'Lost Sounds' From Archeophone Records Wins 2007 Grammy For Best Historical Album
Earliest recordings ever honored by the Recording Academy; First to recognize African Americans who recorded at dawn of record industry; Causing historians to reexamine the roots of 20th-century American popular music.
Champaign, IL (PRWEB) February 22, 2007 -- "Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry, 1891–1922" has received this year’s Grammy award for Best Historical Album. Tim Brooks, David Giovannoni, Meagan Hennessey, and Richard Martin are the producers and authors of this critically-acclaimed CD from Archeophone Records (www.archeophone.com). All four winners attended the February 11th ceremonies in Los Angeles.
Based on Tim Brooks’ award-winning book of the same name (University of Illinois Press, 2004), 'Lost Sounds' traces the contributions of African-American performers and public figures during a remarkably fervent yet relatively unexamined and often misunderstood period in American history. Brooks’ book introduced modern readers to forgotten entertainment pioneers such as George W. Johnson--a former slave who was the first black to make commercial records. Archeophone’s CD introduces us to their actual performances.
Brooks remarked upon receiving the award: “The birth of the recording industry coincided with a period of intense racial oppression in the U.S. The contributions of the pioneering African Americans who recorded in these early years are of interest to scholars, historians, and a public that craves knowledge of this complex American story. We are immensely satisfied that our efforts to transport these 'lost sounds' into the 21st century are appreciated by the members of the Recording Academy.”
David Giovannoni added: “We stand on the shoulders of giants--the artists who created these works, scholars like Tim who rediscover them, and record labels like Archeophone that make them available to modern audiences.” With Brooks, Giovannoni contributed to "Lost Sounds'" 60-page booklet, and both provided source transfers of some of the world’s rarest recordings from their personal collections.
Indeed, at least a dozen of "Lost Sounds'" 54 tracks are from the only copies of these recordings known to survive. In one instance, a wax cylinder recording from 1891 did not survive--but is heard here thanks to the heroic efforts of “Cylinder Doctor” Michael Khanchalian, who reassembled the physical cylinder from its broken shards, and producer and Archeophone co-owner Richard Martin, who transformed the 15-minute transfer of skips, repeats, and pops into a seamless track of less than three minutes. “Restoration is both a labor of love and a matter of great urgency,” said Martin. “Not only are we privileged to work on such rare specimens of American history, we are obliged to do so immediately. The ravages of time and neglect never cease, and important recordings like this are irretrievably lost each passing year.”
"'Lost Sounds' takes us on an amazing 30-year journey through American music that many assumed was never recorded--a whole history hitherto unheard by modern audiences,” said co-owner and producer Meagan Hennessey. “These performances presage American music for the entire century to follow; the rhythms and harmonies of proto-jazz, R&B, and even rock jump from grooves cut in the 1890s. Our understanding of music, of performance, of the character and impact of black artistic contributions is forever enriched. Some experts are now suggesting that our history books need to be rewritten.”
Learn more about "Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry, 1891–1922" at www.archeophone.com (ARCH 1005, retail price $29.99).
To view a photo of the winners, visit http://www.archeophone.com/news/grammy.php
About Archeophone Records: Based in Champaign, Illinois, Archeophone was founded in 1998 with the aim of preserving and raising awareness of the recordings of the acoustic era--the years between roughly 1890 and 1925 when artists made records without electricity, by performing into a horn. Archeophone has released 36 CDs to date, including three volumes covering the complete recordings by early African-American vaudeville star Bert Williams. All of Archeophone's releases include extensive scholarly annotation and handsome packaging; the quality booklets have become the company's trademark.
Contact:
Richard Martin
217-355-9883
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