Banjo Recording Careers

[Byron Thomas]

I've been perusing a lot of the Farland material that Joel has been posting and I'm now trying to understand something. During the heyday of the 5-string banjo, what was the criteria for getting recorded? Alfred Farland seems to have done hundreds of concerts but on this site, we have but 3 recordings of his playing. Meanwhile Fred Van Eps comes along later and records many sessions for the Edison label plus others. Is this because Farland didn't play the banjo music that the companies wanted to sell? I find it astonishing that he was as technical a banjo player as was plus taught FVE but wasn't sought after for recording sessions. 

[Shawn McSweeny]

Most of the early banjo recordings were sponsored by tin pan alley music publishers as promotion for their sheet music. Played with force and an even touch, the banjo recorded well under the primitive recording tech of the day. Ossman had the technical chops and a passion for popular music, which he felt suited the banjo better than classical, making him an ideal fit to record for publishers like M. Witmark & Sons. Van Eps followed a similar path, having learned from Ossman's early recordings, and likewise having a preference for popular music.

Classical instrumentals and vocals were being recorded at the time, but apparently that genre didn't take classical pieces on banjo seriously. It has also been said that Farland was not a loud player, which would make recording successfully on primitive equipment difficult.

[Joel Hooks]

It is very easy to get caught up in Farland's self promotion.  Let's unpack reality. 

Farland claimed to have taught FVE.

FVE "I once paid Farland for a course of instruction and when he wanted me to play Hauser's "Cradle Song" I quit in disgust."  Hobbies Magazine, April 1956

Farland printed a lot of ink about his success in England. 

Cammeyer "It is sad to hear the unfortunate existence of Farland, for he was the most amazing executant I've ever heard on a Jo but sorry to say, execution, though most essential, isn't all that's required.  When he played for 2400 enthusiasts at the Festival I gave at the old St. James hall, his whole programme was entirely of famous classics, using  entirely gut strings with many notes stopped on the vellem itself and picking of the strings close to the bridge. You can imagine what the great masters sounded like and within the programme (which given away) was the announcement of the Farland recital at the Steinway Hall during the following week which, I am sorry to relate only drew a handful."  Letter Sep. 21, 1947.

To put it another way, once word got out what Farland was, he could not fill seats. 

There are other similar accounts.  There is also the example of Farland being replaced by Ossman due to Farland's low volume. 

I think "people" and "the industry" loved the idea of Farland (Farland certainly loved the idea of himself).  But this is a prime example of how "industry" really has no ability to control what the mass customer base is willing to pay for. 

Personally, I think it might be a chore for me to sit through an hour of tremoloed "classics" and I am a ravenous fan of classic banjo. 

[Byron Thomas]

So basically, he lost out because he couldn't bring himself to play music for then common person and only played European classics?

[Joel Hooks]

On one of these promotion things, or perhaps it was the back of a piece of sheet music, there was a list of recordings you could buy from Farland, but these were self recorded, likely one at a time.  I know of none extant.

[Joel Hooks]

Claiming that he "lost out" presumes that Farland had aspirations to make production records.  It is just as likely that he had no interest.  We do not have that info.

What we do know is that Farland was heavily promoted in magazines and by his own materials.  His sheet music sold (at least I've seen enough individual copies that someone was buying it).  His tutor sold fairly well (again, I've seen more than a few well worn and used copies).  His banjos (which he was having made in his own shop by craftsman-- despite internet claims that these were private label Lange made) also sold fairly well as there seems to be some numbers of them extant. 

We also know that his success in live concerts was variable.  There was never any question that his playing was of the highest level, in this case success is measured in selling tickets.

We also know that his later years were spent in relative isolation taking tickets at a movie theater and renting rooms in his house to boarders.  So while he was able to afford a house (which FVE described as "the most abandoned appearing place in the city") It does not seem that he was well off.  He also went deaf and we know about his hand troubles (which was likely focal dystonia).

[Shawn McSweeny]

 Farland was devoted to playing his own arrangements of classical music on the banjo, using lots of tremolo. His career took off in 1893 when SS Stewart decided to promote him heavily in both concerts and the pages of the Stewart Journal, as part of Stewart's own efforts to elevate the banjo and its repertoire.  If all the hype is to believed, Farland became famous and well-respected as a classical concert banjoist, appealing however, to no more than a limited section of the market.

It may not be fair to say he "lost out" in neither recording more nor expanding his repertoire. He was a moderately successful, widely travelled, niche performer, apparently content within his realm.

Promoted as an "artiste" and concert hall performer, he may have had little aspiration to record, of having to suffer the confines of the cubicle, while playing to a needle bouncing on a rubber diaphragm as it cut a spool of wax to disappointing effect ( similarly, Sousa's Band recorded without John Philip directing, as Sousa saw no value in the tinny-sounding result when compared to the real thing). 

[Sam Harris]

Also worth noting that Farland was 14 years older than FVE, and became a professional banjoist before the recording industry took off. FVE's earliest work as a banjoist was making records.

[Steven Watson]

Joel, do you have a copy of the Sep. 21, 1947 Cammeyer letter you can share, or can you tell me where I might find it? I'm doing some research on Farland's appearances in England. Was just going through the relevant 1903 issues of The Banjo World this afternoon.

[Joel Hooks]

I’m not sure what I can do to make this more accessible.  I post on various forms and try to use appropriate tags when I upload stuff.

Here is a post that includes the link.

https://classic-banjo.ning.com/forum/topics/collins-broomfield-corr...

[Steven Watson]

Thanks. Not sure why that didn't come up when I searched.