Photo Gallery – Miscellaneous
WJR Radio Guide, 1928 or 1929 – S.H
From Wikipedia:
WJR began as WCX on May 4, 1922, owned by the Detroit Free Press newspaper, operating at 580 kHz. It shared this frequency with WWJ-AM, another station owned by the Detroit News newspaper. In 1925, WCX was bought by the Jewett Radio & Phonograph Company in Pontiac, Michigan, and the station became known as WCX/WJR. Also, by 1925, WWJ was at 850 kHz, and both stations were broadcasting at 5000 watts of power.
On November 11, 1928, it moved to 750 AM as a result of the FRC’s General Order 40.
On December 16, 1928, the station moved from the newspaper’s offices to the Fisher Building and began its callsign, “WJR Detroit, from the Golden Tower of the Fisher Building,” which soon became famous across the country (and is still used to this day). Goodwill Stations Inc., formed by George A. Richards (who also owned the Detroit Lions), acquired WJR in 1929, and it became known as “The Goodwill Station” (along with WGAR in Cleveland and KMPC in Los Angeles). WCX ceased to exist as all the assets were acquired by WJR. In 1931, the station raised its power to 10,000 watts; four years later, it would broadcast at 50,000 watts.
The Jean Goldkette band, with Bix, broadcast from the Graystone Ballroom every Thursday evening from 10 to 11 p.m. on Dec 2, 9, and 16, 1926. Beginning on Dec 23, 1926, and continuing on Dec 30, 1926, and Jan 6, 13, and 20, 1927, from 9 to 10 p.m. After a trip East, the band resumed its broadcasts form the Graystone Ballroom on Feb 12, 17, 24, 1927 and every week until April 7, 1927. This radio guide dates from 1928 or 1929. It provides some information about the Goldkette orchestra, which at this time no longer included Bix.
In A Mist Sheet Music – F.H.
This is the original issue of the sheet music. Note the heading “Paul Whiteman Presents” on top. Subsequent issues, such as the one in the Bixography home page, did not include that heading. For additional information, connect to http://ms.cc.sunysb.edu/~alhaim/recordingsinamist.htm#SheetMusic.
Flashes Sheet Music – F.H.
Bix Beiderbecke wrote four piano compositions. Flashes was copyrighted on April 18, 1931.
Candlelights Sheet Music – P.C.
In The Dark Sheet Music – P.C.
Driftwood Sheet Music – R.R.
I believe that this is the only sheet music with a photo of Bix. This was issued in 1924 in various forms, some without a photograph insert, others with various photo insets. The design is by Perret. The heading above the photgraph reads “Featured by Dick Voynow and the Wolverines”.
Photographs of the Buidings of the Gennett Recording Company – F.H.
The Starr Piano Company, the first piano company west of the Alleghany Mountains, was founded in 1872 by James Starr. Henry Gennett joined the company in 1893. Starr entered the recording business in 1915. The records made between 1915 and 1918 were issued under the green and white “Starr” label. The name of the record label was changed from “Starr” to “Gennett” in 1918. The records were made using the lateral cut process, which was also used by the “Victor Recording Company”.
A fascinating account of the legal proceedings between “Gennett”, supported by “OKeh”, “Vocalion” and “Compos”, and “Victor”, supported by “Columbia”, is given in “Jelly Roll, Bix, and Hoagy. Gennett Studios and the Birth of Recorded Jazz” by Rick Kennedy, Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 1994. Fred Wiggins, the manager of the Starr Music Store in Chicago, is probably the single most important individual in building the reputation of Gennett in the field of jazz. Among the jazz names that recorded for Gennett in the early days, we have King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band, The New Orleans Rhythm Kings, Jelly Roll Morton, The Wolverines, The Happy Harmonists, The Bucktown Five, Bix and His Rhythm Jugglers, Hoagy Carmichael, Ladd’s Black Aces (really, the Original Memphis Five), Bix and the Sioux City Six, Louis Armstrong and the Red Onion Jazz Babies.
Four images are available. The images are scans of the photographs taken in 1974 and 1975 by Frank Hagenbuch.
Gennett View
Gennett Vertical
Gennett Street
Gennett Sign
Photographs of the Starr Piano Factory – D. B.
All jazz fans, including Bixophiles, are aware of the crucial importance of the Gennett Recording Company. The first recordings (Fidgety Feet and Lazy Daddy) of the Wolverine Orchestra, with Bix, were made in the studios of the company in Richmond, Indiana, on February 18, 1924. Other jazz giants who made recordings in the Genett’s studios in Richmond are The New Orleans Rhythm Kings, King Oliver with his Creole Jazz Band (featuring Louis Armstrong), Jelly Roll Morton, and Hoagy Carmichael. In addition to Rick Kennedy’s book cited in the previous entry, I would recommend the article in http://www.visitrichmond.org/history.cfm.
Because of its importance in the recording of early jazz, the Gennett Recording Company has been referred to as “The Cradle of Recorded Jazz”. The Gennett Recording Company was part of the Starr Piano Company. A non-profit organiztion, The Starr-Gennett Foundation, is “dedicated to promoting the rich musical heritage of the Gennett Record Company and its parent Starr Piano Company in Richmond, Indiana.” The home page for the Foundation is found at http://www.starrgennett.org/ The Starr Piano Company began to make pianos in Richmond in 1878 and closed its operation in 1949. In its heyday, the Starr factories in Richmond spread over 35 acres and occupied 300,000 square feet.
The buildings have been slowly deteriorating. In his book, Rick Kennedy writes, “By 1983, only a couple of abandoned structures remained, including a mammoth piano assembly building with a large fading Gennett Records sign painted on an outside wall.” David “Bart” Bartholomew took some photographs of the old piano building (originally built in the 19th century). Bart sent scans of overall views of what was left of the old piano factory in the winter.
1985
In the summer of 1986
A close-up of the sign (with Bart looking out the window) shows how faded the sign is
For a cleaner image of the sign, go to http://www.starrgennett.org/history/index.html
Starr Valley, Richmond, Indiana – E.B.
These photos are from June 2009.
Photo 1
Photo 2
Photo 3 (Mark Shane, Jon-Erik Kellso, Dan Levinson)
Photo 4
Photo 5
