R.S. Baker

If you are a collector of early shellac disc records and cylinders, you’ll likely know that there is an awful lot of history in New

In 1895, a two volume book entitled The Music of the Modern World was published in New York. At first glance this might seem like

Since the introduction of the phonograph, syncopated music was commonly recorded. But often while flipping through collections of classic ragtime sheet music, it seems odd

In 1899, recording artist Len Spencer decided to make a bold move: take his small group of phonograph friends on tour in a minstrel troupe.

Even with all the adventures I had in NYC, as described in the previous three articles, there are still a few things I have not

Perhaps the most memorable part of my New York trip was spending two days with the descendants of Fred and Jimmy Hager. On the second

While in New York City back in march, I had the chance to make a few disc records for Colin Hancock with his period acoustic

This month, I will be doing something a little bit different in this column, as I just took a week long trip to NYC. On

What exactly was the ragtime life? At one time the term was used to describe a particular generation of young people. Much like any musical

In the first decade of the 20th century, few composers were as prolific and J. Fred Helf. Not many remember him now, but for decades

Charles Prince could seem like a rather boring character on the surface; he led his own band and orchestra for the same label for 20

Any seasoned record collector is likely aware of the baritone Steve Porter. He was a main fixture of the famous American Quartet, and a common

Last year, in this column was an article on drummer Jimmy Hager, bandmaster Fred Hager’s brother, but since that publication, more has been discovered about

In 1910, a new phonograph company emerged in Boston, it was founded upon a few generous donations from local elites. Their donations set the company

A question that phonograph collectors and historians often get asked is, “what was the most popular song to be recorded in the 1890s?” This question

In 1904, the famous composer Victor Herbert sued the Universal talking machine company (better known as Zon-O-Phone) for illegal use of his name. The folks

These days we often take performers who sing and play piano for granted, but in the acoustic phonograph world things were a little different. Long

Last month’s piece in this column was on Charlie Carson and his partner in crime Russell Hunting. This month will be a continuation of Carson’s

In 1896, two phonograph engineers were arrested for the first crime not patent related within the recording business. The more famous of the two, Russell

In the 19th century, novelties and curiosities were all the rage. We have all heard of the circus performers, snake oil salesmen, sideshow freaks—but there

In 1903, two of the major disc record companies ventured into unexplored territory: long playing records. The Victor talking machine company and Columbia phonograph company

In the 19th century, the bass drum in military bands was essential. The use of bass drums continued into the earliest days of recording, but

Justin Ring had a lot of love to give in his long life, as he cared for so many close friends and family. Later in

For many decades, Justin Ring has been an elusive character in the world of early recording and ragtime. Researcher Jim Walsh spoke of him only