Autograph Records was an American
record label in the 1920s owned by Marsh Laboratories of
Chicago, Illinois, which was owned by
Orlando R. Marsh, an electrical engineer.
Marsh made recordings by his own experimental methods. Autograph was the first U.S. record label to release recordings made electrically with
microphones, as opposed to the acoustical or mechanical method that was more commonly used.
[Columbia Graphophone marketed electrical 12-inch in early 20s.] According to author Brian Rust, Marsh's first electrical records were made in 1924.
[Rust, Brian. "Autograph, a glimpse into the past." ''Storyville'' 1972; 40: 124-126.]
Organ music
It was reported in ''
Time'' on April 28, 1923, that a device invented by Marsh was successfully used to make a recording of organ music, until then considered impossible. The article stated that
Pietro Yon from New York City played his organ composition "Jesu Bambino" in Marsh's Chicago laboratory, and that the reproduction was described as excellent. The article went on to say that this accomplishment appeared to open a new area for the phonograph.
Brian Rust also reported that there was a note in the ''Talking Machine Journal'' for October 1924 indicating that "Orlando B. Marsh" had just moved to 78 East Jackson Boulevard.
Marsh Laboratories became established on the seventh floor of the
Lyon & Healy
Lyon & Healy Harps, Inc. is an American musical instrument manufacturer based in Chicago, Illinois and is a subsidiary of Salvi Harps. Today best known for concert harps, the company's Chicago headquarters and manufacturing facility contains a ...
Building. This location attracted customers. Lyon & Healy sold sheet music, records, and musical instruments.
[Powell, James R., Jr., Randall G. Stehle, and Jonathan D. Powell. "Vintage microphones and the restoration of early Marsh Laboratories electrical 78-rpm recordings." ''ARSC Journal'' 2006; 37 (1): 36-47.]
Discs
Autograph is best known for some of the fine
jazz by artists in Chicago which was recorded on the label. The most famous of all are the duets by
King Oliver and
Jelly Roll Morton. Autograph's bestselling records, however, were the series of
pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks ...
solos by
Jesse Crawford. Marsh's electrical process was the first to be able to capture an approximation of the range of the organ, but it lacked bass in the tone mix.
About the time that the Autograph records of Crawford were made, Jesse Crawford accepted an offer to be organist at the
Paramount Theatre in New York City. Once there, the
Victor became interested in having Crawford make recordings for them, first by the acoustical process. Later, Victor recorded Crawford by the
Western Electric
The Western Electric Company was an American electrical engineering and manufacturing company officially founded in 1869. A wholly owned subsidiary of American Telephone & Telegraph for most of its lifespan, it served as the primary equipment ma ...
-licensed process first used by them in 1925.
Milton Charles succeeded Jesse Crawford as organist at the
Chicago Theatre and also as the organist used by Orlando Marsh. Charles was recorded by Marsh Laboratories at the
Tivoli Theatre (Chicago) with releases on
Paramount Records
Paramount Records was an American record label known for its recordings of jazz and blues in the 1920s and early 1930s, including such artists as Ma Rainey, Tommy Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson.
Early years
Paramount Records was formed in 19 ...
. The Paramount recordings were technically superior to those made at the Chicago Theatre.
The last Autograph records seem to have been recorded in
1926
Events January
* January 3 – Theodoros Pangalos declares himself dictator in Greece.
* January 8
**Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz.
** Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuy ascends the throne, the last monarch of V ...
.
Although no longer releasing sides under his own label, Marsh continued to make recordings in Chicago for other labels (including Paramount,
Gennett, and
Black Patti) through the end of the 1920s.
Radio
Amos 'n' Andy was the first radio program to be distributed by recorded syndication, and Marsh Laboratories played a role in this. Elizabeth McLeod indicated in an e-mail of December 27, 2002, that recordings by
Freeman Gosden and
Charles Correll were made in advance of the live airing of the Amos 'n' Andy radio shows on
WMAQ (AM), Chicago, in the 1928–1929 period at Marsh Laboratories. These were pressed for distribution to other radio stations as 12" shellac 78 rpm discs. She indicated that a speed around 80 rpm was sometimes more accurate. On April 29, 1929, the recording contract went to Brunswick-Balke-Collender (
Brunswick Corporation) and the audio quality of the discs improved substantially.
[McLeod, Elizabeth. A & A Recordings; December 27, 2002.]
References
See also
*
List of record labels
{{Authority control
American record labels
Record labels established in 1921
Record labels disestablished in 1926
Jazz record labels