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August 12 is Edison Day. On that day in 1877, Thomas Edison made the
first sound recording on his new-fangled phonograph, "Mary Had A Little Lamb"
[You can listen to Edison's 1927 re-creation of that recording, below.]
He clearly had the
foresight to envision Rhythm & Blues recordings. However, at the beginning:
"When Edison built his first phonograph in 1877, he published an article
proposing ten uses to which his invention might be put. They included
preserving the last words of dying people, recording books for blind
people to hear, announcing clock time, and teaching spelling.
Reproduction of music was not high on Edison's list of priorities. A few
years later Edison told his assistant that his invention had no
commercial value. Within another few years he changed his mind and did
enter business to sell phonographs—but for use as office dictating
machines. When other entrepreneurs created jukeboxes by arranging for a
phonograph to play popular music at the drop of a coin, Edison objected
to this debasement, which apparently detracted from serious office use of
his invention. Only after about 20 years did Edison reluctantly concede
that the main use of his phonograph was to record and play music."
The above quote was taken from "
Guns, Germs, And Steel
" by Jared Diamond
(W.W. Norton & Co., 1997, page 243). This is a fascinating book that
attempts to explain why certain civilizations in the past were capable of
conquering other civilizations. If you're interested in why things are
the way they are, this is a great book. Unca Marvy gives it his highest
rating (even if there's nothing in it about R&B).
And, as an aside, Arthur Sullivan (that's half of Gilbert & Sullivan) wrote
to Edison: "I am ... terrified at the thought that so much hideous and bad
music may be put on record forever." (I wonder how he ever got to hear the
Capris' "It Was Moonglow".)
Listen to Edison's
Mary Had A Little Lamb
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