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New Orleans’ First Record Label: Louis Vasnier and the Louisiana Phonograph Co., 1891

New Orleans’ First Record Label: Louis Vasnier and the Louisiana Phonograph Co., 1891. Tim Brooks Author, Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry, 1890-1919. New Orleans, 1890. The Phonograph in New Orleans. Early 1880s: Tin foil phonograph exhibited

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New Orleans’ First Record Label: Louis Vasnier and the Louisiana Phonograph Co., 1891

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  1. New Orleans’ First Record Label: Louis Vasnier and the Louisiana Phonograph Co., 1891 Tim Brooks Author, Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry, 1890-1919

  2. New Orleans, 1890

  3. The Phonograph in New Orleans • Early 1880s: Tin foil phonograph exhibited • 1889: Four brothers found Texas Phono. Co. in Galveston • H. Lee and Robert Sellers • Hugh and Thomas Conyngton • 1891: They found Louisiana Phono. Co. • Jan. 26, 1891: Demonstration at Tulane

  4. Louisiana Phonograph Co. • Emphasized entertainment from start • Import music cylinders from North • Active program recording “local talent” • Conyngtons proselytize in The Phonogram • May 7, 1891: 1st coin-in-slot machine placed in May’s Palace Drug Store on Canal and Chartres

  5. Canal Street, 1890s

  6. West End Pavilion, Lake Pontchartrain

  7. The Phonogram, July 1892

  8. The Phonogram, August 1892

  9. Louis “Bebe” Vasnier • Born 1858 in New Orleans, “creole of color” • House painter • Talented comic, banjo player • 1880s: Johnson & Vasnier’s Colored Minstrels, as sideline • 1891: Makes first recordings

  10. Louis “Bebe” Vasnier • 1891-93: Actively recording • Sold nationally, played by exhibitors in north • Samples sent to Thomas A. Edison • Promoted at Mardi Gras • Repertoire: • Banjo solos, quartets • “Brudder Rasmus” sermons

  11. Louisiana Phonograph Co. – Later History • 1893: Major economic downturn in U.S. • 1893-94: Company winds down • 1894: Moves out of Equitable Bldg. • 1896: Becomes kinetoscope agency • 1897: Last listing in city directory

  12. Louis Vasnier – Later History • 1897-98: Reported as sick, off stage • 1898: Moves to St. Louis, MO • 1899: Marries • 1900: Advertises in Indianapolis Freeman • Original monologues • Five dialects • “The only colored comedian who can do it” • Jan 24, 1902: Dies of consumption

  13. The Vasnier Cylinder • Only surviving example • “Trophy” owned by a series of collectors • John Coles, Rich Reinold – 1980s • Reported clear, understandable • None preserved it • To John S. Dales (U.K.) • By 1990s, audio destroyed • When will we ever learn?

  14. For more on this and related subjects see Lost Sounds Thank You! www.timbrooks.net

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