Blue Amberol Records
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Blue Amberol Records are cylinder recordings manufactured by the Edison company in the USA from 1912 to 1929. See also: Edison Records
Package lid (left) and rim of Edison "Blue mberol" cylinder
These cylinder records are made of an early variety of plastic patented by the Edison company called "Blue Amberol", which was able to withstand hundreds, possibly over a thousand, playings, with only moderate increase in surface noise if played on well-maintained machines with a stylus in good condition.
The cylinders have a maximum playing time of just over 4 minutes. They can not be played successfully on older machines set up to play the earlier standard of 2 minute cylinders, as the Amberols require a smaller stylus to track the groove and the worm-gear which moves the stylus over the surface of the cylinder must turn at a different rate. The Edison company sold kits with gears and reproducers which could be attached to older varieties of cylinder phonographs by those who wished to be able to play the new Blue Amberol records. The Edison company marketed phonographs capable of playing both the older style 2 minute and the new Blue Amberol records; with these machines the user needed to adjust a lever (which changed gearing) and change the reproducer (which held different sizes of stylus) when going from one type of record to another. Other phonographs were manufactured which could only play the Blue Amberols, these were called "Amberolas".
"Amberola 75" model phonograph
The early issues of Blue Amberols are of higher audio fidelity than later issues. From the mid 1910s on, the Edison Company concentrated most of their research on improving the sound of their disc records, and their later cylinders are simply dubs of their discs. The dubbing technique used, acoustical-mechanical until the late 1920s, resulted in a somewhat hollow "dead" sound on theses cylinders compared to the original discs they were dubbed from. On many such cylinders, one can hear the sound of the disc machine being started just at the beginning of the record and of it being stopped just before the end.
The "Amberol" plastic of the cylinders is molded around a core of plaster. This plaster core has proved the greatest problem with long-term survival of Blue Amberol Records, as the plaster often tends to expand over the decades, especially if exposed to moisture or kept in humid conditions. The expanding plaster in less severe cases can make the inside of the record not fit properly on the phonograph mandrel (which can be fairly easily remedied by reaming the inner surface of the cylinder out), or can warp the cylinder out of round making it not play properly. In worse cases, the expanding plaster will crack or split the plastic playing surface, rendering the record unusable.
The Blue Amberol plastic is highly flammable.
Missing image
GoldenTreasuryAmberol.jpg
Cover of "A Golden Treasury of Edison Blue Amberol Records" catalog
GoldenTreasuryAmberol.jpg
Cover of "A Golden Treasury of Edison Blue Amberol Records" catalog
Numerical listing (incomplete)
| Record Number | Title | "w." Words By; "m." Music By | Performer(S) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1518 | Whispering Hope | (w.m. Alice Hawthorne) | Helen Clark & Harry Anthony | |
| 1529 | Row Row Row | (w. William Jerome m. James V. Monaco) | Collins & Harlan | |
| 1568 | On a Beautiful Night with a Beautiful Girl | (w. Will D. Cobb m. Gus Edwards) | Walter Van Brunt | |
| 1589 | That's How I Need You | (w. Joe McCarthy & Joe Goodwin m. Al Piantadosi) | Irving Gillette | |
| 1643 | Yiddisha Professor | (w.m. Irving Berlin) | Maurice Burkhart | |
| 1737 | That Old Girl of Mine | (w. Earle C. Jones m. Egbert Van Alstyne) | Frederick J. Wheeler | |
| 1738 | When I Lost You | (w.m. Irving Berlin) | Irving Gillette | |
| 1743 | Trail of the Lonesome Pine | (w. Ballard Macdonald m. Harry Carroll) | Manuel Romain | |
| 1749 | Goodbye Boys | (w. Andrew B. Sterling & William Jerome m. Harry Von Tilzer) | Billy Murray | |
| 1796 | Snookey Ookums | (w.m. Irving Berlin) | Collins & Harlan | |
| 1931 | You Made Me Love You | (w. Joseph McCarthy m. James V. Monaco) | Anna Chandler | |
| 1941 | Somebody's Coming to My House | (w.m. Irving Berlin) | Walter Van Brunt | |
| 1943 | There's a Girl in the Heart of Maryland | (w. Ballard Macdonald m. Harry Carroll) | Walter Van Brunt | |
| 2022 | Curse of an Aching Heart | (w. Henry Fink m. Al Piantadosi) | Will Oakland | |
| 2036 | Peg O' My Heart | (w. Alfred Bryan m. Fred Fisher) | Walter Van Brunt | |
| 2114 | Southern Dream Patrol | (By Franz Mahl) | New York Military Band | |
| 2258 | I Miss You Most of All | (w.m. Joseph McCarthy Sr. & James V. Monaco) | Manuel Romain | |
| 2263 | Peg O' My Heart | (w. Alfred Bryan m. Fred Fisher) | Violin Solo Charles D'Almaine, Released May 1914 | |
| 2264 | Love's Own Sweet Song | (w. C.C.S. Cushing & E.P. Heath m. Emmerich Kalman) | Elizabeth Spencer & Irving Gillette | |
| 2270 | Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm | (w. A. Seymour Brown m. Albert Gumble) | Al Campbell & Irving Gillette | |
| 2344 | On the Shores of Italy | (w.m. Al Piantadosi, Dave Oppenheim, & Jack Glogau) | Albert C. Campbell & Irving Gillette | |
| 2375 | This is the Life | (w.m. Irving Berlin) | Billy Murray | |
| 2395 | When You Play in the Game of Love | (w. Joe Goodwin m. Al Piantadosi) | Manuel Romain | |
| 2404 | Something Seems Tingle-Ingling | (w. Otto Harbach m. Rudolf Friml) | Walter Van Brunt | |
| 2428 | When the Angelus is Ringing | (w. Joe Young m. Bert Grant) | Irving Gillette | |
| 2448 | Roll Them Cotton Bales | (w. James W. Johnson m. J. Rosamond Johnson) | Premier Quartette | |
| 2468 | Aba Daba Honeymoon | (w.m. Arthur Fields & Walter Donovan) | Collins & Harlan | |
| 2507 | I Want to Go Back to Michigan, Down On the Farm | (w.m. Irving Berlin) | Billy Murray | |
| 2513 | He's a Rag Picker | (w.m. Irving Berlin) | Peerless Quartette | |
| 2530 | Sister Susie's Sewing Shirts for Soldiers | (w. R. P. Weston m. Herman E. Darewski) | Billy Murray | |
| 2542 | My Melancholy Baby | (w. George A. Norton m. Ernie Burnett) | Walter Scanlan | |
| 2547 | When You Wore a Tulip | (w. Jack Mahoney m. Percy Wenrich) | Walter Van Brunt | |
| 2548 | Goodbye Girls I'm Through | (w. John Golden m. Ivan Caryll) | Owen J. McCormack | |
| 2561 | On the 5:15 | (w. Stanley Murphy m. Henry I. Marshall) | Pete Murray | |
| 2580 | I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier | (w. Alfred Bryan m. Al Piantadosi) | Helen Clark | |
| 2586 | Little House Upon the Hill | (w. Ballard Macdonald & Joe Goodwin m. Harry Puck) | Manuel Romain | |
| 2607 | Play a Simple Melody | (w.m. Irving Berlin) | Mary Carson & Walter Van Brunt | |
| 2628 | What is Love | (Irving Berlin) | Elizabeth Spencer & Chorus | |
| 2658 | There's a Little Spark of Love Still Burning | (w. Joe McCarthy m. Fred Fisher) | Walter Van Brunt | |
| 2663 | Alabama Jubilee | (w.m. Jack Yellen & George L. Cobb) | Collins & Harlan | |
| 2687 | Hello Frisco! | (w. Gene Buck m. Louis A. Hirsch) | Harvey Hindermyer & Helen Clark | |
| 2693 | By Heck | (w. L. Wolfe Gilbert m. S. R. Henry) | Jaudus Society Orchestra | |
| 2700 | My Little Girl | (w. Sam m. Lewis & William Dillon m. Albert Von Tilzer) | Arthur C. Lichty | |
| 2749 | When I Leave the World Behind | (w.m. Irving Berlin) | Glen Ellison | |
| 2759 | They Didn't Believe Me | (w. Herbert Reynolds m. Jerome Kern) | Gladys Rice & Walter Van Brunt | |
| 2773 | Keep the Home Fires Burning | (w. Lena Guilbert Ford m. Ivor Novello) | Frederick J Wheeler | |
| 2776 | When Old Bill Bailey Plays the Ukulele | (w.m. Charles McCarron & Nat Vincent) | Billy Murray | |
| 2797 | Molly Dear It's You I'm After | (w. Frank Wood m. Henry E. Pether) | Walter Van Brunt | |
| 2814 | M-O-T-H-E-R | (w. Howard Johnson m. Theodore F. Morse) | George Wilton Ballard | |
| 2819 | Just Try to Picture Me (Back Home in Tennessee) | (w. William Jerome m. Walter Donaldson) | George Wilton Ballard | |
| 2835 | There's a Long, Long Trail | (w. Stoddard King m. Zo Elliott) | George Wilton Ballard | |
| 2839 | I Love a Piano | (w.m. Irving Berlin) | Walter Van Brunt | |
| 2842 | I've Been Floating down the Old Green River | (w. Bert Kalmar m. Joe Cooper) | Billy Murray | |
| 2877 | Memories | (w. Gustave Kahn m. Egbert Van Alstyne) | Burton Lenihan | |
| 2897 | I Can Dance with Everybody but my Wife | (w. Joseph Cawthorn & John Golden m. John Golden) | Billy Murray | |
| 2931 | Where did Robinson Crusoe go with Friday on Saturday Night? | (w. Sam M. Lewis & Joe Young m. George W. Meyer) | Billy Murray | |
| 2942 | Are You from Dixie? | (w.m. Jack Yellen & George L. Cobb) | Billy Murray | |
| 2957 | Baby Shoes | (w. Joe Goodwin & Ed Rose m. Al Piantadosi) | Elizabeth Spencer | |
| 3019 | Pretty Baby | (w. Gus Kahn m. Tony Jackson & Egbert Van Alstyne) | Gladys Rice | |
| 3038 | There's a Little Bit of Bad in Every Good Little Girl | (w. Grant Clarke m. Fred Fisher) | Gladys Rice | |
| 3090 | When the Boys Come Home | (w. John Hay m. Oley Speaks) | Frederick J Wheeler | |
| 3101 | Oh! Frenchy! | (w. Sam Ehrlich m. Con Conrad) | Arthur Fields | |
| 3116 | Mammy's Little Coal Black Rose | (w. Raymond Egan m. Richard Whiting) | Manuel Romain | |
| 3125 | They're Wearing 'Em Higher in Hawaii | (w. Joe Goodwin m. Halsey K. Mohr) | Premier Quartette | |
| 3139 | Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag | (w. George Asaf m. Felix Powell) | Helen Clark | |
| 3140 | That Funny Jas Band from Dixieland (w.m. Henry I. Marshal) | Collins & Harlan | ||
| 3197 | Everybody Loves a Jass Band | (w.m. Leon Flatow) | Arthur Fields | |
| 3222 | For Me and My Gal | (w. Edgar Leslie & E. Ray Goetz m. George w. Meyer) | Billy Murray | |
| 3275 | Over There | (w.m. George M. Cohan) | Billy Murray | |
| 3321 | Goodbye Broadway, Hello France | (w. C. Francis Reisner & Benny Davis m. Billy Baskette) | Arthur Fields | |
| 3324 | Send Me Away With a Smile | (w.m. Louis Weslyn & Al Piantadosi) | Arthur Fields | |
| 3326 | Good Luck and God Be With You, Laddie Boy | (w. Will D. Cobb m. Gus Edwards) | Lawrence E. Gilbert | |
| 3363 | Goodbye Broadway, Hello France | (w. C. Francis Reisner & Benny Davis m. Billy Baskette) | Jaudus' Society Orchestra | |
| 3399 | I'm All Bound Round with the Mason-Dixon Line | (w. Sam M. Lewis & Joe Young m. Jean Schwartz) | Vernon Dalhart | |
| 3411 | All I Need is Just a Girl Like You | (Burkhardt, Olman) | Rachael Grant & Billy Murray | |
| 3426 | They Go Wild Simply Wild Over Me | (w. Joseph McCarthy m. Fred Fisher) | Billy Murray | |
| 3500 | Daughter of Rosie O'Grady | (w. Monty C. Brice m. Walter Donaldson) | Ada Jones | |
| 3504 | Just a Baby's Prayer at Twilight | (w. Sam m. Lewis & Joe Young m. M.K. Jerome) | Homestead Trio | |
| 3516 | On the Road to Home Sweet Home | (w. Gus Kahn m. Egbert Van Alstyne) | John Young & George w. Reardon | |
| 3617 | Everything is Peaches Down in Georgia | (w. Grant Clarke m. Milton Ager) | Collins & Harlan | |
| 3634 | Mandy | (w.m. Irving Berlin) | Billy Murray | |
| 3649 | Ja-Da | (w.m. Bob Carleton) | Arthur Fields | |
| 3666 | After You've Gone | (w. Henry Creamer m. Turner Layton) | Rachael Grant & Billy Murray | |
| 3675 | When You Look in the Heart of a Rose | (w. Marion Gillespie m. Florence Methuen) | Edward Allen | |
| 3677 | Rose of No Man's Land | (w. Jack Caddingan m. Joseph A. Brennan) | Moonlight Trio | |
| 3704 | Madelon | (w. Alfred Bryan m. Camille Robert) | [Arthur Fields] | |
| 3714 | I Found the End of the Rainbow | (w.m. John Mears, Harry Tierney, & Joseph McCarthy) | Irving Kaufman | |
| 3725 | In the Land of Beginning Again | (w. Grant Clarke m. George W. Meyer) | George Wilton Ballard | |
| 3726 | How Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down On the Farm | (w. Sam m. Lewis & Joe Young m. Walter Donaldson) | Byron G. Harlan | |
| 3733 | Beautiful Ohio | (w. Ballard Macdonald m. Mary Earl) | Jaudus' Society Orchestra | |
| 3739 | Mickey | (w. Harold H. Williams m. Neil Moret) | Vernon Dalhart | |
| 3758 | That Wonderful Mother of Mine | (w. Clyde Hager m. Walter Goodwin) | Will Oakland | |
| 3781 | Dear Little Boy of Mine | (w. J. Keirn Brennan m. Ernest Ball) | Will Oakland | |
| 3846 | Sipping Cider through a Straw | (w.m. Carey Morgan & Lee David) | Collins & Harlan | |
| 3872 | Oh! What a Pal Was Mary | (w. Edgar Leslie & Bert Kalmar m. Pete Wendling) | Edward Allen | |
| 3876 | That Tumble-Down Shack in Athlone | (w. Richard W. Pascoe m. Monte Cobb & Alma M. Saunders) | Will Oakland | |
| 3882 | I've Got My Captain Working for Me Now | (w.m. Irving Berlin) | Fred Hillebrand | |
| 3955 | Let the Rest of the World Go By | (w. J. Keirn Brennan m. Ernest R. Ball) | Marion Evelyn Cox & Harvey Hindermyer | |
| 3964 | You'd Be Surprised | (w.m. Irving Berlin) | Billy Murray | |
| 3972 | Old-Fashioned Garden | (w.m. Cole Porter) | Helen Clark | |
| 3976 | When Honey Sings an Old Time Song | (w.m. Joseph B. Carey) | George Wilton Ballard | |
| 3982 | You're a Million Miles from Nowhere When You're One Little Mile from Home | (w. Sam Lewis & Joe Young m. Walter Donaldson) | William Bonner | |
| 3990 | My Isle of Golden Dreams | (w. Gus Kahn m. Walter Blaufuss) | Tuxedo Orchestra | |
| 4001 | O | (w. Byron Gay m. Arnold Johnson) | Billy Murray | |
| 4006 | Peggy | (w. Harry Williams m. Neil Moret) | Lopez & Hamilton's Kings of Harmony | |
| 4018 | Daddy, You've been a Mother to Me | (w.m. Fred Fisher) | George Wilton Ballard | |
| 4027 | Rose of Washington Square | (w. Ballard Macdonald m. James F. Hanley) | Lenzberg's Riverside Orchestra | |
| 4036 | On Miami Shore | (w. William Le Baron m. Victor Jacobi) | Max Fell's Della Robbia Orchestra | |
| 4041 | Oh by Jingo Oh by Gee You're the Only Girl for Me | (w. Lew Brown m. Albert Von Tilzer) | Premier Quartette | |
| 4042 | Dardanella | (w. Fred Fisher m. Felix Bernard & Johnny S. Black) | Gladys Rice & [Vernon Dalhart] | |
| 4056 | Veeda | (w. Nat Vincent m. John Alden) | Max Fell's Della Robbia Orchestra | |
| 4072 | I'll See You in C-U-B-A | (w.m. Irving Berlin) | Fred Hillebrand | |
| 4085 | Pretty Kitty Kelly | (w. Harry Pease m. Ed G. Nelson) | William Bonner | |
| 4103 | Chili Bean | (w. Lew Brown m. Albert Von Tilzer) | Billy Murray | |
| 4140 | I Wish That You Was My Gal, Molly | (w.m. Irving Berlin & Ted Snyder) | Manuel Romain | |
| 4149 | All She'd Say Was "Umh Hum" | (w.m. King Zany, Mac Emery, Gus Van & Joe Schenck) | Reese Jones | |
| 4166 | Feather Your Nest | (w.m. James Kendis, James Brockman & Howard Johnson) | Lenzberg's Riverside Orchestra | |
| 4182 | Avalon | (w.m. B. G. Desylva, Al Jolson & Vincent Rose) | Raderman's Jazz Orchestra | |
| 4184 | Old Pal Why Don't You Answer Me | (w. Sam M. Lewis & Joe Young m. M.K. Jerome) | Lewis James | |
| 4209 | Broadway Rose | (w. Eugene West m. Martin Fried & Otis Spencer) | Lyric Male Quartet | |
| 4224 | Broadway Rose | (w. Eugene West m. Martin Fried & Otis Spencer) | Raderman's Jazz Orchestra | |
| 4225 | Home Again Blues | (w.m. Harry Akst & Irving Berlin) | Raderman's Jazz Orchestra | |
| 4227 | My Mammy | (w. Sam M. Lewis & Joe Young m. Walter Donaldson) | Premier Quartette | |
| 4236 | That Old Irish Mother of Mine | (w. William Jerome m. Harry Von Tilzer) | Allen Mcqhae | |
| 4242 | Bright Eyes | (w. Harry B. Smith m. Otto Motzan & M.K. Jerome) | Orlando's Orchestra | |
| 4246 | Do You Ever Think of Me? | (w. John Cooper & Harry D. Kerr m. Earl Burtnett) | Raderman's Jazz Orchestra | |
| 4264 | Crazy Blues | (w.m. Percy Bradford) | Noble Sissle | |
| 4298 | Loveless Love | (w.m. W. C. Handy) | Ernest Hare | |
| 4328 | Peggy O'Neill | (w.m. Harry Pease, Ed G. Nelson & Gilbert Dodge) | Billy Jones | |
| 4331 | Down Yonder | (w.m. L. Wolfe Gilbert) | Premier Quartette | |
| 4414 | Tuck Me to Sleep in My Old 'Tucky Home | (w. Sam H. Lewis & Joe Young m. George W. Meyer) | Ray Cropper | |
| 4427 | Ten Little Fingers And Ten Little Toes | (w. Harry Pease & Johnny White m. Ira Schuster & Ed G. Nelson) | Jones & Hare | |
| 4459 | Dapper Dan | (w. Lew Brown m. Albert Von Tilzer) | Jones & Hare | |
| 4508 | Dear Old Southland | (w. Henry Creamer m. Turner Layton) | Vernon Dalhart | |
| 4947 | Barnacle Bill the Sailor | (w.m. Carson Robison & Frank Luther) | Frank Luther | |
| 4947 | Big Bad Bill is Sweet William Now | (Ager, Yellen) | Ernest Hare | |
| 5049 | Death of Floyd Collins | (w. Andrew Jenkins m. Irene Spain) | Vernon Dalhart | |
| 5052 | She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain | (Traditional US) | Vernon Dalhart | |
| 5230 | My Cutie's Due at Two to Two Today | (w.m. Albert Von Tilzer, Irving Bilbo, & Leo Robin) | Al Campbell & Jack Kaufman | |
| 5315 | Oh Bury Me Not On the Lone Prairie | (w. E.H. Chapin m. George N. Allen) | Vernon Dalhart | |
| 5412 | Wal, I Swan! (Or Ebeneezer Frye) | (w.m. Benjamin Hapgood Burt) | Al Bernard | |
| 5482 | Among My Souvenirs | (w. Edgar Leslie m. Horatio Nicholls) | Charles w. Harrison | |
| 5652 | Big Rock Candy Mountain | (Traditional US) | Vernon Dalhart | |
| 5667 | Wedding Bells are Breaking Up that Old Gang of Mine | (w. Irving Kahal & Willie Raskin m. Sammy Fain) | Billy Murray & Walter Scanlan |