George J. Gaskin ("Drill, Ye Terriers, Drill"), John Yorke AtLee ("The Mocking Bird"), George W. Johnson ("The Whistling Coon"), Arthur Collins ("I'd Leave My Happy Home for You"), and Sousa's Band, Vess Ossman, Edward M. Favor, Russell Hunting, and more. The deluxe 24-page booklet boasts extremely rare photos of several of the artists (many only now published for the first time in over 100 years), artist bios, a timeline of when the songs first hit big, and an historical essay focusing on major social problems of the decade. Companion volume to ARCH 9006. Read more
List price: $17.49

30 tracks from 1892-1900, transferred from exceedingly scarce brown wax cylinders and Berliner discs. More hits by the biggest artists of the American 1890s, such as Gilmore's Band, Cal Stewart, Dan Quinn, George Gaskin, Arthur Collins, and John Yorke AtLee. Standout tracks include the hitherto unattested cylinder of "Silver Threads Among the Gold" by J. W. Myers, the 1894 recording of "Then You'll Remember Me" by the U.S. Marine Band, an exceptional copy of "Casey at the Telephone," ca. 1896 by Russell Hunting, and the ultra-rare "Daddy Wouldn't Buy Me a Bow Wow" ca. 1892 by Silas Leachman for the North American Phonograph Company of Chicago. The deluxe 24-page booklet includes lyrics and bios and pictures of selected songwriters, a timeline of when the songs first hit big, and an historical essay focusing on major technological innovations of the decade. Companion volume to ARCH 9004.  Read more
List price: $17.49