I’ve got the above 78 rpm recording of “Irish Bagpipes, Violin and Piano Trio.” They play “Londonderry Hornpipe,” and flipside, “Black Rogue” and “Saddle the Pony.”
I’m assuming this is Seumas Ennis, but it’s got to be a very young Seumas Ennis. Not particularly sophisticate work here but possibly historic.
The label is Columbia, it’s got Irish pennants on a gold label and the numbers, 3-5 D left, and 80946 right bottom on the jig set, and th 3-5 D left and 80831 right on the HP.
On the bottom is "Columbia Phonograph Company and some agate type so small, blurred, and then worn off I can’t read it.
Any guesses when this was recorded? It’s in pretty good shape and I’m in the process of restoring it, so I’ll put it up on a web site I’m going to start I quess for such items of audio interest.
As Harry said. this was recorded april 1923, when Seamus was 4. Tom Ennis recordings are not particularly rare. Most of the Morrison/Ennis duets were re-issued on lp by Topic during the 80s
Didn’t sound much like Seamus. Sounds like a New Orleans Jazz ensemble actually. Anyone know where this was recorded or why? Any other history?
It’s apparently in concert D by the way, piano, fiddle and pipes play together pretty well. I need to get a better 78 needle/turntable and I could probably lose some of the surface noise and wear noise. The record’s in fair shape and clean but it’s not cut very loud.
They did a batch of commercial 78 rpms together during the 20s (they extensively recorded solo as well). Tom Ennis was born in Chicago in 1889. He recorded his first sides for Victor in 1917 or 18. He had a music store in New York during the 20s. In 1929 he moved back to Chicago where he died in 1931.
James Morrison (fiddle) and Mike Carney(pipes) did some excellent duet 78 recordings from the same era that are well worth keeping a look out for.
Why were they recorded? Because, like today, there was a market for it. The market being the many increasingly wealthy Irish immigrants to the US. It is well known that this first ‘golden age’ of the recording of Irish music has shaped modern repertoire and playing styles considerably.
The recordings of Morrison and Coleman etc. sent back to Ireland by departed relatives were treasured items used to learn music off. They were also employed in many cases as the sound track for house dances.
The slightly jazzy sound isn’t an accident either: jazz was the popular music craze of the day and, just like today, they glazed it over commercial recordings to an extent to make them more attractive to the buying public. Many studios (if not all?) insisted on some form of accompaniment. As luck would have it the up-beat jazz backing generally suited the dotted ‘bounce’ rhythm then so popular, the rhythm and a good melodic emphasis being a more major component back then apparently.
Did you get that off a discography? The only Tom Ennis discography I’ve found online didn’t have that particular listing–I just want to nail down the date with whatever authority I can muster, so if there’s a better discography I’d like to browse through it in case I run into future material etc.
I temporarily stuck that on my Roisin Dubh web site as per:
The date comes off the Topic album from the notes by Reg Hall and Tony Engle, they are usually pretty accurate. Nicholas Carolan’s discography of 78 rpms by pipers doesn’t give a date.
