Though largely forgotten, today, Orlando Marsh was a highly-regarded pioneer in the development and use of electrical recording. Among other things—including contributions to sound-on-film technology—he is credited with several important innovations and inventions (some patented, many not) that helped the music industry transcend the limitations of acoustically recorded 78s. Marsh began his earliest experiments with recorded sound at Essanay Studios, in 1914, the same year the moving picture company famously signed Charlie Chaplin away from Keystone.
In 1921, Orlando Marsh became the first to use electrical recording to put music on disc—four years before the rest of the commercial recording industry began to adopt it. The technology, which Marsh pioneered, was used to make many early jazz and blues recordings, including several by Jelly Roll Morton, Joe “King” Oliver, Merritt Brunies and His Friar’s Inn Orchestra, Jimmy Blythe, Muggsy Spanier, and Blind Lemon Jefferson. In fact, Marsh was the first to record a number of artists, including Clarence M. Jones, Boyd Senter, and Willard Robison, whose early work would otherwise have been lost to obscurity..
Richard Raichelson’s book is a remarkable achievement that culminates 20+ years of research. Lushly illustrated with more than 160 images (most in color), the book is much more than your typical bio-discography. Bringin
