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Here are some concertina recordings mostly from the first quarter of the 20th century. At that time, recordings were made mechanically (usually termed 'acoustic') using sound captured by a large recording horn, which indirectly drove a needle and inscribed the sound onto a wax disk. Recordings made this way do not have the quality of the later (after 1925) electrical recordings, and most of the 78rpm records used for transcription were badly scratched and worn. While most later or unworn 78rpms will play well with stylii of around 2.5 to 3 mil diameter, I have had to use huge 3.5 and 4 mil 'diamond nails' to bring out detail and reduce wear distortion. The transcriptions have been processed to try to increase the audibility of the notes played, rather than a good sonic reproduction of the perfomance, and all transcriptions are new. If you would prefer copies of the unprocessed transcriptions, please contact me, although be aware that (for archive purposes) the files are each around 140Mb (32 bit, 96KHz, stereo). A discography of Alexander Prince recordings was published in the ICA's PICA (and also here) at the end of 2012, followed by a discography of other players in 2013. For dating information I have used various internet sources (some now forgotten!), and published label discographies,but currently the most comprehensive internet resource seems to be The AHRC Research Centre for the History and Analysis of Recorded Music (CHARM) database available here Stephen Bartle (English Concertina)Bartle was probably the first English system Concertina player to be recorded. He is credited as being "The World Champion Concertina Player" prior to Alexander Prince (so roughly pre 1895), and a short article on his daughter Barbara appears in the ICA's PICA Volume 1, available here
We normally think of 78rpms as 3 or 4 minutes, but Norman Field has kindly provided two rare Musogram recordings of Bartle, each lasting in excess of 5 minutes, as well as a Grammavox recording. Norman has a very informative website - Early British Disc Record Labels 1898-1926 which is well worth dipping into. Thanks, Norman!
It is impossible to date the release of the John Bull record below to any nearer than 1909 to 1913, but probably the later years of this period since it bears 'British Manufacture Throughout' markings. It was sold under the 'Tally-Man' system, which is explained on Mike Thomas's Website as well as some details on the possible pedigree of these recordings. Mike lists it in the 'H' prefix table, but the labels show it was also released without the prefix.
Harry Boyd (English Concertina)Harry Boyd is probably better known as a concertina dealer in Newcastle around the turn of the 20th century. His 'Boyd' customised concertinas from Wheatstone and Lachenal are high quality instruments. However he did record a few sides and this record (originally released on Jumbo 600 c.1911) shows he was a very good player.
W. Bramwell Thornett (Triumph Duet Concertina)Bramwell Thornett was a stalwart of the earlier days of the International Concertina Association, joining in 1969 although he had made many visits to meetings earlier, and a fine duet system player. He was a Brigadier with the Salvation Army, and this recording is part of the Salvation Army MF Series released on Regal and Regal-Zonophone.
Archie Burgess (Triumph Duet Concertina)Archie Burgess is credited as popularising the duet concertina in the Salvation Army. The 'Triumph' duet was a name used by them for the duet system also known as Crane or Butterworth. These recordings are part of the Salvation Army MF Series released on Regal and Regal-Zonophone.
Dutch Daly (Anglo Concertina)William 'Dutch' Daly (1848-1924), was born in St. Helier,Jersey,in the Channel Islands,and became a major music-hall artist. His life and career have been documented in an extremely well researched article written by Randall C. Merris for the ICA's PICA Volume 4, available here.
Alf Edwards (English Concertina)Although most well known as a concertina player, Alf Edwards was a multi-instrumentalist, playing trombone, saxophone, violin, drums, and even bagpipes and ocarina. He became a professional musician in April 1918, joing his father in a duo. After his father retired, Alf was very much in demand, but fulfilled a longtime ambition to join a dance band and joined Jack Payne's Orchestra in November 1934, remaining with the Orchestra until it was disbanded in 1947. He was often featured on the concertina playing with the Orchestra's string section. He recorded on concertina for HMV before WW2 with both Jack Payne and Bonnie Monroe, and after the war was also featured on records from the growing Folk movement. The Harmonic disc below (a very late 78rpm) was used for short introductions on radio and television stations, etc. so I've included it in full.
Grock (Charles Adrien Wettach) (English Concertina)Grock was a famous Swiss circus and music hall clown who included the concertina in his act.The recording below is one side of a four disc set of his complete act which was recorded in French.
The Heywood English Concertina Band (English Concertinas)The Heywood Band was recorded in 1932, so these are electrical recordings. As the smaller print is
not easily visible on the labels, here are the title listings for the medley tracks:
Percy Honri (Duet Concertina)Recordings of Percy Honri are rare. I've not seen any on general sale in the last 10 years until I got the Zonophone below in early 2016, and the Winner in 2018. The two Nicole discs came from somebody who knew of my interest. They are early 7 inch indestructibles. Unfortunately these paper based discs are very prone to warping and their surface produces a lot of noise. I had thought that this warping caused the apparent speed changes you hear, but another youtube transcription of the same disc showed exactly the same speed changes.
Jim Hume (English Concertina)Jim Hume is mentioned as one of the leading players circa 1920 in a letter to the Accordion Review magazine in the early 1950s. Although his style may appear a little simple compared to the other players on this page, it should be remembered that the English concertina is primarily a melody instrument, and his double octave and harmonised playing shows a considerable talent on the instrument.
William Kimber (Anglo Concertina)William Kimber (1872-1961) was one of the main sources for the tunes and steps of the Morris Dance.
John Hill Maccann (Maccann Duet Concertina)'Professor' Maccann was the inventor of the Maccann system duet,
patented in 1884. The recordings below were kindly provided by Peter Adamson,
an expert on early British recordings. Peter researched these transcriptions very
throughly to establish their true replay speed and he notes :
Walter Mitchell and Willie Shepherd (Anglo? Concertinas)I have no information on this duo or their instruments, but Stuart Eydmann notes in Chapter 8 of his The Life and Times of the Concertina that 'Blaze Away' was recorded on a 78 rpm disc by the concertina duet Messrs. Mitchell and Shepherd. They recorded this at least twice on different labels with a gap of almost 10 years.
Frank Olloms (English Concertina)When I know little about a player, I always ask other enthusiasts at concertina.net for information before I start any research. This time some of them went off and did the research for me (see here). Frank's real name was Francini Olloms, and he was an acrobat as well as a very capable player. I've found only two records by him (see A Concertina Discography).
Ernest Rutterford (Maccann Duet Concertina)I have very little information on Rutterford, other than his father (Charles) was also a player and teacher, and Harry Minting (the last manager of Wheatstone & Co.) was one of Charles' pupils. Ernest and Harry later played together in the Ernest Rutterford Band, where Harry normally played banjo.
Ashton Under Lyne Concertina Prize Band
'Walter Dale'I was very pleased to win this 78rpm on ebay, thinking that I could add a new English player with recordings from around 1925-30. But things were not as they seemed. The recordings on this disk are not by Walter Dale, but in fact by Alexander Prince and were made for the Zonophone label in 1908/9. If you look carefully at the label for Adminstration March, you can see the stamped Zonophone catalogue code X49146. Both sides have the Zonophone matrix numbers stamped on them. But at least the disk produced better transcriptions than those on the Alexander Prince page.
 © wes williams June 2022. 
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