About 1931 the Wurlitzer style 30A Mandolin PianOrchestra featured on this Archive CD was discovered in the fancy parlor of Laura Evans' bordello, located just down the street from the Salida, Colorado, train station. Laura's place of business was actually made up of two separate buildings, the main house (where the PianOrchestra was situated) and a smaller building located directly across the street and that contained individual "cribs" (little rooms with a bed), where some of the "gentlemen" patrons enjoyed their romp with a favorite gal. By the mid to late 1920's the PianOrchestra apparently needed some repairs, but since such services were no longer available, as the machine was considered obsolete, the giant PianOrchestra sat idle. When the instrument was discovered by the late Orville Cooper (of Long Beach, California) it was no longer in use. Exactly how and why Orville stumbled across the then silent PianOrchestra is quite unknown, but is probably an interesting story in itself. Whatever the case, Orville did manage to buy the PianOrchestra from the reportedly sassy and often obstinate Laura, and, in due time, had it hauled to California. The instrument was in pristine condition, except for the bass and snare drums, which Laura reportedly had given to some local boy Scouts, who apparently were good friends of one of Colorado's most famous madams!
The style 30A PianOrchestra was rebuilt by Terry Hathaway circa 1971-1972, with refurbishment beginning soon after purchasing the instrument. Recently the 30A PianOrchestra became part of the Gilson collection, and Ron Cappel was commissioned to make whatever repairs might be necessary. This included rebuilding the main chest, as it still had the original Philipps leather valves in it, as well as perform other minor repair work as thought to be prudent. Then, just before loading the PianOrchestra into a truck for delivery to its new home, Ron Cappel recorded the PianOrchestra on MiniDisk. However, even though the instrument is basically in top playing condition, there are a few piano dampers that were yet to be properly adjusted, permitting a few piano notes to "hang on" at the end of some tunes, providing a trailing discordance that I dislike. Yet, on the whole, these tunes are otherwise fine, and well worth having available for everyone's listening enjoyment, even with the aforementioned little flaw.
Click here for pictures and additional historical details about this instrument.
The selection of music consists of popular tunes from Wurlitzer Mandolin PianOrchestra music rolls, and encompasses selections from approximately 1910 to the mid 1920's. For both compact discs (WUR-MP30A-D2 and WUR-MP30A-D3), the tunes progress from the earlier Wurlitzer arrangements (on red paper rolls) up through the mid teens (on white and buff paper) and ending with the mid 1920's (on the very durable green paper rolls). This range of one and one-half decades of musical styling gives the listener a wonderful sense of how popular music evolved during the heyday of the PianOrchestra, and for automatic music machines in general.
Wurlitzer Style 30A Mandolin PianOrchestra | ||||
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WUR-MP30A-D2 34 Tracks -- Total Time: 73:15 | WUR-MP30A-D3 | |||
1. | Yip-I-Addy-I-Ay, Waltz | 1. | She Is Ma Daisy, Two-Step | |
2. | By The Light of the Silvery Moon, Two-Step | 2. | The Chocolate Soldier, Waltzes | |
3. | I Love A Lassie, Two-Step | 3. | Come and Kiss Your Little Baby | |
4. | Chicken Reel, Two-Step and Buck Dance | 4. | You Got To Rag It | |
5. | Oceana Roll, Rag | 5. | The Tennessee Blues | |
6. | When You Kiss An Italian Girl, Rag Schottische | 6. | Teasing The Cat | |
7. | Texas Tommy Swing, Rag | 7. | Encore Rag | |
8. | When I'm Alone I'm Lonesome, Schottische | 8. | The German Blues (It's Neutral) | |
9. | Indian Girl, Patrol | 9. | Imperial Rag (An Easy Riding Rag) | |
10. | Oh That Navajo Rag | 10. | Good-bye Broadway, Hello France, One-Step | |
11. | My Hula Hula Love, Indian Two-Step | 11. | Laddie Boy, One-Step | |
12. | Big Pow Wow, Intermezzo | 12. | Long Boy, One-Step | |
13. | Valley Flower, Intermezzo Two-Step | 13. | Russian Rag | |
14. | That Baseball Rag | 14. | Full O' Pep, Rag One-Step | |
15. | To Have, To Hold, To Love | 15. | Tricks, Fox Trot | |
16. | Delirium Tremens, Rag | 16. | My Buddy, Waltz | |
17. | Them Doggon'd Triflin' Blues | 17. | The Chimes of Liberty, March | |
18. | Blue Monday | 18. | Romany Love, Fox Trot | |
19. | San Francisco Blues | 19. | Martha, Fox Trot | |
20. | It Takes A Tall, Brown Skin Gal | 20. | Cradle Of Gold, Waltz | |
21. | All the World Will Be Jealous of Me, Waltz | 21. | Tomorrow Morning, Fox Trot | |
22. | Hi-Yeller, Rag Fox Trot | 22. | He Loves It, Fox Trot | |
23. | Razzle-Dazzle, Rag One-Step | 23. | Toot Toot Tootsie (Goo' Bye), Fox Trot | |
24. | Most Anyithing, Rag One-Step | 24. | Call Me Back Pal Of Mine, Waltz | |
25. | Wang Wang Blues, Medley Fox Trot | 25. | The Yankee Doodle Blues, Fox Trot | |
26. | Emaline, Medley Fox Trot | 26. | Cow Bells, Fox Trot | |
27. | I'm Always Stuttering, Fox Trot | 27. | Lovin' Sam, The Shiek Of Alabam', Fox Trot | |
28. | When Mammy Sings a Southern Lullaby, Fox Trot | 28. | Lost (A Wonderful Girl), Fox Trot | |
29. | Open Up Your Arms My Alabamy, Fox Trot | 29. | A Picture Without A Frame, Fox Trot | |
30. | Fate (It Was Fate When I First Met You), Fox Trot | 30. | Lady Of The Evening, Fox Trot, from "Music Box Revue" | |
31. | Georgia Cabin Door, Fox Trot | 31. | Fuzzy Wuzzy Bird, Fox Trot | |
32. | You've Got to See Mama Every Night (Or You Can't See Mama at All), Fox Trot | 32. | The Lovelight In Your Eyes, Fox Trot | |
33. | After Every Party, Waltz | 33. | One Night In June, Fox Trot | |
34. | Dearest (You're The Nearest to My Heart), Fox Trot | 34. | The Thief, Fox Trot | |
35. | Dew Dew Dewey Day | |||
36. | It All Depends On You | |||
37. | Me And My Shadow | |||
38. | Under The Moon | |||
39. | Sam the Old Accordion Man |
Listen to a sample.....
"BY THE LIGHT OF THE SILVERY MOON"