The following content has been identified by the YouTube community as being potentially offensive or inappropriate. Viewer discretion is advised.
Please confirm that you wish to view this video.
This video or group may contain content that is inappropriate for some users, as flagged by YouTube's user community.
Please confirm that you wish to view this video.
I'll Be A Friend 'With Pleasure' is cornetist Bix Beiderbecke's next-to-last appearance in a recording studio. His last recording session took pla...
more
I'll Be A Friend 'With Pleasure' is cornetist Bix Beiderbecke's next-to-last appearance in a recording studio. His last recording session took place only one week later.
This Sept. 8, 1930 date was organized around a group of Bix's close, long-time friends. The label credits trumpeter Ray Lodwig as the group's director; he takes the muted trumpet chorus that opens up the record. Other band members included Boyce Cullen on trombone, Benny Goodman, Jimmy Dorsey, and Pee Wee Russel on clarinet and alto sax, Min Leibrook on string bass, Irving Brodsky on piano, and Gene Krupa on drums.
The band plods along all the way through Wes Vaughn's warbly falsetto vocal, but then Bix and Jimmy Dorsey both play beautiful choruses, bringing the record to a satisfying close. It is possible that the phrase 'With Pleasure' is a reference to the Camel Pleasure Hour radio broadcast, which at the time included Bix in its studio orchestra.
The record player is an Orthophonic Victrola model VE4-4X, or "Granada". The "E" in the model number indicates that the Victrola is fitted with a synchronous A/C motor instead of a wind-up motor. The machine has a full "orthophonic" playback system (for electrically-recorded records) including the special orthophonic sound box with a duralumin diaphragm and a folded exponential horn inside of the cabinet. Although the gigantic Credenza Victrola produced deeper bass, the Granada had the most accurate overall frequency response of all the acoustic Orthophonic Victrolas. The serial number indicates that this machine was probably manufactured in 1926.
I shoot my video with a Sony Digital 8 format camera. For audio, I use a Shure SM-57 microphone on a stand placed about 4 feet in front of the Victrola horn. Although I normally use "soft tone" needles, this video was made with a "bright" or "loud" tone needle. The mic is plugged directly into the video camera. The videos are edited with Windows Movie Maker. I use Sound Forge 9 to clean up the audio, but don't worry -- you're hearing the record exactly as the Victrola plays it!
The Song of the Setting Sun (music: Walter Donaldson, lyrics: Gus Kahn).
Sung by Chief Caupolican, danced by the Goldwyn girls, choreography by Busb...
more
The Song of the Setting Sun (music: Walter Donaldson, lyrics: Gus Kahn).
Sung by Chief Caupolican, danced by the Goldwyn girls, choreography by Busby Berkeley.
less
I enjoy so much your rare material. I love what I call primitive musicals from the end of 20's and the begining of 30's - a golden era to my taste. Antonio Augusto from Brazil
You have really amazing and rare videos!